wine 101: double peach

It's peach season. That's my excuse for a second peach wine in one week. This time, I made a half gallon batch, but used the amount of fruit usual for a gallon. I want to see how much more peach flavor will be imparted.

Double Peach Wine

Date Started: September 27, 2009

Ingredients for half gallon batch:
- peaches - 7 very ripe
- sugar - 2 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Lalvin KI-V1116)
- beginning specific gravity: 1.080

- beginning % alcohol: 11%

- vessel - apple juice jar

Bottled:

- ending specific gravity:

-ending % alcohol:

*approximate % alcohol of wine =

wine 101: spiced peach

I made a peach wine last summer that turned out really horrible, probably because I was impatient and my peaches were not ripe. That was not a problem this time; my peaches were practically falling apart. I decided to try a spiced peach wine because I received some cinnamon bark pieces as a present and had yet to figure out what to do with them. Cloves seemed a reasonable addition after that. Hopefully it turns out well just in time for the really cold February evenings next year.

Spiced Peach Wine

Date Started: September 25, 2009

Ingredients:
- peaches - 6 very ripe
- cinnamon - one medium length bark piece

- cloves - 1/4 tsp
- sugar - 3.75 cups
- yeast - 1/2 tsp. (Lalvin KI-V1116)
- beginning specific gravity: 1.080

- beginning % alcohol: 11%

- vessel - wide-mouth jar

Bottled:

- ending specific gravity:

-ending % alcohol:

*approximate % alcohol of wine =

wine 101: mango

The co-op has this great $0.99 bin of slightly less than perfect fruit. I got lucky and spotted the mangoes before anyone else...There were just enough for a half gallon of wine.

Mango Wine

Date Started: Sept. 24, 2009

Ingredients for a half gallon batch:
- mangos - 5 brazilian small, yellow mangos and 1/2 a regular mango
- sugar - 1.25 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Lalvin KI-V1116)
- beginning specific gravity: 1.065

- beginning % alcohol: 9%

- vessel - BBC half gallon

Bottled :

- ending specific gravity:

-ending % alcohol:

*approximate % alcohol of wine =

wine 101: montana cherry

On our way back from the west coast, Sam and I stopped at some waterfalls in Kootenai, Montana. Next to the parking lot was a fully laden cherry tree. Sam, being part monkey, decided he would climb to the top and collect the cherries the other tourists hadn't reached. He collected a Nalgene full, and we brought them back to Wisconsin for the express reason of making a Pacific NW Memorial Cherry Wine.

Montana Cherry Wine

Date Started: August 7, 2009

Ingredients:
- cherries - 1 Liter

Batch 1 (half gallon):
- sugar - 1.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Lalvin KI-V1116)
- beginning specific gravity: 1.070

- beginning % alcohol: 10%

- vessel - BBC half gallon

Batch 2 (half gallon):

- sugar - 2.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Lalvin KI-V1116)

- beginning specific gravity: 1.082

- beginning % alcohol: 11%

- vessel - apple jar

Bottled Batch 1: Sept. 16, 2009

- ending specific gravity: 0.990

-ending % alcohol: -1.%

*approximate % alcohol of wine = 11%

Bottled Batch 2: Sept. 16, 2009

- ending specific gravity: 1.000 (technically, fully fermented!)

-ending % alcohol:0%

*approximate % alcohol of wine = 11%

Notes: Reconstituted yeast before adding it to wine.

wine 101: strawberry

I made Sam travel out into the countryside and u-pick strawberries with me for these. Hehe.

