Doing on the free...broke as a joke

[ofearthandbone]

I have not made wine before. I have 0$ to invest in this. There are so many sites to reference I just don't know where to start. Here is my idea. Please tell me any tips or where I might go wrong....
I have tons of free blueberries-sometimes other fruits through barter (want dry and crisp wine-any suggestions. I don't like sweet wine)
Sugar
Wine yeast from a friend
Plastic milk jugs gallons
Balloon with pinhole for airlock or no pinhole?
Plastic liter bottles
Do I :
Boil water, pour over crushed fruit, sugar, add yeast...all in gallon jugs.
Attach balloons to openings
How long to ferment?
When to strain?
Can I bottle into liter bottles now? Afraid they will explode if I do it to soon.
How long does it need before drinking?
Is there a step where the alcohol can be increased?
Thanks

 

[olusteebus]

I have limited fruit wine experience and frankly, what I have made was pretty bad. However, let me make comments on the points you raise:

I have not made wine before. I have 0$ to invest in this. There are so many sites to reference I just don't know where to start. Here is my idea. Please tell me any tips or where I might go wrong....
I have tons of free blueberries-sometimes other fruits through barter (want dry and crisp wine-any suggestions. I don't like sweet wine) I have never made blueberry but a friend of mine says blueberry and blackberry make the best fruit wine. However, he makes very sweet wine.
Sugar
Wine yeast from a friend
Plastic milk jugs gallons I would use a food grade bucket for primary fermentation. YOu can get those fairly cheap ($5) from a big hardware store. Make sure it is a white bucket. Place a towel over the juice and stir daily.
Balloon with pinhole for airlock or no pinhole? I have never done that but I know those who have done it successfully.
Plastic liter bottles You would be much better off with Glass as the plastic jug caps would allow oxygen in over time. Don't you know people how can give you used bottles.
Do I :
Boil water, pour over crushed fruit, sugar, add yeast...all in gallon jugs. Again, I would use a bucket.
Attach balloons to openings
How long to ferment?About seven to nine days in primary and another week in secondary. Secondary could probably be done in the milk jugs. You really need a hydrometer. $10.
When to strain?After primary is complete. I would suggest a paint strainer bag but that may cost another 5 or 6 bucksI would rather scoop the skins and pulp out to avoid adding too much oxygen which after primary, oxygen is not your wines friend. .
Can I bottle into liter bottles now? Afraid they will explode if I do it to soon. If you have a wine making supplier, I recommend buying some potassium sorbate ( 4 or 5 bucks.
How long does it need before drinking?
Is there a step where the alcohol can be increased? Download this free program to determine how much sugar you should add. Hey, Its free
Thanks

I know I suggest spending some money but if you can't go for it. The one thing I would suggest is getting a glass bottles or a glass jug to bottle it in and really you need a hydrometer.

 

[Rocky]

I understand that you are working with what you have or what you can finds, and I will make some suggestions. I would recommend against using plastic milk jugs or soda bottles. There is no sense in spoiling a lot of fruit if you can take some basic precautions.

1. I suggest that you try to find a decent fermenter. All you need is a food grade bucket (available from ice cream shops, restaurants or bakeries from their icing). Look for HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) with a "2" in the triangle symbol. This would be for the primary stage of your fermentation. Into this bucket you would put your crushed fruit, water, sugar and yeast. You would need to cover it with a cloth to keep dirt and critters out of it. The volume of gas escaping from the wine would keep air from infiltrating. You would keep you wine in this bucket until the SG is at or below 1.020.

2. For the secondary stage of fermentation, i.e. when SG is at or below 1.020 or so, I would recommend using glass. See if you can locate a few glass gallon jugs. Make sure they are clean and sanitized with a strong (3 T per one gallon of water) solution of Potassium Metabisulfite. You mentioned getting wine yeast from a friend. Maybe he can spare some K-meta too.

3. You really need to buy or borrow a hydrometer. Again, check with your winemaking friend.

4. Airlocks are the best protection but if you don't have one, try to fashion a plastic tube attached to the top of your vessel (airtight) and run the other end of the tube into a glass or jar of water. The escaping gas will bubble up through the water and the water will keep air from infiltrating. I know that people use balloons but I have never done so. Seems like it would work okay as long as fermentation was active.

