ROSEHIP WINE

Just 4 u

Ingredients:
2 ½ lb. rosehips or ½ lb. dried 1 gallon boiling water
rosehips Yeast; yeast nutrient
3 lb. white sugar

Method:
The best time to gather your rosehips, of which there are usually plenty in the
hedgerows, is immediately after the first frost. Wash them well, and either cut them in
half or crush them with a piece of wood or mallet.
(This is unnecessary with the dried rosehips.) Put the sugar into a crock, then the crushed rosehips, and pour over them the boiling water. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. When the liquor has cooled sufficiently for
you to be able to put your finger in it comfortably, add yeast (a general-purpose wine
yeast, or a level teaspoonful of granulated yeast) and, preferably a yeast nutrient. Leave
in a warm place, cover closely for a fortnight, and stir daily. Then strain through a jelly
bag or two thicknesses of butter muslin into a fermentation jar and fit air lock. When the
wine clears (after about three months) siphon into a fresh jar, and leave for a further three
months before racking again and bottling. Since the only main ingredient which has to
be bought is the sugar, this is a most economical wine to make, and I am told that the hips
contain a high proportion of Vitamin C, so it is probably beneficial as well!
Rosehip Syrup provides an easy way of making wine too. And a 6-oz. or 8-oz.
bottle is sufficient to make a gallon. Brands commonly available are Delrosa (in 6-oz. and
12-oz. bottles), Hipsy (in 8-oz.) and Optrose (8-oz. and 14-oz.). Merely bring the water to
the boil, add the syrup and sugar, and stir well to dissolve. Cool to 70 degrees F., and add
the yeast and nutrient. Pour into fermenting jar and fit airlock. Leave in a warm place.
After a week top up to bottom of neck with cold boiled water and refit lock. Ferment,
rack and bottle in the usual way.