Cap or Cork?

[meadmaker1]

I have a gold medal lol from my first competition. So thats easy
My mixed citrus mead.
But I do more apple than anything else

 

[wrongway]

Meadmaker1 Thanks Yes I want to be diligent in making notes and sg readings. I have to as my memory is getting short! Mixed citrus sounds very good, I would like to try it sometime. Thank You

 

[Ajmassa]

May I ask you gentlemen what your favorite recipes are? Thank You

Red grapes

 

[wildhair]

If you haven't found it yet - Jack Keller's website has a ton of recipes - a good place to start. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/ A little book called Mary's Recipes also has a lot of info and recipes.

Honey will impart a different flavor component compared to sugar. Honey is pretty expensive for me to buy, so I buy the 25# bags of cane sugar at Walmart. Meadmaker is right - recipes tend to be more guideline than scientific formula, so keep notes - but you DO need a place to start. I tend to look at & compare several recipes for the wine I want to make, then off I go. A good rule of thumb for me is about 4# ( +/- ) of fruit to a gal of wine.

My own favorite yeast is Vintner's harvest SN9 - not everyone carries it, but it's very temperature hardy & prolific, low foaming & alcohol tolerant so you can kick up the ABV % if you want. I tend to shoot for a starting SG of 1.090 to get an ABV of about 12-13%. It also adds some body to the flower wines and is good for a stuck fermentation.

My favorite recipe depends on what fruit I have the most of. Apple & Rhubarb fill a lot of my bottles and Black Raspberry a close 3rd. There is a recipe section here on the forum, too - check that out. It is searchable.

One other tip I learned here - freeze fresh fruit BEFORE pressing or using it in the wine - it will soften up and yield more juice.

Have fun!

 

[wrongway]

Red grapes

Ajmassa5983 Yes there is a local farm that grows red grapes so I am very anxious for the season to begin!

 

[wrongway]

If you haven't found it yet - Jack Keller's website has a ton of recipes - a good place to start. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/ A little book called Mary's Recipes also has a lot of info and recipes.

Honey will impart a different flavor component compared to sugar. Honey is pretty expensive for me to buy, so I buy the 25# bags of cane sugar at Walmart. Meadmaker is right - recipes tend to be more guideline than scientific formula, so keep notes - but you DO need a place to start. I tend to look at & compare several recipes for the wine I want to make, then off I go. A good rule of thumb for me is about 4# ( +/- ) of fruit to a gal of wine.

My own favorite yeast is Vintner's harvest SN9 - not everyone carries it, but it's very temperature hardy & prolific, low foaming & alcohol tolerant so you can kick up the ABV % if you want. I tend to shoot for a starting SG of 1.090 to get an ABV of about 12-13%. It also adds some body to the flower wines and is good for a stuck fermentation.

My favorite recipe depends on what fruit I have the most of. Apple & Rhubarb fill a lot of my bottles and Black Raspberry a close 3rd. There is a recipe section here on the forum, too - check that out. It is searchable.

One other tip I learned here - freeze fresh fruit BEFORE pressing or using it in the wine - it will soften up and yield more juice.

Have fun!

Thanks Wildhair, I will checkout that web site right now!! Honey is expensive here too. I was thinking to make a gallon of apple with sugar only and a gallon with part honey just as a experment. Thank You!!

 

[Scooter68]

My favorites are Peach, Black Currant (From Vintners Harvest Concentrate) Wild Black Raspberry, Tart Cherry, and Wild Blackberry. Oh and Blueberry.

The recycling center is THE place to go to if you have one nearby. Finding bottles becomes an adventure if you want uniformity but nonetheless, free bottles are free bottles. Someone have also mentioned that they contacted a local restaurant and that the managers save them the empty bottles. That would excellent too since they are likely to be serving a limited variety of brands so the bottle variances are lower. It's sort of fun to go hunting at the recycling center too. Picked up 6 salad plates one time, one had a slight chip the rest perfect. The wife loved that find and it makes her less concerned on my visits there. Ya never know what you might find there.