5. I am not sure what you have in mind for the alcohol content. Adding sugar will allow greater amounts of alcohol to be produced but you can't add too much or you run the risk of overwhelming the yeast and causing a stuck fermentation. If you start with an SG of 1.090 or so, you will end up with a wine that is 12-13% Alcohol By Volume (ABV).

Keep us up to date on what you are doing. Good luck.

 

[ofearthandbone]

Thx! This us all great advice. I will keep you posted...must do some hunting now.

 

[beano]

I started winemaking on the cheap. Got me a 6.5 gallon bucket w/screw top lid behind the local mall last winter. It held rock salt. Cleaned up well. Resturaunt dumpsters will contain 2. 3, 5 gallon food grade buckets with lids. Or you can use 4 gallon cat litter containers, I have. All are great primary containers. I got 3 and 5 gallon water bottles free for the asking at a local bottled water distributor to use as secondary containers. I got permission from a local fine resturaunt to raid thier recycle bins for used wine(750ml. 1.5 liter. and 3 liter) bottles. I still go once a week looking for large and clear bottles. Panty hose for friut bags and wooden dowels for stir sticks. The first plastic tubing I purchased to transfer wine was aquarium air hose @ 10 cents a foot.
Necessity really is the mother of invention. Just look around yourself and with the proper prospective, you will see many things are available to you regardless of what you wish to accomplish
Just my thoughts......


Joe

 

[ofearthandbone]

regarding the the scewtp bucket

Did you need to have some sort of airlock while fermenting? What was the advantage of the screwtop lid? Asking my local restaurant for bottles is a great idea. A no brainer really...duh. what was the advantage of the tube? Was this to syphen into bottles? Wouldn't I be able to scoop and funnel or would this disturbed the wine by allowing to much air exposed to the wine?
Do I need to soak fruit in an open bucket with pre-boiled water for a couple days cover with a cloth before the fermentation process? Or can I go straight into an air lock environment...sorry so many questions. I'm overly thorough. I hate spending time wasting resourses for a failed project...thanks for all the great advice on this thread. I love this forum. So many helpful folks here.

 

[BernardSmith]

During the early days of fermentation you really do not need to prevent any air from getting to your must (the unfermented liquid) in part because the yeast really needs oxygen when it is reproducing and in part because the yeast that is fermenting the sugars will be producing enough carbon dioxide to blanket the fruit and prevent it from oxidizing. When the fermentation slows down - that is after much of the sugar has been converted then you want to transfer ("rack" is the technical term) the wine from the open fermenter to a container that you can seal with an airlock and where there is really no "headroom" (space) between the surface of the wine and the bung and airlock (perhaps an inch or less). At this stage (often called "secondary fermentation" - but that is really a misnomer. The fermentation is still ongoing. The fermenter is a second, sealable, type) allowing the wine to come into extensive contact with air will radically change the flavors (making it taste more like sherry and color of the wine (turning reds to brown).

Beer makers tend to be more neurotic about water than folk on this forum. If you use good sanitation practices and - for example - you add campden tablets (or K-meta ) to the fruit juice 24 hours before you add ("pitch" ) the yeast then I don't see why you need to boil good drinking water. The K-meta will kill unwelcome bacteria and wild yeasts and boiling the water removes needed oxygen. Moreover, yeast itself modifies the environment they inhabit to at once suit their own needs while inhibiting chance and volunteer bacteria and yeast. The action of the yeast results in increased acidity of the juice and the CO2 which is the by-product of their conversion of sugar to alcohol helps create an environment that most other life forms are unable to thrive in. At high concentrations alcohol is used as a bactericide).

Depending on where you live you may find that bars and restaurants are unwilling to allow you to remove their empties. I think some states have laws in place that are aimed at making it more difficult for people to refill expensive bottles with cheap plonk or booze with the idea of passing off the refills as filled at the source. You can imagine how lucrative that would be for some bars and hostelries...

 

[ofearthandbone]

Is it mandatory to have pottasuim sulfate and tannin and citric acid and anything other than...fruit, sugar, water and yeast...I am reading so much of different things....I don't mind the citric acid since I want it to have a slightly tart flavor and I also have a jar of it already. I was going to add lemon to the blueberries for this reason. Will too much acid hurt the process? I found a 10 gallon bucket...I am going to make 5 gallons though...will it affect the wine by leaving an additional 5 gallons air in the bucket...I mean space.

