Montana, I'll have to get you the recipe my SIL uses. It doesn't call for yeast. Though I'm not doubting yours at all. I can taste a difference in the wines. She has used her imagination in flavors. The best I have had yet was some Muscadine wine that she made at the end of this summer. It had the prettiest color to it, taste was wonderful, full and didn't leave an aftertaste. But talk about a cheap drunk...that wine went straight to the core.
She has made Strawberry that was to die for..along with any other fruit that she has found in season.
UMMM.........
My wines are all made from kits, but I would sure welcome a homemade recipe :-)
I'll see if I can't get her recipe. It shouldn't be too different from what your doing.
Its funny.......down south, we use things called a dimmyjohn......for what I think your calling a Carboy. lol
If she doesn't use yeast, how does her wine ferment?
Dimmyjohn is a cute name for it. The carboy is just the big glass bottle.
Basically the same way your doing it. The temperature has alot to do with it. And fruits will ferment on thier own.....ever smelled apple juice that has ruint? I know that she uses alot of sugar in her recipes...and that may have something to do with it.
She has a spare bedroom that she has her "STEEL" set up in......and its not that elaborate.
Oh cool. I am all excited now :-D
She starts her fruit out in a 5 gallon bucket...and it sits with a lid on it for weeks. Once it gets to a certain stage, she transfers it into another jug....that is closed off at the top. IT has a surgical tube that runs out of it. Once the fruit has fermented and starts bubbling, it will run out that tube into her dimmyjohn......once that is all finished. Its time to bottle it.
If she uses a lot of sugar, then her wine must be nice and sweet.
BTW....She puts all her ingredients into it at the start. Sugar and all........and after that, its just time on your hands waiting.
I'm not kidding though...I have teased her about labeling it. ITS WONDERFUL!!
It is sweet. Which I like sweet wines over dry anyday. Dry to me, just leaves my tongue funky! lol But once she gets home this evening, I'll see what I can get from her..........
Ok, so she has a different set up than I do. I don't have that jug with the tube. I'll have to snoop around the net to see if I can't find a picture of it. Is it something that she made herself or did she buy it?
Thanks. I apprecicate that. I'm all excited now, lol.
The burgundy yeasts they sell att the wine supplies stores is superior to justt wild yeasts in the grape. The burgundy yeast wont die until about 13% alky.
When I made wines we always went for cooler temps tto control the fermentt. If you let iit gett too high , and 80 is pushing it, youll lose some alky and wind up with aldehydes and acetic acid.
Years ago I had a buddy who was a chemist for Old Grandad whhiskey. When they ran their mash , tthey are actually making a mash wine and then they distill it. They would keep ttheir mash down to 65% to produce a igher alcohol content (12%) , if tthey let it get too high thhen theyd wind up with 7 or 8% , and theyd lose mooney on tthat batch. SOmetime try doin a batch with the carbouy in a cool water bath with it setting in thhe dark. Dont you put a balloon (I used to use a little s shaped fermentation lock id make in thhe lab from tthistle tubes) on the carbouy tto lett thhe CO2 exit but not let the wild yeast in from tthe air?
Ok...general run down of it...
Fruit~~~~~> Whatever kind you want.
However much your making...
persay a gallon of wine is what you want?
Use 2 quarts of fruit. 2 Quarts of water.
Its half and half..
Sugar~~~~ Says about a quart.....
Set it in your bucket with lid on it for about 5-7 days.
Afterwards...Strain it. Run it through a cheese clothe a time or two.
After that..
Put into the dimmyjohn....Sets for about 40 days.
She said that once you place it in the Dimmyjohn, you'll want a gaser for the top of it. And its a plastic tubing that runs out of it. She said you place water in the gaser and don't place the tube into the liquad, you want it at the top of the dimmyjohn. She said that once it stops bubbling, its done. But to make sure that you DO NOT take it out and bottle it before you are positive that its stopped bubbling. That it can and might blow up on you.
Thats about all the detail I can get from her on it. She said that it was more trial and error on her part learning. That she doesn't follow a "recipe" persay. But from the wine that I have tested, I promise you,...its a great wine.
Montana......I think Farmerman might be a pro at it..lol, with talk like that!
You sure your not kin to my husbands family? LOL
They used to make some good mash, or I hear tell they did. My husband grandmother was the one that run the steel...I have heard her tell stories about making mash, and it was down to a science.
MMS33 - you would be advised to top that mix up with some brewing sugar/dextrose to make sure there's enough sugars to keep the ferment charged. Too low a concentration and you're likely to get some nasties taking over.
Mr. Stillwater...I don't make the stuff. Just sample it. My SIL is the maker of it...I've been braggin' on her. I'll leave the whiskey/wine makin' to those that know more about it then me.
But I'm quit sure its good advice to follow.
farmerman wrote:The burgundy yeasts they sell att the wine supplies stores is superior to justt wild yeasts in the grape. The burgundy yeast wont die until about 13% alky.
When I made wines we always went for cooler temps tto control the fermentt. If you let iit gett too high , and 80 is pushing it, youll lose some alky and wind up with aldehydes and acetic acid.
Years ago I had a buddy who was a chemist for Old Grandad whhiskey. When they ran their mash , tthey are actually making a mash wine and then they distill it. They would keep ttheir mash down to 65% to produce a igher alcohol content (12%) , if tthey let it get too high thhen theyd wind up with 7 or 8% , and theyd lose mooney on tthat batch. SOmetime try doin a batch with the carbouy in a cool water bath with it setting in thhe dark. Dont you put a balloon (I used to use a little s shaped fermentation lock id make in thhe lab from tthistle tubes) on the carbouy tto lett thhe CO2 exit but not let the wild yeast in from tthe air?
I always keep the temp to about 76, but one of these days I try it your way. I have a fermentation lock that I keep on throught the whole precess.
MMS. Sounds simple enough. Thanks :-D
