December 27 2019 - I wanted to make something to drink to ring in the new year so I threw this together.
7 lbs honey
2 large oranges sliced
Cinnamon sticks
Cloves
Nutmeg
Star Anise
Boiled the water, oranges, and spices to soften and release flavors. Poured into my 2 gallon jug, waited for it to cool a little, and added the honey and yeast (116). It started off a little slow so I added some yeast nutrient. That seemed to do the trick.
My hope is that by New Year's Eve it will be slightly fermented, bubbly, and tasty. It smells delicious.
Happy New Year 2020!
Drank this on new year's. Boy, what a kick. I don't know if it's the amount of honey or the bubbles or the yeast but it almost knocked me over. It was very smooth so I did drink a lot of it. There was a gallon left over that Mary B and I had with dinner the next day. We'll probably finish it off over the weekend.
Skall!
Monday, December 30, 2019
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Sweet Potato Wine Fall 2019
Mary B and I recently cracked open a bottle of the potato wine that I made last year. We had it with a meal and it was very, very good. Beautiful color and the taste was great. You could taste the earthy quality from the potatoes and a hint of the bananas.
After looking up some recipes on the web and finding some really weird ones (like 50 lbs of potatoes?) I decided to just wing it based on what I've learned so far on this adventure. Mary B picked up a basket of sweet potatoes. I have no idea how many pounds. I'd estimate 20 potatoes or more. I peeled them like most of the recipes said to do. Sweet potato skins aren't poison or anything but I figured those who came before might know more than I.
After peeling I chopped them into small cubes. Sweet potatoes are hard! I had to wrap a towel around my hand by the end of the chopping. I recall thinking that if this doesn't turn out to be amazing the work will not be worth it.
After chopping I put them into 2 large pots of water to boil... and boil they did. I don't recall the actual cooking time. I think I used the method of checking to see if the potatoes were soft. I boiled and simmered for at least 3 hours though, maybe more. I turned them off and let them sit covered in the water until the next morning, November 9, 2019.
I put the water into my 3 gallon jug and checked the gravity. The gravity could have been put off by the sediment but it showed around 7%. This is pretty weak so I added 4 lbs of sugar. I figured this would bring it up to around 18% ish resulting in a 9% wine. I chopped 2 very-ripe bananas and threw them and the skins into the jug with the yeast. As seen in the image below I put a cloth over the top. It was bubbling pretty well after 24 hours.
A note about the remaining mash, I put the leavings in a gallon zip lock bag and put it in the fridge. We'll probably make bread using it.
I kept it with just the cloth for more than a week. November 19 thhe fermenting was slowing down a bit. I took the skins out and put an airlock on. I also added about 2 lbs more sugar. As of this morning it is very active again so I guess the yeast are happy. Now to let it finish bubbling and transfer to get it off of the old yeast and bananas.
About the second week of December i took it off the Lee's and everything. It cleared very quickly and the fermentation stopped. After Christmas i bottled it and had a taste. Heavenly. I think the alcohol content is lower than other wines I've made by Mary B says no. It turned out to be very pretty. Can't wait to see how some aging treats it.
After looking up some recipes on the web and finding some really weird ones (like 50 lbs of potatoes?) I decided to just wing it based on what I've learned so far on this adventure. Mary B picked up a basket of sweet potatoes. I have no idea how many pounds. I'd estimate 20 potatoes or more. I peeled them like most of the recipes said to do. Sweet potato skins aren't poison or anything but I figured those who came before might know more than I.
After peeling I chopped them into small cubes. Sweet potatoes are hard! I had to wrap a towel around my hand by the end of the chopping. I recall thinking that if this doesn't turn out to be amazing the work will not be worth it.
After chopping I put them into 2 large pots of water to boil... and boil they did. I don't recall the actual cooking time. I think I used the method of checking to see if the potatoes were soft. I boiled and simmered for at least 3 hours though, maybe more. I turned them off and let them sit covered in the water until the next morning, November 9, 2019.
I put the water into my 3 gallon jug and checked the gravity. The gravity could have been put off by the sediment but it showed around 7%. This is pretty weak so I added 4 lbs of sugar. I figured this would bring it up to around 18% ish resulting in a 9% wine. I chopped 2 very-ripe bananas and threw them and the skins into the jug with the yeast. As seen in the image below I put a cloth over the top. It was bubbling pretty well after 24 hours.
A note about the remaining mash, I put the leavings in a gallon zip lock bag and put it in the fridge. We'll probably make bread using it.
I kept it with just the cloth for more than a week. November 19 thhe fermenting was slowing down a bit. I took the skins out and put an airlock on. I also added about 2 lbs more sugar. As of this morning it is very active again so I guess the yeast are happy. Now to let it finish bubbling and transfer to get it off of the old yeast and bananas.
