I have never claimed to be a very sophisticated kinda gal....
Gourmet, I am not.....
When it comes to food I like good ole homemade stick-to-your-ribs comfort food.
When it comes to drink I like good old fashioned sweet tea, coffee, Chai Tea and Diet Coke.
(whenever I can make it into the city of course its Starbucks, Mocha Frappuccino, caramel macchiato, pumpkin spice Latte, sooo many yummy fattening drinks from there!)
And wine? well .. lets just say I'm a cheap wino. Now, don't get me wrong, I drink alcohol occasionally, like maybe once a month or so. I don't like beer, Mixed drinks are ok, but give me a glass of wine and I'm happy. Try as I might, I just don't like the "good stuff" The extra-dry expensive wines are wasted on me. Give me a good ole $6 bottle of sweet wine with a twist-off top and I'm good to go!
Even better than any store bought wine is homemade wine!! And today.. I'm gonna tell you how I make it! I started making wine 2 years ago. I bought all the books and all the "stuff" you need to make homemade wine and Homemade Mead. But I still found the whole thing pretty complicated, you had to add yeasts, and rennet tablets etc....
Then I stumbled upon what they call "Prison Wine" Prison Wine... that sounds easy enough! It sounded cheap.... I knew it had great potential. There are only three ingredients in Prison wine.
Fruit
sugar
water
That's it!
Anybody can do that!!!
Here we go.
Take a large (holds MORE than a gallon) container (I prefer Glass) with a snug lid (doesn't have to be air-tight as a matter of fact I like it NOT to be air tight, more on why later)
1 gallon water (I like to use 1 gallon cheap bottled drinking water)
6 Cups sugar
6 heaping cups prepared fruit
(prepared = picked through, washed, and cut into chunks, berries can be left whole)
***IMPORTANT!!*** you Must make sure your container is clean!! I wash it thoroughly then pour in one Teaspoon of bleach... fill it up with hot water and drain.
- Dump 6 cups of sugar into your container.
- Pour almost all of the gallon of water into the container.
- Stir till sugar is dissolved.
- Dump in your fruit chunks.
- Wrap your lid/container in plastic wrap to keep out those pesky fruit flies!
- Set your container on the counter, or wherever you won't forget about it. (NOT in direct sunlight or it'll wash out any color and get it too hot)
- Stir and/or Swirl every day for 3o days (a little longer is fine its very forgiving just NO less than 30 days)
- discard your fruit pulp and strain your wine (I use several layers of cheesecloth or a jelly bag).
- Bottle or "Rack" your wine into CLEAN bottles, and let it set for at least 6 months in a cool dark place... this will make approx 6 bottles of wine.
- Enjoy your homemade wine!!
***TIPS***
The reason I don't use air-tight lids is the fact that your wine-in-the-making will be fizzy while it "cooks" and build up pressure. But the plastic wrap is very important!! Or you'll have to throw away your batch when fruit flies invade! (don't ask me how I know this)
There will come a time during the fermentation process when you stir/swirl it it will be fizzy and bubble up quite a bit.. this is why you want your container to be bigger than you think you need or it might make a BIG sticky mess (don't ask me how I know this!).
If you rack it too soon you'll have "sparkling" wine. I like sparkling wine.. but sometimes it makes your corks Pop out and fly across the room. So, if it's too bubbly, let it go a little bit longer and store those filled bottles sitting upright and NOT on their side or you could have a mess! (don't ask me how I know this)
Do NOT I mean NOT mess with the ratio of fruit/sugar thinking you'll make it better/dryer/sweeter. It wont work. (don't ask me how I know this)
You do NOT want to eat the fruit that comes out of the wine it does NOT taste good..... All the good stuff is now in the wine. BUT if you have pigs.. give it to them... Ever seen a drunk pig?? Its worth making the wine just to see that!! (don't ask me how I know this)
I have used quart canning jars when I ran out of bottles... works great and adds to the redneckish properties of homemade wine
You do NOT have to be picky cutting your fruit. It breaks down during the process anyway. I cut my big strawberries in half.. apples and peaches & watermelon into large chunks, blueberries were left whole. (in the pic I am ready to rack my new batch of Strawberry wine)
I bought my purdy blue and green bottles on Ebay!
I have use this recipe/technique with several fruits....
Apple = first batch was WAY sour. don't know what I did to it. 2nd time was very very yummy!
Peach = yummm! even better after it aged a year!!
Watermelon = made a very pretty pale pink wine!
Blueberry= Amazing!! (that's what is in the glass in the picture)
and the all-time winner of my poll of friends/family is....
Strawberry!! it was a little fizzy/sparkling, sweet but not way too sweet, perfect!!
any questions? feel free to ask!!
