Dried Apricot Wine

Photo by: Itinerant Tightwad

6 lb. dried apricots, 

2 oranges, 

3 ½ lb. sugar, 

9 pts water, 

1 oz. Yeast, 

1 tablespoonful of freshly made tea.

Put the apricots in the fermenting vessel with the cut-up oranges and their peel. Fold the orange peel and squeeze to get as much oil out of it as you can.

Boil two pounds sugar in seven pints water for two minutes and pour over the fruits while still boiling. Allow to cool and add the yeast.

Cover as directed and ferment for ten days, crushing by hand each day and covering again at once.

After ten days, strain and wring out as dry as you can and put the strained liquor in the gallon jar. Boil the remaining sugar in the last two pints of water for two minutes and when cool add to the rest, and then add the tea.

Cover as directed or fit fermentation lock and leave until all fermentation has ceased.

 

Clementine Wine

photo by: Free Wine

1 gallon water
24 Clementines
10 Valencia oranges
1 lb extra fine granulated sugar
1 teaspoon citric acid
1 teaspoon pectic enzyme
¼ teaspoon tannin
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 package Champagne wine yeast

Mix sugar and water in large pot. Bring to boil. 

Peel all Clementines and Valencias and save the zest from 10 of the Clementines. 

Section the fruit and remove any pith. Place zest and sections in a nylon mesh straining bag. Close bag with a tie and mash fruit in a primary fermentation container. 

Pour boiling sugar water over fruit and stir. Let liquid cool until room temperature. Add citric acid, pectic enzyme, tannin, and yeast nutrient to container. Cover and let sit for 12 hours. 

Remove cover, add activated Champagne wine yeast, and cover again. Stir daily for 10 days. 

Remove bag from container and pour liquid into secondary fermentation container. Seal with airtight lock lid and ferment. 

Skim froth, as necessary. When froth ceases to form, rack and place into bottles. Rack again every two months for one year. 

Age an additional year before enjoying. 

Concord Wine

Ingredients


6 cups concord grapes
4 cups granulated sugar
1 campden tablet
1 teaspoon nutrients
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 package wine yeast
12 cups water


Method


Crush grapes. The goal here is the break the skin of every fruit to help the juice leach into the water, but not to damage the seeds. Place them in the primary fermentor. Add 12 cups water. Stir in all other ingredients EXCEPT yeast. Let sit for overnight.


Check the specific gravity. It should be between 1.090 and 1.100. Add yeast and mix in well. Cover primary fermentor. Stir daily for five to seven days, until frothing ceases.


Strain into secondary fermentor, squeezing out as much liquid as possible from the grapes, and attach airlock. Finish as for dry wine or sweet wine below.


Finishing


For a dry wine, Rack in two weeks and return to secondary fermentor. Rack again in one month, and then every month until 6 months old. Bottle.


For a sweet wine, rack at two weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every four weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every month until clear. Bottle.


This wine will be ready to drink in 6 to 8 months. Use it all before it is 2 years old.

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

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

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.

---

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

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.

---

Technorati Tags : Cherry, Wine, Recipe, Making_Homemade_Wine

Paw Paw Wine

I don't know what inspired me to post a recipe on Paw Paw wine. Maybe it was because I had one about a year ago and enjoyed the flavor? Or, maybe it was because I wanted to post something a little different? Who knows. Well the recipe is listed below and right after that is a little description from Kentucky State University about paw paws.

