Gooseberry wine

[toddphilip]

Hi all! I thought you would like to know I started my gooseberry gallon last night using Jack Keller's recipe and a midwest kit. My six bushes gave me just the right amount (3lbs) of green and rose colored berries. I probably should have waited a little longer on the ripening, but even the ripe berries were bitter as hell. The must was delicious this morning. Yeast goes in tonight.

Wish me luck.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

Gooseberry is one of my favorites. A hidden gem in my opinion. It's so good, I've put another 8 gooseberry bushes in this year. When you find out how good it is, don't tell anyone.... shhhh.... it'll be our secret.

 

[jswordy]

My Iowa grandma used to make gooseberry pies. Like rhubarb, they won't grow down south here, dangit.

 

[oldwhiskers]

I used to eat the berries and the pies when I lived in Washington state, loved them.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

We picked through all those vicious thorns to get the gooseberries we grew for a couple of years and it was always way to acidic and so I torn them out and put in some nice raspberries. A friend visiting our wineroom saw we had some gooseberry bottles sitting around and asked if he could try it. Sure, he reported back it was one of the best wines he ever tasted. I thought boy I cant give this guy any wine I want a serious opinion on, but curiosity got the better of me and we opened one of the few remaining bottles, it was fantastic, it just took 4 years for it to be great. Still, the raspberries are safe, they always make a good wine. CC

 

[toddphilip]

Yeah, I continue to hear nothing but good things about the gooseberry wine despite its bitterness as a standalone fruit. I can't even find any finished wines locally to try.

Here's a photo of the must with a strawberry I'm trying as well

 

[tonyandkory]

Oh I am sooooo jealous ...!!!... I have not had Gooseberries sense I was a kid and I loved them. we had a huge bush, my sister and I would gorge ourselves with them.
I have yet to ever find any sense. I guess maybe I have not tried all that hard. I should look into finding some seeds

 

[BobF]

They are shown unavailable now, but many online nurseries carry them. I've always had great service and quality stock from Jung:
http://www.jungseed.com/

 

[Boyd]

Gooseberry is one of my favorites. A hidden gem in my opinion. It's so good, I've put another 8 gooseberry bushes in this year. When you find out how good it is, don't tell anyone.... shhhh.... it'll be our secret.

Lon gave me two bottles of his gooseberry wine.

I normally do not drink but I had a small glass and put the rest in the fridge intending to have another later. My daughter got into it and it was gone before I got back to it.

That was goooood stuff.

Hid the other bottle for thanksgiving, but, I may open it before and have a large snort. And then share the rest. Maybe not on the sharing business.