Go Forth And Make Wine!!
Your friends will thank you!!
181 amazing comments. Talk To Me!!:
I would love to hear the stories that led to all the "(don't ask me how I know)" comments throughout your post! And as an early taste-tester in your wine-making exercises, I can attest to the fact that you know how to make wine... at least NOW. :o)
do you have any idea of the alcohol content? and what if i wanted sparkling wine...just bottle it sooner than the 30 days? but what about the corks flying across the room? i cant wait to try this but i have questions!
HI Kellyo!
I really have no idea what the alcohol content is.. but I do know you can buy a gadget from any wine making website that will tell you. I do know that I cant walk after three glasses! lol
My best sparkling wine was strawberry that I bottles at 31 days. just watch it and see how you'd like it. But yes, do remember that you may get the flying corks when ya bottle it while its bubbly.... just make sure your bottles are sitting upright and it shouldn't make a mess. I have only had one cork pop on me.
You'll learn as you go. I promise. I just made another batch of strawberry wine and left it to "cook" for 50 days.... its not sparkling.. but boy it tastes just like "good" wine you buy in the store! whoo hoo!!
keep me posted on your wine making adventures. Its fun fun fun!!
Thanks for the comment! I dance a little jig when I get comments!
Goooood! This is the stuff my dad used to make! I want to make wine, but I *don't* want to fart around with fancy yeast and siphons and blah blah blah.
I am heartened by your posts and your (don't ask) comments, too.
Goooood! This is the stuff my dad used to make! I want to make wine, but I *don't* want to fart around with fancy yeast and siphons and blah blah blah.
I am heartened by your posts and your (don't ask) comments, too.
Is there anything I need to know about bottling the wine into mason jars? I know that they have to be clean (water and a little bleach?) but do I need to put them in a pressure cooker or anything?
Thanks! The loquat wine is almost ready to be bottled!
Nope.... after you clean & sanitize with the bleach your set!
put on your bands & lids and set those babies in a cool dark place for several months.. then report back on how it turned out!
Good Luck!!!
ooooh how about Pineapple! that sounds tasty.
ooooh Pineapple!! what a good idea!!
if you make it, let me know how it turns out!!!
Hello, I just found this post, and I'm absolutely fascinated. I want to try this as soon as I find a container larger that a gallon. I just have one question (right now, anyway) do you peel the peaches? Thanks, Barbara
Ello from another Homesteading Today hick !!!
My question ..... I only have large glass GALLON jars....wondering if you think I can halve the recipe for each jar , or would it be better ro search for larger jars ?????
I have TONS of Raspberries I am going to use !
Howdy.... I have a question for ya. I racked my wine and the corks are shooting the ceiling. What can I do to prevent this?
Help, the land lords gonna call the police if this ain't rectified soon.
Nope.. I don't peel my peaches. I just pit am and cut them into chunks and your set!
as for the flying corks.... let it "cook" a little bit longer.. you just got realllly sparkling wine! lol let it age another week before bottling and that should really help.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh
Just stumbled across your post and am DYING to try this. I wonder if I will be able to wait a WHOLE month to bottle and then several more to ferment though...lol
Thanks for this great post.
WOW. I am itching to give this a try. thanks so much for sharing! :)
I'm so glad more people are wanting to try this. it really is great! I'll be around for any questions you have. feel free to ask here in the comment section or shoot me an e-mail. Go Forth and Make Wine! ;)
have you ever tried a version of your wine with honey (like mead). if so, what aer the measurements of the ingredients?
Hi Dana,
I just found your website(love it) and wanted to ask you about your homemade wine. My in-laws used to make homemade sparkling apple wine. I made the mistake of telling the kids about a time that I drank a little too much (don't ask - ha ha). Anywho, my daughter and her boyfriend were asking about how to make it. I guess we could whip up a batch for New Year's Eve. Maybe I can enjoy a little too much again!! My real question is, have you ever made it with apple juice and if so, how? Thanks so much for taking the time to read my posting.
Joan from Michigan
I recently did a posts on wine and found out that you could make you own. I've never tried it, but it sound absolutely delicious.
I am going to try this because you did it so simply! I have wanted to do it for a long time but like you said, all of the necessary equipment and technical additives has put me off for a long time. No longer! I will make wine! :)
Go for it!!! and don't forget to come back and tell us how it turned out!!!
