So, growing up in the backwoods of Alabama, I watched my dad make wine from several wild fruits.
Anyways, a few days ago, I was given two five gallon buckets full of Japanese Plums. The bulk of them are going into plum/hot banana pepper jelly, but that will be another post.
Everything I know is from memory and honestly, I have a horrible memory. If you are a avid wine maker/drinker, I would suggest you turn back now.
I used:
10 pounds of plums - halved to remove the pits.
5 cups of sugar
2 gallons of water
1 pack of yeast (shh! I used bakers yeast!)*
*I know the baker's yeast will change the flavor of the wine.
I boiled the fruit sugar and water to make a reduction, then squeezed the rest of the juice out of the plums with cheese cloth.
After pouring the reduction in to one gallon plastic jugs, I hydrated the yeast and added it.
After a good shaking, I topped all three gallons with a balloon.
I left them sitting on the counter over night to make sure the yeast took and placed them in the back of a closet today to let them ferment for the next few weeks before siphoning it off to let sit for a few more months.
This one almost had a foam over:
Close up of the color:
Anyways, a few days ago, I was given two five gallon buckets full of Japanese Plums. The bulk of them are going into plum/hot banana pepper jelly, but that will be another post.
Everything I know is from memory and honestly, I have a horrible memory. If you are a avid wine maker/drinker, I would suggest you turn back now.
I used:
10 pounds of plums - halved to remove the pits.
5 cups of sugar
2 gallons of water
1 pack of yeast (shh! I used bakers yeast!)*
*I know the baker's yeast will change the flavor of the wine.
I boiled the fruit sugar and water to make a reduction, then squeezed the rest of the juice out of the plums with cheese cloth.
After pouring the reduction in to one gallon plastic jugs, I hydrated the yeast and added it.
After a good shaking, I topped all three gallons with a balloon.
I left them sitting on the counter over night to make sure the yeast took and placed them in the back of a closet today to let them ferment for the next few weeks before siphoning it off to let sit for a few more months.
This one almost had a foam over:
Close up of the color:
