Winemaking project: Pictures page 6!

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How is that even possible with all the new space??? My inbox is like my house, my garage, my barn....overstuffed!

Running off to start clicking...oh, and my regular email is working now!

 

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I couldn't help it. I started another gallon batch. After reading about mint wine in my new book, and seeing that there was still some mint hanging on in the garden (although a bit pathetic) I just had to try it.

This is frustrating, getting going in this new hobby just as all the FREE stuff is gone. When I think of all those black cherries! All those elderberries! I even know where I could get mulberries....oh, and I wish I'd planted my grapes THIS year to get me a year closer....oh, well, onward and upward!

The recipe called for a quart of slightly packed mint leaves. I got maybe a pint and a half, maybe, of mixed peppermint leaves and a few spearmint leaves. I was able to find quite a few low-growing tips that looked good, but most of the mint was really starting to yellow and turn brown. I also added some small baggies of dried mints from last year's garden.

I put all the mint into a quart of water, brought it to a simmer, and let it steep for a little over an hour. I used another quart of water to make a simple syrup with three pounds of sugar....I cheated, and measured six cups rather than taking out the scale. I added citric acid, three teaspoons, that I'd bought as a beginner cheesemaker and stopped using. The book said it would be much better to use an acid blend in this recipe rather than substituting lemon juice, which competes with the mint. I added another two quarts of cool filtered water to cool the syrup and the tea so I could get it finished faster.

It is sitting on my counter in the primary fermenting container, waiting on tomorrow's yeast addition. I don't have a gallon jug to ferment it in! Yikes! Well, I have a few days to figure that one out....

 

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I forgot to add the yeast to the mint wine last night, so got it sprinkled on top this morning. It smells heavenly! More like mint candy than mint tea, probably because of all the sugar needed to make alcohol.

I racked my big batch of peach wine last night and measured the specific gravity: 0.995. Seems low. I didn't care for the taste too much. It seemed a bit bland. And like slightly peachy rocket fuel. I started with one five-gallon carboy, a half-gallon milk bottle, and a half-gallon wine bottle of peach, and was able to consolidate it somewhat and get the wine bottle out of the mix. I also started a bit less than a quart of vinegar by filtering the dregs through gauze. It is cloudy, but hey, it is free and worth the experiment. It went into the closet next to the wine "vinegar" that is still wine. I think I need to get a fresh mother somewhere.

I just racked the raspberry wine and measured the specific gravity: It is still up there, at 1.030! It tastes....super yummy! Like sweet, freshly picked raspberries with a hint of rocket fuel. Not that I ever tasted rocket fuel. It is a bit harsh yet. I kept syphoning a bit more into my glass for another sip. The raspberries dominated the flavor.

It was in a five-gallon carboy and two one-gallon jugs, although one was not filled all the way and the carboy was a bit low. I have to go back and clean the carboy and the jugs and get it back in there now...it is in the primary with a bag over it while dh uses the kitchen for a few minutes. It is a small kitchen and he is a big man...not safe for me as he backs up without beeping sometimes and I can get smashed. I suspect I will free up a one-gallon jug for my mint wine when I am finished. I have over a quart of cloudy filtered wine in a two-quart canning jar to become vinegar.

I had a little peach and a little elderberry from my first small batches of country wines in my vinegar closet. Both had islands of mold on them. The elderberry smelled sweet, "like flowers" according to dh. The peach smelled like vinegar but was quite moldy. Hmmm.....yup, I think I need a mother of vinegar to give these vinegars a big boost.

 

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Hm. I wonder if I put too much sugar into my mint wine. It is 8 days old today and has been frothy every day...I've been stirring it once a day. Tastes like...mouthwash! Yikes. Good thing it only cost me $1.56 for the sugar and I used a quarter of a packet of yeast for $0.89, plus a few cents worth of citric acid....let's round the total up to $1.80 for the batch.