Hello! I know it's been a while now, but thanks so much for posting this simple little tutorial! I started a batch of mulberry-plum wine a month ago with your recipe and so far so good! I'm bottling it right now (and wondering if I should get a corker to avoid the struggle of stuffing used ones back in their bottles) and wanted to thank you for the great advice. I only did three things differently-- 1) I did bust out $1.20 for a packet of wine yeast for higher alcohol content, 2)a couple weeks in, I bagged all the fruit goo in cheese cloth so it wouldn't make the wine too muddy, and 3) now that I'm bottling I'm using a $.78 piece of plastic tubing to siphon the wine off the top of my batch. I can't wait to try it in a few months once it's aged a bit (right now it's very alcoholic and flavorful, but it definitely needs some mellowing out)! Thanks again! I love your blog!
OMG, Dana- you are an absolute HOOT!! Between your commments, your recipes and now me watching your Wife Swap episodes on youtube...I am your number one fan now.
Hi!! Someone already asked this, but I didn't see an answer. Can you cut the recipe in half?? Or will it mess with it somehow? THANKS!!!! This sounds AWESOME!
Hey Jess...
I thought I did answer, sorry bout that!
I guess you could half the recipe...
But never have, I always wish I made more!! lol
It will change the time it takes to proof though...
If you try it, come back and let me know how it turns out and what you did!
Good Luck!!
My hubby and I are just about to start a little wine making competition--me using your recipe and him using his fancy kit and additives. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
~Jenny~
Great post! My buddy and I are going to try this as we are both from the Bay Area and fans of the Napa Valley. Are Strawberries really that big of a risk with the fizz? Also, how long is it recommended for the strawberry and blueberry wines to age? Anything beyond the 6 months specifically? How long is it good to stir it for each day?
Thanks for all the info.
20on45
This sounds fantastic. But I have some questions:
Is it possible to use juice rather than raw fruit?
Don't you need yeast?
Okay so I found your website and since my wife and I have been cannning for years, I decided what the hey and started 2 batches today. 3 gal of peach/ strawberry and 5 galons of strawberry/ apple. I've brewed many a gallon of beer, (expensive). I'll give you an update in 30 days.
does this recipe work with cucumbers?
I did Strawberry wine with Strawberries from my garden. It is a little sweet, but the sourness of the Strawberries makes it fantastic! I used a huge stainless steel stock pot; no problem. I covered it with a kitchen towel tied around the rim. I am going to try Blackberry later in the summer, perhaps w/ wine yeast for more of a kick. (my wife swears the Strawberry wine has very little alcohol)
I made a batch of watermellon wine but have not bottled it yet. My question is, how should it smell? I'm thinking maybe i did something wrong, because it has a kinda sour/ sweet smell, like vinigar.
Did i screw up?
sweet/sour is about right. I had a batch of apple that I let go too long and it WAS vinegar! lol taste it! But remember... It will change once bottled and aged a bit.
You didnt screw up, but for watermelon, you may need to play with the amount of time it takes to give you the taste your looking for.
Good! i was so scared!! My bottles and corks will arrive tomorrow. so i will bottle and see!
Thanks for responding.
I started some strawberry wine on Sunday. It is Wednesday and I noticed that some of the strawberries on top are moldy.
Is that okay? Should I remove them?
Thanks, Rachel
Rachel,
Hmmmm, I have never had fruit in the wine get moldy. I would start over. Sorry! :(
Keep me posted!
I've got my first batch on the go and I'm v excited!
I'm not a fan of sweet wine so I'm using strawberries because of the comments above.
I was wondering if anyone's tried this method with rhubarb as I've heard that when you make it the fiddly 'usual' way it makes a dry white wine?
Also, does anyone have any other suggestions on fruit I could use to make a dry, or at least not-too-sweet wine?
I so want to try this wine! My only question any suggestions on the jug we need to use to start the process off? What type is the one you are using so I can get some ideas of what I should buy? Thanks!!
Crystina,
I use the big glass canister thats in the picture. it holds about a gallon and a half and has a glass lid.
Let me know how yours turns out!
Ever try using honey instead of sugar? That makes mead rather than wine, right?
I just found this post and I'm sooo excited to start a batch. My QUESTION is... if I have big enough glass container in which to hold it (5 gallon jug), can you double the recipe for a larger batch? I can't wait to get started.
Thanks so much, Anna
I am curious about using honey instead of sugar, also, using no sugar/honey at all. I don't reayy want the extra sugar in my diet. Thanks!
I've never tried making it with honey.....
let me know how it works if you do! :)
My pear wine finally passed the 6 month mark & I very nervously opened it. It tastes.... like wine! I'm amazed. The pear taste is subtle, but the pears weren't very juicy. I will try this again with a juicier fruit, perhaps plums? Thank you so much for this recipe!
Yeah!!
so glad it worked out for you!!
I have been wanting to try plum... let me know how it works out!
