I posted a blog on how to make grape juice wine, and then thought, "Hey! Why not share on Craftster!" I did a quick search and did not see anything already posted, so here goes:
It is Loosey Goosey, so bear with me!!
Country Kitchen Ghetto Wine
4 Quarts Grape juice 100%, no “cocktail”
4 Quarts Water
4 lbs Sugar
2-3 gallon or so wine jugs (Like Carlos Rossi ones)
Packet of yeast (bread or wine -who cares, it does have an effect on the finished product, but this wine is not for impressing people. It is for getting drunk, although “wine yeast” will make it stronger)
Fermentation locks (Can use real ones with size 6 rubber stoppers, or just slap a large punch ball balloon thing over the top (they sell them at Dollar General 2 to a pack on an end cap)
Directions:
Put everything in a big bucket (You can get the yeast going in a small bowl with a bit of warm water and sugar first if you like, it seems to be happier this way.) Don’t even start with me about mixing it in a kitty litter bucket. I don’t care what you say. And the floor is like a garage floor…its not my kitchen or anything… Don’t even look at it!
Mix it up!
Let it sit covered with a towel for a few days. Stir it every day, except the last day. Let it sit 24 hours after the final stir (20 hours or 28 hours is probably fine too. I bet you could do it after like 2 hours, but I have never tried it, and all the recipes say 24 Whatever…
Then, “rack” into gallon wine jugs. This just means pour it out of the first bucket, and into the jugs. Try not to disturb the wine too much, as all of the dead yeast and stuff has settled to the bottom (Called Lees) You can pour it through a funnel with a cloth over it to catch lees if you like, it isn’t really neccessary, it mostly stays put until the end, and you can see it.
It will fill 2 or 3. If you can not fill them all the way, fill them evenly and fill with Grape juice to about an inch of the top
I use little cereal box tags to label them so that when I rack again (Every 3-4 weeks until clear and no lees) I can move the tags to the new bottles and won’t forget what I made!)
Slap those fermentation locks on there and wait! (If you used a balloon, it will fill with air, that is normal, and means your wine is fermenting.
Rack into new bottles ever few weeks until the wine is clear, and then either bottle it into somaller bottles, or drink it up!
Let it sit in the bottle a year for best flavor.. (HA!! I have no idea how it tastes after a year, mine has never made it that long. it tastes ok after 6 weeks… If it is not sweet enough, add more sugar next time. Too sweet? …. you know the drill.
This recipe can be found on my blog as well:
http://caseywashere.com/blog/
