Sack Mead

Last in the Series

If you like your meads sweet, light and true to their heritage, you'll love sack mead. The flavor is full of honey, you can almost hear the bees buzz!! Because this mead is only flavored with honey, the tannin is an essential part of the recipe. Leave it out, and you may find the end result a bit insipid.

Makes 1 gallon

3 pounds orange blossom honey

1 teaspoon acid blend

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 Campden tablet

1 package Montrachet yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon grape tannin


In a large enamel or stainless steel pot, boil the hone in water (1 part honey to 2 parts water) for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms. (the foam will contain water impurities and beeswax residue.)

Let cool, and then transfer the honey mixture to a 2 gallon fermenter. Add the acid, pectic enzyme and enough water to make 1 gallon. Add the campden tablet and let the mixture sit, well covered, for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the yeast, yeast nutrient, and orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubly, then add to must.

Add the tannin and allow the mixture to ferment. We recommend racking meads after the most vigorous fermentation, siphon the wine into a 1-gallon airlocked fermenter. In about 3 months, rack again. In about six months, rack once again. Rack a final time right before bottling--about a year after fermentation started. Then bottle and cork the finished mead and store in a cool cellar.

Age for at least six months before opening a bottle.

Sweet Wheat Wine

Fifth in the Series

This wine is light and lively with hints of citrus and a nice, vinous character. The wheat supplies nutrients and sugars to enhance the fermenation process.

Makes 1 gallon

3/4 pound wheat berries

1 pound raisins or 1 pint white grape juice concentrate

2 1/2 pounds brown sugar

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

1 ounce citric acid



Soak the wheat berries overnight in 1/2 quart of water to soften them. Mince the wheat berries and raisins and transfer to a 2 gallon fermenter. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, pour it over the wheat-raisin mixture, add the brown sugar, and let cool. Add a Campden tablet and let sit, well covered, for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubly, then add to the must.

Add the citric acid; then let the mixture sit, loosely covered, for ten days, stirring daily. Rack the mixture toa 2 gallon airlocked fermenter and allow it to ferment to completion. When fermeentation stops, bottle, cork and cellar the wine.

Wait at least six months before sampling.



Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Wheat, Recipe

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Cornmeal Wine

Fourth in the Series

Cornmeal wine is initially a bit slower to ferment than many other wines, so be patient with it. Once the fermentation gets going, it makes a good dry wine.

Makes 1 gallon.

2 lemons

3 oranges

1 1/2 pounds cornmeal

2 1/4 pounds sugar

3 pints grape juice concentrate

1/4 ounce ground rice

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme


Grate the outer rinds of the oranges and lemons, discard the solids and the white outer rind.

Squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemons into a 2 gallon plastic container.

Add the grated rind to the container, along with the cornmeal, sugar, grape juice concentrate and rice.

Add enough water to make 1 gallon.

Add Campden tablet and let mixture sit, well covered, for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, yeast nutrient, and 1 1/2 cups orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubbly, then add to the must.

Add the pectic enzyme. Let the mixture sit for 30 days, loosely covered.

Strain out the solids, transfer the liquid into a 1 gallon airlocked fermenter and allow to ferment for 30 days.

When fermentation is complete, bottle the wine, cork it and store in a cool cellar. Wait at least six months before opening the first bottle.

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Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Cornmeal, Recipe

Quince Wine

Third in the Series


This is a nice dry wine with hints of pear and apple in its flavor. For those who have never seen a quince tree, the fruit is yellow to yellow-green---it resembles a pear in color, though it doesn't have the classic pear shape. (The fruit looks something like a fat doughnut, with depressions where the whole should be on either end.)


Makes 1 Gallon

20 ripe quinces

2 1/4 pounds sugar

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

Grate the quinces as near the core as possible. Boil the grated peel and pulp in enough water to cover, for a maxium of 15 minutes. (Don't over cook the fruit or you may have trouble clearing the wine.)

