Thoughts on making home-made wine

[Janet Jinkner]

Anybody besides me and Burs make wine? What kind of wine did you make? How did it turn out?

We've tried just about everything you can think of to make wine around here. Blackberries, elderberries, apples, pears, figs, zucchini, potatoes, and I've tried a couple of flower wines, chamomile and something else, but I don't remember what. I wasn't too much impressed with the flower wines. I would like to try making dandelion wine, but I haven't found a recipe yet that didn't call for raisins. Ewww.. <<shudder>> I don't like raisin wine. I have gotten to the point that I don't like many grape wines at all. They just don't taste right.

Blackberry is kind of the standard around here. Everybody has blackberries. To most folks, blackberries are a weed to be erradicated. At least until the berries are ripe. Around here, blackberries are our kudzu. I've made wine with pure 100% juice, juice mixed with water, and 'second pressings." They all become wine, all with their own tastes, and all of them good. The elderberries, though, make WONDERFUL wine. Just like port. It's only kinda incidental that they tend to mold while they're fermenting. Just pull the mold off. It's fine. Apple wine, though, is dangerous. It's dangerous because it tastes just like kool-aid. You don't recognize that it's got alcohol in it until you start to giggle. Oh, and surprisingly, zucchini wine is delightful. Pretty pal green, tasting like granny smith apples. Just don't tell your friends what you made it with and it'll be alright.

The flower wines were fairly insipid. I won't try them again because there is just not that much to them. The potato wine is where I discovered that I don't like wines made with raisins. Does anybody have a good recipe for potato wine? I'd love to try it again, maybe I'll try it with some dried blackberries or something. Maybe that'll work.

What have you tried, and what did you like or not like about it?

[Laurie]

Hi Janet,
I'm a wine maker too - going on 15 years now. Only I don't like to use much white sugar and so focus on mead (wine made with honey). I'm sorry to hear you don't like raisins in your brew. I have read that raisins are one of the best sources for quick nutrients for your yeast. Some home-brewers use "yeast nutrient" bought at a store - maybe you could substitute this processed sugar for raisins if you really don't want to use them? I always use a handful of raisins for each 5 gallon carboy, myself. Anyway, my favorite meads have been wild plum, elderberry, mulberry, black raspberry, basil, and apple. One of my most amazing was an elderflower champagne - you really should try it again with honey and be sure to let it age for a good long time. Yes, the flavors were subtle compared to fruit, but I found it delightful. I have tried making grape meads, but the grapes in my yard are just not good for this purpose - so they are jelly instead. I will definitely try the zucchini you mentioned since my freezer is full of grated zuke that I am always looking for uses for! My hubby brews beer, and my favorite has been a pumpkin ale.

take care, and brew on!
Laurie

[karen]

Making wine is something I've been wanting to do for several years. This just may be THE year I do it! I am totally intrigued by the things you can make wine from. Potatoes? Zucchini? I must learn more!

[Janet Jinkner]

Hi Laurie, I haven't tried to do anything with honey yet. I may have to try that someday. In the meantime, I've got so many blackberries growing around here that you can hardly walk around without falling over another one. Wouldn't be so bad if they weren't covered in thorns. I think I'll try drying some blackberries and use them instead of raisins in some of those recipes that call for raisins.

Yeah, I've done plum wine also. It was OK, but I wasn't especially turned on by it. The elderberry wine and the zucchini wine were much better than the plum wine. My DH also makes beer. He made a Christmas stout one time that was to die for. Real dark with molasses flavored with ginger and nutmeg. Something like that will really make you love dark beer.

Karen, wine making is really easy. The more you get into it, the more equipment you get to use to make it, but you can start simply if you just want to get a single toe wet. Find a nice 1 gallon jar to start. (We generally use 5 gallon carboys.) You should be able to find a store somewhere near you that has some brew supplies. We only have one near us, and it's a hardware store, so look everywhere. You would want a bubbler and a cork. These are relatively cheap, if you can find them. If not, I've heard of folks using a rubber glove instead. There are also lots of books with recipes. In general, I think we start with 2 lb of sugar per gallon of juice. You really should use wine yeast. We almost always use red wine yeast, but there are also white wine yeasts and champagne yeasts. Before you 'pitch' your yeast, you could use a camden tablet if you wanted to. That will kill all the wild yeasts on the fruit. We usually don't. Also remember, when you pitch your yeast, that yeast loves warm temperatures. Disolve it in warm sugar water before pitching it. To start, put your 1 gallon jar with your juice, sugar, and yeast in a large bucket or basin. The first 24 to 48 hours can be pretty wild and you really don't want it all over the floor. (We have had to search the room for the bubbler and cork after they popped off and hit the ceiling.)

