Zucchini Wine

• 4 pounds zucchini
• 3 campden tablets 
• 2 oranges
• 2 lemons 
• 7 cups sugar
• pectic enzyme 
• nutrients 
• 1 package wine yeast 
•  water 

1. Wash zucchini. Leave skin on. Chop zucchini and place in primary fermentor.
2. Wash oranges and lemons. Slice thinly and add to zucchini. 
3. Stir in sugar and nutrients. 
4. Pour 16 cups boiling water over mixture. Stir to dissolve sugar. Let cool. 
5. Add pectic enzyme. 
6. The next day, check specific gravity -- it should be between 1.090 and 1.100.
7. Add yeast. 
8. Stir daily for five days, until frothing stops. Strain. Siphon into secondary fermentor and attach airlock. 

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


 For a sweet wine, rack at three weeks. Add 1/2 cup corn syrup 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 syrup. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle. 


Variations:


1. Instead of granulated sugar, try honey or brown sugar.  
2. For a spiced wine, add 1 ounce fresh ginger root, sliced thin, to the water before boiling it. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes before pouring it over the cucumbers. 


NOTE: This recipe makes 1 gallon of wine. To make a larger batch of wine, just multiply all ingredients by the number of gallons you want except the yeast. One packet of wine yeast is sufficient for up to 5 gallons of wine.


photo by: Jeremy Keith 

Green Tea and Ginger Wine

* 16 teaspoons or teabags of Green Tea
* 1 cup chopped white or golden raisins
* 1 ounce thinly sliced ginger root
* 2 lbs granulated sugar
* zest & juice of 1 lime
* zest & juice of 2 small lemons
* water to 1 gallon
* 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
* 1 pack wine yeast


Boil water and pour over all ingredients but yeast (in primary). When water cools to under 100 degrees F., add activated yeast. When specific gravity drops to 1.015-1.010, strain tea, ginger and zest. Transfer liquid to secondary and attach airlock. Ferment to dryness, rack, top up, and reaffix airlock. Stabilize when clear. Wait 30 days, sweeten if desired, and rack into bottles. Allow 3-6 months to smooth out. 

30 Day Wine

24 oz Welch's frozen concentrated grape juice, thawed
3 cups sugar
water to make up one gallon
1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 1-gallon glass jug.


Mix all ingredients together well with water filling jug to about an inch below the shoulders. 


Cover with a clean rag secured with rubber band. 


Keep in a dark place about 70 degrees. 


About 2 weeks later replace rag with a good thick piece of plastic wrap. 


After 30 days from starting date, siphon wine off from sediment in bottom and drink. 

Dried Cranberry Wine

* 1 lb dried, unsulfited cranberries
* 2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
* 1 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* 1/8 tsp tannin
* 1 crushed Campden tablet
* water to one gallon
* 1 pkt Lalvin RC212 (Bourgovin) wine yeast

Chop the cranberries or run them through a mincer.

Place in primary and add one quart warm water.

Stir in crushed Campden tablet.

Cover and set aside 12 hours.

Add pectic enzyme, recover primary and set aside another 12 hours.

Meanwhile, bring remainder of water to boil and stir in sugar until completely dissolved.

Cover sugar and allow to cool to room temperature.

When 12-hour pectic enzyme treatment is complete, combine remaining ingredients in primary and add sugar water.

Stir well and cover primary.

Stir twice daily for 7 days.

Strain out cranberries, rack liquid into secondary and fit airlock.

Rack every 60 days for 6 months, topping up and refitting airlock each time.

Stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10-14 days, and rack into bottles.

Store in cool, dark place for additional 6 months.


Source: Jack Keller