I will be a devils advocate here about Jack Kellers recipes - They are notoriously low on flavor and higher on the ABV that many people like. For fruit wines the poundage of fruit needed varies with some fruits but normally the less water you add the better with most fruit wines. So where Jack Keller might call for a Peach wine made with 3-4 lbs of peaches per gallon, I go with no less than 6-7 lbs. Blackberry wine should never be less than 5-6 lbs per gallon. You get the idea. The more fruit in the wine the better. (Exceptions do apply)

 

[wrongway]

My favorites are Peach, Black Currant (From Vintners Harvest Concentrate) Wild Black Raspberry, Tart Cherry, and Wild Blackberry. Oh and Blueberry.

The recycling center is THE place to go to if you have one nearby. Finding bottles becomes an adventure if you want uniformity but nonetheless, free bottles are free bottles. Someone have also mentioned that they contacted a local restaurant and that the managers save them the empty bottles. That would excellent too since they are likely to be serving a limited variety of brands so the bottle variances are lower. It's sort of fun to go hunting at the recycling center too. Picked up 6 salad plates one time, one had a slight chip the rest perfect. The wife loved that find and it makes her less concerned on my visits there. Ya never know what you might find there.

I will be a devils advocate here about Jack Kellers recipes - They are notoriously low on flavor and higher on the ABV that many people like. For fruit wines the poundage of fruit needed varies with some fruits but normally the less water you add the better with most fruit wines. So where Jack Keller might call for a Peach wine made with 3-4 lbs of peaches per gallon, I go with no less than 6-7 lbs. Blackberry wine should never be less than 5-6 lbs per gallon. You get the idea. The more fruit in the wine the better. (Exceptions do apply)

Hi Scooter68,

I really wanted to start with Peach for my first wine. But I wanted to keep my first try simple and the store did not have any Peach concentrate so i grabbed the apple. Then I found that Dillons has a organic 100% Peach juice that is in a quart jar. I will try that soon. Thanks for the info!! I have been using the book The Joy of Home Wine Making. I am curious when the recipe says chopped is it exceptable to run through a juicer? Thank You

 

[meadmaker1]

My next peach will definitely be chopped then frozen
Peaches make an awsome mud otherwise, too hard to srain out.
They may still but it cant get worse yhan the bach im clearing now.
It is bulk canned peaches light on peach but a pleasant dry wine.
Im leaning toward using it to mellow my rhubarb/mixed berry..... too much rhubarb! !!!!!

 

[wildhair]

I will be a devils advocate here about Jack Kellers recipes - They are notoriously low on flavor and higher on the ABV that many people like. For fruit wines the poundage of fruit needed varies with some fruits but normally the less water you add the better with most fruit wines. So where Jack Keller might call for a Peach wine made with 3-4 lbs of peaches per gallon, I go with no less than 6-7 lbs. Blackberry wine should never be less than 5-6 lbs per gallon. You get the idea. The more fruit in the wine the better. (Exceptions do apply)

You can allays punch up the fruit. That's exactly why I compare a variety of recipes when possible - particularly if it's a wine I haven't made before. Which is most of them for me. The amount of fruit per gallon definitely depends on the type of fruit and personal taste.
Keller gives a good source for lots of info and he's taken the time to answer my noobie questions.

 

[wrongway]

Here where I live it is unbelievable how green the fruit is in the stores!
Peaches, plums, pears ect are hard as a rock! Pineapples, forget it!
They eventually will ripen I suppose but fortunately there is a local farm that grows a few fruits that are picked ripe. My sister went to Hawaii once and said the Pineapples are so different that she thought it was something new! That was my concern with using a juicer was getting so much pulp that one could not clear the wine. Thanks

 

[Scooter68]

As to store bought fruit and juices, there is a risk of contents not being quite what it seems. For instance make sure you read the fine print. Some `100% juice drinks are really 100% but not always 100% of the of the fruit on the front label. Apple, White Grape and Pear juice are often used to supplement the fruit juice the label so... A peach juice might be in fact Apple, Pear and Peach juices and that is in order of content. Mostly Apple, With some Pear, and enough Peach to make it taste like Peach. Not completely bad but not necessarily what you expected.
And Yes, as also mentioned, this time of year when fruits are not 'in season' here in North America, those 'fresh fruits' are often pretty green and may never develop the same amount of flavor as those picked here in the US and 'in season.' "Sun Ripened" naturally does make a difference.