PAWPAW WINE

* 2-3 lbs ripe pawpaws
* 2 lbs granulated sugar
* 7 pts water
* 1-1/2 tsp citric acid
* 1 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1/2 tsp grape tannin
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast


Put water on to boil. Meanwhile, peel the fruit and cut into pieces. Put fruit in nylon straining bag, tie closed, and place bag in primary. Mash fruit in bag, pour sugar over fruit and, when boiling, pour water over that. Cover primary and set aside to cool. When room temperature, add all ingredients except yeast. Recover and set aside 12 hours. Add yeast. When the must is fermenting vigorously, stir twice daily for 7 days. Drain bag and squeeze gently to extract most juice and flavor, then transfer juice to secondary. Fit airlock and set aside for 2 months. Rack into sterilized secondary, top up and refit airlock. Rack again after 3 months, top up and refit airlock. Check wine for clarity after additional 3 months. If wine has not cleared, fine with gelatin, wait two weeks, and rack into bottles. Age additional 6-12 months.

From Kentucky State University

The pawpaw is the largest edible fruit that is native to the United States. Pawpaws are indigenous to 26 states in the U.S., in a range extending from northern Florida to southern Ontario and as far west as eastern Nebraska. They have provided delicious and nutritious food for Native Americans, European explorers and settlers, and wild animals. They are still being enjoyed in modern America, chiefly in rural areas. There are 27 varieties (Table 1) currently available from more than 50 commercial nurseries in the U.S.

Most enthusiasts agree that the best way to enjoy pawpaws is to eat them raw, outdoors, picked from the tree when they are perfectly ripe. But there are also numerous ways to use them in the kitchen and extend the enjoyment of their tropical flavor beyond the end of the harvest season.

The unique flavor of the fruit resembles a blend of various tropical flavors, including banana, pineapple, and mango. The flavor and custard-like texture make pawpaws a good substitute for bananas in almost any recipe. The common names, 'poor man's banana,' 'American custard apple,' and 'Kentucky banana' reflect these qualities.

Pawpaw's beautiful, maroon colored flowers appear in the spring, and the clusters of fruit ripen in the fall. The Kentucky harvest season is from late August to mid-October. Ripe pawpaw fruits are easily picked, yielding to a gentle tug. Shaking the tree will make them fall off. (If you try this, don't stand under the fruit clusters, and don't say we didn't warn you.) Ripeness can also be gauged by squeezing gently, as you would judge a peach. The flesh should be soft, and the fruit should have a strong, pleasant aroma. The skin color of ripe fruit on the tree ranges from green to yellow, and dark flecks may appear, as on bananas. The skin of picked or fallen fruit may darken to brown or black.

Fully ripe pawpaws last only a few days at room temperature, but may be kept for a week in the refrigerator. If fruit is refrigerated before it is fully ripe, it can be kept for up to three weeks, and can then be allowed to finish ripening at room temperature. Ripe pawpaw flesh, with skin and seeds removed, can be pureed and frozen for later use. Some people even freeze whole fruits.

Pawpaws are very nutritious fruits. They are high in vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, and manganese. They are a good source of potassium and several essential amino acids, and they also contain significant amounts of riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc. Pawpaws contain these nutrients in amounts that are generally about the same as or greater than those found in bananas, apples, or oranges.

Tags : Wine, Winemaking, pawpaw

Pear Wine

Every wonder what to do with all the pears that your neighbor just dropped off?  Instead of just eating them or throwing them away, why not make a batch of pear wine?  Here is a recipe that makes 1 gallon.

• Pears 4/5 lbs.
• Sugar 2 lbs.
• Potassium Sorbate (as directed for your style)
• Citric Acid
• Water 1 gallon
• Pectic Enzyme
• Wine yeast
• Yeast nutrient

Chop up the pears and place into a large fermenting bin.

Add the sugar and citric acid to the bin and then boil the water and pour in.

Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved then leave to cool.

Once cool, add the pectic enzyme, stir and leave for 24 hours.

Add the yeast and nutrient and then place in a warm place.

Stir daily for 5 days then rack off into a carboy and fit a bung and airlock.

Rack off for the first time after 3 months.

Prior to bottling, add the potassium sorbate to stabilize and prevent additional fermentation.

---

Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Pear

Cranberry Wine

 

Here's an idea for a holiday wine since cranberries are usually abundant in the next couple of months.  I tried a local winery's cranberry wine and it was excellent.  Think I'll make a batch for Christmas.