Hi there! I’m not sure if you’ll receive this comment on a post so far back, but here goes! I made the apple version of your wine. It’s absurdly sweet. My wife points out it puts Boones Farm to shame with its sugar content. It also look a lot like lemonade. It does, however, taste somewhat alcoholic and had finished fermenting (no more bubbles). Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated!
Thanks so much!
Brent
I made wine with some elderberry growing wild....made the mistake of bottling it up tight in a reused 2 liter plast soda jug...It exploded, and did not add yeast (only natural yeast on wild fruit). Somebody could have been hurt if in the "line of fire". I thought one of the cats had knocked over the tissue box hiding my 38 cal. and it discharged. Thank God nobody was hurt....I had a mess !! and about 4 oz. of light wine that tasted like Zinfendale...P.S. you can use a balloon over a glass jug to cover, yet allow gases to expand.
xoxoxo
My first batch is happily fermenting away, thanks for the inspiration! It took 2-3 days for the fermentation to be noticeable as foam without adding any additional yeast. I racked after a week into a 1 gallon carboy and put an airlock on just because I already had one from my beer kit. Can't wait to sneak a little taste before bottling....:)
i am trying your recipe with blueberries. are you removing the plastic and stirring everyday?
i cant wait. i am also trying your recipe with green grapes but i added a pack of yeast to see the difference between the 2. have you ever added yeast?
my grandpa used to make wine in a 5 gallon glass jug with grapes, sugar and yeast but he cant remember how muck to put in to make wine or for that matter how to make it into a sweet wine, can you help???
hey so im trying a batch from a recipe i heard in prison i took canned apricots and peaches and blackberries and blended them all together with 2 and a half pounds of sugar heated up the mixture and put in like 5 dinner rolls to speed up the fermentation process poured into a big ass juice jug put a rubber tube through the lid on the juice jug and fed the other end into a gallon jug of water so that it coul burp itself do you think this process will work?????
I think the good wine feels from the first sip. I love to drink wine in a dinner or an speciall reason. Actually i am reading about it . This blog is very interesting. costa rica investment opportunities is a site that i wanted to share with you.
I have a ton of white grapes. Do I have to seed the grapes or just slice them and that is it?
can frozen fruit be used... fresh picked then frozen fruit best or can store bought frozen fruit be used?
Re: the question about frozen fruit. I had heard that freezing (then thawing) fruit releases juices better than not freezing. So I tried that with the strawberry wine I just bottled (my 2nd batch; the pear came out great). I can't wait until March to try it.
I just found your site. I had already started my first try at wine. However I found your posts very informative. I started small with a gallon. I was not that brave to try a bigger batch first try. I used raisins for my yeast source. Am anxious to see the final results!
my grandpa used to make wine in a 5 gallon glass jug with grapes, sugar and yeast but he cant remember how much to put in to make wine or for that matter how to make it into a sweet wine, can you help???
Hey there...I like you already and I only know what I read on this website....Your humor is contagious and so is your outlook on life...I love it but now I am going to start my first batch of Strawberry Wine and I will keep you on the up and up and tell you if I have any mind altering experiences while "cooking" because I scare myself every day even my husband will tell you that.*smiles* He calls me his bratzky. Your site is Fantabulous!! I even make up new words on a daily basis LOL!!
Gonna try this with strawberrys for the wife. I will add a gram of wine yeast tho. I make beer and hard cider so this will be new. May do some with plums also.
my last oomment never posted :o( ?? dunno why..
Rick in CO
Just finished preparing my first batch with Guava (i added a small fistfull of raisins because i heard they added good yeast and flavour) I put it in a large food-grade can (new and thoroughly cleansed) I can't wait for it to be done, i also got 5 20oz transparent-pinkish glass dimpled bottles to age it in.
After reading this I have 3 wines going. Watermelon, peach and blackberry. After a week the blackberry and peach already have an alcohol smell the watermelon just stinks :-). Since this is my first try I decided not to go with fancy bottles I'm just using canning jars when it's ready. I am a bit worried about them exploding though hahaha Thanks for the recipe
Continuing from --> JULY 17, 2011 3:08 PM
I moved it to a big glass container, because i heard something about cans letting go of heavy metals bit by bit.
I left the glass container inside it's cardboard box to minimize light exposure. It's now been 2 whole days xD and nothing seems to have happened, except maybe the guavas are a little darker and the water a bit murkier.
Continuing from --> JULY 17, 2011 3:08 PM
and -->JULY 19, 2011 12:35 PM.
I started a strawberry one on july 20 and it looks great, smells good and has a beautiful pink-red color... but the first one, the guava one, which i started on july 17 I don't think it's going very well it has a good color but the water is not clear and it stinks a lot, I know it's supposed to ferment but it smells quite foul, nothing like the strawberry one which has a distinct fermentation smell but it's pleasant. And they're only 3 days apart.
