Easiest homemade wine?

Question

OK, I found a couple websites describing how to make super-easy homemade wine from your own fruit or grapes. I've made batches "scientifically" in the past but recently came across a story about a young fellow who rode his bike around California this summer making wine from roadside grapes which he then carried in a little jug in his packs. It gave me the idea to try to make some simple "jiffy" wine.

Here are the links, for your amusement:

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THE GRAND FINALE:

I got a half gallon of juice from anonymous red grapes at my brother's farm and squeezed them and let the juice (no skins) sit in a small jug with some bread yeast in it. Loose lid. No tests, no nuttin'. Fruit flies were around it but I figured they weren't creeping under the lid. A couple weeks later, I just now racked it off an inch or two of lees (no bugs) but it doesn't taste so hot. Maybe I could still add sugar?

I also set aside a half gallon of fresh apple cider I pressed, with loose lid---it's pretty darn vinegarey now. Rats.

I'm thinking I might've had too much airspace above the wines---4".

I bleached out the jugs.

Oh well.

So much for the easy way. How did I botch it? Any fixes possible?

JP outyourbackdoor.com

ralconte · Accepted Answer

That's probably the worst thing that you did. The guy on the bike got lucky, he must have got a strain of wild yeast that wasn't so bad. And he cultured it as he went along. So buy some wine yeast, at least once, and try again. This low alcohol wine doesn't keep well, but you can drink it young -- that is fermented last month -- and it might be palatable. C.J.J. Berry's books often have a couple of recipies like that.

My concern is, what if it comes out great, and you have no one to share it with at that time? That's why I like to make wines that are made carefully, so they're worth bottling, and storing.

jp4wine · Answer

for another attempt at commercial wine grapes visit  This is exciting developments in wine making

Joe Sallustio · Answer

I like the idea of topping up, I would surely do that. Just as a heads up, grapes vary all over the place as to how much sugar and acid they have in them, even from day to day and what side of a hill its on in season. That white powdery stuff you see on grapes contains yeast, it can go on it's own. When you drink wine very young, the yeast still contributes to the flavor; I have no idea what to do there but i would not use bread yeast.

If you want to drink it young the juice probably needs to be high in sugar and low in acid; if it's the other way around, it might be like drinking lemon juice. If it tastes really sweet, go for it; if it's not so sweet and pretty tart; add sugar until it's noticably sweet. (If you are not on that bike, get a hydrometer...:o))

Joe

JeffOYB · Answer

Even now? Or am I kaput for this batch... I note that the taste is

*astringent.* It's not necessarily bad. Maybe I can revive the action with sugar syrup and wine yeast, make sure I'm topped off (near top of jug) and get something gulpable, as a young thing?

As for drinking young wine alone---no worries there. There's always someone around at the OYB Corral! : )

Man, the cider sure tastes vinegary, though. Wrecked as hard cider?

I have a hydro---I just wanted to try the "wing it" method. : )

--JP outyourbackdoor.com

JeffOYB · Answer

Even now? Or am I kaput for this batch... I note that the taste is

*astringent.* It's not necessarily bad. Maybe I can revive the action with sugar syrup and wine yeast, make sure I'm topped off (near top of jug) and get something gulpable, as a young thing?

As for drinking young wine alone---no worries there. There's always someone around at the OYB Corral! : )

Man, the cider sure tastes vinegary, though. Wrecked as hard cider?

I have a hydro---I just wanted to try the "wing it" method. : )

--JP outyourbackdoor.com

Joe Sallustio · Answer

Astringent could be youth, but try some sugar.  Don't waste your timeon the cider if it _smells_ like vinegar, apples are not as high insugar as you might think, it may just need sugar.Joe

ds549 · Answer

why not just learn how to make wine right. its not hard if youhave recipe to follow. lucas

Ray Calvert · Answer

With the Apple juice you can just add wine or beer yeast to the jug and drink it as it bubbles. Alcohol will be low and it will be cloudy but it will be like bubbly cider. Not bad. It is called "Letting the cider be kissed by yeast."

Ray

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