You can make wine from any juice. The yeast just needs sugar to poop into alcohol (that's right, yeast poops alcohol, bless it). My brother made a bunch of weird wines many years ago including black raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, and he might have made some dandelion wine. I remember the raspberry was quite good though kind of sweet. Most of it wound up as vinegar. Western KY is not the place for controlled fermentation. He did make a couple of bottles of red wine from grapes that were really quite good. It's easier than making beer but slower.
Give me a bottle of beaujolais, a round of camembert, a baguette and a nice girl to share it with and I'm one happy fella, I tells ya.
[size=75]You are as bad as Alan, and even he hits the mark sometimes. -charlie
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
Yup, the yeast feeds on the sugars in the absence of oxygen. This type of anerobic respiration known as fermentation produces carbon dioxide and ethanol as a by product. The mixture must have a fermentation lock that allows the carbon dioxide to escape without allowing any oxygen to enter. This is often done by placing a small cap half filled with water encasing another small cap that is placed upside down and half submerged. Thus, the excess gas bubbles out through the water and then the small cap without allowing any air to enter. Now there is a real world practical application of chemistry.
"Those iron spikes you use have shortened the life expectancy of the Totem Pole by 50,000 years."
I used to make wine in college. I had one of those 5 gallon bottled water jugs, I'd dump in the juice, yeast, sugar, etc, then put a hose in the cap and run in into a cup of water; this made a one way valve.
Good stuff. Maybe 1 batch out of 3 didn't turn out though.
Sarcasm is a tool the weak use to avoid confrontation. People with any balls just outright lie.
[quote="Meadows"]I try not to put it in my mouth now, but when I do, I hold it with just my lips.[/quote]
There is a book called Kentucky Moonshine by David M. Maurer that tells you exactly how to make shine in your kitchen. Switch out the plastic surgical tubing for copper tubing and you are good to break some laws.
I've gotten conflicting reports over the legality of distilling at home. I've heard you can distill a small amount (a gallon, maybe?) but I've also heard it's strictly forbidden. Who would catch/prosecute you if you didn't sell it is the big question.
Near a "secret crag" I know there's an old moonshining setup. All that's left is some wood and a wonderful brick catch basin. Seems like almost any band of cliffs in eastern KY has or has had stills set up at the heads of hollers.
Johnny Appleseed wasn't spreading apples for eating, did you know that? There wasn't a "sweet" apple available until the red delicious which I think was found in the 1930's. Since you can't actually plant apple seeds and know what you're going to get (usually the little, sour kind) all sweet varieties are grafts. Apples back in those days were used for making hard cider, pure and simple. I'm glad to see cider available again. Does anyone have a favorite?
[size=75]You are as bad as Alan, and even he hits the mark sometimes. -charlie
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
