Any Wine Makers Among Us

[Redoverfarm]

Does anyone on the board make wine.  No just because I am from WV I don't mean the kind you make with corn.  I usually don't make that much at a time and use a fairly simple brewing process. Gallon glass jug, grapes (fruit) sugar, water and yeast.  I just put a couple gallons on this evening from grapes I froze last fall.  Funny they were the same kind with a weeks difference with their age but they were different in settling. One gallon they stayed midpoint and the other sank to the bottom. Either the ripeness or sugar content I guess? I'll let you know how they turned out in about 6 weeks. 

[MountainDon]

I haven't made wine in many years John. Probably the grapes sugar level is my guess though.

[glenn kangiser]

I used to make it.

A friend told me of making a gallon of regular grape juice from frozen concentrate.  Put a balloon over the top it will expand when fermenting then go down.  When it is deflated it is ready to drink.  Harder than buying a jug of Ripple though.

[muldoon]

I make beer and mead and have a friend into wines.  I'm looking into getting some mustang grape starters myself for next spring. 

Anyway, curious if the grapes were at the same temperature when you added them?  If one batch was more frozen, it would contain more ice in the fruit which would increase buoyancy.  The fruit is mostly water inside after all. 

Another possibility would be the sugar level, but the difference needed is not likely achieved in winemaking unless you made syrup. Do you have a hydrometer or method to test the original gravity?  If not you should consider adding this, it will help tell you when fermentation is actually complete instead of just stuck.  If you don't properly ferment out the sugar to the yeasts ability to ferment you run the risk of restarting fermentation in bottles.  That can lead to bottle bombs that do not handle the pressure from co2 buildup. 

Out of curiosity, what yeast did you use?  Do you save yeast from one batch to the next in the freezer? 

[Redoverfarm]

Muldoon this is pretty low keyed operation.  I use just regular yeast.  The grapes were thawed out.  Checked them out this morning and they are the same.  Starting to work.  I use a cork & clear tubing which I run into a quart jar of water. 

Yeah glenn it is probably cheaper just to buy but I wouldn't get the good stuff.  I know exactly what is in there and am assured it hasn't been tainted. 

Half the fun of doing something is to " see if I can do it" .

[glenn kangiser]

There ya go, John.

[peternap]

It's been years John. Somewhere I have a keg and air lock and other stuff. The simple truth is I don't drink much and a gallon would last 10 years.

Muldoon, I have thought of making mead but couldn't find a recipe for it.

[Daddymem]

http://www.hbd.org/brewery/cm3/CatsMeow3.html

voila

[MountainDon]

The vinting of wine, brewing of beer and ale... it's all done for the fun a of it and the ability to say that it's "yours".

[peternap]

http://www.hbd.org/brewery/cm3/CatsMeow3.html

voila

Thanks DM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Redoverfarm]

Just in time for Christmas.  I took off a gallon of blackberry today.  A little sweet but good.  I have about 4 gallons in stock now so I will wait until the summer to start anymore.  Some is good and some not as good but I haven't found one that is bad.   Still have a concord which was started sometime after the old house (barn now) was built early 1900's that I haven't tried.  Wild now as it has climbed to the top of several 30-40 feet trees nearby.  They are later than usually and seems to be better just before the frost.  Maybe next year.

[Squirl]

Congratulations on the wine.  I try to ferment anything I can get my hands on. (beer, wine, mead, cider) It goes with one of my favorite other hobbies, foraging.  I like to pick as many wild berries as I can find and make my own wine.

[glenn kangiser]

You can do it from frozen concentrate you get from the store too.  An old contractor taught me how to do it with a balloon over a 1 gallon glass jug - a gallon Ripple jug would be great- the balloon expanded during fermentation and deflated when it was ready to drink.;

[peternap]

That's great John. I did it a long time ago. Might start again if I can get the equipment I need (mostly airlocks I think). I haven't tried the baloon.

I wanted to make some Mead and I think someone here gave me the link or recipe. It got lost in the crash though.

[Redoverfarm]

Peter this is from Daddymen.  They list mead in about umpteen flavors.  The directions and the ingredents are on each one.  Get it ready for summer and I'll be over.  Mine's ready now.



http://www.hbd.org/brewery/cm3/CatsMeow3.html

[Squirl]

I like a blueberry mead.  Airlocks are pretty cheap.  I get them for around $.75 a piece from a local supplier.  I like using the 4L glass wine jugs to ferment in.  They are free, don't leave a taste in the wine, hold a decent amount and it is easy to see when it is done and clear.  Also you can make small batches.  Many people I know use the 6 gallon carboy's but they aren't free and I don't usually make 6 gallon batches.  A short length of hose and you are ready to go.  If you go with the cheap honey you can get a gallon for under $4 with the equipment.

