Corn Cob Wine - I'm going for it!

[vinny]

Any update on your dirt wine?

I'm thinking you're going to have to do it just to shut them up....

 

[BigDaveK]

Any update on your dirt wine?

Heeyyyy, I'm a bit slow sometimes. I'm beginning to think you guys/gals are treating dirt wine like a joke. Too many wines in the queue, I'll get to it eventually.

 

[BigDaveK]

I'm thinking you're going to have to do it just to shut them up....

Patience.

 

[QuiQuog]

Dirt and Garbage Wine Recipe
• To 1 gallon of rain water, add 3 cups of dirt and boil for 20 minutes
• Turn off heat and add weeds from yard, about 2 well stuffed pockets worth
• Add any other garbage as appropriate e.g., corncobs, leaves, grass, etc...
• Add: Sugar to SG 1.090 or so, 1 tsp nutrient, 1/2 tsp energizer, 1/2 tsp powdered tannin (optional depending on weeds used)
• When cooled to about 90°f, give a good stir and add to primary fermenter, such as lunch size igloo cooler with flip-top lid
• Add packet of EC-1118
• Cover with towel and stir daily until SG reaches 1.020
• Let dirt settle 1 day and rack into secondary
• When SG is stable below 1.000 for three days add more dirt and garbage to clear the wine as described below
• Add 1 sanitized, dried, powdered eggshell, and 1 crushed campden tablet, and stir well
• Add bentonite per package instructions, and stir well to make mud
• After 2 weeks, rack off sediment into another container
• Sample wine, and if the weeds or garbage you used leaves any harsh tannins, or if you just want to use more garbage, add more garbage as follows
• Add to 1 egg white, 1 tsp water and a pinch of salt. Stir well, but gently. Pour into wine and stir gently.
• In 1-2 weeks, rack off sediment.
• You can now bottle. If you prefer your garbage sweeter, proceed as follows
• Dissolve 15 to 30 of the hard candies your kids didn't eat from last Halloween in 1cup of warm water
• Stir in 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate, add garbage candy and stir
• Wait 1 week to ensure no fermentation and bottle

Go for it!

 

[QuiQuog]

@BigDaveK
I should say that I'm in no way am making fun of you or your wine making, and don't think it's garbage. The previous post is all in good fun. All of the wines you make intrigue me, and I'm going to try the walnut leaf wine in the spring next year. It's amazing that you get the results you do. Having said that, if you do decide to use my recipe, make sure you do a thread on it!

 

[BigDaveK]

Dirt and Garbage Wine Recipe
• To 1 gallon of rain water, add 3 cups of dirt and boil for 20 minutes
• Turn off heat and add weeds from yard, about 2 well stuffed pockets worth
• Add any other garbage as appropriate e.g., corncobs, leaves, grass, etc...
• Add: Sugar to SG 1.090 or so, 1 tsp nutrient, 1/2 tsp energizer, 1/2 tsp powdered tannin (optional depending on weeds used)
• When cooled to about 90°f, give a good stir and add to primary fermenter, such as lunch size igloo cooler with flip-top lid
• Add packet of EC-1118
• Cover with towel and stir daily until SG reaches 1.020
• Let dirt settle 1 day and rack into secondary
• When SG is stable below 1.000 for three days add more dirt and garbage to clear the wine as described below
• Add 1 sanitized, dried, powdered eggshell, and 1 crushed campden tablet, and stir well
• Add bentonite per package instructions, and stir well to make mud
• After 2 weeks, rack off sediment into another container
• Sample wine, and if the weeds or garbage you used leaves any harsh tannins, or if you just want to use more garbage, add more garbage as follows
• Add to 1 egg white, 1 tsp water and a pinch of salt. Stir well, but gently. Pour into wine and stir gently.
• In 1-2 weeks, rack off sediment.
• You can now bottle. If you prefer your garbage sweeter, proceed as follows
• Dissolve 15 to 30 of the hard candies your kids didn't eat from last Halloween in 1cup of warm water
• Stir in 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate, add garbage candy and stir
• Wait 1 week to ensure no fermentation and bottle

Go for it!

I was excited about this but dammit I don't have any bentonite!

 

[BigDaveK]

Bottled yesterday.
And another country wine surprise!

And another tough one for sweetening. Alcohol and acid not noticeable. (BTW, it took 3 tsp citric to get to get 1 gallon to 3.5ish.) Citric acid was a good choice. I didn't use raisins or bananas and the mouth feel is surprising - not thin at all. It tasted nice dry and also sweetened. I compromised and back sweetened to 1.000 from .988.

It smells like...wine.
It tastes like....wine.
There is a nice flavor I can't quite describe, fruity rather than vegetal. But it's simple, no discernible complexity or layers. Not a wine for philosophical discussions to be sure. Maybe a wine to drink while making fun of wine drinkers who are having philosophical discussions.
A very simple very good country/novelty wine.
Would I make it again? Probably not. But the effort wasn't wasted! I'm happy with the results!

 

[BernardSmith]

And an added plus is that you up-cycled what is usually a waste-product. Seriously. You might share your recipe with local corn farmers. In NY, there is provision for those who grow crops to make wines (and I think spirits) from locally grown crops. This might be additional income for the growers. Even if they chose to make this a very low alcohol drink (2-3 % ABV) , assuming there might be a market for this, they could make a reasonable return on their costs.