Strawberry Wine

Date Started: June 19, 2009

Ingredients:
- strawberries - 2 quarts+

Batch 1 (half gallon):
- sugar - 1.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Red Star)
- beginning specific gravity: 1.068

- beginning % alcohol: 8.5%

- vessel - apple juice jar

Batch 2 (half gallon):

- sugar - 2.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Red Star)

- beginning specific gravity: 1.095

- beginning % alcohol: 13%

- vessel - pickle jar

Bottled Batch 1: July 23, 2009

- ending specific gravity: 0.992

-ending % alcohol: -1.%

*approximate % alcohol of wine = 9.5%

Bottled Batch 2: July 23, 2009

- ending specific gravity: 0.990

-ending % alcohol:-1.5%

*approximate % alcohol of wine = 14.5%

Notes: Wine did not clarify, so I restrained on Sept. 16, 2009.

wine 101: rhubarb

Beginning with this rhubarb wine, I got a little more sophisticated in my winemaking. That is, I received as a gift a hydrometer, a nifty little device that measures the specific gravity of a liquid. I have been using it to determine the approximate percent alcohol of my finished wine (% alcohol is the difference between beginning and ending measurements of % alcohol). The beginning and ending measurements are recorded in my notes, along with the final calculation on how drunk my wine will get me!

Rhubarb Wine

Date Started: May 31, 2009

Ingredients:
- rhubarb - 5 stalks

Batch 1 (half gallon):
- sugar - 1.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Red Star)
- beginning specific gravity: 1.065

- beginning % alcohol: 9%

- vessel - BBC growler

Batch 2 (half gallon):

- sugar - 2.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Red Star)

- beginning specific gravity: 1.1110

- beginning % alcohol: 16.5%

- vessel - Herot growler

Notes:
Let yeast sit for 10 minutes on top before stirring in.

Bottled Batch 1: July 23, 2009

- ending specific gravity: 0.990

-ending % alcohol: -1.5%

*approximate % alcohol of wine = 11.5%

Bottled Batch 2: August 7, 2009

- ending specific gravity: 1.026

-ending % alcohol: 3.5%

*approximate % alcohol of wine = 13%

catching up on the wine

Working at the co-op means I have access to lots of fruit, both beautifully perfect pieces and no longer able to be sold pieces. That means I have quite a bit of inspiration for winemaking lately. The next few posts will be me catching up on my online wine journal.

I have decided to be very, very patient with all of my recent wines and not taste them until at least four months after bottling. This is difficult, since I just drank the last of my older wine. I guess it's a good thing it's Oktoberfest!

wine 101: kiwi

Kiwi Wine
Date Started: April 3, 2009

Ingredients:
- kiwi - 7 very ripe

Version 1 (half gallon):
- sugar - 1.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (D47 Lavlin)
- vessel - BBC growler

Version 2 (half gallon):
- sugar - 2.5 cups
- yeast - 1/4 tsp. (Red Star)
- vessel - Herot growler

Notes:
Let yeast sit for 10 minutes on top before stirring in. The Lavlin sat on top until I stirred it in, but the Red Star fell in right away. We'll see what the two yeasts and the two different sugar amounts do to this wine.

Bottled: May 23 and 24

wine 101: grapefruit

Grapefruit Wine
Date Started: February 11, 2009

Ingredients:
- grapefruit - 4 large, red and very ripe
- sugar - 5 cups
- yeast - 1/2 tsp.
- vessel - wide mouth glass gallon

Notes:
Grapefruit is a naturally sour fruit, but these were pretty red, sweet, and ripe, so I went with 5 cups of sugar. I hope the sourness of the grapefruit and the sugar balance each other out for a middle of the road not too sweet/not to dry wine.
Let yeast sit for 10 minutes on top before stirring in.

Bottled: March 16, 2009

wine 101: mint

Whenever we go to Sam's parents' house, Sam's dad gives us something to take back home with us. Clothes, army mail bags, ties, flower seeds, and this time mint. He knows how much I like it, and he knows that mine did not grow well this summer. So he had me cut down all of his mint which would soon be felled by the frost. I took it home and used half to make a batch of mint wine and the other half I dried to make mint tea.

