I nearly forgot..........

Recipes I've made from the books, are the dry mead I mentioned earlier, using "dessert/high alcohol" yeast from the local HBS, then I made the same recipe, but in a 5 US gallon/19 litre batch - the only difference being that I made that with about 20% more honey, to try and have a higher residual sweetness/honey flavour (again with the dessert/high alcohol yeast).

I also made C.J.J.Berrys' "medium" apple wine recipe. It's a bit of a strange recipe, as it uses 10 kilos of fruit. I actually got enough "wild" apples last year to make 3 gallons. I followed the recipe as closely as I could, but the description that Mr Berry puts in the book

It is strong, yet delicately flavoured, with an attractive faintly "cidery" bouquet.

doesn't "ring true". Well inasfaras it does have a "cidery" bouquet, but otherwise, it tastes like a rather syrupy apple juice - with an alcohol kick, but very sweet.

I don't know what I might have done wrong. Though I think I'm going to blend it a bit with some vodka, as I'm guessing that the additional alcohol should "cut" the sweet/syrup texture of it some, then bottle it and give it away as "crimbo" presents. I'll tell the recipients that it's basically a dessert/aperitif type wine - a description of mine that seems about right.

I haven't decided yet whether it'll be in 70cl bottles with corks or 33cl beer bottles with "crown" caps (various bits that I've read suggest that the mead makers prefer the beer bottles, though I suspect that might be because it's less to waste if the recipient doesn't like it).