As to using a juicer, with peaches, I would not. Chop them up, treat with pectic enzyme, then freeze them for a week. Then when you thaw them out they should break down a little faster.

In truth, a safer wine to start with would be something other than Apple OR Peach due to the pectin in those fruits. Invest a little more and use something like blackberry, Or blueberry the smaller berries tend to break down and the wine clears a lot faster than Apple and Peach. Maybe fine a couple of bags of mixed berries (Walmart has a couple of options) Just avoid apples and peaches for your first batch and I think the wine will clear better for you.

 

[wildhair]

Wrongway - Because so much of what we eat now comes from far away - store bought produce is often picked "unripe" because a lot of it is either machine picked or transported from south of the border. Unripe fruit will not be damaged as badly in transit or by mechanized pickers. The dirty secret - certain produce has been bred not for flavor, but to be "durable" and able to withstand machine picking. It's not how it tastes, but how long it looks good on the shelf that matters, right? NOT.

Plus - store brought fruit is often treated to prevent mold on the shelf. I grow most of my fruit myself, pick it myself or buy locally. Treating with pectic enzyme and freezing it works really well. I add 1 or 2 t pectic enzyme to a gallon of water, then add a little to the fruit when I bag it. I press some fruit (apples & grapes mostly) in a old fruit press - I don't own a juicer, so I can't add anything there. But if the recipe says chop - then chop.

For a starter wine - you might want to try the Dragon's Blood (there's a huge thread dedicated to it here). The recipe is pretty straight forward - I just bumbled and stumbled my way thru my first batch & my wife (also an Arbor Mist fan) liked it. My own opinion - next time I make it I will double or triple the fruit and cut the water by 1/2 and add some frozen berry juice concentrate. But that's me.

 

[meadmaker1]

So many opinions and so much wine to make.
Whats a person to do?
Get started. Even if its wrong.
Apple juice comes in a handy one gallon carboy and will make a very rewarding wine, given time to clear.
After all tne posts you've gotten about ? Bottles? Lol!! You can probably guess why so many of us have the assortment of carboys that we do. In secondary and or clearing I have strawberry, cranberry, bochet, peach, mixed berry-rrhubarb, joes ancient orange and a special blend only leagal in a few states containing a green vegetable matter that is turning out better than expected. And two five gallon carboys feeling neglected because the plumbs I was counting on didnt happen last year and the other I traded recently for a jar of honey.
And 1 gallon that I dont know what to call. I have poured all the fine lees and left over from many rackings into a bottle and then drawn off the clearer wine to the piont that I have nearly a full gallon of wine and 3/4 gallon of fine lees with a 1/2" of wine still covering.
And it all started with a little left over honey. And a bunch of free apples

 

[wildhair]

And 1 gallon that I dont know what to call. I have poured all the fine lees and left over from many rackings into a bottle and then drawn off the clearer wine to the piont that I have nearly a full gallon of wine and 3/4 gallon of fine lees with a 1/2" of wine still covering.
And it all started with a little left over honey. And a bunch of free apples

Ahahaha - I thought I was the only one that did that - 'cuz I'm cheap like that. I only got about a quart right now - I racked a pink grape, a couple different carboys of apple, Dragon's Blood........and maybe something else - poured the lees from the bottom into 1 jar and it's clearing now. Grapple Blood, maybe? LOL

This whole adventure for me started with too many black raspberries and a big apple harvest. We had enough jam to last beyond the Apocalypse, so what to do with all this fruit.................
I KNOW................