About the second week of December i took it off the Lee's and everything. It cleared very quickly and the fermentation stopped. After Christmas i bottled it and had a taste. Heavenly. I think the alcohol content is lower than other wines I've made by Mary B says no. It turned out to be very pretty. Can't wait to see how some aging treats it.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Cantaloupe Wine September 2019
I love summer cantaloupe so I gave this a shot. I didn't look up anything, I just wanted to see how it would turn out. I scraped and mashed 2 big cantaloupes. I wanted to try wild yeast so I added a couple grapes and raisins and kept it in a wide bowl for a few days stirring at least once a day. I saw bubbles so I put it into a 2 gallon jug after a few days. I tested the gravity and it was a little weak so I added about 3 cups of sugar.
It bubbled very weakly in the jug. After 2 weeks total time I noticed some mold on the top of the mash so I racked it to a gallon jug. I checked after an overnight and there wasn't much happening. The juice itself has a bit of a vinegar taste which has me a little worried but that may change with time. I added some wine yeast and yeast nutrient to kick start the batch. Maybe it will overpower the vinegar taste.
I drank a glass that wouldn't fit into the gallon jug. No bad effects. A little like drinking cantaloupe kombucha. I added a splash of yeast since the wild yeast wasn't doing anything. It's bubbling away now with an airlock. It will be an interesting experiment.
October 9 2019 - It's still bubbling but a bit more slowly and is completely opaque. I'm being patient but I'm interested to know what's happening in there. The color has changed too. Hopefully I'm not making a biological weapon :-)
The final thought: This turned out badly. I don't know if it got some weird yeast in it or if cantaloupe is just no good to make wine from. Thus far it's the only batch that I've poured down the drain. It had a rancid-vinegar taste to it. No bueno. :-)
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Watermelon Wine Aug 2019
August 5, 2019
I've never made watermelon wine before so this is my first attempt. Like most of my wines I wanted to try to stick as close to the "old way" as possible, even though I don't know what that means :-). So, we'll start as always with the ingredients:
3 seeded watermelons
That's it. I chose seeded because I thought they would be closest to what farmers had a couple hundred years ago. No extra ingredients other than the yeast. I used 116 which has been my go-to. I should really experiment with others.
I halved the melons and scooped out the good stuff into a pot. Then I used a potato masher to extract the juice. I need to buy a big colander/funnel to improve this process because getting the juice into the jug was difficult. Live and keep learning. I hoped to put some pulp in there but I actually had too much juice so I just went with the juice.
When the jug was full I tested it and it was at 7% sugar which will yield around 3.5% alcohol. Not very good so I will be adding sugar. I also tasted a cup of the juice. Nice and sweet and tastes like summer. I hope the wine does the same. The taste was light and... common. I think I'll be adding acid blend when it finishes. I want to taste it first though. I put the yeast in and gave it a swirl and put it under the table.
The next day it was bubbling as expected. I bought 8 lbs of white sugar. I've been using the evaporated cane juice that we have at the house but I wanted to do an experiment. All of my wines are tasty but I've noticed a similar taste in all of them. I wondered if it's from the cane juice adding a flavor. Maybe that's a good thing. Who knows. But, I used white sugar. When I poured it in the whole concoction bubbled up like crazy. I poured some into a gallon jug and added some leftover pulp. I put sugar in both containers. It's not an exact science but I think I've added about 6 lbs overall which should be about 20% sugar. So I'm hoping for 13% alcohol when all is said and done.
One interesting fact is that the bubbling mixture stained my plastic stirring spoon. I was surprised that the watermelon had that much color. So, note to self, I may want to be careful when bottling.
As of a couple of days everything is bubbling away as expected with cloth on the tops. I'll stir it a few more times and then pop an airlock on. Then, on to the next project.
October 1 2019 - The brew stopped bubbling about a month ago. I took it off of the lees and I've been letting it sit. It hasn't really cleared but smells very nice. I wanted to try my hand at back sweetening so Mary B made up some simple sugar water by mixing 4 cups of sugar to 2 cups of water. Heated until the sugar dissolved and then I let it cool. I siphoned out a half gallon and added a few tablespoons of the sugar until the taste was right. Everyone had a sip and said they liked it. I tried adding some acid but no one said it made it better. In fact they said it made it worse. I will say that I liked it but I like acidy things. Based on my tests I added about 5 cups of sugar-water to the 3 gallons of wine. I poured some out of the final product and Mary B said it was very tasty.
The watermelon is not at the front of the taste but has a nice linger after the sip. There is an odd "brown" taste. Mary B said that was an accurate description. It's not a bad taste, maybe it's from the rind or the lees. It will be interesting to see how this ages.
I added potassium sorbate to prevent a re-start. If everything looks good I'll bottle it this weekend or sooner.