 

• Cranberries 1 lb
• Water 1 Gallon
• Sultanas (minced) 1.5 lb
• Sugar 2 lb
• Yeast
• Yeast Nutrient
• Citric Acid 0.5 tsp

Place the minced sultanas in a fermenting bin and cover in 2 litres of boiling water.

 

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

 

Add the acid and allow to cool.

 

Cover the cranberries with boiling water and crush all of the berries.

 

Pour into the fermenting bin and allow to cool.

 

Once cooled, add the pectic enzyme and stir well.

 

Cover and leave to stand for 24 hours.

 

Add the yeast and nutrient and stir well and then cover and move to a warm place to ferment.

 

After 10 days, strain off into a carboy and fit a bung and airlock and then leave in a warm place to ferment out.

 

Clear and bottle the wine as usual once fermentation has completed.

 

---

Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Cranberry

Powered By Qumana

Gooseberry Wine

Green Gooseberry Wine(one gallon)

• 5 lb ripe green gooseberries
• 2 lb sugar
• 6-7 pints water
• yeast nutrient
• yeast
• pectic enzyme

or a lighter version

• 2 1/2 lb gooseberries
• 2 lb sugar
• 1 campden tablet
• 1/2 tsp acid blend
• 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1/4 tsp grape tannin
• 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 1 gallon water
• wine yeast

starting specific gravity should be 1.080-1.085,acid .65%

top,tail and wash the berries,put into a large bucket and squeeze by hand until they are pulpy. add the enzyme and water.(for lighter version add campden tablet,let sit 12 hrs,then add the rest of the ingredients except the yeast) allow to stand for 3 days,well covered,stir occasionally. strain then add the sugar(in lighter version this is already done),stirring until it is dissolved. then add the yeast and yeast nutrient. put into fermenting bottle until fermentation has finished.rack then rack again in 6 months. age for 1 year.
This little tidbit was taken from a New York State 4H website that tells you what a goosebeery is.

What about it?
The gooseberry is a close relative of the currant, and its culture is very similar. There are white, green, yellow and red-fruited varieties; most are slightly smaller or about the same size as a table grape. Although gooseberries are not popular in this country, they have some very nice characteristics! In addition to being a tasty, easy-to-grow fruit, gooseberries can be an effective barrier plant (nobody would walk through those thorns!) and are one of the few fruits that tolerate shade. They grow to 3-5 feet and have small, attractive, palmate leaves.
If you want more info, check out their website.

---

Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Gooseberry

Pear Wine

Pears are plentiful this time of the year.  Some of your friends and nieghbors may have tried pawning off a bunch to you.  Do what I do, accept them and then begin to make them into wine.  This is a simple recipe for pear wine and one that you should enjoy making.

 

Traditional Pear Wine Recipe

1 gallon water
5 lbs very ripe pears
1 lb raisins
2 lbs ultra fine sugar
1 ½ teaspoons acid blend
½ teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 package wine yeast

Boil water in large pot. Chop pears and place in primary fermentation container. Add the sugar and citric acid to the container. Pour water over fruit and stir until sugar has dissolved. Let cool until room temperature. Add the pectic enzyme and let liquid rest for 1 day. Add the yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, and place in warm, dark location. Stir daily for 1 week. Rack into secondary fermentation container. Seal with airlock. Rack into bottles in 3 months. Let rest for at least one year.

Note:  I usually post on Mondays, but decided to not post on September 11th.  I felt it was more important to remember that day than to post on the blog.

---

Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Pear, Recipe

Powered By Qumana

Apple Wine

Hey, apple time is just around the corner.  Actually, in some spots you can get them fresh now.  This is a nice one to serve on Thanksgiving along with a dash of cinnamon.