...what should I do?
Do i leave it another week or all the way trough the month and check?
Do i throw it away and start over?
Two weeks into my wines.They all smell like wine, the fruit looks pretty rough :) Tasted them all today while stirring,had a wine taste but not very sweet at all I added a cup of sugar to each of them. All of my jars fizz when stirred but other than that I don't see foaming or anything but since they all smell like wine, taste like wine I'm guessing it's ok. Has anyone tried the green tomato wine? I read about it in a forum and was thinking of trying it.
Continuing from --> JULY 17, 2011 3:08 PM
and -->JULY 19, 2011 12:35 PM
and-->JULY 27, 2011 1:01 AM
I kept the guava for a couple of days and it stank even more, repulsive even a few steps away in it's tight plastic wrap, so i threw it away and started a watermelon one and it looks good.
The strawberry wine is now 10 days into fermentation and it smells wonderful, already wine-ish with strong hints of fruit and very sweet.
I am book marking this-do NOT remove this post!!! We have a HUGE strawberry patch and I really really really really hope this works for them!!!
THANK YOU!!!
Continuing from --> JULY 17, 2011 3:08 PM
and -->JULY 19, 2011 12:35 PM
and-->JULY 27, 2011 1:01 AM
and-->JULY 30, 2011 12:09 PM
My strawberry batch fulfilled its month of fermentation, so i strained it and bottled it, everything seemed fine, i tasted it and it was wonderfull tough very very very sweet, i hope it looses some of the sweetness during the ageing process, i can't wait for 6 moths to pass.
Hi Dana,
We made a batch of Grape wine. My husband didn't listen and put in wine bottles with screw top and laid them on their side. Within 2 days they have both blown up. Is this because of them laying on their side or something else. We have apple and pear also racked standing up. No problems.
hi my wife made blueberry wine and it just seem more like pop no alcholo to it at all.wondering if you could help with might have gone wrong i cant find any help anywhere thanks. dennis uphomesteaders@gmail.com
Even though the original recipe just depends on wild yeast, I always put in a drop of yeast just to get it started. Even using baking yeast, it works out okay. Wine yeast would probably work even better.
Interesting recipe. I will have to try this out some time.
Great article. It is also very well written. Thanks for the list!
I am definitely going to be trying this. Where did you get your corks for your bottles?
Just ran across your page as Im searching for the "perfect" easy, at home recipe for winemaking, and it looks like I've found it! I have 4 scuppernong vines and each year they pretty much rot on the vine (family doesn't care for jelly much) or the deer eat them. But this year I plan to make wine with them! Can't wait..Im reading up on it and learning all I can! Thank you! Jessie/Alabama
HI, MY WINE IS ABOUT 20 DAYS IN AND SOME OF MY FRUIT IS SINKING TO THE BOTTOM. IS THIS OKAY?
I'm trying this with black plums, pears, strawberries and a banana, so we will see how it goes. Also, I started a batch with Welch's grape juice, which is supposed to produce a nice sweet table wine in as little as 30 days. Can't wait to drink some!!
Let me know if the kids still run when you dance your jig LOL! Mine son is three, so he just dances with me! Joni
Don't bottle your wine until your FG reads 1.000 silly! Otherwise, your wort is still fermenting.
I want to double this recipe. How long should I let this ferment?
How do you determine the final gravity and know when to bottle?
I'm going to try this today. Thanks for the inspiration!
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Hi, I am starting my first batch of wine and I have decided to go with dandelion. I plan on using your method for fruit wine soon. My question is, since you are not using additives, what is the oldest bottle of wine that you have had of yours. I will wait 3-6 months before I try mine, but I am unsure how long before they must be consumed without going bad.
I absolutely LOVED reading your article on making wine. I have been making wine for a while and I use a similar recipe. Only wish that I had enough willpower to let it set for at least 6 months. It seems to "disappear". Lol
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please I didn't see any mention of using yeast for the watermelon wine... unless I missed it somewhere down the line so do we put yeast in it or no? and if so how much, thank you so much~C
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Ever try banana apple wine? It's soooo good.. I made it from cut up bananas and 100% apple juice. The best tasting wine I've made.
Myreon C: Please share.... I would love to have another use for bananas. The freezer fills up in the summer waiting for cooler days to bake! A lot have asked about using juice as an alternative.