October 8, 2019 - I bottled the wine last night while shuffling songs from Joe Cocker. He did a version of many rivers to cross which made me remember when Deb Dollar played at Mary Pat Hughs' memorial. Turns out it was 20 years ago this year on June 8 (a date I should remember). I sent a note to deb to let her know I'm thinking of her. As for the wine it is delicious! I of course had a glass left over that didn't fit in a bottle. It looks very nice. I bottled it dirty because I wanted to free up some jugs and I'm just impatient. I don't care if there is sediment in my wine. It's mine and I like it that way. I can't wait to see how this mellows. It's already more mellow than when I last racked it.
I've never made watermelon wine before so this is my first attempt. Like most of my wines I wanted to try to stick as close to the "old way" as possible, even though I don't know what that means :-). So, we'll start as always with the ingredients:
3 seeded watermelons
That's it. I chose seeded because I thought they would be closest to what farmers had a couple hundred years ago. No extra ingredients other than the yeast. I used 116 which has been my go-to. I should really experiment with others.
I halved the melons and scooped out the good stuff into a pot. Then I used a potato masher to extract the juice. I need to buy a big colander/funnel to improve this process because getting the juice into the jug was difficult. Live and keep learning. I hoped to put some pulp in there but I actually had too much juice so I just went with the juice.
When the jug was full I tested it and it was at 7% sugar which will yield around 3.5% alcohol. Not very good so I will be adding sugar. I also tasted a cup of the juice. Nice and sweet and tastes like summer. I hope the wine does the same. The taste was light and... common. I think I'll be adding acid blend when it finishes. I want to taste it first though. I put the yeast in and gave it a swirl and put it under the table.
The next day it was bubbling as expected. I bought 8 lbs of white sugar. I've been using the evaporated cane juice that we have at the house but I wanted to do an experiment. All of my wines are tasty but I've noticed a similar taste in all of them. I wondered if it's from the cane juice adding a flavor. Maybe that's a good thing. Who knows. But, I used white sugar. When I poured it in the whole concoction bubbled up like crazy. I poured some into a gallon jug and added some leftover pulp. I put sugar in both containers. It's not an exact science but I think I've added about 6 lbs overall which should be about 20% sugar. So I'm hoping for 13% alcohol when all is said and done.
One interesting fact is that the bubbling mixture stained my plastic stirring spoon. I was surprised that the watermelon had that much color. So, note to self, I may want to be careful when bottling.
As of a couple of days everything is bubbling away as expected with cloth on the tops. I'll stir it a few more times and then pop an airlock on. Then, on to the next project.
October 1 2019 - The brew stopped bubbling about a month ago. I took it off of the lees and I've been letting it sit. It hasn't really cleared but smells very nice. I wanted to try my hand at back sweetening so Mary B made up some simple sugar water by mixing 4 cups of sugar to 2 cups of water. Heated until the sugar dissolved and then I let it cool. I siphoned out a half gallon and added a few tablespoons of the sugar until the taste was right. Everyone had a sip and said they liked it. I tried adding some acid but no one said it made it better. In fact they said it made it worse. I will say that I liked it but I like acidy things. Based on my tests I added about 5 cups of sugar-water to the 3 gallons of wine. I poured some out of the final product and Mary B said it was very tasty.
The watermelon is not at the front of the taste but has a nice linger after the sip. There is an odd "brown" taste. Mary B said that was an accurate description. It's not a bad taste, maybe it's from the rind or the lees. It will be interesting to see how this ages.
I added potassium sorbate to prevent a re-start. If everything looks good I'll bottle it this weekend or sooner.
October 8, 2019 - I bottled the wine last night while shuffling songs from Joe Cocker. He did a version of many rivers to cross which made me remember when Deb Dollar played at Mary Pat Hughs' memorial. Turns out it was 20 years ago this year on June 8 (a date I should remember). I sent a note to deb to let her know I'm thinking of her. As for the wine it is delicious! I of course had a glass left over that didn't fit in a bottle. It looks very nice. I bottled it dirty because I wanted to free up some jugs and I'm just impatient. I don't care if there is sediment in my wine. It's mine and I like it that way. I can't wait to see how this mellows. It's already more mellow than when I last racked it.
August 10, 2020 - Had a bottle of this recently. It aged very well, absolutely delicious and like most of my wines, a tad on the potent side. Good!
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Potato Wine Feb 2019
I saw this on a you tube video while searching for how to extract sugar from the starch in potatoes. That process was too involved and time consuming so I decided to try wine instead. According to the video it's supposed to have an earthy taste reminiscent of scotch whiskey. I decided to make 2 gallons.
