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Wine making
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Hillbilly View Drop Down
Scullery Servant
Scullery Servant


Joined: 13 February 2010
Location: Kings Creek, NC
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    Posted: 13 February 2010 at 13:30
I have made my own wines since Granddad taught me (while dodging dinosaurs).
 
Anybody here doing it as well?  According to an ATF agent, here in the USA as long as we don't make over a certain amount and do not sell ANY we can make beer or wine for our own personal consumption.  Still cannot distill and "hard liquors" ever without going through a bunch of red tape and becoming a licensed distillery Wink.........
 
Last summer I took (from my garden):
 
25 pounds sweet Cherries (Juice and pulp)
1 Gallon Blackberry Juice (frozen from spring squeezing)
10 pounds Blueberries (juice with pulp)
10 pounds table sugar
One packet Montrachat yeast
 
I put the cherries and blueberries in a mesh bag and mashed them into the primary fermenter and took the bag out before secondary fermenting.
 
Primary and secondary Fermented, racked, bottled, etc.
 
Took 22 weeks to ferment and settle completely and then bottle. 
 
It's fairly dry and decent.
 
I didn't get this big LOOKIN at food.
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Joined: 25 January 2010
Location: Chinook, MT
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Points: 9389 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 February 2010 at 13:32
that does sound good, hillbilly.
 
i've made some wines with cans of concentrated grape and apple juice. they tasted fine but i knew that they were nowhere near as good as the "real thing."
 
i've also made some potato wine. interesting stuff and it's fun to watch it ferment!
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Hillbilly View Drop Down
Scullery Servant
Scullery Servant


Joined: 13 February 2010
Location: Kings Creek, NC
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Points: 13 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hillbilly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 February 2010 at 13:40

The "windfall" apples and any culled fruits as long as they're not bruised up or rotten make for good wines.  An orchard near here sells us some of its #2 or #3 grade apples for $8.00 a bushel because they're not pretty, have a worm hole or two, or are just a little "rough".  They make for some good applesauces, juice, AppleJack, etc.

We take a trip to SC early every summer and bring back 20-30 bushel of cull peaches just to ferment.  It costs us about as much in gas as the peaches cost.
 
I didn't get this big LOOKIN at food.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 February 2010 at 07:56
Nice recipe hillbilly, thanks for an interesting post to the forum. I've made beer about 10 years ago- turned out well and did it for about a year or two.  Also made grain alcohol in chemistry (back when dinosaurs roamed....) but never wine. This sounds pretty tasty.
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Hillbilly View Drop Down
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Joined: 13 February 2010
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Ahh...good ole grain alke-haul.  Some ole boys around here still make it to sell in mason jars.

Another one is to take...
 
50 pounds of Muscadine grapes (fox grapes)-put in a cheesecloth sack and mash up
15 pounds of sugar
One pkt. Montrachat yeast
Before transferring to secondary fermenter take out the cheesecloth bag and wring it out good and discard the contents (unless distilling grappa)
Secondary ferment
Taste a bit and add more sugar if needed and re-ferment
Throw in a handful of white oak chips (you can sterilize them in foil in the oven at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes and let them cool completely-throw the foil wrapper away)
Wait until the liquid has nothing floating in it
Rack and bottle
 
OR
 
 
 
If elderberries grow wild in your area
(DON'T CONFUSE THEM WITH CHOKEBERRIES)
Use 3 of the 5 gal. buckets full mash them up
About 25 pounds of strawberries - juiced 
put the elderberries in a cheesecloth bag and into the primary with all the juice
20 pounds of sugar
1 pkt. wine yeast (I've used about all of them in this and they work)
After about 7 days transfer liquid into secondary fermenter
Wait until it's clear
Bottle it.
 
Peach wine makes dandy Brandy!!!
I could go into distilling, but since it's just a tad illegal, I won't offend the forum owners.
 
 
I didn't get this big LOOKIN at food.
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Joined: 15 September 2010
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Originally posted by Hillbilly Hillbilly wrote:

 
Anybody here doing it as well?  According to an ATF agent, here in the USA as long as we don't make over a certain amount and do not sell ANY we can make beer or wine for our own personal consumption. 
 
I make Wine, Beer and Soda...
 
SHHHHHH, even tried making some of those other alcoholic beverages...
 
I buy all my needed supplies from a Wine, Beer,Soda Store here in Central PA  http://www.scotzinbros.com/index.php
 
They have their own Wine Recipe booklet (which I have) and it explains Everything, word meaning, Laws, How to;s and the Recipes...
 