16 cups apples, cored and chopped 2 pounds raisins 1 cinnamon stick (optional) 4 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon yeast nutrients 1 1/2 teaspoon acid blend 1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme 1 campden tablet 1 gallon water, hot 1 package wine yeast (for 1 to 5 gallons)

Place fruit in primary fermentor. Pour boiling water over it. Let sit overnight.
24 hours later, add balance of ingredients. Stir to dissolve sugar. Stir daily for 5 to 6 days or until frothing ceases. Strain out fruit and squeeze as much juice out of it as you can. 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 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.
If wine is not clear, or still has quite a bit of sediment forming between rackings, Fine the wine as follows.
Use wine finings or plain gelatin. Gelatin: use 1 teaspoon per 6 gallons of wine. Finings: 1/2 teaspoon per 5 gallons or as per package directions. Soak in 1/2 cup cold water for 1/2 hour. Bring to a boil to dissolve. Cool. Stir into wine. Let sit 10 to 14 days. Rack. If not clear enough yet, repeat process. DO NOT increase amount of gelatin or finings. The mixture will stay suspended in the wine, preventing it from ever clearing. Bottle once wine is clear.
The wine is best if you can refrain from drinking it for one full year from the date it was started.
NOTE: The best apples to use are tart apples such as winesap, jonathans, etc and not the delicious apples.

---

Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Apple, Recipe

Concord Wine Recipe

I read an article in the paper today about how good the grape crop will be in and around the Lake Erie area.  So, I fiqured I would dust of this old recipe for one of my Concord Wines.  This was quite the learning experience, using actual grapes, but in the long run it was worth it.  If I could do it over again, I would not have made juice out of a portion of them.  Live and Learn.

This recipe is the first time that I used actual grapes to make wine. I picked the grapes at my bosses's father's house on an October afternoon. October 2003 was not a real good year for grapes in my area, so they were more tart then sweet. I did eventually add a couple container's of Welch's Grape Juice to the must, but that was after the original had mostly fermented. This wine ended up being an average wine.

Ingredients:
40 Pounds Concord Grapes
7 1/2 Pounds Sugar
6 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient
2 Packs Pasteur Red Yeast

First time using real grapes, we crushed 20 pounds cold and made juice out of the other half by heating them
Racked October 5, 2003 to primary fermenter

Racked October 17, 2003 and added 33 oz Welchs Frozen Grape Juice Concentrate along with 1 cup sugar to top off

Still a work in progress, tasted in December and it still has a high acid factor

Update:  This wine did turn out decent, just took about a year.

---

Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Concord, Recipe

Apple Wine

6 cups apples, cored and chopped 2 pounds raisins 1 cinnamon stick (optional) 4 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon yeast nutrients 1 1/2 teaspoon acid blend 1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme 1 campden tablet 1 gallon water, hot 1 package wine yeast (for 1 to 5 gallons)

Place fruit in primary fermentor. Pour boiling water over it. Let sit overnight.
24 hours later, add balance of ingredients. Stir to dissolve sugar. Stir daily for 5 to 6 days or until frothing ceases. Strain out fruit and squeeze as much juice out of it as you can. 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 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.
If wine is not clear, or still has quite a bit of sediment forming between rackings, Fine the wine as follows.
Use wine finings or plain gelatin. Gelatin: use 1 teaspoon per 6 gallons of wine. Finings: 1/2 teaspoon per 5 gallons or as per package directions. Soak in 1/2 cup cold water for 1/2 hour. Bring to a boil to dissolve. Cool. Stir into wine. Let sit 10 to 14 days. Rack. If not clear enough yet, repeat process. DO NOT increase amount of gelatin or finings. The mixture will stay suspended in the wine, preventing it from ever clearing. Bottle once wine is clear.
The wine is best if you can refrain from drinking it for one full year from the date it was started.
NOTE: The best apples to use are tart apples such as winesap, jonathans, etc and not the delicious apples.

---

Technorati Tags : Apple, Wine, Recipe