- Bag of potatoes
- 4 lbs brown sugar
- One banana
- Golden raisins
I boiled the chopped potatoes in a large pot for about 40 minutes until very soft. We had them for dinner that night 😀. I pulled the potatoes out with a slotted spoon. There were a few small leavings in the water. I put the brown sugar in the same water which was good since it melted the sugar quickly. I cut the banana into pieces about an inch long and peeled after cutting. I put the pieces in my gallon jugs along with the peels and poured the sugar water in. I put a healthy unmeasured amount of raisins in. After the water cooled enough I put the proofed yeast in. By the next day it was bubbling like crazy.
A note on the amount of sugar. I figured that since the starch water didn't have much free sugar I needed to account for all of the free sugar with the brown sugar. A gallon is eight pounds so two pounds is 25%. That should make the final product around 17-20%. It's not a science yet to me. I just like stronger wine.
Feb 9 - After two weeks it is still bubbling pretty well but I don't like the looks of the bananas so I decided to take it off of the fruit. After doing so I found that the banana actually wasn't so bad so a lesson learned for next time. I put it into my new two gallon jug. I need a new airlock that fits better. I had a taste and it has a slightly fruity taste thanks to the raisins and banana. It's fairly strong and does have an earthy flavor. I'm thinking this will be tasty when it's done.
April 17 - Bottled this today .It stopped bubbling a month ago but I let it sit to settle. It's very tasty even now while it's raw. The color in the glass is similar to whiskey. Can't wait to see how it ages. I put some in 4 standard bottles and the rest in grolsh style bottles. Should be good with winter root stews.
September 21 2019 - Had a bottle of this this weekend. I really like it. Great flavor. Kind of a dark flavor. Lyric said it tastes masculine, I agree and I like it. I'm going to expand on this and add more banana next time to improve the sweetness. Fun, good times.
April 17 - Bottled this today .It stopped bubbling a month ago but I let it sit to settle. It's very tasty even now while it's raw. The color in the glass is similar to whiskey. Can't wait to see how it ages. I put some in 4 standard bottles and the rest in grolsh style bottles. Should be good with winter root stews.
September 21 2019 - Had a bottle of this this weekend. I really like it. Great flavor. Kind of a dark flavor. Lyric said it tastes masculine, I agree and I like it. I'm going to expand on this and add more banana next time to improve the sweetness. Fun, good times.
Cherry Cranberry Jan 2019
This is one of the first wines I dreamed up two years ago and it was delicious. So I took the original and tripled it to make three gallons.
- 2 bags of cherries
- 3 cans of cherry pie filling
- 9 cups of sugar
- 4 cups cranberries
I cooked the frozen cherries lightly to get the juice out while mashing them with a potato masher. I took the juice off a few times to try to get more juice out. Then I put some water in the pan with the cranberries. I cooked and mashed them lightly too. I poured that juice in. Then I cooked the sugar to melt it. This isn't necessary because the yeast will eat it without it being dissolved but I wanted to be able to check the gravity.
I topped it off with the yeast and the water and checked the sugar. It's at 23%. Same as the first time. I also put the cranberries in to float around. Now to wait to see if the yeast starts. I used 116 yeast which is what I've typically used.
Early Feb - took this off of the fruit. Gravity was almost zero. Tastes very nice. Still bubbling and settling. Should be a delicious winter wine this Christmas.
March - Stopped bubbling. Just been too busy to bottle it. Hopefully in the next week or so. Posting this so that I can remember the "bottled" date.
May 26 2019 - Bottled on Sunday. Absolutely beautiful and so tasty even though its only a couple months old. Can't wait to have it next year. I only got 9 bottles out of the batch plus a half bottle of dreggy stuff, still very tasty. I enjoyed it in the back yard with Mary B and a nice Davidoff cigar to relax and celebrate a good day of working together before firing up the grill for brats at the in-law's.
December 27 2019 Had a bottle while watching It's a Wonderful Life with the family .So so very good. I kept thinking I smelled hints of cinnamon . Mary B smelled it too .Made me wonder if this might be a neat thing to try next time.
Early Feb - took this off of the fruit. Gravity was almost zero. Tastes very nice. Still bubbling and settling. Should be a delicious winter wine this Christmas.
March - Stopped bubbling. Just been too busy to bottle it. Hopefully in the next week or so. Posting this so that I can remember the "bottled" date.
May 26 2019 - Bottled on Sunday. Absolutely beautiful and so tasty even though its only a couple months old. Can't wait to have it next year. I only got 9 bottles out of the batch plus a half bottle of dreggy stuff, still very tasty. I enjoyed it in the back yard with Mary B and a nice Davidoff cigar to relax and celebrate a good day of working together before firing up the grill for brats at the in-law's.
December 27 2019 Had a bottle while watching It's a Wonderful Life with the family .So so very good. I kept thinking I smelled hints of cinnamon . Mary B smelled it too .Made me wonder if this might be a neat thing to try next time.
Bottled May 26 2019
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