In it, it states, 200 gallons or Less a Year for home Consumption and goes on to explain that the law was made after Prohabition in 1933 and has been in the law books since..
 
As long as you make less then 200 gallons and do not sell it, you do not need to submit a Tax Form or Submit for a License to the US Govrnment...
 
Between Beer and Wine, I make about 100 to 125 gallons a year...
 
I've Never read indepth into the Law, but in the Recipe Booklet, it says "Can not Barter, Sell or Trade"
 
I give Wines out for Christmas Presents and also some beer from time to time and make Beer for a Buddy and I's Birthday Pig Roast we have each summer...
I've wondered for a few years if those things are legal to do under the 200 gallon law..
 
Not exactly Trading the Beers and Wines, BUT you know how the Good Ole Govrnment does things...most likely they have a definition that Giving as Gifts is a No No!
 
 
I'm working on a Maple Syrup Wine right now...1 gallon just as a Test run... My Wife's Cousin in Upstate New York, Taps Maple Trees each spring and makes 100s of  gallons of Maple Syrup each spring.
I got 1.5 gallons of Syrup from him last month and used half a gallon to try a wine out...
 
half gallon maple syrup
2 pounds sugar
1 teaspoon yeast nutriant
Spring water to level off at 1 gallon
1 gram wine yeast
 
it has been working for a month now and looks pretty good in the 1 gallon Jug, time will tell if it comes out tasting good!
 
My Wife's Cousin sells maple syrup to a Winery that is Close to him...they buy 50 -75 gallons of maple syrup and make a maple syrup wine...It comes out pretty good...I'm hoping from what my Wife's Cousin told me about how the local winery makes their maple syrup wine, that mine comes out pretty good...can not find any maple syrup wine recipes, all the recipes I've found call for using the straight Sap from the tree before it is cooked down to make syrup!
 
 
 
 
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Joined: 15 September 2010
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Originally posted by Hillbilly Hillbilly wrote:

 

 
50 pounds of Muscadine grapes (fox grapes)-put in a cheesecloth sack and mash up
WOWShockedShocked
 Someone who Knows what a Fox Grape is!!  Clap
 
I have a few places I pick from each fall....nice big grapes...not many around here in PA know what a Fox Grape is!
 
I also have had owners of Wineries tell me they had no clue what a fox grape was!
 
hillbilly,
You would not happen to know what kind of grapes get Pink when Ripe?
 
I happened to find an old Vineyard about 5 -7 years ago while out picking the wild fox grapes...just happened to push behind a mess of fox grapes, had to push thru green briers and weeds to get behind those fox grapes to keep picking and found an old vineyard that was hidden by all the weeds and green briers and fox grape vines...
In it, I found, Concord, Niagra, Deleware grapes and then those pink grapes...I've tried to find out what kind they are and no one seems to know...
They are about the Size of a Fox Grapes, bigger then concords and are a deep pink/red color when ripe and are VERY SWEET..
 
They made a nice wine, each year I picked them!
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 September 2010 at 18:42
Originally posted by woodywoodduck woodywoodduck wrote:

......You would not happen to know what kind of grapes get Pink when Ripe?
 
I happened to find an old Vineyard about 5 -7 years ago while out picking the wild fox grapes...found an old vineyard that was hidden by all the weeds and green briers and fox grape vines...
In it, I found, Concord, Niagra, Deleware grapes and then those pink grapes...I've tried to find out what kind they are and no one seems to know...
They are about the Size of a Fox Grapes, bigger then concords and are a deep pink/red color when ripe and are VERY SWEET..
 
They made a nice wine, each year I picked them!
 
Woody, since it was a vineyard the grapes are not wild and probably have not yet had time to cross pollinate too much or mutate. Here is a pic of a Gewurztraminer grape. It is very pink and VERY sweet, its high sugar content making it perfect for growing in areas with shorter summers, like Europe.
 
 
The giveaway though, is that the gewurztraminer grape has a distinct spicy scent to it, very appealing. Did you get any of that smell? Since we don't know the age of the vineyard, the cross polination may have already evolved the scent from the grapes, especially since so close to concords and niagaras. Here's another pic of gewurztraminer. Do they look about the right size compared to the leaves?
 
 
Another and probably more likely variety are the Catawbas. They are very popular in Virginia, and in Missouri and make a nice sweet wine. This is what they look like:
 
 
Hope this helps!
 