The specific gravity today was 1.150!!! With a potential alcohol of 14 or so, still! Talk about rocket fuel. I have to get better about measuring the S.G. the first day and adjusting it then. I bet I miscounted the cups of sugar and added too much.

The guy I was supposed to buy carboys from blew me off again. I've been trying to get them for a month. More. He "forgot" our appointment. Sheesh. If they weren't so cheap I'd get them elsewhere.

 

[Emerald]

Many of my meads and wines are high octane! All I can say is that a year in, some of the Rocket Fuel wines I made last year are much tastier this year! The higher the alcohol the longer the aging should be, at least that is what the home brew site claims!
I swear that I made peach flavored paint thinner last fall but this fall-- not bad at all! and in a few years, even better!

 

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That's good to know! I have to build my wine cellar once all the fall work is done and the inside projects commence.

 

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I really wanted to taste mead before making it, but figured I would not get the chance and would just make some....it won't cost much, so it wouldn't be terrible if I hated it....but it takes so long before it is ready. My real concern was that I would love it and would only have a few measly bottles and it would be another year before the next batch was ready.

Well, today a friend who I haven't seen in a couple of years maybe, since she moved across the state, came over for a visit. She brought her dachshund at my urging, and I made a coat for that long weiner dog since it was impossible to find a good warm one that fit her properly. I measured, cut, snipped, did a fitting, snipped, fitted, snipped and stitched, fitted, stitched some more, fitted, stitched on velcro, fitted again...by now the dog would just put her head down when she saw that coat coming at her, poor little dear! But she left with a cute little red fleece coat that went all the way to her tail, and it was lined with red and white plaid fleece...so cute! I forgot to take a picture! :/

Anyways, there is a point to this story. My friend brought me a bottle of mead....and we hadn't even discussed mead at all in advance! She knew I was delving into winemaking, so she thought I'd like to try a honey wine.

It was cinnamon vanilla flavored. I opened it and had a sniff....mmmmmm....and tasted it....oh, my! A wine that I LIKE! Uh-oh! I poured a glass and looked the label over more thoroughly to get any useful information off of it. Of course. What a space-case I am. It was sulfited! I never even considered that...it looked so homemade. Silly me. I didn't drink more than three small sips that tasted reminiscent of oatmeal cookies made with honey. I can't wait to make some. I will be experimenting with several flavors. It was so good!

 

[FarmerDenise]

From what I know about wines, from working in wineries, is that they often do taste more like rocket fuel in the beginning. Aging them mellows that out. A good wine takes a long time :/ but it is worth it

I figured out that you were right about the fuzy stuff on the top of my wine. It does now look like very fine bubbles of yeasty stuff. When I move the bottle, some of it falls to the bottom. It smells really good still. So I know it is not mold.

 

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That is good to know. I don't think I could ever develop a taste for rocket fuel! I've also read that meads take at least a year, more is better.

Glad your wine is not moldy!

 

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Score! Got my carboys with crates today. We had to drive to New York to get them...ten in all, one is for a friend, dad wants two for making beer, and that leaves me with seven! I may sell a couple at a higher price to cover my gas. Or not. Haven't decided yet.

Tomorrow I will start cleaning and disinfecting them. Oh, and the guy I got them from GAVE me two extra crates for free, for the two carboys I already have. These crates are wonderful, as they protect the glass carboy from accidental bumps and breakage. They are hard to lift when full and sweaty....that is referring to either the carboy or the one lifting it!

I have everything I need for a batch of mead, and I just need to decide if it will be plain, spiced, or with fruit. Then I'll take a few minutes to call a few grocery stores to see who will order some Welch's concord grape frozen concentrate for me and I'll try a batch of that. I have carrots and mangels about ready to harvest that are earmarked for wine, too.

Hmmm.....what else? The possibilities are endless! I have empty bottles that are crying to be filled! And I should be able to have them emptied again by next summer, when the fruit possibilities start becoming available again. Strawberries, cherries, mulberries, elderberries, wild grapes........