Beginnings.I started making my own wine in 2005. I think I was frustrated with how much money I kept giving the liquor store. I made a couple batches of dandelion wine using bread yeast. My impatience with the process led to the consumption of some very questionable hooch. It was fizzy and sweet and light. Not entirely unpleasant but far from fantastic. I love the process. It makes me feel like a mad scientist because of all the bubbling and strange smells and the element of 'magic' involved. (I know, it's a very explainable science) It's especially rewarding because after concocting these strange brews, I catch a buzz from them. Quite nice. I have kept it up with the dandelion wine every year since then and it's always different. Gradually I started experimenting with other country wines. The beet wine from 2007 is probably my favorite. You have to really like beets to enjoy it, but it's actually a well-balanced deep red wine. Dry and spicy. Other wine projects have included blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, elderberry, lilac, grape, peach and ginger. In fact I just started a batch of ginger champagne that I'm very excited about.
And Here's the beginning of a cherry mead... |
Wine Journal:
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So we pitted about 10 lbs of cherries. Then boiled 2 gallons of water and dumped it over them in a 5 gallon bucket. When the water cooled to about 80 or 90 degrees I added about a tablespoon of wine yeast. The yeast eats the sugar in the cherries and pulls the color from the fruit into the water. I stirred several times a day for about 4 or 5 days before straining out the fruit, adding 5lbs of honey, some citric acid, and yeast nutrient and putting it all into gallon jugs with fermentation locks. They've been bubbling away vigorously for days now. The color started off nice and deep red, but we've been in a heatstroke here so the yeast has been so active that the liquid now looks more orange and creamy. Hopefully it will settle down.