Strain the mixture and pour the juice onto the sugar in fermenter. Add the juice and zest of the lemons. Let the mixture cool then add the pectic enzyme. Add a capmden tablet and let the mixture sit, well covered for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, yeast nutrient, and orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubly; then add to must.

Add enough water to make 1 gallon and allow the mixture to ferment for 48 hours. Rack into an airlocked fermenter and let the wine ferment to completion (about nine months), racking at intervals as needed to clear the wine. When you are sure that fermentation is complete, bottle, cork and cellar the wine.

Age for at least six months before sampling.



Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Quince, Recipe

Sweet Mulberry Wine

" Any one who has a mulberry tree in the yard knows that these berries can be a real pain in the neck. The fruit falls all summer long, creating disagreeable purple stains on the patio, shoes and children's clothes. When you do gather enough to make something of them, the stems are difficult to remove and you end up with purple fingers and meager results. In fact, as far as we can tell, there's only one thing mulberries are really good for, and that's making wine. Maybe that's why we found so many mulberry wine recipes. Here is one on the sweet side."

Makes 1 gallon

5 pounds mulberries

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

4 pounds sugar

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups ornage juice at room temperature

1 teaspoon acid blend

1/4 teaspoon grape tannin


Crush the mulberries in a 2 gallon fermenter. Pour 2 quarts of boiling water over them. Let the mixture cool, add the pectic enzyme, and cover the container with plastic wrap or foil. Let stand for four or five days, stirring daily.

Strain the liquid through cheesecloth and add sugar, stirring to dissolve. Add a Capmden tablet and let sit for 24 hours, well covered, before proceeding.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, yeast nutrient and orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours until bubbly, then add to the must.

Add the remaining ingredients, plus enough water to make 1 gallon and pour the liquid into an airlocked fermenter. Let the wine complete the fermentation process. When it is clear, rack and bottle the wine.

Wait at least six months before sampling your first bottle.




Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Mulberries, Recipe

Apricot Wine

"The apricot's intense flavor becomes mellow and full-bodied in wine. The lovely golden color is a plus."

3 pounds fresh apricots

1 1/2 pounds sugar

1 pound honey

1 pound high quality dried apricots chopped

Juice of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon grape tannin

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast



Cut fresh apricots in half, remove pits and cut the fruit into quarters. Put the fruit in the fermenter and cover with sugar. Mix 1/2 gallon of water with the honey in a suacepan and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam. When no more foam rises to the top, add the chopped apricots to the honey mixture and pour over the fresh apricots. Add the lemon juice, lemon tannin, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and Campden tablet to the mixture. Let stand for 24 hours.

Add the yeast and let the mixture ferment for one week, stirring daily. Remove the solids and pour the liquid into an airlocked fermentation vessel. Let ferment for one month. Rack again and let ferment for two months. Rack again then bottle, cork and cellar the wine.

Wait at least six months before sampling.

Makes 1 gallon

My Note - Dried apricots usually are treated with sulfites. Try to purchase untreated apricots.



Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Apricots, Recipe

Pineapple-Orange Delight

This is the first in the series of recipes from Making Wild Wines and Meads.

"The color is light, but the flavor is redolent of the tropics. Choose a ripe pineapple, one that will release a leaf of its topknot with a firm tug--or give the pineapple the sniff test. The flavor--and ultimately the bouquet of your wine--will be reflected in the aroma of the pineapple, you use"

Yield 1 Gallon


4 pounds ripe pineapple

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

4 ounces golden raisins, chopped

2 pounds orang-blossom honey

12 ounces ornage juice concentrate

juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/4 teaspoon tannin

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast



Chop and core the pineapple, and transfer to a 2 gallon plastic bucket. Add the sugar and raisins, and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, mix the honey in 1/2 gallon of water and bring to a boil. Skim off foam. When no more foam rises to the top, pour the honey-water mixture over the pineapple mixture. Add the orange juice, lemon juice, orange zest, tannin, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme and Campden tablet. Let stand for 24 hours.

