Newbie From NH

[Scotto70]

Hi,

Newbie here. I just ordered a 1 gallon fruit wine making kit from Midwest Supply, Product Description:
1 Gallon Wine Making Kit. This kit includes all the equipment, yeast and additives you need to make one gallon of fruit wine. There are enough additives to make up to 15 gallons of wine. Kit includes Winemaker Recipe Handbook, featuring 101 one gallon fruit recipes, 1.5 gallon plastic fermenter, 1 gallon jug, tubing, airlock, stopper, straining bag, sanitizer, campden tablets, pectic enzyme, yeast, acid blend, grape tannin, and yeast nutrient.

I also ordered the book "First Steps In Winemaking" by C.J.J Berry, and the 1 gallon add on kit, which includes a case of bottles, a corker, 30 corks, and hydrometer. Everything will be here next week. Does Anyone have any suggestions on a good fruit wine to start off with? Unfortunately no local fruits are in season right now here in the Northeast.

 

[Wade E]

Grocery store fresh fruits usually arent ripe enough to get good flavors from but the frozen fruits do work well so find a fruit that you like such as blueberries or raspberries. welcome here and there are many helpful people who will help you through your wine making experience.

 

[Madriver Wines]

How about Strawberry ?

Does Anyone have any suggestions on a good fruit wine to start off with? Unfortunately no local fruits are in season right now here in the Northeast.

I read some where that Strawberry is a good beginner wine because it is more forgiving. I can't say with any authority because I am new at this as well and my first strawberry batch is only 3 weeks old. Welcome to a great site.

 

[Wade E]

Actually strawberry is not forgiving because it is a very delicate flavor which will not mask any off flavors. Any fruit that has a strong flavor is much easier to make a good wine with as it will hide flaws better as will chilling a wine to hide imperfections. A warm wine will show much more aroma and taste.

 

[Scotto70]

Thanks for the advice

Thanks for the advice guys. I am also curious about Meads, although I have never tried one. I know I love wines, but I would probably want to try mead before attempting to brew some. I can't wait until wild blueberries are in season here.

 

[Madriver Wines]

Actually strawberry is not forgiving because it is a very delicate flavor which will not mask any off flavors. Any fruit that has a strong flavor is much easier to make a good wine with as it will hide flaws better as will chilling a wine to hide imperfections. A warm wine will show much more aroma and taste.

I am not surprised by that Wade. The more I read about wine making the more contradictions I run into. All the more reason the use this site and go with the guys and gals who have been doing it for a while.

 

[cpfan]

Scotto:

You can make wine from supermarket juices, just make sure there is no sorbate or benzoate in the juice.

A UK web-site has a good thread on this (http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1562). Some of the brand names are different, but I'm sure you can find something that will work. One problem is that the UK gallon is 4.54 litres and the US gallon is 3.78 litres, so be careful you don't get caught on that.

The Winemaker's Recipe Handbook is a great resource for recipes, it is light on methodology, so getting the Berry book was a good idea. Some people find that these recipes are high in sugar (yielding higher alcohol), and low in fruit (meaning less fruit taste). My original winemaking mentor recommended cutting the sugar by 20-25% and increasing the fruit by the same amount. This usually reduces the alcohol but not drastically.

Steve

 

[cpfan]

I am not surprised by that Wade. The more I read about wine making the more contradictions I run into. All the more reason the use this site and go with the guys and gals who have been doing it for a while.

Somebody once said, if you ask 6 winemakers a question, you'll get ten different answers.

Steve

 

[Madriver Wines]

Thats a great quote !

 

[Scotto70]

CPFAN:

Thanks for the info. I think this forum is going to be a great resource in my wine making ventures.

 

[St Allie]

Waves hello..

There are a couple of melomel recipes in the recipe section here ( fruit and honey wines)

Whatever you choose to make, keep us posted ..love to see what people are doing.. ( we're nosy!)

Allie::

 

[Wade E]

I completely agree with the post CP made about most old recipes having you add too much sugar and not enough fruit. A good starting gravity for a fruit wine is 1.085 and dont recommend going much higher especially on fruit wines where the fruit is delicate like strawberry or melon.

 

[smurfe]

Hello and welcome to the forums. Good luck with the wine. Feel free to fire away with the questions. We are here to help.