 

[wrongway]

Haha I can do both Apple and Dragons Blood!! I ordered through internet the one last ingredient that I needed (yeast) and it should have been here Yesterday and yet it didn't show today! My patience is at end! I really want to get going! Maybe tomorrow? Yes I see that I need many more carboys and bottles! Anyway Thank You all for your advice and encouragement! Its almost like when your a kid and you have to get on the school bus for the first time! A bit intimidating!!

 

[wrongway]

Wrongway - Because so much of what we eat now comes from far away - store bought produce is often picked "unripe" because a lot of it is either machine picked or transported from south of the border. Unripe fruit will not be damaged as badly in transit or by mechanized pickers. The dirty secret - certain produce has been bred not for flavor, but to be "durable" and able to withstand machine picking. It's not how it tastes, but how long it looks good on the shelf that matters, right? NOT.

Plus - store brought fruit is often treated to prevent mold on the shelf. I grow most of my fruit myself, pick it myself or buy locally. Treating with pectic enzyme and freezing it works really well. I add 1 or 2 t pectic enzyme to a gallon of water, then add a little to the fruit when I bag it. I press some fruit (apples & grapes mostly) in a old fruit press - I don't own a juicer, so I can't add anything there. But if the recipe says chop - then chop.

For a starter wine - you might want to try the Dragon's Blood (there's a huge thread dedicated to it here). The recipe is pretty straight forward - I just bumbled and stumbled my way thru my first batch & my wife (also an Arbor Mist fan) liked it. My own opinion - next time I make it I will double or triple the fruit and cut the water by 1/2 and add some frozen berry juice concentrate. But that's me.

Yes so many foods engineered to withstand drought and all kinds of things. Apples for example, maybe its my imagination but they seem alot harder than I remember them being as a kid??Maybe just my old teeth? I got to like the Arbor Mist Zinfandel due to I guess you would say a tangyness? Is that due to acidity? I wias looking at the Dragons Blood and will do it soon. Thanks

 

[wildhair]

You'll need to order some extra patience for THIS endeavor. I was not intimidated at first - just dove right in. How hard can it be, right? Then I learned how much I didn't know and still don't know. And how I wished I paid better attention in chemistry class a lifetime ago.

It's been fun & interesting - a real on-going learning process. Folks here have been a real help answering questions and giving insight.
You'll do fine - and have fun.

 

[wrongway]

So many opinions and so much wine to make.
Whats a person to do?
Get started. Even if its wrong.
Apple juice comes in a handy one gallon carboy and will make a very rewarding wine, given time to clear.
After all tne posts you've gotten about ? Bottles? Lol!! You can probably guess why so many of us have the assortment of carboys that we do. In secondary and or clearing I have strawberry, cranberry, bochet, peach, mixed berry-rrhubarb, joes ancient orange and a special blend only leagal in a few states containing a green vegetable matter that is turning out better than expected. And two five gallon carboys feeling neglected because the plumbs I was counting on didnt happen last year and the other I traded recently for a jar of honey.
And 1 gallon that I dont know what to call. I have poured all the fine lees and left over from many rackings into a bottle and then drawn off the clearer wine to the piont that I have nearly a full gallon of wine and 3/4 gallon of fine lees with a 1/2" of wine still covering.
And it all started with a little left over honey. And a bunch of free apples

Yes I was so disappointed when my yeast did not show up today! I do need to just get going. !!

 

[wrongway]

You'll need to order some extra patience for THIS endeavor. I was not intimidated at first - just dove right in. How hard can it be, right? Then I learned how much I didn't know and still don't know. And how I wished I paid better attention in chemistry class a lifetime ago.

It's be fun & interesting - a real on-going learning process. Folks here have been a real help answering questions and giving insight.
You'll do fine - and have fun.

Wildhair Thank You so much! I was no good in chemistry!! Yes I feel right at home here in the forum!! Thanks Everyone!