Add the yeast and let the mixture ferment for one week, stirring daily. Remove the solids. Pour th eliquid into an airlocked fermentation vessel and let ferment for 1 month. Rack again and let ferment for two months. Rack again. When fermentation is complete bottle.

Wait at least six months before sampling.



Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Pineapple, Orange, Recipe

Blueberry Port

6 pounds (12 cups) blueberries

1/2 cup Dry malt

4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon acid blend

1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

2 campden tablet

1 package Sherry or Port yeast

water



Crush the fruit. Add 12 cups of water and all other ingredients except the yeast. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Let sit overnight.

Specific gravity should be between 1.090 and 1.095. Sprinkle yeast over the mixture and stir. Stir daily for five days.

Strain the must and squeeze the juice out. Siphon into secondary fermentor, add water to make up volume and attach airlock.

For a dry wine, rack in three weeks, and every three months for one year. Bottle.

NOTE: You must finish wine dry if making Port.

For a sweet wine, rack at three weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle.

The wine is best if you can refrain from drinking it for one full year from the date it was started.

NOTE:

If desired, 1 cup red grape concentrate may be added to the Blueberry Wine at the time of bottling for a fuller flavour. If used, also add 1/2 teaspoon Stabilizer to prevent restarting fermentation.



Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Port, Blueberries, Recipe

In Memory - Karen L. Evert

Karen L. Evert, my wife of 13 wonderful years, went home to the Lord on May, 27, 2007. Karen fought a courageous almost 2 year battle with Leiomyosarcoma, a rare cancer.


Even after 9 rounds of chemo, she still had a smile.

Karen was a great friend, mother, wife and just one amazing person. I’m sad that she is gone from the physical world, but I am extremely happy that she is singing and rejoicing in heaven. I’m glad I got to spend 14 wonderful years with you. Personally, you were the better half of this marriage. You made me a better person. It was such a great honor to have known you.

You will always have a place in my heart.

Grapefruit Wine

• Grapefruit 2.25 lb
• White grape concentrate 1.5 pints
• Sugar 2.25 lb
• Water 1 gallon
• Campden Tablet 1
• Wine yeast
• Yeast nutrient

Squeeze the juice from the grapefruit into a fermenting bin and grate in the skins. Pour in the water and grape juice. Crush the campden tablet (as described on it's container) and add to the bin. Leave to stand for twenty four hours. Add the yeast to the fermenting bin and stir well. Leave in a warm place for six to seven days stirring regularly. Strain off the liquid through a sieve into another fermenting bin containing the sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and then transfer to a fermenting jar (demijohn) fitting a bung and airlock. Leave to ferment. Once the fermentation has completely finished then the wine can be transferred to bottles and corked. It is ready to drink immediately.

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Technorati Tags : Grapefruit, Wine, Homemade_Wine

Basil Wine

• 1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
  
• 2 11-oz cans frozen 100% white grape concentrate
  
• 14 oz granulated sugar (to specific gravity of 1.085)
  
• Water to make one gallon
  
• 2-1/2 tsp acid blend
  
• 1 Campden tablet, finely crushed and dissolved in 1/4 cup water
  
• 1/4 tsp tannin
  
• 1-1/4 tsp yeast nutrient
  
• 1 pkt Champagne wine yeast
  

Wash fresh basil leaves and place in nylon straining bag and tie
closed. Put all other ingredients except yeast in primary and stir well
to dissolve.

Cover primary and set aside 6-8 hours. Add nylon straining
bag, activated yeast, recover primary, and set aside for 5 days.

Taste and remove bag and discard leaves if basil flavor is sufficient. If
not, leave bag in an extra day. Recover primary until s.g. drops to
1.015.

Transfer liquid to secondary, top up if required and fit
airlock. Ferment to dryness, then rack, top up and refit airlock.

Repeat every 30 days until wine clears and no new sediments form during
a 30-day period. Stabilize and sweeten to taste if desired (if
sweetened, wait three weeks for any renewed fermentation to begin) and
rack into bottles. Age 3 months before tasting. Serve chilled.

Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Basil

Dandelion Wine

Spring is here and soon yards will be sprouting those little yellow flowers. A great solution to the dandelion problem is to make wine with them. This recipe was taking from "Making Wild Wines and Meads" and will make a 1 gallon batch.

6 cups dandelion petals

2 pounds sugar

1 pound light raisins

1 tablespoon acid blend

1 campden tablet

1 pack wine yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice

1 teaspoon pectin enzyme

Wash and prepare dandelion petals. Place them and sugar, raisins and acid blend into fermenter. Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil and pour it into the mixture. Add a campden tablet and let the mixture sit for 24 hours.

Add pectin enzyme and yeast and allow to ferment for 3 days. Then rack over and allow to finish fermenting. This should take about 3 months. Rack 1 more time and allow to clear. Then bottle.

Should be ready for sampling in about 6 months.

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Technorati Tags : Dandelion, Flowers, Wine, Recipe

Oak Leaf Wine

Here is a strange one. Oak leaf wine? I wonder if you can use maple leafs? This will be one to try this summer.

• 1 gallon oak or walnut leaves
• 2 lb sugar
• 2 tsp citric acid
• 1 gallon water
• yeast and nutrient

bring 6 pints of water to boil and dissolve the sugar in it.when sugar is fully dissolved pour ,still boiling, over leaves. let sit overnight and the next day strain into a fermenting jar. add citric acid,nutrient and yeast.shake well. top up with cold water. let it ferment until finished. rack when clear and again in 2 months.

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Technorati Tags : Oak, Wine, Recipe, Making_Wine

Lime Wine

 




2 dozen limes

1lb raisins, chopped

4lbs sugar

1 gallon water

1 tsp yeast nutrient

wine yeast

Peel limes and set aside. Place peels in fermentor. Dissolve sugar in 2 quarts boiling water; pour over peelings and let stand for 24 hours. Squeeze limes. Combine remaining 2 quarts water with raisins and lime juice. Squeeze limes in a separate container. Strain peel-water mixture into raisins and lime juice mixture and discard the peels; add yeast and nutrient, and put entire mixture into fermentor. Ferment for 2 weeks, stirring daily. Strain and pour into secondary fermentor. Age for at least 8 months.

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Technorati Tags : Lime, Wine, Wine_Recipe

Crabapple Wine

• 6 pounds crabapples (about 6 quarts)
  
• water
  
• 2 campden tablets
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pectic enzyme
  
• 1 package wine yeast
  
• 1 teaspoon nutrients
  
• 3 pounds granulated sugar (about 6 3/4 cups)
  
• honey
  

Crush apples -- DO NOT cut seeds open. Place in primary fermentor. Add enough water to cover apples. Crush and stir in campden tablets. Add pectic enzyme and stir well. Let sit overnight. The next day, add yeast and nutrients. Stir. Leave for 5 days, stirring each day.

On the 6th day, strain and discard apples. Add sugar. Make up to one gallon with water. Specific Gravity should be 1.100. Put into secondary fermentor with an airlock.

Three weeks after fermentation has stopped, siphon off the lees. Mix 1/2 cup honey with 1 cup wine. Stir honey mixture back into the wine. Put back into secondary fermentor. Fermentation should begin again. If it does not,add 1/2 teaspoon nutrients.

If you want a sweet wine, repeat the honey addition one or two more times, until fermentation does not start again when honey is added. For a dry wine, Rack every three months and do not add more honey.

When wine is 6 to 12 months old, bottle. Wine is ready to drink one year after the date the batch was started.






Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Crabapple

Eggplant Wine

Sometimes you just get a case of the "blahs" and you really don't feel like posting too much. Well, today is one of those days. I found this recipe while cruising the web and it can also be found at Jack Keller's site. (source)

Enjoy !!

You certainly can. The eggplant is a tropical Old World plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its glossy, ovoid fruit. The fruit, called aubergine in French, have long been used to make a reasonably dry white wine. The fruit must be ripe or the wine will taste woody.

