What kit do I need & how difficult will it be for a complete novice?

Not expecting any great results, just want to give it a try

I'm growing tobacco plants. I aim to make my own cigars. 🙂

i'm growing some cotton plants. i'm going to open a tshirt factory in the living room.

A have an apple tree. How do I make apples?

First you've got to get a harvest 😉

We inherited a small vine when we moved house – every year so far (4) the grapes have picked up a fungal growth before they've ripened, it'd be worth keeping a close eye on 'em, or even spray/treat them before they get that far.

sterile bucket
pulp 'em and add some pectolase to prevent spoliage
strain through a muslin bag
add the juice to a sterile demijohn, stick some suger in it (1 – 2lb depending on how much alcohol you wnat and how sweet you want it), pour in some activated yeast, top up with warmish water, close the demijohn with an airlocked cork

about 3 weeks later, syphon the liquid into another demijohn taking care not to disturb the sediment

when airlock stops bubbling, syphon into another demijohn (or the first so long as you've cleaned it).

when the liquid's clear bottle it and store someplace cool and dark for around 3 months.

the odds are the result will be vile and barely drinkable, but after a glass or two that won't really matter.

you are better off making grape juice, home made wine is highly unlikely to be drinkable unless it's very VERY sweet (or fruit wine) in which case go for it and stock up on headache pills before you drink it

oh and sterilise all the equipment

..best wine I ever made was using 2 lites of Tropical 5 Alive (if that's still available), bottled and kept for 3 months. Lovely.

Thanks for that.

I'll see what the crop is like before a final decision. At the moment there is about 50 bunches that are coming on very nicely 🙂

i'm going to cut all the grapes off our vine this year before they get too big to encourage a bit more growth, plus the likelihood of seeing enough sun to ripen them is pretty slim.

It also depends which grape it is, some grapes are suited to the british climate (Bacchus springs to mind) although if you are near the south coast then you may be able to grow grapes commonly found in the champagne region (considered to have nearly the same climate in Kent now as Champagne did in the 60s when a lot of the classic vintages were made)

you are better off making grape juice, home made wine is highly unlikely to be drinkable unless it's very VERY sweet (or fruit wine) in which case go for it and stock up on headache pills before you drink it

MY parents always made elderflower wine, it was really really nice. We found a bottle a year ago that was from ~87 IIRC, it was like sherry – lovely!

mine too (hence the fruit wine comment)

and elderflower champagne, crabapple wine and various others

the missus has been doing a load – got some recipies from a home brew forum..

over the last few months we've had

Wine #1, #2, #4, #6… which are combinations of grape juice, either on its own, or with apple juice, bananna or other juices.
all rather nice.

but basic equipment your gonna need is a gallon demijon, a 5 gallon bucket, bungs and airlocks, and steriliser. oh and some tubing for syphoning between buckets.

these guys are very knowledgeable and could get you all the kit you need to start: http://www.zen37219.zen.co.uk/ based in Stockport.

What flavour grapes are they? My parents had a vine for years and the white grapes were 😯 foul, until it got hot/sunny enough to ripen…….

Take your socks off.

There are different varieties of grapes for winemaking and eating.

The vine is the only thing keeping my parents greenhouse up.
Have you prepared the vine by removing half the bunches when they first appeared? Makes the remaining ones bigger, juicier and sweeter.