Winemaking project: Pictures page 6!
- Thread starter freemotion
- Start date
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- #52
freemotion
Food Guru
Finally got the camera out and took some pictures.
Here is the latest project....raspberries in the primary, in the center of my kitchen floor!
The secondaries....all antique jugs! On a cookie sheet to catch any overflow, on a table in my dining room. More like a walk-in pantry than a dining room, I am considering just giving in and making it official.
Here is the latest project....raspberries in the primary, in the center of my kitchen floor!
The secondaries....all antique jugs! On a cookie sheet to catch any overflow, on a table in my dining room. More like a walk-in pantry than a dining room, I am considering just giving in and making it official.
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
They look awesome!
I lucked out and got a 5 gallon carboy, glass, for free from hubby's work-they were gonna throw it out!
and my Mom's best friend had(he passed away last year ) a hubby that was a pack rat and he had 7 glass one gallon jugs that 'we think' were vinegar jugs and they cleaned great! and she just found another one this weekend--only one one empty at the moment, I have to clean and find more wine bottles so that I can start bottling the stuff that is almost a year old! 
I lucked out and got a 5 gallon carboy, glass, for free from hubby's work-they were gonna throw it out!
and my Mom's best friend had(he passed away last year
) a hubby that was a pack rat and he had 7 glass one gallon jugs that 'we think' were vinegar jugs and they cleaned great! and she just found another one this weekend--only one one empty at the moment, I have to clean and find more wine bottles so that I can start bottling the stuff that is almost a year old! - Thread starter
- #54
freemotion
Food Guru
Free carboy.....woohoo!!! I just put the word out for empty wine bottles and had to tell people to stop bringing them pretty quickly. I got something like a hundred within a couple of weeks. One person used to make wine and had boxes and boxes of bottles stored. The occasional bottle still trickles in....I want more swing-tops and I seriously need to find a source of free gallon jugs and jars.
I just put the word out for empty wine bottles and had to tell people to stop bringing them pretty quickly. I got something like a hundred within a couple of weeks. One person used to make wine and had boxes and boxes of bottles stored. The occasional bottle still trickles in....I want more swing-tops and I seriously need to find a source of free gallon jugs and jars.- Thread starter
- #55
freemotion
Food Guru
I stirred the raspberries around 1:30 this afternoon, and they are starting to have a slight wine taste. Tonight when I got home from work, the plastic bag on top was straining from the pressure of the gas inside! It was one, big, tight bubble and the recipe and my notes that were sitting on top were sliding off. I let out the pressure, and two hours later it was bulging again. Some serious fermenting going on in there!
DH went to Whole Foods this morning, so I had him pick up a couple of potatoes for my onion wine recipe. I wanted organic popcorn and they were out, but a customer whispered to him that there was another similar store a couple of towns over that had bulk organic foods that were actually cheaper....so off he went, and got me lots of popcorn and a bunch of organic raisins to use in the wine recipes that call for raisins or grape concentrate. Raisins it is! I just might put more effort into finding wild grapes next year and dry them for these recipes if I like them. Many of the unusual country wine recipes that have no fruit or berries in them call for grapes or raisins to balance the recipe.
I went to two grocery stores, scouting for frozen grape juice concentrate.....where are the frozen juice concentrates? Do they no longer sell these at all???? REALLY?
DH went to Whole Foods this morning, so I had him pick up a couple of potatoes for my onion wine recipe. I wanted organic popcorn and they were out, but a customer whispered to him that there was another similar store a couple of towns over that had bulk organic foods that were actually cheaper....so off he went, and got me lots of popcorn and a bunch of organic raisins to use in the wine recipes that call for raisins or grape concentrate. Raisins it is! I just might put more effort into finding wild grapes next year and dry them for these recipes if I like them. Many of the unusual country wine recipes that have no fruit or berries in them call for grapes or raisins to balance the recipe.
I went to two grocery stores, scouting for frozen grape juice concentrate.....where are the frozen juice concentrates? Do they no longer sell these at all???? REALLY?
They do but you really have to search for them. We have one store that goes after the "country trade" the ones that only come into town once a month or so to shop, he carries a good supply. By the way those giant plastic juice jars make decent fermentors and wine storage jars as long as you do not pressurize them too much and most have easy grip designs,and are light weight when empty. the screw caps will hold up to wine and give less problems than hand done corks. ~gdfreemotion said:I stirred the raspberries around 1:30 this afternoon, and they are starting to have a slight wine taste. Tonight when I got home from work, the plastic bag on top was straining from the pressure of the gas inside! It was one, big, tight bubble and the recipe and my notes that were sitting on top were sliding off. I let out the pressure, and two hours later it was bulging again. Some serious fermenting going on in there!
DH went to Whole Foods this morning, so I had him pick up a couple of potatoes for my onion wine recipe. I wanted organic popcorn and they were out, but a customer whispered to him that there was another similar store a couple of towns over that had bulk organic foods that were actually cheaper....so off he went, and got me lots of popcorn and a bunch of organic raisins to use in the wine recipes that call for raisins or grape concentrate. Raisins it is! I just might put more effort into finding wild grapes next year and dry them for these recipes if I like them. Many of the unusual country wine recipes that have no fruit or berries in them call for grapes or raisins to balance the recipe.
I went to two grocery stores, scouting for frozen grape juice concentrate.....where are the frozen juice concentrates? Do they no longer sell these at all???? REALLY?
- Thread starter
- #58
freemotion
Food Guru
I'll keep looking. Maybe if I find a brand I'd like to use I'll get my local store to order it for me.
I picked up a bunch of local peaches just now, the last of the season, enough to make a five gallon batch.
I missed the honeydew and other melons, but got some watermelons to try a one gallon batch.