 
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Points: 45 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote daniel77 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 September 2010 at 18:56
My grandfather used to make muscadine wine (heard em called possum grapes, but never fox grapes). Paw Paw was from the "more is better" school and would add Everclear to increase the alcohol % (we are in South Louisiana after all). His wine would warm you up as it went down, like sipping straight Scotch. He made sweet wines, not dry, which is the way I still prefer them to this day. Thanks for posting and reminding me. I'd say that maybe one day I'll follow suite, but I already have more interests than time so...
If what you're serving comes on a cracker, you'd better have a lot of it.
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Joined: 15 September 2010
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Originally posted by Rivet Rivet wrote:

Originally posted by woodywoodduck woodywoodduck wrote:

......You would not happen to know what kind of grapes get Pink when Ripe?
 
I happened to find an old Vineyard about 5 -7 years ago while out picking the wild fox grapes...found an old vineyard that was hidden by all the weeds and green briers and fox grape vines...
In it, I found, Concord, Niagra, Deleware grapes and then those pink grapes...I've tried to find out what kind they are and no one seems to know...
They are about the Size of a Fox Grapes, bigger then concords and are a deep pink/red color when ripe and are VERY SWEET..
 
They made a nice wine, each year I picked them!
 
Woody, since it was a vineyard the grapes are not wild and probably have not yet had time to cross pollinate too much or mutate. Here is a pic of a Gewurztraminer grape. It is very pink and VERY sweet, its high sugar content making it perfect for growing in areas with shorter summers, like Europe.
 
 
The giveaway though, is that the gewurztraminer grape has a distinct spicy scent to it, very appealing. Did you get any of that smell? Since we don't know the age of the vineyard, the cross polination may have already evolved the scent from the grapes, especially since so close to concords and niagaras. Here's another pic of gewurztraminer. Do they look about the right size compared to the leaves?
 
 
Another and probably more likely variety are the Catawbas. They are very popular in Virginia, and in Missouri and make a nice sweet wine. This is what they look like:
 
 
Hope this helps!
 
 
toss up between the last 2 you posted...
 
This Vineyard would Be PRETTY OLD!
 
It is on a property that was taken over by the State back in the early 70s.
 
The Property used to be an old Farm  that Dates back to around the Civil War, it is now a state park and most of the old fields are Over Grown....
 
When I found the Vineyard, I knew what it was from how the Grape Vines were laid out and the old posts to mark the rows of grapes are still there in places, But the Wire for support is Long Gone and the posts that would have held the wire show age of many, many, many years, most likely a good 75+...the grape vines are just a jumbled up mess growing into each other from years of not being pruned!
 
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Here's a persimmon wine that needs to be racked off the sediment sometime soon: 


I was pretty disappointed with it when it finished, but it's improving a lot now. Which is good, I've still got a freezer full of fruit to deal with.

Originally posted by woodywoodduck woodywoodduck wrote:

SHHHHHH, even tried making some of those other alcoholic beverages...


You and me both mate, this is my other 50L carboy:

That's whisky Big smile (Used to be a lot more in that. what the hell happened, I can't remember)
kai time!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 September 2010 at 20:30
Oh man.... you are having too much fun with this brewing! Makes me want to get back in to beer making again.
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kiwi View Drop Down
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dooooooo it!
kai time!
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I got a chance to sample some very nice homemade brew yesterday, It is a knock-off of Guinness stout, and it was very tasty. I've been trying to get the brewer (my friend Peter) to join the forum so he can hook up with folks like Kiwi and Hillbilly...we'll soon see if I've been successful in that endeavor.
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Originally posted by kiwi kiwi wrote:

Here's a persimmon wine that needs to be racked off the sediment sometime soon: 


I was pretty disappointed with it when it finished, but it's improving a lot now. Which is good, I've still got a freezer full of fruit to deal with.

Originally posted by woodywoodduck woodywoodduck wrote:

SHHHHHH, even tried making some of those other alcoholic beverages...


You and me both mate, this is my other 50L carboy:

That's whisky Big smile (Used to be a lot more in that. what the hell happened, I can't remember)



Evaporation?
Wink
Do you have the "Alcohol Gnomes" running around your house?
 
Seems when I get a Overly Good Batch of wine or beer, those Gnomes get into it at night and drink it all up LOL
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kiwi View Drop Down
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Ya, distillation is legal in NZ. It's awesome. And also, the sky hasn't fallen in. We'd make a great case study to show there isn't a problem with legalising the hobby, but there isn't really anyone to stand for it specifically in the states, or in much of the rest of the world...
"I think you should legalise home distillation"
"Why would you think that sir? We'll just be looking in your shed, now..."
kai time!
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