I love my strawberry wine!!! all drank ha... ok with watermelon whats it suppose to look like breaking down?! its way different looking than my strawberry wine and blackberry. thanks
It seems that I'm getting to this a little late in the game....but better late than never, right?! :)
A friend of mine was just telling me about how she makes plum wine and it seems very similar to your method. However, she told me that the fruit will go up and down and once it does this at least 3 times then it is ready to rack. She said anywhere from 3 to 5 times for wine and after 5 times is when it starts to turn to vinegar.
Do you notice your fruit going up and down? Do you notice that at your 30 day mark it's gone up and down 3 times or so?
Thanks! ~Jess
I have Blueberries and Peaches I want to make wine. Just checking... no yeast needed, right?
Thanks,
Michelle
I juiced my fruit first so I could sift out the pulp. I just started so I'm wondering how that would affect the recipe...I guess I'll let you know??
this is mountain man. great recipe. for some that ask, 3pounds of sugar per gal of wine,1 pack of bakers yeast from the grocery store will fermint 5 gal, of wine,dont bottle until the bubbles quit rising to keep from blowing your cork,or you can refrigerate it to stop the fermentation or heat it to 185 degrees for three min. cool and bottle,that will also kill any remaining yeast and stop fermentation.hope this helps great blog, life is good today,enjoy your home brewed beverages.
mountain man again. to make it sweeter ,stop the fermentation early, to make it dryer use a liqure yeast and let it ferment longer.the more sugar and the longer you let it ferment the higher the alcahol content will be. i use 12 pound of sugar to 5 gal of wine and get 18 percent alcahol. 3 glasses will have you feeling no pain or strain. life is good today.
I am 2 weeks into my apple wine! It smells like wine and still getting bubbles. Should I go ahead and filter or just let it be for a couple more weeks? BTW, I am LOVING this blog and all of the communications! And as of last night, started pear wine! So excited and fighting patience! LOL
I have a few questions. Has anyone used a plastic container? And do you need to do anything differently when using grapes, i.e. removing skins or deseeding? Thanks for the help.
Ummm....there are quite a few things in this recipe that could go very wrong. For one, leaving it "not air-tight" will give you vinegar instead of wine in the end. I would at least suggest putting a balloon over the end to keep out oxygen while the pressure builds up. As well, keeping it on the counter isn't a great idea. It needs to ferment in temperatures which are ideal for wine. Room temp isn't generally; a little cooler is better, and especially in a place where the temperature doesn't vary much. I had wine go bad this way. As well, without certain ingredients (like camden tablets), any mold or other foreign bacteria will grow along with the yeast. There are other steps that are missing that are important too. That being said, there is a chance that your wine may still turn out just fine. I guess if someone goes through the effort, it's not much more effort to try to ensure things go well, instead of leaving too many options for things to go bad.
When you use canning jars, how do you bottle it? Do you just screw on the lid and let it be? I read something about things exploding? How does this work with a jar, then?
If you sanitized the jar in a water bath, would you still need to rinse it in bleach? (Does the bleach have anything to do with the fermenting process?)
I am not sure about the canning jars. I will be bottling for the first time around December. I have been making hard cider in gallon quantities, using plastic water jugs. When it finishes it doesn't last long enough for the need to bottle. This latest batch have have fermenting in a 5 gallon carboy with an airlock. Airlocks are inexpensive and will save months of wine preparation from turning to vinegar. Bleach is only used as a sanitizer. if you are using bleach, make sure you rinse thoroughly. Bleach kills many organisms and yeast is one of them.
An FYI to anyone using plastic. make sure that it is food grade and should be transferred to glass after the first stage. The alcohol can dissolve some plastics.
What happens if you add more sugar? I want really sweet wine.... My family makes wild mustang grape wine that is sooooo sweet, I want to make a sweet strawberry....
hi there .... thx for the recipe .... has anyone tried it with blackcurrants? thx toni
I have fresh strawberries that I froze..could they be used in the wine making?? would I thaw them out first?? I don't think it would make a difference, right?
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I was jumpin round the internet lookin for a good teacher of the art of making wine, I new there had to be a way u could make wine without using , tabs and acids and a lot of nonsense.. In the seventeen hundreds they didn't run down to where ya buy all the crap they want ya to put in it now a days.. then I found u,, u r awesome and like everyone else we'd like to know about the "don't ask section" ha ,
A buddy of mine is showing me how to make wine so ive went out blackberry pickin , so far this yr ive picked about 40 lbs
but between him and now u I will have good advise
oh the berries I pick r not just for wine , it for my yummy jelly I make every year and coblers but now im adding black berry wine to next yrs Christmas list
oh and ive read ur process and couple time so far and will probably read it again..
thanx Darren T
Great recipe. I have made wine before and even though I didn't use any of the chemicals they tell you to use it was a little more complicated than this.
