Most everyone who is a wine drinker will, at some time or another, think about making their own wine at home. All that is really needed is a proper fermenting vessel, various wine yeasts and simple ingredients like fresh fruits, grapes or grape juice and sugar. If you own an electric juicer, the job is easier, if not, you will need a large bucket and pan to crush the fruit.
Here are three wine recipes to get you started.
Muscadine Wine
15 - 20 pounds muscadine grapes, mashed or juiced
1 packet of red wine yeast (you can use bread yeast for this recipe)
2 pounds of sugar for every gallon of juice
Begin by crushing your grapes to expel the juices. If you don't own a juicer, a potato masher works well. Once the juice has been extracted, measure the juice and in your fermentation vessel add two pounds of sugar for every gallon of juice. Mix well until sugar is dissolved. Add the yeast and close the container with your airlock and bung.
Muscadine wine takes between three weeks to a month to finish working. When the wine hasn't released gasses for at least two days, it is ready to be siphoned off and rebottled.
A variation of this wine is to put the crushed fruits in your fermentation vessel and adding water to make five gallons. This allows you to use the extracted juice for jelly making or regular drinking
Dandelion Wine
1 gallon dandelion flower heads
3 oranges
3 lemons
1 gal boiling water
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 package white wine yeast
Rinse dandelion blossoms and chop the flowers finely using a pair of scissors. Remove the peels from the lemons and oranges. Using a sharp knife or a shredder, chop finely or shred the peels. Place dandelions and chopped skins in a large, clean bucket and add 1 gallon of boiling water.
Allow to sit, covered, for three days. After three days, strain the mixture into a large stock pot, squeezing the flowers and fruits to expel all juice. Add sugar and bring to a medium boil for thirty minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Pour mixture into fermentation vessel and add yeast. Attach your airlock and allow the wine to work until all fermentation is complete. Siphon off the wine into smaller containers and store for a minimum of three months to age. Makes 1 gallon.
Apricot Liqueur
15 -20 pounds Apricots
1 package wine yeast
4 cups sugar
Begin by peeling and pitting the apricots, placing the pits in one bowl and the fruit in another. Mash the fruit to expel the juices. In a large food grade plastic bucket, add crushed fruit and half of the pits. Stir to combine. Use plastic or a cotton sheet to cover the bucket, securing tightly with string or a large rubber band. Let set overnight.
The next day, stir in the yeast and recover. Let stand four days.
After the fourth day, strain the mixture though a fine mesh sieve or colander squeezing all the juice out of the fruit. Put the juice into your fermentation vessel and add two cups of sugar. Attach airlock and bung.
After seven days of fermentation, remove airlock and add an additional two cups of sugar. Replace the airlock and allow the liqueur to work until the fermentation process is complete. Siphon liqueur into smaller jars, cap and allow to age for at least six months.
