Home Brew

[MaryN]

Quite by accident I seem to have discovered a technique for improving my home brew. Last year I made a batch of blackberry wine - usual procedure (berries, sugar, water, bit of yeast, lob into a bucket, strain and stick into a demijohn). All very basic. However, instead of racking the brew off after the required time in the demijohn I inadvertently forgot about it. I discovered it this week at the back of my larder; demijohn covered in dust, but still with a healthy water level in the little bubbly thingy in the cork. Full of misgivings I tried a bit. It was lovely! Really strong and a bit like Port. I bottled a bit and gave it to my ever-suffering neighbours to sample, and got the thumbs-up. I'm not sure what I have done right - could it be leaving it so long without disturbance? I don't know, but I'm going to forget the next batch as well.