My roommates got me involved with some wine-making this summer. We had been talking about making a batch of mead for the longest time, and the local "last chance" grocery (you know, the places that sell the stuff that's going to hit its expiration date in two weeks for super cheap?) had 5 lb. containers of honey for $6 (honey doesn't go bad, so wow, that was fucking cheap). I bought up a 5 lb. container for myself and the two of my roommates that wanted to attempt to brew. The guys had already bought the yeast and some of the other supplies we needed. We each made a batch, and I just bottled mine tonight.
I didn't do a traditional mead. I heated about a gallon and a half of grape juice (which I had also obtained from the el cheapo grocery) and dissolved the honey in it. I had a two gallon container in which to let it ferment, and I had crushed some citrus fruits (limes and oranges, if you must know) in the bottom of it and put a few cinnamon sticks and about two tablespoons of whole cloves in with the fruit. After the juice/honey mix cooled, I started the yeast, added it to the mix, and poured it into the container with the fruit and spice.
I let that sit in the dark recesses of my closet for close to two months before I racked it (racking is basically pouring it into a new container while keeping as much of the schmutz in the old container as possible). Racking usually sets the yeast back to work. I didn't have another large container, so I strained the fermenting wine into the large pot in which I originally mixed the juice and honey, cleaned the container out, and poured it back in the container before returning it to the closet.
I let it set for about two weeks, then filtered it, again using the pot as part of the process. After it was filtered, I added potassium sorbate to kill the yeast and stop fermentation. I did a taste test and found it to be
very dry, most likely due to the acidity of the citrus. I sweetened it with a pound of honey and two cups of water, which made it much more palatable. I put it back in its (once again thoroughly cleaned and sanitized) container and threw it back in the closet. I checked it every day or two since then to make sure there was no new gas build-up.
Today I felt comfortable that it was ready to bottle, so I started pouring it into bottles. I got the bottles at a local home-brew store, because I wanted them all to look alike, instead of recycling a bunch of different bottles. I ended up with 7-1/2 bottles! I was pretty stoked. I had bought a corking device and a bag of corks in addition to the box of bottles, and while I still need some practice corking (some of the bottle don't have the cork all the way down in the bottle, there's a bit stick out of the top), all my bottles are now filled, firmly sealed, and labeled.
I present to you my first closet wine:
I am calling it "Mel Calcaria," which is Latin for "Honey Lime." The citrus made it dry, but also gives it a flavor that masks the strength of the alcohol. I drank a shot glass of it this morning, and it made my insides warm, and I'm no light-weight. I think the next batch I'm going to buy a hydrometer so I can test the alcohol content. It is very smooth (not just my opinion, I've had four guinea pigs so far), and the taste and finish really, really masks how strong it is. Pretty sure I'm going to win our little home-brew contest/wager.
Here's a close-up of one of the labels I did:
If my pay raise comes through like it's supposed to in the next month or so, I'm going to buy a small oak cask to age my next batch in this fall/winter. I'm pretty sure I can improve on this first attempt. If I get decent with the wine, I may try home-brewing some beer.
Your Pal,
Jubber
