A couple years ago I met a guy named Randy in Ohio that used to make country wines with natural fruit yeast. He was getting out of wine making and he schooled me on it a couple hours and set me loose. You guys also helped me out with learning the ropes. Here are the results.
I made:
Mead with a 2 or 3 to 1 dilution with honey and water with a few raisins for yeast and honey from Sams
Plum wine
2 batches of Blackberry wine (1 batch with crushed berries. the other batch with whole berries.)
Raisin wine
Hard cider
Blueberry wine
Strawberry wine
I fermented them in 1 gal jugs and used no sulfites and only natural yeast on the fruit. I should have syphoned them off last year, but was lazy so just left them sitting on the must with air locks on.
The results...
First let me say I'm no big brewer or wine making devotee. My interest was in getting natural wines without lots of chems and doing it at home and not being dependant on anyone. I used vodka to sterilize my equipment and only half ass at that.
Randy never made mead, only fruit wines. My mead was a flop. It did not hardly ferment after 1 year and was till cloudy and pretty sweet with little alcohol. I trashed it and later was told at the forums I would have tried commercial yeast in it. So much for my mead.
Plum wine is cloudy still but finished fermenting and tastes like plum wine. no weird tastes. I think I will try to filter it with an electric wine filter Randy sold me. This stuff fermented like crazy and forever it seems.
Black berry wine. They came out great. Crystal clear and tasty. All of Randy's wine were on the sweet side. And that is how i made mine. Very happy with them. Randy used to make them in 5 gallon jugs. I only used 1 gallons.
Hard cider. Didn't like it. too dry and then let it sit too long and it must have started to go to vinegar. I used a 1/2 gal jug to ferment it in.
Raisin wine. Turned out crystal clear and nice amber color. I left a 3/4 bottle full out for 6 months and it went off. The full bottle was still OK. So its shelf life must be poor with air in the bottle. I made raisin wine in 1/2 gallon jugs.
Strawberry wine. Very light color, taste like strawberries slightly. OK, nothing exciting, but still nice drink
Blueberry wine. Clear and sweet. Some alcohol flavor, but could use a bit more. Will have to test the alcohol someday when I get my butt moving. I may sound kinda lazy. But my real problem is I have too many interests and can't keep up with them all!
...one last tidbit.
Randy told me he learned wine making from Joe who was about 90 something. Joe learned it from his father. If I ever get a chance I will send in the formulae Randy gave me for making natural country wines. Would like to pass the heritage down if I can.
I made:
Mead with a 2 or 3 to 1 dilution with honey and water with a few raisins for yeast and honey from Sams
Plum wine
2 batches of Blackberry wine (1 batch with crushed berries. the other batch with whole berries.)
Raisin wine
Hard cider
Blueberry wine
Strawberry wine
I fermented them in 1 gal jugs and used no sulfites and only natural yeast on the fruit. I should have syphoned them off last year, but was lazy so just left them sitting on the must with air locks on.
The results...
First let me say I'm no big brewer or wine making devotee. My interest was in getting natural wines without lots of chems and doing it at home and not being dependant on anyone. I used vodka to sterilize my equipment and only half ass at that.
Randy never made mead, only fruit wines. My mead was a flop. It did not hardly ferment after 1 year and was till cloudy and pretty sweet with little alcohol. I trashed it and later was told at the forums I would have tried commercial yeast in it. So much for my mead.
Plum wine is cloudy still but finished fermenting and tastes like plum wine. no weird tastes. I think I will try to filter it with an electric wine filter Randy sold me. This stuff fermented like crazy and forever it seems.
Black berry wine. They came out great. Crystal clear and tasty. All of Randy's wine were on the sweet side. And that is how i made mine. Very happy with them. Randy used to make them in 5 gallon jugs. I only used 1 gallons.
Hard cider. Didn't like it. too dry and then let it sit too long and it must have started to go to vinegar. I used a 1/2 gal jug to ferment it in.
Raisin wine. Turned out crystal clear and nice amber color. I left a 3/4 bottle full out for 6 months and it went off. The full bottle was still OK. So its shelf life must be poor with air in the bottle. I made raisin wine in 1/2 gallon jugs.
Strawberry wine. Very light color, taste like strawberries slightly. OK, nothing exciting, but still nice drink
Blueberry wine. Clear and sweet. Some alcohol flavor, but could use a bit more. Will have to test the alcohol someday when I get my butt moving. I may sound kinda lazy. But my real problem is I have too many interests and can't keep up with them all!
...one last tidbit.
Randy told me he learned wine making from Joe who was about 90 something. Joe learned it from his father. If I ever get a chance I will send in the formulae Randy gave me for making natural country wines. Would like to pass the heritage down if I can.
