Community recipes
Browse homebrew recipes
Real recipes shared by the Demijohn Journal community — beer, wine, mead, cider and country wine. Every recipe has full ingredients, method and ABV, and is free to clone and brew yourself.
Country Wine · Country Fruit Wine · Still · Dry–MediumGooseberry & Ginger Country Wine
Gooseberry wine is a classic British country wine with a long history of home production. This gooseberry and ginger wine recipe adds a warming kick of fresh ginger root to the naturally tart, sherbet-sharp flavour of green gooseberries, creating a lively, versatile country wine. It's dry enough to pair with food, and fragrant enough to enjoy on its own. This easy homemade gooseberry wine is perfect for early summer when gooseberries ripen in the garden, and it ferments surprisingly quickly for a fruit wine.
Mead · Cyser · Still · Off-DryCherry Blossom Honey Mead (Cyser-Style)
A cyser is a traditional mead made with apple juice instead of water, resulting in a drink with a richer body and a naturally fruity sweetness. This cherry blossom cyser recipe takes that classic base and adds dried cherry blossom petals for a subtle floral lift and delicate fragrance. It's a beautifully layered homemade mead, somewhere between an apple wine, a mead, and a light country wine, and one of the most elegant brews in this collection. Ideal for those who love food-pairing-friendly homemade wines.
Country Wine · Country Fruit Wine · Still · Dry–MediumPlum & Sloe Country Wine
Plum and sloe wine is a deeply flavoured, tannic country wine that makes excellent use of late-summer and early-autumn hedgerow harvests. This homemade plum wine recipe combines the rich, jammy sweetness of Victoria plums with the astringency of sloe berries to create a beautifully balanced, port-like country wine. It's one of the finest recipes in the British country winemaking canon, robust, complex, and absolutely stunning when aged for a year or more.
Mead · Melomel · Still · Sweet–Semi-SweetStrawberry Melomel
Strawberry mead, or strawberry melomel, is a crowd-pleasing summer brew that captures the sweet, candy-like essence of ripe strawberries. This strawberry mead recipe works beautifully with British summer strawberries at the peak of the season, or with frozen fruit for a year-round batch. Light and fragrant with a soft pink hue, this is one of the most approachable melomels for beginner meadmakers, and it ferments out quickly compared to heavier fruit meads.
Country Wine · Country Fruit Wine · Still · Dry–MediumElderberry Wine
Elderberry wine is one of the most celebrated homemade fruit wines in British winemaking tradition. Dark, full-bodied, and rich with tannin, a well-made elderberry wine is often compared to a robust red grape wine. This elderberry wine recipe guides you from hedgerow to bottle, using fresh or frozen elderberries that are at their peak in September and October. High in antioxidants and deeply flavourful, this is a country wine that genuinely rewards patience; it only improves with 12 months of ageing.
Country Wine · Country Fruit Wine · Still · Off-DryApple & Cinnamon Country Wine
Apple and cinnamon country wine is a wonderfully warming homemade fruit wine that tastes like autumn in a glass. Made from fresh-pressed apple juice or windfall apples, this easy apple wine recipe is spiced with whole cinnamon sticks for a comforting depth of flavour. Unlike hard cider, this country wine ferments with added sugar to reach a fuller body and higher ABV. It's a brilliant way to use a glut of garden apples and requires no specialist equipment beyond a fermentation bucket and demijohn.
Mead · Melomel · Still · Semi-SweetRaspberry & Rose Hip Melomel
This raspberry and rose hip melomel is a stunning ruby-red mead that makes the most of two wild British hedgerow ingredients. Raspberries bring vivid fruit and sharpness, while dried rose hips add depth, a slight nuttiness, and a boost of vitamin C. This fruit mead recipe is ideal for late summer brewing and produces a gorgeous, aromatic drink with a silky finish. A brilliant choice for gifting or showing off at a dinner party.
Mead · Metheglin · Sparkling · Dry–Off-DrySparkling Elderflower Mead
Elderflower mead, sometimes called an elderflower metheglin, is a quintessentially British summer brew. This sparkling elderflower mead recipe captures the delicate, floral, muscat-like aroma of freshly harvested elderflower blossoms combined with wildflower honey. It's light, effervescent, and absolutely perfect for warm evenings. Pick your flowers in May or June when they're fully open and fragrant; timing is everything with this recipe.
Mead · Melomel · Still · Semi-SweetBlackberry Melomel
A rich, jewel-toned blackberry melomel is one of the most rewarding homemade meads you can brew. Combining the deep berry flavours of wild blackberries with the natural sweetness of honey, this blackberry mead recipe is perfect for autumn hedgerow picking season. It produces a beautifully coloured, full-bodied drink with an ABV of around 12%. Forage your own fruit or use frozen blackberries for a year-round brew.
Mead · Classic Mead, Still, DryTraditional Dry Mead
This traditional dry mead recipe is the perfect starting point for any aspiring meadmaker. Made with just honey, water, and yeast, a dry mead showcases the pure floral complexity of raw honey. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned home brewer, this easy dry mead recipe produces a crisp, elegant wine-like drink that pairs beautifully with cheese, poultry, and light desserts. Ready in as little as 3 months.
Country WinePlum Wine
Absolutely nothing, I made this to try and see how the app itself works!
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