Had a glass of the cabernet grape wine last night. It has a nice kick to it, but I just don't like wine, I guess! I didn't have anything in the house to mix it with, so I opened a can of pineapple and added the juice to my glass.
I picked up a bunch of local peaches just now, the last of the season, enough to make a five gallon batch.
I missed the honeydew and other melons, but got some watermelons to try a one gallon batch.
Had a glass of the cabernet grape wine last night. It has a nice kick to it, but I just don't like wine, I guess! I didn't have anything in the house to mix it with, so I opened a can of pineapple and added the juice to my glass.
- Thread starter
- #59
freemotion
Food Guru
(I tried to post this late last night but the forums were down to fix that malware problem, apparently....so here is last night's journal entry
The SG of the raspberry is still high, at 1.070. It needs to be 1.030 before getting strained into the carboy and topped with an airlock. My big primary bucket won't be available for a bit yet....so the peaches are on the porch, waiting and ripening! I spent $16 for the peaches, not sure how many I'll use, but wanted to get that number written down somewhere...this is as gooda place as any!
I am amazed at how cheap it is to make country wines. Even with buying some ingredients.
I made up a gallon batch of watermelon and that gallon of onion that I've been itching to make. The watermelon consisted of juicing a small watermelon and about a half of another one, to get two quarts. Then I added two quarts of water and 1.5 lbs of sugar. Tomorrow I'll add yeast to both batches. I cut up all the rinds for the goats and the pigs, for tomorrow's breakfast. They're gonna be happy!
The onion wine was made by cutting up a half pound each of onions (from my garden, organic methods used) and potatoes, organic from the store, and simmering them in three pints of water. Then I added 2.25 lbs sugar and the rest of the water (two quarts) and let it cool while I coarsely chopped a pound of organic raisins. All went into the glass primary and yeast will be added tomorrow. Both primaries are covered with plastic wrap held in place by a rubber band.
DH came home late from a meeting and was pleased to see the new batches sitting on the counter, and some fresh watermelon waiting for him. He no longer gets stressed by coming in and seeing the chaos when I am in the middle of a project....he asks what I am doing, and makes delighted noises. He's not much of a wine drinker, either, but we both enjoy giving gifts and entertaining and bringing cool hostess gifts when invited out. Also giving gifts of appreciation to friends who help us out or just because we notice they help others. It is fun and I am so excited to be able to afford some major gift-giving! Especially when things are so squeeky tight right now.
Onion wine batch cost:
Onions: free
Potatoes: $1.25
Organic raisins: $3.00
Sugar: $1.17
Yeast: $0.45
Five bottles of wine: $5.77 plus corks....don't know what they cost yet, as we had a bag already and haven't bought more yet. I think this will be a cooking wine, so I will likely bottle it in beer bottles with caps, so there will be no cork cost. We have a bottle capper and lots of caps.
Watermelon wine batch cost:
Watermelons: about $3.00
Sugar: $0.78
Yeast: $0.45
Five bottles of wine: $4.23 plus corks!
Oh, and I mustnt forget about the vinegar batches that can be made from each batch of wine, too. The cabernet vinegar still is not vinegar, but it has only been a couple of weeks.
The SG of the raspberry is still high, at 1.070. It needs to be 1.030 before getting strained into the carboy and topped with an airlock. My big primary bucket won't be available for a bit yet....so the peaches are on the porch, waiting and ripening! I spent $16 for the peaches, not sure how many I'll use, but wanted to get that number written down somewhere...this is as gooda place as any!
I am amazed at how cheap it is to make country wines. Even with buying some ingredients.
I made up a gallon batch of watermelon and that gallon of onion that I've been itching to make. The watermelon consisted of juicing a small watermelon and about a half of another one, to get two quarts. Then I added two quarts of water and 1.5 lbs of sugar. Tomorrow I'll add yeast to both batches. I cut up all the rinds for the goats and the pigs, for tomorrow's breakfast. They're gonna be happy!
The onion wine was made by cutting up a half pound each of onions (from my garden, organic methods used) and potatoes, organic from the store, and simmering them in three pints of water. Then I added 2.25 lbs sugar and the rest of the water (two quarts) and let it cool while I coarsely chopped a pound of organic raisins. All went into the glass primary and yeast will be added tomorrow. Both primaries are covered with plastic wrap held in place by a rubber band.
DH came home late from a meeting and was pleased to see the new batches sitting on the counter, and some fresh watermelon waiting for him. He no longer gets stressed by coming in and seeing the chaos when I am in the middle of a project....he asks what I am doing, and makes delighted noises. He's not much of a wine drinker, either, but we both enjoy giving gifts and entertaining and bringing cool hostess gifts when invited out. Also giving gifts of appreciation to friends who help us out or just because we notice they help others. It is fun and I am so excited to be able to afford some major gift-giving! Especially when things are so squeeky tight right now.
Onion wine batch cost:
Onions: free
Potatoes: $1.25
Organic raisins: $3.00
Sugar: $1.17
Yeast: $0.45
Five bottles of wine: $5.77 plus corks....don't know what they cost yet, as we had a bag already and haven't bought more yet. I think this will be a cooking wine, so I will likely bottle it in beer bottles with caps, so there will be no cork cost. We have a bottle capper and lots of caps.
Watermelon wine batch cost:
Watermelons: about $3.00
Sugar: $0.78
Yeast: $0.45
Five bottles of wine: $4.23 plus corks!
Oh, and I mustnt forget about the vinegar batches that can be made from each batch of wine, too. The cabernet vinegar still is not vinegar, but it has only been a couple of weeks.
noobiechickenlady
Almost Self-Reliant
Whoa, onion wine? You going to make vinegar out of that one or does one drink/cook with onion wine. Sounds interesting, for sure! 
Neato, free!
Neato, free!