I know that all that is kind of jumbled and confusing, but it really IS easy. It's easier to answer questions about it, though, than to describe everything.

[amygwh]

I haven't yet tried making wine from whole fruit, but I am hoping for a non-drought year to povide enough extra fruit to try it with. I have, though, made a couple of batches of apple wine, from on-sale organic apple juice, and it isn't at all sweet or kool-aid-like. Maybe starting with different apples made the difference. For the apple wine, I use a recipe from Gene Spaziani's book, The Home Winemaker's Companion.

I've made some hilarious wine from Welch's frozen grape juice concentrate, and I will keep making it. The recipe for that came from Jack Keller's website about making wine from wild plants. (if I did that right, a hyperlink showed up; if not, I apologize for the messiness)

[Janet Jinkner]

For fruit wines we don't use a recipe anymore. We start with juice, sugar (~8# per 5 gallon carboy) and yeast. That's all. Each time we rack it over it gets tasted for flavor. We usually add more sugar at this point.

We usually made wine with yellow transparent apples, but we've also made it with gravenstein leavin's. (We crushed the gravensteins for fresh juice, threw all the pomace in a large trash can, covered it with water and added sugar and yeast. It came out OK.) It has all been made with fresh fruit, so I don't know the differences making it from store-boughten juice. We have about 10 or more apple trees on the place and more in the woodlot beside us. We have plenty of apples to play with.

I'm surprised your apple wine came out differently. What did it taste like? I haven't read the book you referenced. What was the recipe?

[amygwh]

The recipe is actually for fresh-squeezed apple juice; it calls for 5 gallons of juice, 6 pounds of sugar (probably why mine is less kool-aid like), 5 tsp acid blend, 1 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient, 1 1/4 tsp epson salts, 10 drops pectic enzyme liquid, 1 1/4 tsp grape tannin, 1 pkg yeast (I used Red Star Montrachet), and 5 campden tablets (to be used later ...). Following this recipe as closely as my supplies will allow (I don't have quite all the additives) yields wine that is nicely dry and just barely apple-y. Since I have used only unfiltered apple juice, it doesn't get crystal clear, or even close, but I really like it.

I am a bit jealous over all your apple trees ;-) In my suburban yard, the sun is in the front, and that is where I've planted my vegetables. If apple trees could produce well in dense shade, I would grow them out in the back yard under the tulip poplar, sweet gum, and red maple trees. I do have blueberries out front in addition to a couple of wild plum trees that haven't done too well in the drought we've had here in Georgia in the last few years. I am hoping this year for more rain, which would help produce enough plums to try making a plum wine. There are elderberries along the creek in my neighborhood, but the birds get them all as they ripen.

[greenmulberry]

This really interests me. I have abundant wild black raspberries here, I think I may try a raspberry wine next year.

I have apple trees, but I am not sure what is the best way to get juice from the apples, do you need special equipment?

[amygwh]

I think people use a special press. I only know because I have read the blog of the Deliberate Agrarian, who has written about his Whizbang Apple Press. A link to his writing about the press is in the sidebar on the right side of his front page.

Janet will know, since she uses juice from her own apples; maybe she will be able to reply soon.

(Hope the hyperlink works--sometimes I end up with a crazy mess of letters and symbols instead of the hyperlink.)

[Janet Jinkner]

You get the juice however you can get the juice. Fresh juice is better/different than cooked juice. We're just not accustomed to the taste of wine from cooked juice. You can use a kitchen juicer for fresh juice, but it takes a bit of work to get enough juice to make wine. A press is nice, if you have one. If you have a grape press, you need to grate up the apples before you press them. Heck, if you have trees full of apples, crush them with a mallet and catch the juice. Do whatever you need to and whatever you can to get the juice.

The bottom line is, get the juice however you can. Experiment until you find something you like. No particular way is wrong if you like the results.

[amygwh]

"however you can..."...what a great answer! Reminds me of when I tried to get the husks off the rice I grew one year. I think, though, that juicing apples will be easier, even if the person whacking those apples will get a bit stickier.

Thanks!

-Amygwh

[Shari]

We made pumpkin wine that tasted like turpentine when it got to the bottling stage.....3 years later it's terrific! I'm going to have to try the zucchini, I always have too many. We made a tropical wine concoction a few years ago that was really good. Cantaloupe, mango, oranges, pineapple and bananas, all together.

[Therese Forbes]

Hi,
I'm new to this site but your message caught my eye. I have never heard of making wine from some of those things you have mentioned...how creative. Have you ever tried making Mead? It is made with honey. I started a company,Honey Glow making things from honey bees since we have been beekeepers for a few years now. One of my thoughts is to try and make Mead. My husband really loves it. The web has a lot of recipes for it. If I do try and make it this year I will pass on my results and recipe if you want it.


Best of luck,
Therese