hootch.....

[cheepo]

This summer I have gotten into wine making...
mainly fruits...but have a few interesting recipies...
this past weekend we had extended family staying in a near by
campground...and brought some recently bottled strawberry rhubarb..
and raspberry....and they were a hit...over the supplied..storeboughts on the table...
was so very satisfying that not only i had managed to create alcohol but that it was enjoyed...
i am hooked...
and haven't minded the stares...of my sugar special filled cart...

wondering of others successes and tips...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I tried wine making once. Used bottled grape juice, added yeast and sugar, put a balloon on top and absolutely nothing happened! I'd like to try it again, but am a little wary of it.... I hate failure!

Congrats on your success!

 

[cheepo]

the first time i tried....tons unfortunately ended up going down the drain...told hubby we will never speak of this again....
first advice...(not that i know much) but if you use campdeen tablets crush dissolve and let sit in the mixture 24 hours that takes care of bacteria spoiling...
and in my case...i had just added the yeast...and figure the mixture was too hot...and temperature can play a part...
is best to start the yeast separate..and then add when you know it is alive...and i added yeast nutrient...to keep the process going..
and apparently champaigne yeast...can restart a batch that isn't..brewing...
hope this may be helpful for next time...

 

[k15n1]

I tried wine making once. Used bottled grape juice, added yeast and sugar, put a balloon on top and absolutely nothing happened! I'd like to try it again, but am a little wary of it.... I hate failure!

Congrats on your success!

Bottled juice is usually treated with a sorbate or other antifungal. It's a rookie mistake. I know because I did that 2 years ago!

If you keep everything clean, you can make good wine for not too much. And it's legal.

Concentrating it with a pressure cooker and misc copper plumbing is illegal

 

[Britesea]

You could concentrate it the way they did in Denmark in the old days, if it gets cold enough where you live. A friend of mine had family there that had been farming the same land since the 1500's and they still had all the old farm journals (how cool is that!). Apparently the way they kept track of how cold it got in winter was to have a barrel of wine in the yard, and every morning they would measure and remove the ice and record it. As the winter went on, there would be less and less water in the wine barrel so that by springtime, they had eau de vie! Can't help wondering if something like this is how people came up with the idea of distilling in the first place?

 

[k15n1]

Apparently that's a traditional way of making hard cider harder. And I understand that it's illegal in the USA. Silly, but true. I suspect that it would be difficult and costly to enforce laws like that. If you never sell it, don't make large amounts, and keep it quiet, I doubt that it'd be a problem. But technically, it's illegal.

 

[cheepo]

sounds very interesting britesea...hadn't heard of that....But I saw a video on utube...where they froze wine...then spun it in a lettuce dryer...and the small amounts left are liquor....would be so cool to have a peek at those farm journals...
I also have a large jar with fruit, and completely cover with sugar, store in a dark place for 6 months...and you are supposed to have a brandy type liquid...mine won't be ready till February, so cant say if it works...

k15n1...I know the laws change...for folks using a distiller...but really would be surprised, and apaled if it applied to natural ingenuity, shouldn't be a crime to remove ice...but who knows...have heard stranger things..,,

 

[~gd]

You could concentrate it the way they did in Denmark in the old days, if it gets cold enough where you live. A friend of mine had family there that had been farming the same land since the 1500's and they still had all the old farm journals (how cool is that!). Apparently the way they kept track of how cold it got in winter was to have a barrel of wine in the yard, and every morning they would measure and remove the ice and record it. As the winter went on, there would be less and less water in the wine barrel so that by springtime, they had eau de vie! Can't help wondering if something like this is how people came up with the idea of distilling in the first place?

If they did like you say they did their record of cold weather woulld not work very well Every time you remove the ice the alcohol content {%] would go up and the freezing point would go down. That is how apple jack is produced around where I grew up. Apples>cider>hard cider> outdoors in winter - ice =apple jack Still illegal unless you have a permit and pay the tax on alcoholic beverages.

 

[Britesea]

Their records were accurate enough for their uses, gd; they didn't use measurements like Farenheit or Celsius- they were comparing the amounts of ice to what it was at the same time in previous years. Remember, they were using farm records that were hundreds of years old. They knew perfectly well that the water content was going down!

My friend also told me about how he helped them demolish an old shed they had that turned out to be insulated with newspapers from the early 1800's, as well as old books and even a bible. Many of them were still very readable. His uncle called the museum curator in the big city and asked if they were interested in the papers and books. The journey from the city to their farm usually took 3 hours but he made it in a little under 2 hours, lol. While he was there, drooling over that, they asked him if he was interested in some of the oldest farm journals- they only wanted the ones that went back 100 years. My friend thought the curator was going to wet himself, lol.

 

[~gd]

Their records were accurate enough for their uses, gd; they didn't use measurements like Farenheit or Celsius- they were comparing the amounts of ice to what it was at the same time in previous years. Remember, they were using farm records that were hundreds of years old. They knew perfectly well that the water content was going down!Sorry but I still don't get what the records were for if they were really removing the ice. If they were returning the ice that makes more sense BTW my father had records of ice thickness that went back to 1812 but they were military not farm records It was known that if the ice was thick enought the Redcoats could not get their small ships close enough to use their cannons but if it was too thick foot solders could land using the ice. We didn't have cannons on site but had plenty of farm boys that could use a rifle. The records are now in the U.S. War of 1812 museum

My friend also told me about how he helped them demolish an old shed they had that turned out to be insulated with newspapers from the early 1800's, as well as old books and even a bible. Many of them were still very readable. His uncle called the museum curator in the big city and asked if they were interested in the papers and books. The journey from the city to their farm usually took 3 hours but he made it in a little under 2 hours, lol. While he was there, drooling over that, they asked him if he was interested in some of the oldest farm journals- they only wanted the ones that went back 100 years. My friend thought the curator was going to wet himself, lol.