Mint Wine
Date Started: November 30, 2007

Ingredients:
- freshly cut mint leaves - approx. 1 quart, washed, rinsed, and fluffed
- sugar - 5 cups
- yeast - 1/2 tsp
- vessel - plastic gallon milk jug

Notes:
- Let the yeast set for 5 minutes on top of juice before stirring in.
- Put it right on the radiator.
-Started bubbling enthusiastically the next day.

Date Bottled: January 25, 2009
- approx. yield - a little over 3/4 gallon

wine 101: finis

It is the last day of the nablopomo month, and the last day of this winemaking 101 manual. All of my winemaking posts can be accessed through the "winemaking" tag, but to make it easier for your perusal at a later date, I have also gathered the links to each entry in chronological order here. If you have any questions at any time, feel free to ask.

Enjoy your wine!


How to make your own wine:

welcome to soycube's "month of winemaking"
initial equipment
ingredients
step 1: clean the fruit
step 2: make the must
step 3: cool the must
step 4: clean and sterilize the fermenting vessel
step 5: strain the must
step 6: add sugar
step 7: add yeast
step 8: set it aside and wait
step 9: is it done yet? checking your wine
guest post: using a siphon
step 10: preparing for storage
step 11: racking your wine
step 12 (optional): re-racking
step 13 (very optional): labels
keeping a log
log: mulberry
log: black raspberry
log: asian pear
log: peach
log: mixed fruit
log: apple
log: persimmon
non-fruit wines
resources
other winemaking options
questions?

wine 101: questions?

Well, I realize that having question day over Thanksgiving break might not have been a good idea. Like me, I'm sure everyone is just sitting around relaxing and spending time with family instead of reading the internet. But I'll pretend I received a few questions anyway and answer accordingly. Feel free to ask any real questions whenever you want.

Q: I want to put my fermenting must in a cabinet to keep it out of the way while it's fermenting. Does the lack of light cause any problems?

A: Light is not necessary for the fermenting process to happen, but warmth is, and warmth usually comes with some light. But if your cabinet is warm, it shouldn't matter.


Q: I followed your process, but my wine doesn't taste like "real" wine. Why?

A: There are two big reasons. First, it's "fruit wine," which tastes significantly different than "grape wine." Second, the fact that my process doesn't use chemicals to end the second fermentation means the wine comes out tasting a little yeasty, or with the "homemade flavor" I think I mentioned earlier. To make it lose that flavor, let your wine sit and age for at least six months.

wine 101: other winemaking options

I have presented here pretty much the simplest way you can make wine other than leaving some apple cider too long in the fridge. There are a few things I'd like to mention, though, that are options to sophisticate your process.

Carboys, siphons, and airlocks
If you're thinking of making lots of wine at once, investing in a carboy (a 5 gallon jug) might be worth it. And if you've got a carboy, the next thing to get would be an auto siphon, so you can easily get the finished wine out of your fancy container without sucking on a tube. Lastly, you might want to consider an airlock. This is a nice cap to put on your carboy that keeps bugs out while releasing the air. As it releases, it makes a little ticking sound. When first fermentation is complete, you won't hear anything anymore!

Sulfites, nutrients, and clarifiers
Nothing goes into my wine but water, fruit, yeast, and sugar. But there are several chemical options for making your wine a little "better." Sulfites slow/kill yeast, effectively ending second fermentation and allowing you to seal your wine before a year has passed. Yeast nutrients add nutrients for your yeast and make them work better (?) Clarifiers reduce sediment, clear up your wine, and "smooth" the taste. I also see a lot of campden tablets and acid blends mentioned...

Wine recipes
If you look up, for example, "pumpkin wine recipes" in Google, you'll come up with quite a few options and most of them are more complicated than any of mine. To tell you the truth, I've always just looked at these and considered how I might alter them for my use. They take more babysitting than my wines and involve chemicals I don't use. But even so, they could be good starting points for your own versions, or could be a jumping off point for making more elaborate wines.

TOMORROW IS QUESTION DAY! SEND SOME COMMENTS/QUESTIONS AND I WILL ADDRESS THEM!

wine 101: resources

In my quest to make good homemade wine, I have made use of a few resources that you might also find to be helpful.

