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Post by meateater on Oct 1, 2005 9:20:01 GMT 12.75
I just bottled my first batch of "homemade". It is strawberry and tastes great. Nice color too. Thanks for the links. I've found a new hobby!
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Post by meateater on Oct 1, 2005 9:21:22 GMT 12.75
Sorry for the double-posting. I was having problems replying. Problem solved. Thanks Pawclaws
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Post by Paws on Oct 2, 2005 3:40:25 GMT 12.75
No sweat! Some things are worth saying twice anyway! ;D
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Post by meateater on Oct 8, 2005 10:34:59 GMT 12.75
Hey folks, Any recommendations concerning which apples make the best/worst wine?
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Post by Two Tales on Oct 8, 2005 21:48:20 GMT 12.75
Can't say there are any bad ones, I like my Granny Greens for the taste they produce...you need to adjust your sugar depending on what you like...worst was trying them yellow delisious apples....broke down to quick for me and was a bummer to strain clear....
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Post by Paws on Oct 9, 2005 5:08:56 GMT 12.75
Can't say there are any bad ones, I like my Granny Greens for the taste they produce...you need to adjust your sugar depending on what you like...worst was trying them yellow delisious apples....broke down to quick for me and was a bummer to strain clear.... Near pure sugar! You can strain the stuff through 3 or 4 stacked coffee filters or about half a loaf of bread to clarify it. Looks a lot like, well may I'd better not say!! ;D
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Post by al on Nov 30, 2005 14:23:54 GMT 12.75
I ferment just about anything and everything you can possibly think of. Some of it turns out pretty good, the rest I give away to "friends".
Right now I have bottled in the cellar: plum, apple, rosehip, blackberry, peach, strawberry, jasmine rice and raspberry mead. Still in carboys I have mead, blueberry and lemon.
Surprisingly the rice and rosehip are my favorites. The rice has an almost bourbon like flavor to it. All this talk has made me thirsty...where's that corkscrew?
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Post by brittonfaith on Feb 2, 2006 16:13:12 GMT 12.75
First time I ever came across anyone who made wine was about a year after Mike and I were married. His 90yr old grandpa was living with Mike's mom & dad. There were always about 20 grown up kids about the place and none of them paid much attention to Pappy. One day I was on my way out the door and just for the heck of it, asked him if there was anything he'd like from town. I don't think anyone ever asked him before. He got this real special twinkle in his eyes, and teetered into his bedroom; then came out with a coin pouch. He asked me how much sugar I could get for $6. Then he wanted to know if I had any yeast. I truly thought this old man had flipped his lid. I got him his sugar and gave him some yeast.
Next day he asked me if the elderberries were still out and if the were to go pick all I could find. I came back with three 5-gallon buckets full. He pulled them all off the bunches, told me to start up the stove and the rest is history. Best "Christmas Cheer" I ever had the privilege of partaking.
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Post by brittonfaith on Sept 16, 2008 10:45:26 GMT 12.75
I'm getting ready to start a couple batches of wine in the next week or so. One elderberry, the other fox grape. But, I'm having trouble finding those big glass water jugs to ferment in. Have thought about mixing the elderberries with the grapes and making one huge batch. Would just have to figure out how to seal off an open topped 150 gallon water trough so it could ferment.
Has anyone tried the plastic water cooler jugs? How do they work compared to the old glass ones?
Also, if anyone has an applejack recipe using crab apples, I'd be much obliged.
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Post by Paws on Sept 16, 2008 11:00:02 GMT 12.75
I'm getting ready to start a couple batches of wine in the next week or so. One elderberry, the other fox grape. But, I'm having trouble finding those big glass water jugs to ferment in. Have thought about mixing the elderberries with the grapes and making one huge batch. Would just have to figure out how to seal off an open topped 150 gallon water trough so it could ferment. Has anyone tried the plastic water cooler jugs? How do they work compared to the old glass ones? Also, if anyone has an applejack recipe using crab apples, I'd be much obliged. I would recommend you use the plastic jugs and cap them with heavy duty balloons and rubber bands. They should work just finer than frog hair. I have two gallon sized ceramic crock bottles "XXX" but they are in use! Coming up with something to cap that trough might be tough although I'm sure we could manage. Maybe a combination of plastic tarps and a funnel made from a milk jug and then the balloon on top of that; but it will have to be one whale of a balloon to valve properly for that much mash! p.s. Why not use regular botle sized bottles? You can get glass bottles at Wally World and Family Dollar which you can make up individual bottles topped balloons during processing then seal with corks/wax/or just corks when finished working.
