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Wine making on the cheap

jonk
I do from time to time make my own wine and beer. I haven't made wine in about 2 years and got the idea to start a batch the other day. Generally speaking I have either used premium kits that include juice for the desired wine (cabernet, chardonnay, whatever) or fresh fruit when in season- grapes, pears, etc.

This time I'm on the cheap. I went to Aldi and bought their cheapest grape juice- $.85/ can. I got 6 cans which reconstiuted yields just over 2 gallons of fluid. To that I added enough sugar to bring the specific gravity up to 1.090- a potential alcohol of about 12%. Incidentally it only took 2 cups- so it was pretty sweet concentrate already.

It sat for a day with camden tabs in it to kill bacteria, then got the yeast and nutrients 3 days ago. It's bubbling happily.

The question is, will I have 2 gallons of acceptable table wine or 2 gallons of unpalatable alcoholic sludge?

Well.....for $7 worth of ingredients, it can't be too bad either way. [:D] I'll have some idea when I go to bottle it how it is, but it will have to age at least 6 months to say for sure.
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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • allen griggs
    You are on to my old college trick.
    Ten of the big cans of Welch's frozen grape juice, ten pounds of sugar, campden tablets, put in a five gallon jug and fill to near the top.
    I must say, I had very good success saying to a coed, "Want to go over to my place and try some of my homemade wine?"
    They figured I was a Renaissance Man, until they found out, too late, that I was just a Modern Animal.

    Decent table wine, or unpalatable alcoholic sludge? I can't really say, my tastes in wine have gotten much more sophisticated since those college days 30 years ago.
    I am making great wine these days from kits, five gallons for $55.
    Give us a report when you taste test this stuff.
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  • slipgate
    Nice! Please keep me posted as to how it turns out. I have a 6 gallon batch of Cabernet Franc almost ready to bottle. It was $96 for the kit (4 gallons of juice).

    What did you use for yeast? Did you buy wine yeast from a wine shop?
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  • dakotashooter2
    I think my folks still have a bottle or two that they bottled well over 30 years ago. Maybe they are waiting to open it on their 50th either way it will be curious to find out what they have ended up with. It could go either way.
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  • jonk
    It was Montrachet wine yeast.
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  • iluvguns
    It should be OK for a drinking wine. Probably not the best, but OK. A friend of my dad spends his summer making muscadine wine. Always gives dad 3 gallons for Christmas. GOOD STUFF! I really wish he would show me how he does it.
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  • Warpig883
    Good college wine needs a piece of toast added to give it some floaties.
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  • He Dog
    All that sugar sounds like home made Mogen David.[xx(]

    I do wish you better luck than that though Jonk.
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  • allen griggs
    No, He Dog, he is only going for 12 per cent alcohol, and he used yeast nutrient, if all goes well he will have a dry wine.
    God's miracle revealed, pure white cane sugar turned into ethanol. A beautiful thing.
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  • He Dog
    Hmmm, can I get some for my truck?

    $96 for 4 gal. That is $24 a gallon or $60 a quart. Guys I can get drinkable table wine for that already bottled. If you were equalling Sanford Pinot Noir for that price then you would be on to something.
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  • savage170
    [img][/img]effectsofachol.jpg

    effects of cheap wine
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  • A J Christ
    Shoot! I just drive up to Haywood County and see my buddy Fred. He uses corn instead of grape juice. He doesn't call it wine either now that I think on it. He bottles it up in Mason jars.
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  • savage170
    muppetuntitled.jpg

    effects of freds wine
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