First and foremost, Carey from Food Not Lawns introduced me to the idea of homebrewing, gave a great presentation on it, and produced a handy brochure, "Brew Not Bombs," which provided extra info for the process. If you're interested in getting a copy of her handout, let me know and I can try to get one for you.

Carey incorporated some wisdom from Dolly Freed's out of print book Possum Living, which is available online. It looks like a great book in general, but chapter 12 "The 'Necessities of Life'" is most pertinent for winemaking.

I also found a few good websites which were useful to me in different capacities. There are quite a few out there, however, so you can browse around and find one you might like.

Home Winemaking (good tips and techniques)

Roxanne's Wine Cellar (good wine recipe ideas)

Info on wine yeast, simple and more complicated.

wine 101: non-friuit wines

For the past month I have explained how I make wine out of fruit - berries, apples, pears, etc. But you can make wine out of quite a few non-fruits as well - pumpkins, honey, flowers, mint, lemon balm, etc. The biggest difference between these two kinds of wines is the time it takes for them to become tasty. Fruit wine can be drunk pretty soon after first fermentation, but some non-fruit wines often require a year to age in order to be drinkable. I'm putting in some pumpkin wine soon, so it will be ready by autumn next year!

Here are a few non-fruit recipes thanks to my Food Not Lawns winemaking mentor, Carey.

Mead (Honey Wine)
1.2 quarts pure local honey (buckwheat gives a hearty flavor; clover gives a delicate flavor)
1 gallon of water
wine yeast

Pour honey into your vessel. if your water is still warm, but not hot, that works the best. Do not boil honey! Add yeast. Ferment. Often mead is drinkable as soon as it is done with the first ferment, but if you don't like the taste, age it.

Lemon Balm Wine
1 quart loosely packed lemon balm leaves and stems
1 gallon water
3-5 cups sugar
1 package yeast

Boil lemon balm leaves and stems in one gallon of water. Let cool and strain into a one gallon jug. Add sugar according to your taste. Add yeast. Ferment! This wine is good right after first ferment.

Flower Wines
1 quart loosely packed flower petals (dandelion, lilac, rose, redbud, peony, anything fragrant of plentiful)
1 gallon water
4-6 cups white sugar
1 package wine yeast

Remove any green parts from your flowers. Boil flower petals with water and let cool to body temperature. Add sugar and yeast. Flower wines notoriously take a long time to age, perhaps a year or more. But they are worth the time. You can also replace part of the water with grape juice (no need to boil it). Use pure juice, with no corn syrup or preservatives in it.

wine 101: persimmon

Lucky UIS students get the entire week off of school for Thanksgiving break. I'm heading to Indiana today after work to spend some time with my and Sam's families. I'm taking some wine as gifts. I hope my relatives like it as much as I do.

Persimmon Wine
Date Started: November 9, 2008

Ingredients:
- chinese persimmons - 5 very ripe
- sugar - 5.75 cups
- yeast - 1/2 tsp
- vessel - sun tea jar

Notes:
Reanimated yeast for approximately 5 minutes.
Put on top of the radiator.
Probably used too much sugar. Didn't use the sugar formula, but noticed that persimmons have 22% sugar content. This wine is going to be very, very sweet.
Jan. 25 - Liquid level was down to half a gallon, but the yeast was still going, so I added 3 cups of water.

*UPDATE*
Date Bottled: February 10, 2009
- a little under 3/4 gallon

wine 101: apple

Apple Wine
Date Started: October 26, 2008

Ingredients:
- apples - 4 suncrisp, 2 new york, 1 unknown
- sugar - 3.5 cups
- yeast - 1/2 tsp
- vessel - wide mouth glass gallon

Notes:
For the first time, I actually "reanimated" the yeast as per the instructions on the yeast package, meaning I let the yeast sit in warm water for 15 minutes before adding it to the must.
The must was possibly a bit too warm when I added the yeast.
After a week, the must was still not bubbling. I worried that I had killed the yeast. But I set the vessel on top of the radiator and it started going very slowly, so I think it is okay.

