Preparation.

Assuming you have got hold of some ingredients and have got all the required equipment, the first task is to get the flavour out of the ingredient and into a gallon of sugary water. There are a few employable methods.

• Soaking : The default method. Get bucket, add ingredients, add water (around 5 pints).
• Boiling : As soaking, but conducted in a pan. Get pan, add ingredients, add water, boil. Very roughly the longer you boil, the more flavour comes out, but it is possible to over-boil so don't go mad. Let's say boil for five minutes, simmer for ten minutes. Trial and error will give you a feel for when you need more and when you need less.
• Pressing : Best for berries and juicy fruit. The act of mashing, squishing and generally abusing the ingredients to get all their juices out. Easiest if you have a wine press, otherwise it's a bucket, a potato masher and a bit of time and effort. Depending on the amount of juice you get out you may need to add some water to bring it up to a suitable quantity.

There is (alledgedly) such a thing as an extractor, but I know nothing about them other than their elusiveness and expensiveness.

So, you have soaked or boiled or crushed to your heart's content, and now have a few pints of flavoursome water. The next thing to do is to turn the mush ("must" is the technical term) into something the yeast will be happy in.

First, add a kilo of sugar - i.e. a packet. If you're keen to know more, sugar has its own page.

Now add the yeast, and some yeast nutrient if you have some (which I strongly recommend you do). Yeast likes it warm but not hot, so if you boiled let the water cool down first. Yeast is also expanded upon in its own page.

It is a often good idea to start the yeast off seperately to make sure it gets going before adding it to the must. Make up a mixture of yeast, nutrient and sugar in a jar of warm water. Put the lid on, or cover tightly with cling film, and give it a damn good shaking. Leave it for a few hours (maybe as many as 24) shaking periodically until it's fizzing, then add to the bucket.

And that's it. Once you've got a handle on this whole wine making lark there are a few extra bits and pieces of fine tuning you may want to do.

• Add acid. This brings out the flavour of lighter wines. Generally recommended you at least squirt in some lemon juice. Full details of why you would want to do this are on the acid page.
• Add sultanas. These add body to light wines, such as anything made of flowers. Chop and add a few generous handfulls.
• Add tannin. This adds a certain dryness/astringency, but do not add too much (bleugh!). Personally I never bother, but you may want to if you particularly dislike sweet wine.
• Add pectic enzyme, aka pectolayse. Traditionally added to blackberries, this mysterious stuff apparently breaks down the cell walls of fruit and ensures maximum flavour extraction. However, it can make it harder to clear in the final stage. Again, I never bother personally.

Give your bucket full of gunk a good stirring, cover it with a tea towel or some such, and leave it somewhere warmish for a day or two to let the fermentation kick in.

Once the fermentation has settled down a bit, strain the mixture into a demi-john. This can be a tricky operation unless you have an assistant to hold the sieve and demi-john while you pour the bucket. Top up the demi john with sugary water until you've got a gallon.

Bung on an airlock, label the demi john, and feel pleased. Now comes the dull bit : fermentation.