EGGPLANT WINE

• 4 lbs eggplant
• 2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
• 1/2 oz citric acid
• 1/4 tsp tannin
• water to make 1 gallon
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• Chablis wine yeast

Bring 1 gallon water to boil. Meanwhile, slice the fruit thinly. Removing the peeling is optional. Put sliced eggplant and sugar in primary. When water boils, pour over contents of primary and allow to cool to room temperature. Add remaining ingredients and cover with clean cloth. Ferment 3 days, then strain liquid into secondary and fit airlock. Rack every 30 days into sanitized secondary until wine clears and no further sediments are dropped during a 30-day period. Stabilize and rack into bottles. This wine improves with age. [Recipe adapted from Leo Zanelli's Home Winemaking from A to Z]

Tech Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Eggplant

Orange Juice Concentrate Wine

This is another recipe that uses store bought juice. Personally, I use 2 cans to a gallon and adjust the sugar by using a hydrometer.


Makes 1 gallon

• one 12 oz. can 100% pure orange juice concentrate
• 1 1/2 lb sugar
• 1 tsp tartic acid
• 1 tsp pectic enzyme
• 1/4 tsp tannin
• 1 gallon water
• wine yeast and nutrient

Add orange juice,sugar and nutrient to 4 pints of water.

Stir to dissolve.

Dissolve tannin in a small amount of boiling water and add.

Top up with 7 pints of water,leaving lots of space in your fermenting jar.

Add pectic enzyme and yeast.

Let ferment 1 week.

Top up to full gallon.

Let ferment until finished.

You can drink this wine right away, but it improves with age.

Serve chilled.

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Technorati Tags : Orange, Juice, Wine, Winemaking, Recipe

Jalapeno Wine

Here's a recipe I'm not sure if I would ever try. It sounds interesting but given my history with hot peppers, I'm not sure if it is worth another stay in the hospital.

Jalapeno Wine

• Jalapeno Peppers 0.75 lb
• Raisins 0.75 lb
• Sugar 1.5 lbs
• Water 1 gallon
• Yeast
• Yeast Nutrient

Chop the raisins and the peppers. Pour boiling water over them and add sugar. Add the yeast and nutrient and stir well. Cover and leave somewhere warm to ferment. After two to three weeks siphon into secondary, leaving the sludge behind. Continue fermenting until dry. Rack again and leave to clear before bottling.

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Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Jalapeno

Canned Cherry Wine

Canned Cherry Wine - Sweet

• 25 14.5oz cans Oregon Pie Cherries
• 9.6 lbs. Sugar (or S.G. to 1.095)
• 2.9 oz. Acid Blend (was adjusted to .5, adjust as required)
• 1 1/4 tsp. Tannin
• 5 tsp. Yeast nutrient
• 20 drops Liquid pectic enzyme
• Campden tablets
• Water to 5.5 Gals.
• Pastuer Red Yeast

Open all cans and strain into a Mesh bag into your primary fermentator. Crush the cherries by hand while in the pale, add the Tannin, Yeast Nutrient and Acid blend (remember adjustment maybe req'd. when using acid blend). Mix 1 gal warm water with sugar to dissolve (again adjustment maybe req'd. to achieve your starting S.G.) it all and pour into pail. Add water to 5.5 gals.
I do not allow to sit overnight, I go ahead and add the yeast at this point and just let it go, this assumes the temp of the must is room temp.
When S.G. reaches 1.040 strain the fruit pulp and press/squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Place 5 crushed Campden Tablets or 1/2 teaspoon potassium metabisulfite powder in your secondary fermentor and siphon the liquid off.
Wait 1 month and add 2 1/2 more campden tablets or 1/4 teaspoon metabisulfite powder into another secondary and re siphon liquid into get leaving as much of the solids behind as possible.
Let sit another 2-3 months and repeat process, if needed do again until wine clears and is stable, taste it, hmmmm. Adjust to your desired sweetness, stabilize and bottle. Wait at least another 6 months to allow some aging to take place then drink up.

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Technorati Tags : Cherry, Wine, Recipe, Making_Homemade_Wine