*UPDATE*
Date Bottled: January 12, 2009
- approx. yield - 2 Liters ( half a gallon)

*This wine is very tart. Obviously, I did not add enough sugar. But it's drinkable.

wine 101: mixed fruit

Even though the weather wasn't ridiculously cold, we decided to start up the fireplace. We've spent a few hours every weekend lately collecting firewood from our neighbor's lawn waste piles on the curbs. Sam's arms are tired from sawing. We most likely don't have enough wood to last the winter, but we'll be able to enjoy a few toasty evenings in front of the fire.

Doesn't it look cozy? All it needs is a nice glass of homemade wine to make it a perfect scene.

Mixed Fruit Wine
Date Started: September 19, 2008

Ingredients:
- dwarf peaches from an obliging tree on campus - 36
- apples from another obliging tree on campus - 3 small
- concord grapes from the farmer's market - 1 bunch
- sugar - 4.5 cups
- yeast - 1/2 tsp
- vessel - 1 gallon glass apple juice jug

Notes:
Sugar wouldn't dissolve, probably because the mouth isn't wide enough to give a good stir.
Put yeast on top, but it fell in. Waited 10 minutes anyway, and then stirred.

*This wine has been fermenting for two months now. Every week I check to see if it is finished, and every week it still has bubbles. I blame some of the length on the fact that the temperature in our house dramatically decreased for a month before we turned the heat on. Today I put the vessel on my radiator with my other two fermenting wines. We'll see if that speeds things up.

*UPDATE*
Date Bottled: December 7, 2008
-approx. yield - almost 3/4 gallon

wine 101: peach

Today was the Illinois Stewardship Alliance's Meet Your Local Producer event. It was kindof a combination of the last farmer's market of the year and an informative event connecting citizens with potential local resources for local food. I questioned a few of the Illinois wineries about their fruit wine making processes and learned a little bit about how they do it. I still like my way best.

Peach Wine
Date Started: September 10, 2008

Ingredients:
- peaches - 7 of various sizes (1/4 peck?)
- sugar - 4 2/3 cups
- yeast - 1/2 tsp.
- vessel - wide mouth glass gallon

Notes:
Peaches were probably not as ripe as I would have liked, but I was impatient.
I used the sugar formula, but dropped sugar percent to 10% since the peaches weren't ripe.
First attempt at dividing the yeast package into gallon portions - 1/2 tsp of yeast per gallon.
Let yeast sit for 10 minutes on top before stirring in.

Date Bottled: October 24, 2008
- yield - 3 quarts plus a little

Re-racked: November 3, 2008

*This wine smells great, but the taste is so-so. I blame it on my impatience and therefore my use of not quite ripe peaches.

wine 101: asian pear

A little rant - Occasionally I sell some of my unwanted books on amazon.com. A couple of weeks ago, I sold one on Japanese folk tales to some guy. I mailed it out, got paid through amazon, and I was happy. Today, the book returned to me in the mail with a note saying, "This wasn't the book I thought it was." Really? Because on amazon.com you can LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK! It's not like you are going into this purchase blind. But now I have to refund this guy all of his money because he is stupid and that's the policy. I am annoyed.

Asian Pear Wine
Date Started: July 20, 2008

Ingredients:
- asian pears (nashi in Japanese) - 6 small very ripe, juicy seconds
- sugar - 4 cups
- yeast - approx. 1/4 of the packet
- vessel - plastic gallon milk jug

Notes:
Used sugar formula to determine amount of sugar to use.
Stirred yeast in immediately.

Date Bottled: October 4, 2008
- yield - .85 gallons

Re-racked: October 6, 2008 (was in a hurry and forgot to strain the first time!)

*This is my second-best wine, I believe. It is dry, but crisp and clean. A friend said it reminded her of sake, and I can see why she said that.