When I wanted to try making wine from berries I asked a friend who was making wine from kits, he said it couldn't be done without all these chemicals, but I had said well they never had that Years ago and they made wine I knew it could be done. And now I came across your recipe which is very easy.
I do know about the corks flying out of the bottles, this happened with a batch of blueberry I made.
Anyway I have a batch of raspberry and a batch of gooseberry put down, with plans on trying rhubarb and partridgeberry after that.
Pepper wine ?? Hatch chili specifically?? Possible ya think... I have a ton and a uncle with a chili obsession lol
Just finished processing my first home made batch of wine ever! Had a very interesting time making it (don't ask me how interesting :-) ).... it is in the 6month waiting process now and I don't know if I can wait that long!!! Had some sampling and thought it tasted good already.... looking forward to sharing! Will definately be the first of many more! Thank you!!!
I would not recommend using a container that isn't airtight for the majority of the time it's fermenting. I have 6 bottles of strawberry vinegar, I believe. Also, I would highly recommended filtering the wine with a finer particulate filter before you bottle or you will have a couple inches of sediment in the bottle. I don't think it'll hurt anything but it sure doesn't look appetizing.
I can't wait for summer to get peaches and strawberries and apples and ....
Last year we made blueberry wine using this recipe and it turned out great. Now tonight we are starting more blueberry wine. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
I started a batch of just regular grape juice wine on sunday. Today tgere are no more bubble at all. So I cleaned it. Now it smells like wine just very very strong.and the taste is sweet and I don't know what else but just wierd tasting. It is a little on a cloudy side. Not as bad as before I cleaned it. But what should I do I have cleaned the bottle and rebottled it and put back on shelf. Someone help me. Lol
Interesting and different you make a note of all the date and conversation
Just stumbled upon this as I researched my first batch of homemade wine. Love the simplicity! Quick question, can I just shake the tub a bit each day so that I don't have to unwrap and rewrap the Saran Wrap each day? Thanks!!
Can't wait to get started on this recipe I'm going to make plum If I were to put yeast in it At what point would I add the yeast And I could have to be wine yeast Thank you
making peach but i don't have glass or plastic so I'm using my big medal soup kettle. will this be ok?
If I used plums would I have to peel the skin off?
Hi, can you use frozen fruit? I can't wait to try this. I have at least eight flavors in mind.
Does anyone know if you can use cleaned wine bottles with screw tops? Have a lot of Riunite bottles and screw top lids.
thanks in advance
Can I distill those wine and make some higher concentrated alcohol??? Because wine is very light and I live in a bloody dry country...
Just wanted to say that your recipe is amazing!!! We have made blueberry wine from it and omg it was awesome. It did not even last a month with everyone wanting a bottle. We just made our first batch of peach...bottled it today. Will let you know how it turns out in January!
For those who wanted to know yes you can use screw top lids. I use old Arbor mist botles, always turns out great!
A friend of mine owns a blueberry farm. Her crop in Indiana is amazing this year. I am going to make my first attempt with that. Will this work with raspberries?
I'm one week into making your watermelon wine in a 5-gallon glass jug with an airlock is it supposed to smell bad
Hello, followed this recipe with blueberries very careful had followed everything to the T
Had a bottle of wine explode .. HAHAHA!!!
Do I need to open the wine bottles as it ages ? I haven't but I'm wondering what could have happened to make it explode.
My watermelon wine stopped bubbling after 2 weeks. I made 3 jugs the other 2 are still bubbling. What do I do? Is it done? Is it no good? Help!
Can you help?
that sound great! I wonder how this homemade wine's taste if i use juice instead of fruit. Maybe try someday :) . thanks for sharing.
Hello
I currently have a batch of blueberry wine going and was wondering if you had any more pointers.......I've watched other videos about making wine and they all add yeast. I guess I'm kind of confused seeing as how this recipe doesn't call for any
Anyone got a suggestion on my hyper-atomic sweet wine? I followed the recipe 6-6-1, but my apple and strawberry wines are SWEET ! I mean S-W-E-E-T !!! The site says not to mess with the quanties, but I am tempted to cut back on sugar to 5-1/2 or 5-1/4.
My wife and I have made several batches of blueberry and apple all with great success by following the receipt. Yes we have had bottles blow corks so the basement smells like a distillery when that happens. This last batch we let seep for 45 days. We run all the liquid through fine strainer bags several times before bottling.
Have you made blackberry wine? Can you make it less sweet?
I love blueberry taste on my ecig :-)
Thank you for this post! It was exactly what I was looking for😃
30 days almost up on my first ever wine making attempt, Pear Wine! Oh my, does it smell wonderful!
