Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/1658

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Ingredients.—Ripe red currants. To each gallon of fruit allow 1½ gallons of cold water, and 5 lbs. either loaf sugar or good preserving sugar, and ½ a pint of good brandy.

Method.—Remove the stalks from the currants, put them into an earthenware bowl, bruise them well with a wooden spoon, and drain off the juice. Put the juice aside, add the water to the berries, let it stand for 2 or 3 hours, stirring occasionally meanwhile. At the end of this time strain the liquid from the berries into the juice, add ¾ of the sugar, stir occasionally until dissolved, then pour the whole into a cask, filling it three parts full. Bung closely, but place a vent peg near the top of the cask, and let the cask remain for 1 month where a uniform temperature of about 65° Fahr. can be maintained. Dissolve the remainder of the sugar in the smallest possible quantity of warm water, mix it well with the contents of the cask, replace the bung, and allow the cask to remain undisturbed for 6 weeks longer. Now drain off the wine into a clean, dry cask, add the brandy, let the cask stand for about 6 months in a dry, warm place, then bottle and cork tightly. The wine may be used at once, but will be better if kept for 12 months at least.

Ingredients.—5 gallons of red-currant juice, 1 pint of raspberry juice, 10 gallons of water, 10 lbs. of either loaf sugar or good preserving sugar.

Method.—Extract the juice as directed in the two preceding recipes. Add to it the water and sugar, stir until the latter is dissolved, then turn the whole into a cask, and bung closely, but provide the top of the cask with a vent peg. As soon as fermentation ceases, tighten the vent peg, and let the cask remain undisturbed in a moderately warm place for 12 months. At the end of this time rack off into dry bottles, cork them closely, and seal the top with melted wax. The wine should be ready for use in about 3 months.

Ingredients.—To each gallon of damsons add 1 gallon of boiling water. To each gallon of liquor obtained from these add 4 lbs. of loaf sugar, and ½ a pint of French brandy.

Method.—Remove the stalks, put the fruit into an earthenware bowl, pour in the boiling water, and cover with a cloth. Stir the liquid 3 or 4 times daily for 4 days, then add the sugar and brandy, and when the former is dissolved, turn the whole into a clean dry cask. Cover the bung-hole with a cloth, folded into several thicknesses, until fermentation ceases, then bung tightly, and allow the cask to remain undisturbed for 12 months in a moderately warm place. At the end