Hmm.. When I started researching brewing wine,, I was dead set on brewing and clearing wine, and drinking it in under 2 weeks.. I think they call it hooch here, but, it is great wine/hooch,, that I have never had anyone turn their nose up at.. In fact, some that drink wine regularly that say,, the best wine they have had out of all store bought or home made wine.. High in fruit aroma, high in fruit flavor, good alcohol content, low on back end bite, or,, I can create typical store bought wine that leaves that twang in your throat and tastebuds.. All a matter of taste, but, I prefer the smooth clear taste of the fruit.. When someone can smell your wine and taste it and know what flavor it is,, before you tell them what it is... I have never tasted a Strawberry wine from a winery that I liked.. But, I love and everyone else loves my 2 week old Strawberry.. I made 4 - 1 gallon batches.. And I prefer my Hooch recipe, and so does everyone else to the wine recipe..
I go straight from Primary, into 2 days of secondary clearing, and then to the 1 gallon bottles, filling my 5ths from them.. Straight into the 18 bottle wine cooler.. Very few recipes require longer than 2 to 3 days of clearing.. And I stop the primary fermentation when I get the taste I want, and the SG gives me the ABV content I am looking for.. My wine never makes it 2 or 3 years, even when I brew double batch 5 gallon batches...
And,, my favorite is a Blueberry brewed with Bread yeast at 13%ABV.. Ok,, that was where the bashing gets started.. I pull a vacuum to degass, and treat with Potassium Metabisulfate and Potassium Sorbate, and most wines,, I treat with Bentonite, after I hit it with hot water, and blend it in a super blender (Vitamix) for about 5 minutes on high..
I brewed the Dragon Pee wine twice.. Once with the EC-1118, and once with Bread Yeast.. everyone preferred the bread yeast.. got rid of the after bite,, left more of the fruit flavor, and aroma.. I cut the lemon juice back to a 1/2 bottle, and I put more sugar in, so I didn't have to brew down to SG 1.00, and still get the ABV that I want..
Something that brewing down to 1.00 or lower does to the taste of the wine..
In my opinion, it is the yeast, going from the Aerobic environment, to the Anaerobic.. I think, while the yeast are healthy, they are doing a good job,, but, when they start either starving, or killing themselves with their own alcohol, they put off tastes in the wine.. Best to sterilize them, and kill them, while they are still actively producing good tastes... and then, backsweeten the wine,, or play with your batches until you can stop them at the proper sweetness. Usually takes 3 or 4 tries to get that right...
To each his own, but, if you want to be able to drink about 70-80% of your wine in 2 weeks,,, start experimenting.. I ruined about 4 gallons of wine figuring it out.. Rushing it a bit too much.. Here is what I learned.. don't bother being concerned about tasting your wine, until it is cleared.. You get some idea in Primary, but, while in secondary,, don't expect it to taste good, until you clear it.. And,, you are not going to clear it, while it is full of gas.. Pull a good vacuum on it for about an hour, treat it, and watch it clear by the next morning..
The only wine that has not cleared in 24 hours has been one of my Concord Whites, and a White wine with Raspberry.. But, both were heavy bodied wines.. And if you want to see a bananna wine clear,, just put an extract made on the stove with old black bananas.. Wow, adds flavor, and will clear over night, like nothing else will clear..
And,, then,, take all of your left over fruits from several batches,, add back to a single must, add sugar,, and brew it again.. I have 3 batches of the best light bodied wine, that everyone has begged me to sell or give them bottles.. But, it is one of my favorites too,, so,, come and have a drink, and enjoy,, but, if I gave it away everytime I was asked for it,, I would never have any for myself..
If you make wine with Frozen concentrates,, and you are not drinking it in 12 to 14 days,, oh well.. I will be..
I went on 4 wine tours.. Tasted over 160 bottles of wine.. Can't say I found a single bottle better than any of my average wines, and none better than my favorites.. And, just to check,, I took 4 bottles of my favorite, and 4 small sample bottles with caps, and after the wine tasting,, I pulled them out of my jacket pocket, to let the taster, taste my wines.. On all of the tours,, their eyes got wide open, and they all said,, Wow,,you made this?? And,, the 4 bottles I took were bottled between 12 and 14 days..
