100 year Old Wine Recipe
This recipe has been handed down for a while now in my family. The copy I have is stained, torn and almost needs an archeologist to decipher the notes and scribbles in the corners.
This recipe is as organic as it gets. No sulphites, no added chemicals, just..... nature at its best.
So, please enjoy this recipe as much as I do.
Make your own wine.
To do this you will need:
Equipment:
1 five gallon plastic bucket with lid
1 five gallon glass water jug (called a carboy)
1 plastic airlock
1 cork for carboy with whole bored for airlock to fit
Large stew pot
Potato masher
Sterile siphon hose
Cheese clothe or old Pillow case
Supplies:
2 oz ‘s of pectic enzyme
1 lemon
10 pounds of sugar
1 small packet of wine yeast
10 pounds of fruit (plum is the easiest to start with)
1 packet campden tablets
All items on this list can be purchased either online or at your local brew store
Step 1. Sterilize all equipment
2. Pit ( no need to peal) and cut up fruit and put in plastic bucket.
3. In a large stew pot put 2 ½ gallons of water, juice of half a lemon, 5 pounds of sugar and 2 oz of pectic enzyme. Heat to just under boiling, making sure all the sugar is dissolved.
4. Pour sugar solution over fruit in five gallon bucket.
5. Wait one hour or until solution and fruit have cooled to room temperature and then add the packet of yeast and stir lightly.
6. Put lid on bucket and let sit over night
7. Each day for 7 days , remove lid and mash fruit with a potato masher.
8 .Day Seven , strain juice from fruit through cheese cloth
9. Put juice into Five gallon carboy
10 Put 2 gallons of water in stew pot and heat to just under boiling
11. Put remaining 5 pounds of sugar in hot water and dissolve thoroughly
12. Wait until sugar water cools to room temperature and add to juice in carboy
13. Slide airlock into bored cork and place in opening of carboy
14. Add 1 campden tablet to airlock and 2 tablespoons of water
15. It is wise at this point to seal cork with wax from a candle
16. Put carboy in a warm place and walk away for 1 month
17. At the end of one month you will notice a heavy sediment on the bottom of the carboy….siphon the now ‘working ‘wine back into the sterilized plastic bucket leaving the sediment behind.
18. Pour sediment down drain and clean carboy well
19. Put wine back into carboy and re-seal as before
20. Repeat siphoning process (called racking) every couple of months or so until no sediment forms on bottom
21. When sediment ceases to form, your wine is done and ready to bottle
22. The fermenting process could take from 6 months to a year but it is well worth the wait!
Don’t forget to treat yourself to a glass every time you rack the wine…….. You will be able to taste the changes as nature makes its bounty.
Just a few notes. Wine made with this recipe will be higher in alcohol content than commercially produced. There are no sulphites in this wine. You should get 2 1/2 cases of wine per carboy (give or take). Bottles fished out of recycling, de-labeled and sterilized will keep costs down. Try to use real cork when it is available and never never never use a screw cap for homemade wine. Once you have made a batch of this wine you can add specific herbs to make it medicinal.
This recipe has been handed down for a while now in my family. The copy I have is stained, torn and almost needs an archeologist to decipher the notes and scribbles in the corners.
This recipe is as organic as it gets. No sulphites, no added chemicals, just..... nature at its best.
So, please enjoy this recipe as much as I do.
Make your own wine.
To do this you will need:
Equipment:
1 five gallon plastic bucket with lid
1 five gallon glass water jug (called a carboy)
1 plastic airlock
1 cork for carboy with whole bored for airlock to fit
Large stew pot
Potato masher
Sterile siphon hose
Cheese clothe or old Pillow case
Supplies:
2 oz ‘s of pectic enzyme
1 lemon
10 pounds of sugar
1 small packet of wine yeast
10 pounds of fruit (plum is the easiest to start with)
1 packet campden tablets
All items on this list can be purchased either online or at your local brew store
Step 1. Sterilize all equipment
2. Pit ( no need to peal) and cut up fruit and put in plastic bucket.
3. In a large stew pot put 2 ½ gallons of water, juice of half a lemon, 5 pounds of sugar and 2 oz of pectic enzyme. Heat to just under boiling, making sure all the sugar is dissolved.
4. Pour sugar solution over fruit in five gallon bucket.
5. Wait one hour or until solution and fruit have cooled to room temperature and then add the packet of yeast and stir lightly.
6. Put lid on bucket and let sit over night
7. Each day for 7 days , remove lid and mash fruit with a potato masher.
8 .Day Seven , strain juice from fruit through cheese cloth
9. Put juice into Five gallon carboy
10 Put 2 gallons of water in stew pot and heat to just under boiling
11. Put remaining 5 pounds of sugar in hot water and dissolve thoroughly
12. Wait until sugar water cools to room temperature and add to juice in carboy
13. Slide airlock into bored cork and place in opening of carboy
14. Add 1 campden tablet to airlock and 2 tablespoons of water
15. It is wise at this point to seal cork with wax from a candle
16. Put carboy in a warm place and walk away for 1 month
17. At the end of one month you will notice a heavy sediment on the bottom of the carboy….siphon the now ‘working ‘wine back into the sterilized plastic bucket leaving the sediment behind.
18. Pour sediment down drain and clean carboy well
19. Put wine back into carboy and re-seal as before
20. Repeat siphoning process (called racking) every couple of months or so until no sediment forms on bottom
21. When sediment ceases to form, your wine is done and ready to bottle
22. The fermenting process could take from 6 months to a year but it is well worth the wait!
Don’t forget to treat yourself to a glass every time you rack the wine…….. You will be able to taste the changes as nature makes its bounty.
Just a few notes. Wine made with this recipe will be higher in alcohol content than commercially produced. There are no sulphites in this wine. You should get 2 1/2 cases of wine per carboy (give or take). Bottles fished out of recycling, de-labeled and sterilized will keep costs down. Try to use real cork when it is available and never never never use a screw cap for homemade wine. Once you have made a batch of this wine you can add specific herbs to make it medicinal.
