T.G.G. Moogly
Traditional Atheist
Two weeks ago I bottled my first small batch of wine. By all indications it was a great success and is aging in the cold of the cellar.
Tart Cherry Juice, White Grape Juice, Sugar and Rhubarb from the garden constituted the second batch which is presently fermenting.
I never realized how absolutely simple it is to make wine. It DOES NOT take chemicals and fancy equipment. As someone else opined, making wine does not take a chemist and a laboratory, just a babysitter.
The only things I needed from the brew store were a hydrometer, a 2 gallon food grade bucket, an airlock and champagne yeast, the yeast because it consumes alcohol up to 18%, and I prefer dry wines. Beyond that you need the ingredients. In all, 15 dollars spent, and the 1 dollar yeast packet will make 5 batches.
Any food grade container which seals well can be used to bottle the final product. I simply used the containers the juice came in, and some leftover bottles sitting around. No corks, corkers, no carboys or large fermenting containers, siphons or slew of chemicals and sanitizers recommended by most hobbyists and makers. If it had ever been that difficult we would not have been making fermented drinks until the 20th century.
I took a sip of the first batch after it had aged for only a couple weeks and it is already tasting great. It needs a few months minimum from what I can gather but the more time the better.
If you can put together a meal, you can put together a small batch of wine.
Tart Cherry Juice, White Grape Juice, Sugar and Rhubarb from the garden constituted the second batch which is presently fermenting.
I never realized how absolutely simple it is to make wine. It DOES NOT take chemicals and fancy equipment. As someone else opined, making wine does not take a chemist and a laboratory, just a babysitter.
The only things I needed from the brew store were a hydrometer, a 2 gallon food grade bucket, an airlock and champagne yeast, the yeast because it consumes alcohol up to 18%, and I prefer dry wines. Beyond that you need the ingredients. In all, 15 dollars spent, and the 1 dollar yeast packet will make 5 batches.
Any food grade container which seals well can be used to bottle the final product. I simply used the containers the juice came in, and some leftover bottles sitting around. No corks, corkers, no carboys or large fermenting containers, siphons or slew of chemicals and sanitizers recommended by most hobbyists and makers. If it had ever been that difficult we would not have been making fermented drinks until the 20th century.
I took a sip of the first batch after it had aged for only a couple weeks and it is already tasting great. It needs a few months minimum from what I can gather but the more time the better.
If you can put together a meal, you can put together a small batch of wine.