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Gooseberry wine

Erken's gooseberry wine from 1914: 20 kg green gooseberries, 15 kg sugar, 100 g tartaric acid, raisins as yeast, made up to 50 liters of liquid, fermented in a 45-liter cask, clarified with gelatin in January and bottled in spring.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 622 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

From the chapter on winemaking and liqueurs in "Stor kokebok" (1914). Homemade fruit wine in a 45-liter cask was common in well-off Norwegian households, and Erken gives precise instructions for fermentation, racking, and clarifying with gelatin.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Crush the berries

    Clean the berries and put them together with the raisins in a large vat. Crush them and pour over 18 liters of boiled, lukewarm water. Stir often and vigorously until the water is cold.

  2. 2

    Press the juice

    Press the crushed berries through a coarse sieve, adding 4—5 liters of boiled, cold water along the way.

  3. 3

    Mix in sugar and acid

    Dissolve the sugar and tartaric acid in the juice and water, and top up with enough water to have 50 liters of liquid in all.

  4. 4

    Initial fermentation

    Cover the vat with a cloth and let it stand quietly a couple of days in a room at 15—16 °C (60 °F).

  5. 5

    Fill the cask

    Pour into a 45-liter cask. The 4—5 liters left over are used for topping up during fermentation.

  6. 6

    Seal the cask

    As soon as the hissing from the fermenting wine stops, close the cask with a tight bung. A small hole bored close to the bung hole is closed with a cork that is removed for a moment every second or third day to let out air. After 10—12 days the cork is set fast.

  7. 7

    Aging

    Lay the cask in a cold cellar and let the wine rest until the first half of January.

  8. 8

    Racking and clarifying

    Rack the wine, rinse the cask well in boiled, cold water, and return the wine as soon as possible. Dissolve the gelatin in 1 liter of the wine, pour it into the cask, and top up well.

  9. 9

    Bottling

    Bottle the wine over the course of spring, when the gooseberry bushes are in bloom again.

Changes from the original

Réaumur degrees are converted to Celsius (12—13 °R ≈ 15—16 °C (60 °F)). Measures are kept in kilos and liters, "loaf sugar" is given as sugar (refined), and the steps are rewritten in modern Norwegian. Fermentation can today be done with wine yeast instead of raisins.

Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
Modernised → 1914 (proofread, p. 622)~79% of the text changedremovedadded
20 kg stikkelsbær (ikke fullt kg. ikke fuldt modne, grønne). grønne stikkelsbær 15 kg sukker (raffinade/topsukker). kg. topsukker 100 g vinsyre (vinstensyre). gr. vinstensyre 30 g gr. gelatin (til klaring). 1 kg kg. rosiner (eller vingjær). 50 l vann (kokt, i alt til 50 liter væske). Rens bærene eller rengjær. De rensede bær og legg dem sammen med rosinene rosiner haves i et stort kar. Knus dem kar, knuses og hell over paaheldes 18 liter l. kokt, lunkent vann. Rør vand, røres ofte og kraftig om til vannet sterkt om, indtil vandet er kaldt.. Press de koldt. De knuste bærene gjennom bær presses gjennem en grov sil, og tilsett underveis sigt, herunder tilsættes 4—5 liter l. kokt, kaldt vann.. Løs sukkeret koldt vand. Sukkeret og vinsyren vinstensyren opløses i saften og vannet, vandet, og fyll på så mye vann man tilsætter saa meget vand, at du man alt i alt har 50 liter væske.. Dekk karet l. flytende. Karret dækkes med et klede og la det stå klæde, staar rolig et par dager dage i et rom med 15—16 °C.. Hell på rum, hvor der er 12—13 grader R. Heldes paa et 45-liters anker. De 45 liters anker; de tiloversblevne 4—5 litrene som blir til overs brukes l. benyttes til etterfylling paafyldning under gjæringen.. Så snart susingen fra gjæringen. Saasnart susningen av den gjærende vinen opphører, vin ophører, lukkes ankeret til med en tett tapp. Et lite hull et tæt spuns; et mindre hul, som er boret tett tæt ved tappehullet siden av spunshullet, lukkes med en kork kork, som fjernes et øyeblikk hver andre anden til tredje dag fjernes et øieblik for at la luft undvike. Efter 10 å slippe ut luft. Etter 10—12 dager settes 12 dage sættes korken fast.. Legg ankeret fast i. Ankeret lægges i en kald kjeller og la vinen ligge kold kjelder, ligger til første halvdel av januar.. Stikk om vinen, skyll januar maaned. Vinen omstikkes, ankeret skylles godt i kokt, kaldt vann koldt vand, og fyll vinen tilbake så snart som mulig. Løs fyldes snarest mulig paa igjen; gelatinen opløses i 1 liter l. av vinen, hell den på ankeret vinen og tapp heldes paa ankeret, som spunses godt til.. Tapp vinen på flasker til. Vinen tappes utover våren, når vaaren, naar stikkelsbærbuskene blomstrer igjen. atter blomstrer.

Note on Modernised

Reaumur-grader er omregnet til celsius (12—13 °R ≈ 15—16 °C). Målene er beholdt i kilo og liter, «topsukker» er oppgitt som sukker (raffinade), og trinnene er skrevet om til moderne norsk. Gjæringen kan i dag gjøres med vingjær i stedet for rosiner.

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Frequently asked questions

Why should the gooseberries not be fully ripe?
The recipe calls for not fully ripe, green gooseberries. Green berries give higher acidity and a fresher, more wine-like character in the finished wine.
How much liquid should I end up with?
50 liters in total. The juice and water with dissolved sugar and tartaric acid are topped up with water to 50 liters. About 45 liters are poured into the cask, and the remaining 4–5 liters are used for topping up during fermentation.
What is used as yeast?
1 kg raisins or wine yeast. The raisins are cleaned and crushed together with the berries before the boiled, lukewarm water (18 liters) is poured over.
How long does it take, and what temperature is needed?
The wine is a long process — allow around nine months in total. The vat is covered with a cloth and stands quietly a couple of days in a room at 12–13 degrees Réaumur (about 15–16 °C) before it is poured into the cask.

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