So, don't be afraid of trying new things.. Brewing 5-1gallon batches instead of 5 gallons, and use different recipes, different yeasts, etc, and keep records of everything you do,, and notice how the wine matures in each stage.. Take one of your batches and whip air into it, every day in the primary, and one, keep it tightly sealed and see what a difference it makes.. Add more sugar to one, and stop it before it reaches SG 1.000, and let the other brew down as far as it goes, with the same batches.. You choose what you want to drink and when, and how..
Get you a couple of good scales and do everything by weights, and not volumes..
You'll find that you sugar recipes vary by at least 1/4 cups.. Backsweeten your gallons by using weights in quarts, and then multiply everything times 4 for your gallons.. But, never backsweeten, until your wine is perfectly clear.. And,, pull a vacuum on your wine a second time, at least 2 or 3 days after you stop the primary fermentation process... And,, if you have some sort of odd flavor in your wine,, before you bottle it,, aireate it heavily, and taste it again... You can do this 3 or 4 days in a row, if you need to... And,, some of your recipes will require some extra aging.. You will know which ones will need it.. Just about every receipe I have used rasins in, I have had to let sit longer.. I stopped using them...
I know there are some of you out there that would like to have those 4 or 5 recipes that brew great wine in 2 weeks.. It is up to you to find them..
Since I just started brewing 2 or 3 months ago, I used alot of frozen concentrates.. White Grape, Peach, Grape, Berry Blend, strawberry breeze, White Grape Raspberry,, and as far as frozen fruit, Blueberry was absolutely fantastic, Blackberry, Raspberry, and mixes of those, Orange, and fresh banana.. All cleared in under 2 weeks...
Try brewing at different temperatures.. I brewed a bunch in an old aquarium with 2 adjustable heaters.. I ran temps between 65degrees and 95 degrees to see the speed differences and the taste differences... The primary fermentation usually runs about 7 days on an average 11-13% ABV, but, can be done in 5 days on an average by raising the temp.. Run one batch with Nutrient and one without...
It is all about experimenting..
So, Yes,, call it what you want.. Hootch is fine with me.. My drinkers call it wine.. Ha..Ha.. And,, if I mixed some of my brews in with one of your best brewers,, you would love and praise it...
So,, fire it off,, Hooch this, Hooch that,, won't bother me a bit.. I sit here with 18 bottles of the best whatever you want to call it.. and only 2 of them, are what I consider, my worst wine,, but,, about half of the people that taste all of my wines,, say they really like them,, so, what the heck,, that isn't bad, out of 24 gallons of 1 gallon brews,, including every batch I have made in the last 3 months.. And the two gallons I don't like that much were someone else's recipe, and they both had raisins.. Banana and Raisin, and Orange and Raisin... And,, when I hand them out, as the first two samples,, 100% of the time,, everyone likes them.. They just aren't the Wow bottles as the rest of the 16 bottles..
Wineries are very regulated and restricted as far as what they can do to wine.. You are not, so enjoy doing what you want in your own lab..
And,, I want to say thanks to the one individual who commented privately to me on this forum about 3-4 months ago.. Explained about the yeasts, going through the two stages, etc... It was the missing link I was looking for to do what I wanted to do.. Understanding this, also has helped me to help two Alcoholics out of their delima.. And,, for those of you who think you know everything there is to know about wines, etc,, here is something for you to think about..
When you see those little starving kids on the TV infomercials,, and they are starving, and skin and bones,, but, have bloated bellies... the answer and keys to alcoholism, and brewing good wines, and keeping yourself healthy,, is in knowing the why behind why they look the way they do..
Then,, you will understand how an Alcoholic can have a single drink and be stoned,, or how he/she can get stoned, by just waking up, and walking around, or doing a little work.. They are not sneaking drinks while you are not looking,, it is something totally different going on.. I have seen it... Same thing with the starving kids, and the way they look... Making Wine/hooch can be as simple, or as complex as you want to make it.
Brew and enjoy..
Y
