Wonder Wine...

Where on earth did you find that stuff?. I know it is distributed out of Burlington Ont and I bought some years ago at some dollar store.You have to admire a wine that makes a gallon for 2.50!

All I can say about their wine is it was a one time experiment that pretty well put me off wine making for the next 10 years!

For those who have not had the challenge of making and "enjoying" wonder wine--check out their website:

Their flavours speak for themselves:

Red White Apple Loganberry Cherry Peach

and you have to love the testimonials on their site like:

Love your wine" - J.P., Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

"Enjoying the wine and so do my friends. Thank you." - C.Z., Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada

"...we have been using (your Wonder Wine Peach Mix) for a number of years and like it very much...." - M.W., Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

Pretty much all super markets in Canada carry it.

Well, since you've got the equipment, why not try a wine from Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate? The final product can be quite good, and Welch's is fairly cheap. Find the recipe at:

Also, this website has a TON of recipes for 1-gallon batches of different kinds of wine. Pick one and have fun.

Just what I was looking for. Thanks.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Silly question, any idea how long yeast keeps for on the shelf? I've got a bottle of yeast with the equipment, I'm guessing it was purchased about 8 years ago. Not a problem to get a new bottle if I've got to though.

The yeast is 8-years old? I'd replace it, and there are PLENTY of homebrew stores online that will sell you various types of yeast. There should be an expiration date on the yeast packet, but I think with 8-years it's pretty safe to assume it needs replacing.

Online stores don't really matter, there's a winemaking store about 5 minutes from my house, it's more a matter of waste-not want not ;)

When I was a kid I remember watching my grandma make bread. Like everything else, as a depression era child, she bought her bread yeast in bulk containers....a small bottle the size of a child's fist, somewhat more than a single use pouch. Anyhow, if she had had the yeast for any period of time she would test it by taking some hot water, adding sugar and waiting to see if there was any response to the yeast.

do the same thing. but first buy a package of new yeast. take the old yeast and add to some luke warm water, say about 105 or so Fahrenheit stir in some sugar, cover, leave on your counter overnight, if their is any significant bubbling or foaming within a couple of days, use it and freeze the new yeast and use it next time; otherwise dump it in the sink and use the new yeast. Kevin

I had an initial foray into wine making about ten years ago. My homebrew shop mentioned that they had received some wine kits.

Great, what kinds?

"The red is gone. All that's left is white and Rose."

"What kind of white?"

"It just says, 'white.'"

"Err, I'll take the Rose."

When I got it home, I discovered that it wasn't even grape-based.

It ended up going into a beer keg, mixed with equal amounts of diet 7up.

One of the very first things I learned about making beer was not to bother with recipes that used sugar. I know that there's exceptions for some fruit wines, but this pretty clearly falls within the beer rule :)

hawk

You've never made a Belgian Dubble style? You should try one.

Andy

Oh, there's a few styles, but I'm really referring to the ones that use sugar instead of extract or malt.

hawk, who really needs to get to brewing again

I’d like to find some of that wonder wine packages if you could help me out with that that would be awesome