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Post by Lt Colonel Bruce Reynolds on Sept 17, 2008 1:30:18 GMT 12.75
I'm getting ready to start a couple batches of wine in the next week or so. One elderberry, the other fox grape. But, I'm having trouble finding those big glass water jugs to ferment in. Have thought about mixing the elderberries with the grapes and making one huge batch. Would just have to figure out how to seal off an open topped 150 gallon water trough so it could ferment. Has anyone tried the plastic water cooler jugs? How do they work compared to the old glass ones? Also, if anyone has an applejack recipe using crab apples, I'd be much obliged. Hey I have used the plastic water bottles, and they work fine, we had a store bought thingy that fit in top of the bottle with curves where you put water, and it let the pressure of but didn't let the air in made some nice wine,wish I knew what that thingy was,you can get them at any place that sells wine making kits. Hope this helps.
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Post by Two Tales on Sept 17, 2008 10:24:08 GMT 12.75
Dab nab it, I had the name of that thingie on the tip of my tounge, until I started typing..in a nut shell, it's a check valve..they also come in beer brewing kits...dang I hate CRS
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Post by Paws on Sept 17, 2008 14:24:19 GMT 12.75
Wally World has five gallon bottles for around twelve bucks.
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Post by brittonfaith on Sept 18, 2008 3:54:09 GMT 12.75
we had a store bought thingy that fit in top of the bottle with curves where you put water, and it let the pressure of but didn't let the air in Sounds something like what we did. But instead of store bought, we used a rubber stopper and plastic tubing. First, we drilled a hole in the stopper the same size as the tubing diameter. (Pre-drilled ones can be purchased at a homeschool or hobby supply place) Put the stopper on the jug, inserted one end the hose through the stopper a couple of inches (but not into the wine). Make sure the hose is long enough to get two or three natural loops. Then placed the other end of the hose in a quart jar of water. We let that work for about 4 weeks, then jug the wine, place a baloon or rubber on the jug and let it work until the balloon bursts. You can put another balloon on after the first one if you want it to work more. Usually, what we'd start here in mid- to late- September is ready about Christmas Eve.
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Post by brittonfaith on Sept 25, 2008 9:24:36 GMT 12.75
p.s. Why not use regular botle sized bottles? You can get glass bottles at Wally World and Family Dollar which you can make up individual bottles topped balloons during processing then seal with corks/wax/or just corks when finished working. You do realize I'd need about 40 to 50 1-gallon jugs for what juice I have ready to go??
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Post by brittonfaith on Sept 27, 2008 6:07:00 GMT 12.75
Hey Phil! You don't seem to walk far enough back into Wally-World. Those water jugs they have at the water dispenser are $12. The same 5-gal culligan jugs are only $6 back where the water filtration stuff is. Picked up a jug there. Then got 6 ft of 5/16 plastic tubing, two rubber stoppers and a 5/16 drill bit at the salvage & surplus hardware store in Oak Hill. All for under $8. I didn't figure $8 was a bad investment for 5 gallons of hooch. Can't buy Thunderbird or Boone's for that price. ;D Will have enough tubing and and that extra stopper so I can start another batch when I get decide to pick up a second water jug.
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Post by Paws on Sept 27, 2008 14:42:59 GMT 12.75
What would I know about jugs?
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Post by Snake Eyes on Sept 27, 2008 19:20:35 GMT 12.75
Can't buy Thunderbird or Boone's for that price. ;D Faith, Boone's Farm wine! Now there is a blast from the past Back in the day you could only get it in apple and then they added strawberry. Cost $1.05 including tax. Now you can't even get apple and what they do have is 3/4 times the cost. Never was a T-bird man but it was always the good word ;D snake-eyes
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Post by Paws on Sept 27, 2008 21:56:21 GMT 12.75
Can't buy Thunderbird or Boone's for that price. ;D Faith, Boone's Farm wine! Now there is a blast from the past Back in the day you could only get it in apple and then they added strawberry. Cost $1.05 including tax. Now you can't even get apple and what they do have is 3/4 times the cost. Never was a T-bird man but it was always the good word ;D snake-eyes Snake, you have difficulty with fractions? I broke a jug of that Strawberry on the kitchen floor down in Biloxi Misissippi a whole bunch of years ago where I was having a poker game for the boys. If that happens to you, you might want to clean that stuff up real fast!
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Post by brittonfaith on Sept 28, 2008 5:40:51 GMT 12.75
Got 5 gallons of elderberry and a gallon of wild grape working yesterday. The elderberry is blowing bubbles off so fast it looks like a little kid blowing bubble through a straw into his milk. Well I got so tickled at my first solo attempt at making the Britton family recipe, that I went out this morning and purchased two more of them 5-gallon jugs. Have one of them full of blackberry and am debating on the other one - a dry batch of elderberry or some more grape. If it all turns out good, that'll be 16 gallons worth. Still not enough. Got doing the math last night. If what the experts say about the benefits of red wine is true, and if we consume the recommended "medicinal" amount, we'd each drink 15-20 gallons of wine a year! Geesh!! I'm lucky to polish off a quart or two.
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