Homemade Wine? Any recipes?!
Answers: I've read that simply placing a balloon over a bottle of grape juice that's mixed with yeast can yield some good wine. There is a whole process to this that takes months to achieve
You have the general idea. I would not recommend using a balloon though. Balloons were used 20 years ago by homebrewers because that was about the best technology we had then.
If you are serious about making wine, I would recommend you pick up a winemaking kit from your local homebrew shop, or online at http://www.midwestsupplies.com or http://www.austinhomebrew.com . These starter kits have all the equipment you need (fermenters, airlocks, siphon tubing, etc.). At the very least, get a glass carboy and an airlock.
You will also want to use wine yeast, DO NOT USE BREAD YEAST. Bread yeast is a different strain, and will produce some alcohol, but will taste like crap.
As far as Welch's grape juice, that would make concord wine (concord grapes are what is used for most all grape juices). As long as the juice you are using is 100% juice, with no preservatives or additives, you should be OK. For some great recipes, check out http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/ or http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~goodwine...
For more information on the process of home winemaking, I recommend you also pick up a copy of C.J.J. Berry's book 'First Steps in Winemaking'.
Feel free to email me if you have any further questions.
Easy Homemade Wine
Ingredients:
13 (32 ounce) bottles white grape juice
1 1/2 gallons filtered water
7 1/2 cups sugar
1 package yeast
Steps:
1. Pour grape juice into 5-gallon container.
2. Bring water and sugar to a boil until sugar is melted.
3. Let cool.
4. Pour into container.
5. Add 1 pkg yeast (activating beforehand is optional).
6. Close with airlock stopper.
7. Allow to ferment for 3 weeks in a sanitized 5-gallon container.
8. After 1 additional week, bottle.
Good luck and enjoy! =)
I've never made wine before, but made beer plenty of times, and my friend makes wine and mead/honeywine. That being said, I recommend you use a recipe, don't just experiment. The process you are talking about is what guarantees decent results. I believe you can shorten the fermentation time if you use a smaller batch (I don't know how much off the top of my head), but if you really enjoy it you'll find that making one bottle of wine using proper techniques feels kind of silly.
Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you to try it, because it is fun!
Homemade Wine
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 4 cups sugar
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen juice concentrate - any flavor except citrus, thawed
* 3 1/2 quarts cold water, or as needed
DIRECTIONS
Combine the yeast, sugar and juice concentrate in a gallon jug. Fill the jug the rest of the way with cold water. Rinse out a large balloon, and fit it over the opening of the jug. Secure the balloon with a rubber band.
Place jug in a cool dark place. Within a day u will notice the balloon starting to expand. As the sugar turns to alcohol the gasses released will fill up the balloon. When the balloon is deflated back to size the wine is ready to drink. It takes about 6 weeks total.
Use a frozen juice concentrate without added sweeteners for best results. goodluck ^_^
I don't have a recipe, but I do know that if you don't give the wine a way to expand the bottle could explode!! The yeast will grow, and air will incorporate and expand, learn what tools are necessary to use, don't just cap it up or seal it tight!!
good luck, also Our area has a winery that offers classes in wine making, check out your local yellow pages, ask people, That is what I am going to do when my grapes grow enough to start making wine!!
I don't know how much I'd believe that Welchs grape juice would make some good wine but grape juices for home wine making are readily available and the process is nearly as simple as you've heard.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/document...
That link should tell you everything you need to have and do in order to make some wine at home. You could cut a lot of corners based on those instructions but that's kind of the standard beginners set up.
They also sell wine kits.
Equipment:
http://northernbrewer.com/wine-starter...
Ingredients:
http://northernbrewer.com/wine-kits.ht...