[considerations]

I want to do this - as soon as the house is done and I have a space for it. 

Making beer fascinates me, I don't drink much, but it is an almost universal bartering unit and the knowledge could be handy if the economy keeps getting worse.

[Squirl]

Beer is a lot more difficult and requires a lot more equipment.  You have to worry about converting the carbs to sugars. It can be a pain in the butt to get the malted grains or to malt them yourself.  It's not rocket science, but I would recommend trying mead, wine, or cider first for people to get their fermenting legs first. 

My personal favorite is cider.  I am a big cider fan.  I love finding heirloom apples from colonial times.

[Daddymem]

But beer is sooo good.  About ~$100 plastic pail kit gets you into the game if you want new and don't want to scrounge around.  Have access to carboys and you're all set.
My recent American Pale Ale:

My recent Dry Stout


I plan on trying ciders, cysers, and hard lemonade for the summer.  I have a Hefeweizen to bottle this weekend that smelled and tasted awesome going into the secondary fermenter.

[Squirl]

That is why I recommend wine or mead first.  For beer get the plastic pail kit for $100.  You also need to malt the grains (takes about a week) or you can pay extra and buy malted grain.  You then have to grist the grain.  Then boil the water and parge the grain.  Cool the water.  Add the hops and yeast.

Mead. Add honey to water, then add yeast.  Done.

If I am going to go through all the trouble to ferment grains, it is not usually for beer....

[muldoon]

squirl  - thats not exactly correct.  you can do those things but you dont have to.  that would be like saying to make mead you need to setup the hives, smoke the bees, collect the honey, etc.   beer is not tough.  get big pot, add extract, boil 1 hour with hops.  into 5 gallon bucket let cool off the less than 85, add yeast, airlock and forget about it for 2 weeks.   there is certainly more you can do, but thats enough for some decent brew. 

daddymem- is that an american hefe or a german/bavarian?  what yeast did you use?  I have some belgium witbeir coming up now, need to keg it this afternoon.  (hoegaardenish clone), I also still have the westmalle ish belgium ale still on tap.  soo hard to keep those filled. 

Seems to be some interest in others about brewing, I wonder if any of the people who are new to it would be interested in a forum group brew.  we all get a set of ingredients and follow the same procedure at roughly the same time (same weekend anyway) and can ask questions and learn as you go along.   we can do beer, wine or a mead.  I'm up for it if anyone else is. 

[Squirl]

squirl  - thats not exactly correct.  you can do those things but you dont have to.  that would be like saying to make mead you need to setup the hives, smoke the bees, collect the honey, etc.   beer is not tough. 

I agree beer is not tough, just not as easy.  You can always walk into a homebrew shop and buy a wine concentrate and skip the boiling and yeast stage.  It all depends on what you want.  I was never much of a beer drinker.  The cost of the setup and extract to brew your own, it was cheaper for me to go down and buy a beer.

[muldoon]

I agree beer is not tough, just not as easy.  You can always walk into a homebrew shop and buy a wine concentrate and skip the boiling and yeast stage.  It all depends on what you want.  I was never much of a beer drinker.  The cost of the setup and extract to brew your own, it was cheaper for me to go down and buy a beer.

I can understand that.  For beers like budlite, sure just buy it.  But I dont like bud, or coors, or miller, or any of the commercial light lagers.  When I buy beer, it is usually from europe and it's not cheap.  When the 6pack is 10 bucks it tends to get pretty far down on the shopping list.  So I brew, 5gallons for 25 bucks is doable for me. 

One thing I like about beer is the quick turnaround time.  I can go from brew day to keg in 10 days, and drinkable in 14.  Wines really are 6 month+ start to drinkable, meads, 2-3 years. 

[Squirl]

Good point on the turn around.  I keep large shelves occupied waiting for all the wines and ciders I have to be done.  For beer I prefer domestic.  We have some pretty great local brews very cheap ($12 a case) and sometimes free (friends with the owner). 

[Daddymem]

Muldoon
Bavarian Hefeweizen with WLP300 yeast.  Extract with specialty grains. 

Mead is fairly easy, as is cider, but when you want a beer, neither will do and I want beer far more often than mead or cider.  Also there are soooo many directions to go with beer on types, style of brew, flavors, methods, etc.  The possibilities of yummy beverages are endless!  I do enjoy a nice glass of wine now and then and I may try it at home sometime someday.

I'm attending a partigyle brew of an Imperial IPA the 25th and we are all going home with some of the wort to ferment and dry hop as we see fit then we'll meet with the finished product and sample.  Should be fun.