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Old Philosopher

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Greetings and salutations!

The Northern Rockies is not exactly the vinyard capital of the World. Up here we turn almost anything that will ferment into something drinkable, from apples to dandilions. :d

Because of limited resources, I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. principle. If bread yeast will work to turn apples into cider, I won't be mail ordering an exotic yeast with a name I can't pronounce.

So, with that said, I'm glad to be here and hope to pick up some tips along the way.
 
OLD...

I feel ya. been in Alaska over 30 years and us too, even more than you are not fruit growers. I have been looking at spruce needles for a long time and wish there was a way to ferment them. If I ever figure out how to do it, I am going for the mosquitoes next!!LOL

Alot of nice wine can be made from frozen concentrate, pre mixed juice and only God knows what else. Wait for a good deal on some fresh fruit, check back in and we'll see what we can up with for a recipe for you.

bread yeast will sure work, thing is those types of yeasts wont handle a high alcohol content and will die out around 6 or 7 %. Even if you have to order it, use wine yeast. Most will get up to 15%, and some of the champagne yeasts will go even higher. Get to high and the alcohol will overpower any other flavors, not necessarily a bad thing, thats up to you. Look into wine yeast, you wont be dissapointed. Cost wise, wine yeast is actually, IMO, cheaper than bread yeast, and the results are quite significnat.

Bananas are almost always reasonable, and it is said they make a decent wine.

Glad to have you on board. Tell us more about what you want to make.
Troy
:b
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum,

Cider is best at about 7% anyway.. or it'll put you on your ear! hehehhe

I'm pretty sure someone on here talked about getting bread yeast up to 12 or 14 % with a bit of coaxing.. You can get wine yeast up to about 18% too if you're patient.( I think it might have been Luc.. will have a hunt for the file a bit later on). .... bread yeast leaves a bready flavour to your wine being the main point of difference.

What are you making at the moment?

Allie
 
OLD...

I feel ya. been in Alaska over 30 years and us too, even more than you are not fruit growers. I have been looking at spruce needles for a long time and wish there was a way to ferment them. If I ever figure out how to do it, I am going for the mosquitoes next!!LOL
:b

:D Hey! I spent 3 1/2 years in the Anchorage bowl, so I hear ya! Make a good strong tea out of those spruce needles, and add some sugar. :d
Those from the Frozen North ought to know about apple jack. A guy doesn't have to worry about alcohol % vs. yeast when you just stick it out in the snow until all the water content freezes...then pour off the good stuff! ::
Right now I'm doing plum wine, but I think I killed it.

Thanks for the welcome, folks!
 
You can use bakers (Fleishman's Yeast) and most of the time it will do a decent job but if you want to make a dry wine you should get a hydrometer so that you dont add too much sugar cause bakers yeast doesnt have a high abv tolerance and will leave your wine very sweet if your not monitoring your sugar level.
 
Hello all

Going to try and make some local grown fruit into wines... which I never have done before.....
 

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