 

[beano]

ofearthand bone,

The airlock is generaly used on your secondary container, as BernardSmith has said. The screw top bucket has no advantage to me inless I want to use it for a secondary vessel, whereas I would drill a hole into the lid and fit a grommet and an airlock. It is also covenieant for storage of the bucket to keep crap out of it.
The tubing is used to transfer your wine to the secondary vessel when racking and into your liberated wine bottles when the time is right. The idea when racking (transfering) your wine is to leave behind the lees (solid matter) left from the dead yeast and the fruits, if you used them. If you scoop or use a funnel you will disturb the solids at the bottom and just move them forward and they will still be present.
No need to boil the water, as BernardSmith said. Plain old tap water is fine.
You really need to read some of the great threads on this forum and try to gain a bit more knowledge. I was really suprised a how easy it is to ferment and produce your own wine. The only problem I have is the patience to wait. But... I'm working on that...sorta

Joe

 

[jethro]

Yeah, Joe, like Tom Petty said, the waiting is the hardest part.

 

[Rosa321]

First of all, WELCOME!!!!

I understand money constraints. I really do.

Might I suggest checking out the "Dragon Blood" thread?
I too am able to pick loads of blueberries. Are they awesome where you are this year?!?! Mine are fabulous!! I make the dragon blood recipe with just blueberries and like it very much.

With free fruit, lemon juice, and some minimal additions (Pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient/energizer, K meta....) You can make a very economical wine.

Also, if you were to invest in a cheap gallon of wine, or gallon of juice that came in a glass jug it's a few cents for an air lock.

All of my family/friends know that I make wine and they all save their bottles for me....so get the word out there.

Don't feel overwhelmed. Just keep picking and freezing your blueberries, check out the threads here, and gather your materials a little at a time. You'll start when you're ready

And again, welcome. You've come to the right place to help you along with all kinds of great suggestions!

 

[beano]

Yeah, Joe, like Tom Petty said, the waiting is the hardest part.

Ah...took me a second or so. Most appropriate.

Joe

 

[Tom_S]

When I first started making wine, I used gallon glass jugs (don't remember where I got them, but they were either free or very cheap) with rubber gloves (powder free, obviously) fastened to the top with rubber bands. I don't think it's necessary to poke a pinhole in them or a balloon since it was impossible to get them completely airtight anyway. The CO2 kept venting out between the neck of the jug and the gloves. Which was perfectly fine, though I thought it might have been a problem at the time. I don't really see any problem with this method at all, though I only use airlocks now. Now when it comes to bulk aging, airlocks are preferred since they will keep oxygen out but still allow CO2 to escape.

I would highly recommend using glass jugs as fermentation vessels instead of the plastic ones. Or at the very least find the polyethylene ones like Rocky mentioned. I bought a 2 gallon paint bucket with lid at Home Depot and it wasn't very expensive. I'm a cheapskate so you can trust me on this!

As far as bottling, I'd only bottle in regular wine bottles. Corks aren't that expensive and will keep your wine well. You can get used bottles from restaurants, or buy wine at the liquor store and keep the empties. If wine drinking friends and family know you're into wine making, they will often gladly save bottles for you. Some communities have a freecycle program where people offer stuff they don't want for free. If you advertised that you need wine bottles there, perhaps someone might help you out. Oh and don't forget to check your local flea markets. I found some very nice, decorative bottles there for cheap. You may even find some gallon jugs to use as fermenters.

If you lived close to me, I'd gladly give you a few cases of wine bottles just to get them out of my garage. Cleaning and delabeling is up to you.

 

[wpt-me]

To op: I also live in Maine and have gotten wine bottles from the
recycling guys for 19 cents ea. which included one gallon sized.
good luck on your new hobby.

Bill

 

[bilder]

I am doing things on the cheap as well.

I currently have a couple 2 gallon buckets with lids (free from a local bakery) and I spent a whopping 2 dollars on a rubber stopper and an airlock. I just drilled a hole in one of the bucket lids large enough for the stopper to fit. Spent another 89 cents on the yeast packet.

I am going to pick up some yeast nutrient, K meta and such on payday. Will set me back another 6 bucks for everything I need to get going. My sister and niece are a steady supply of wine bottles and by the time it comes to that I will have some corks and such on hand.

Lots of berries free for the picking in my area so raw materials only cost me the time it takes to fill a bucket or two.

 

[Tom_S]

The good thing about making wine at home is that my average cost per bottle of wine is $2.00 whereas a bottle of wine at the liquor store starts around $10. The only $2.00 wine you can find commercially would be Thunderbird or Boone's Farm.