Carousing over a cask of rhubarb wine
SIR – I agree with Davina Hockin (Letters, March 27) that rhubarb makes excellent wine.
In 1965 I raided our garden – and as many others as I could access – for the rhubarb. Following my grandmother’s recipe, I bruised it with a wooden mallet, put it in a new plastic dustbin with water and sugar, and stirred it regularly with a canoe paddle until the fizzing stopped.
A wooden cask, acquired from the local pub, was used to store the wine for a year. Tapped for my 21st birthday party, it won much praise as it was as strong as neat gin, very palatable – and, above all, resulted in no thick heads the next day.
John Hinton
East Bergholt, Suffolk
SIR – Davina Hockin’s letter reminded me of my youth in Heysham Village, Lancashire, where we could buy Nelly Bolton’s famous non-alcoholic nettle beer. Apart from pedants who queried the use of the word “beer”, it was widely acclaimed. Sadly, it is no longer available, the recipe having been lost upon the demise of Ms Bolton. Rupert Wilson
Shepley, West Yorkshire