Need some help guidance in wine making

[tennhillbilly]

My Dad used to make  a little wine. All he used, as best as I remember, was a 20 gallon crock. He  made Mulberry,Possum Grape,Blackberry, Grape,Dandilion, Watermelon Rind, Corn Cob, Elderberry..and the list goes on.
Dad passed before I got the the details, experience, recipes etc. I want to kinda carry on the tradition so to speak. I need any guidance, recipes mixtures anything you can give me. Or tell me where to find this info.........It seem easy, just watching him anyway. But he made a lot of things look easy..........

[TRIGGERTIME]

Winemaking is simple. You can make it as hard as you like. For starters, consider buying 'The Alaskan Bootleggers Bible'. I believe the authors last name is Kenai. I usually see it for sale at gunshows for about $15. Most winemaking books are written by wine snobs. This book covers beer,wine and shine and the underlying philosophy is simple-cheap-natural.

[doc623]

Have made wine for the last 20-25 years.
Also made some beer along the way.
I have probably made all the mistakes that one can make and hopefully learned from them.
So what do you want to know?

[tennhillbilly]

As best as I remember, daddy used the crock, whatever he was making with yeast and suger. Nothing fancy with meters, and the likes. Just simple winemaking. I was looking for ANY information that would help.....amounts or each, anything esle I might need to know.......

[doc623]

There is a very simple receipt for making a nice red table wine.
You use 2 cans of Welche's frozen 100%juice concentrate for each gallon.

Welch's Frozen Grape Juice Wine
2 cans (11.5 oz) Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate
1-1/4 lbs granulated sugar
2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
water to make 1 gallon
wine yeast
Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentation slows down (about 5 days), fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles.

2 cans (11.5 oz) Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate
1-1/4 lbs granulated sugar
2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
water to make 1 gallon
wine yeast
Bring 1 quart water to boil and dissolve the sugar in the water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate. Add additional water to make one gallon and pour into secondary. Add remaining ingredients except yeast. Cover with napkin fastened with rubber band and set aside 12 hours. Add activated wine yeast and recover with napkin. When active fermentation slows down (about 5 days), fit airlock. When clear, rack, top up and refit airlock. After additional 30 days, stabilize, sweeten if desired and rack into bottles.
This will give you a start.
The devil in is the details.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[squirrellluck]

Sounds like your daddy and mine made the same kinds of wine. I will talk to him and try to get his recipe. Til then it went something like this... 5 gallon bucket of muscidines pitted. Mash them good and add water. Boil, add sugar pour into crock. Add yeast after it cooled. Let set 4 days. Cover mouth of crock with 55 gallon trash bag. After bag swells up and starts to deflate. It's done. Strain and bottle. Sounds crazy but he made some good wine in this fashion.

[tennhillbilly]

Sounds about right Squirrelluck. It was about that simple.........let me know it you get more details..please.   Like I said, ole Dad sure made a lot of things look easy. You don't realize what you have until it's gone. He sure taught me a lot. Wish I had paid more attention.
 
Thanks for the help so far too guys......... 

[Asron87]

Wow, I'm so glad I found this.

I too am wanting to make wine. I know nothing about it. This last Saturday I had tried homemade rhubarb wine for the first time, I'm hooked.

Anyone have a good rhubarb wine recipe and where/how do I start?

Thanks,
Aaron

[steg]

doc623, someone gave me that same recipe around 25 years ago, the only difference is that his recipe only called for one can of frozen grape juice, I tried two cans on my own and the only difference is the single can makes it a little liter in taste, I like em both.
his ammount of sugar called for 3 1/2 cups, that made a very sweet wine, you can go all the way down to around 2 cups to make a drier wine. One thing that I found is the lower the sugar content their is, the longer it takes to finish, and remember to keep it in a cooler place while it's working or the yeast will die off too soon. I have heard this called baloon wine, cause a baloon was placed on the top of the bottle to act as an airlock.......................steg

[doc623]

Here is one for rhubarb but there are many. And if you like what your friend had I would suggest getting info from him.
RHUBARB-WINE

5 pounds rhubarb

1 1/2 gallons boiling water

1 cup raisins

3 pounds brown sugar

3 oranges sliced

3 lemons sliced

1 tblsp. active yeast

Method

Chop all rhubarb and put into a crockpot. Add the boiling water and let it sit for 3 days covered.

Filter the liquid, and to that add chopped raisins, fruits and sugar. Add the yeast and stir well. Cover the pot again and leave in a warm area for 30 days to ferment. Give the mix a stir daily.

Filter the mixture again and pour into well sterilized bottles and keep in a cool area.

The wine will taste the best the longer it is allowed to age.

[Asron87]

Doc623,

Have you used this rhubarb recipe yourself? And is there any book/s or websites you would recommend to help me get started?

Thanks,
Aaron

[doc623]

No.
When the wife gets back I will get the actual receipt that we have used.
Yes there are several web sites and I'll find one for you in the mean time if there are any specific questions - feel free to ask.
Have several books and would not bother as there is a whole lot of info on the web and from others with actual and practical experience from which to draw.

[Asron87]

I wont have any specific questions until summer once I get some rhubarb, but I'd like to read up and at least have a clue as to what I'm doing. But until then, I'm going to try those other recipes you posted. Let me know what you find for websites.

Thanks,
Aaron

[doc623]

Asron87,
Here is one that we have used before:
Rhubarb Wine - 1 Gal
1/2 gal cut up Rhubarb (2 gts.)
3# sugar
2 oranges or lemons
1/2 gal water
Cut up the rhubarb and oranges/lemons; mix with the water and sugar; sprinkle yeast on top to start. Leave set for a week and then put into a glass jug with an air lock.
There are several tips/tricks that you can use as you go along.
For example - Sanitation - all equipment must be sanitized - however never use soap and water to sanitize anything.
More if and when ready just let me know.

[Asron87]

How did it turn out? Did you like it? I'll round up everything, we'll go from there. How much yeast? 

[doc623]

It didn't turn out too bad as I remember.
May have been a little sweet; however final sweetness can be controlled.
We used one packet of yeast. Which was either  Montrachet or cote blanche

[Asron87]

So if I plan on regularly making wine, what kind of container should I get?

[doc623]

If you want to start small, get two glass gallon jugs.
If you want to jump in; get two 5 gal glass carboys.
There are other pieces of equipment that make live easier; if you want let me know.