Thought I'd pass along a few tips this "newbie" used. I used 2 food grade 3 gal. buckets, holds double batch each. I placed buckets in our unused, spare bath, tub. Closed the heat duct-cool dark place.
Used Press'N Seal around the lids, much easier than plastic wrap, and I've used same strips entire time.
My plan is to bottle and place in our clean, cool and dry crawl space on a pallet off the floor.
Has anyone used the crawl space?
I have a gallon of chokecherry juice-about how much sugar should I put in,how much water could you put in and how big a carboy should I use- I have 1 gallon and a 5 gallon jug.
This inspired me to start making wine the old fashioned way last year. The only things I’ve change are I buy wine yeast, I have two primary fermentation buckets and use 1 gallon glass carboys (I now own 20). This is only because it worked so well lol. Anywho I loved that you went without all the additives and keep it simple. I’ve always wanted to make wine but I thought I don’t have the time to get that involved. Thank you! P.S. everyone begs me for my wine now! P.P.S. Would like to know if you have any recent tips or tricks you don’t want us to ask how you learned lol
nice information. It feels really great to read such kind of wonderful piece of writing.
Can you make this wine with grapes? Or do grapes require yeast?
I LOVE all the information on this page, overwhelming info along with something else i learned about the BEST homemade wine techniques. Check it out https://bit.ly/2qp4ymG
Should I put rubber bands around the top of my container to seal the plastic wrap?
Do you have any experience with mulberries?
I found and used this last August (2017) to make blackberry wine. I think I let it "cook" for about 45 days the first bottle sat untouched until March. Cracked it open on my birthday and holy crow that was some strong stuff! A little on the tart side, maybe not let it cook as long next time? Thank you so much for providing this recipe and the easy to follow directions. Also I used my canning kettle to "cook" the wine, I couldn't find/afford a fancy glass container.
I made blackberry wine following her directions. It did not come out really sweet, more tart. I used organic blackberries (from a friends harvest) so not sure if that made a difference.
Homemade wine, what could be better than this. That right, it's cheap but flavorful. Well with the three ingredients you have mentioned I prefer adding some spices to it to make it more flavorsome. And the taste that comes out is so flavourful… hummmmm
Hello!
so questions I'm guessing we should let it sit over forty days?
should i slowly slow in sugar every thirty days until the mount from the recipe is gone, also how would i substitute honey i don't have enough sugar ?
will a big plastic container do it has a lid?
also should i just wrap it in plastic with no lid or put the lid on then wrap it ??
Hi
I read your blog. you can done a great jobs. the way of providing the information is too good. keep continue
Keggle
I just finished my first batch. I did alter it a bit and man did it turn out good. I'm too impatient to wait 6 months so I figured why not do some trial and error. I did the same amount of fruit, sugar and water but added half a TBSP of activated dry yeast to sped up the process. Waited a month, tried it: disgusting. to try and save it I siphoned it into another bottle to clear out some of the gunk and then added another cup of sugar and some pectic enzyme to clear it up and waited another month. beautiful. Wine is a beautiful clear rose color and tastes like the store bought stuff. It may be a little more involved than this recipe but I got my wine 4 months sooner, it tastes great and really all it took was a $5 bottle of pectic that'll still last me another 5 or so batches
I'm also a wine lover. And I adore sweet homemade wines.
I want to try this but sulfites make my asthma worse, which is why I don't drink wine. I'm wondering if simple homemade wine naturally contains sulfutes.
I have large pear trees which produce a LOT, so had to freeze some and refridgerate some to keep for later batches. Does refrigeration or freezing kill the natural wild yeast?
I made the blueberry wine last season (I live in NJ) and it is sparkling. A couple of corks popped off but I just stuck them back in. I put a thin dishtowel over the tops of the bottles to catch the corks. No mess no fuss.Getting ready to make strawberry wine now as they are in season.
Hey there wine lover,
Like others, I just found you. I read a post on putting the wine in mason jars. Question, Do you have to do anything special,( outside of the necessary things), to the jars after putting them up for the process of a fine wine ;)?
This is my fifth year looking for this website and making blueberry wine. I make it every fall and drink it the next summer. It is a super easy recipe and it comes out great every time. This year I want to try to make a peach wine. Do you keep the skin on? does it turn a brown color? any advise before I start that wine?
Thanks for the great info! Just successfully bottled my first batch today (raspberry)! It smells like a red, tastes a bit like a red (without the dryness), and is super sweet (think proper sweet tea level sweet). I'm curious to see how it tastes in six months. Can't wait to make my next batch - I'm thinking something lighter like watermelon. With any luck my grapes will be ripe by then... Awwww crap, I think you've got me hooked on home brew....
Will adding a little yeast make it abit stronger?
Plastic airtight jars
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