h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Once again Hootoo has revived a past passion.

Now if I can just find a way to put the demijohn on my water cooler...

I'll definitely try this... I once made a meade that could strip the chrome off a motorbike.. can't wait to try some of these..

This is great - it sounds like a few people are going to have a go as a result of this

Glad you guys liked the entry!

Thanks very much for the article.Enjoyed it lots and will be trying it out once my current beer brew is out of the way!
Cheers!

oh that reminds me... if you don't have a fomentation lock for the bottle a balloon will work.. but you have to remember to lift the edge of it daily to let the air escape.. otherwise it will scare the bejeebers out of you in the middle of the night..

Have now followed the instructions,made both a red and a white wine from juice - bought from the supermarket - and using a run of the mill wine yeast.
I am very pleased to say that both turned out wonderfully and were fine.I wonder if I could make it a sparkling wine if I charged beer or champagne bottles with sugar as I do with the beermaking?Any suggestions?
And thanks again for the article.
Cheers!

Fantastic! I didn't imagine anyone would actually have a go!

You can make it into a sparking wine, but remember as there is little acid or tannin content it won't keep for an awfully long time. I'd say keeping it for six months is about the limit, so get that second ferment working quickly.

I'd recommend using a slightly more acidic juice for better results if you want to add bubbles. Cranberry sparkling wine works very well. Having said that, apple wine is also a good standard, as it tastes better when it's lighter anyway.

Don't forget to let me know how you got on

I can't remember who it was... ah, cl zoomer perhaps? who was also making this stuff...

Batty and Zoomer, from reading above. Mine seems to be taking the longest of all!

I have yet to try this one.. PC doesn't drink and would likely think I'm making moonshine in the garage.

I'm on my second batch, the first one having been consumed (mostly) by my friends at work. I used a cheap ($7CDN / gallon) organic apple cider and this time I'm trying something a lot less full of pulp. So far so good, if it's half as good as the last I'll be happy.

Oh and btw, another friend who tried it has suggested I add some Glogg to it to make it a festive holiday wine next December. I should start that batch sometime....in December.

Hi, this looks great so i have made up a double batch of white grape, apple & orange, i already make homebrew beer and have made a couple of wines from shop brought kits, they have been very drinkable but i thought i would try this for a change, one question, do you not need to add any sugar???, most wine recipies require some sugar but i do not want to add some and find it too sweet or too strong, thanks, great aricle. Ruby.

Hi Ruby,

Most wine recipes do need the addition of sugar, but in this recipe we are using enough grape and fruit juice that we don't need it. As long as you use juice, not diluted fruit squash, this will make wine at around 11% (give or take the odd 1%) without the need for extra sugar. This gives the wine more flavour, as hardly any water is used to make up the volume.

Glad you enjoyed the article, and don't forget to let us know how you get on!

Hi, fruit juice is bubbling away like mad as i write, thanks for getting back to me about the sugar will let you know how it all turns out.
Ruby

using 50% white grape
25% apple
25% orange

Fantastic

You do need to add sugar to bring the sugar content up to a level that will allow fermentation to create a wine that will be around 12 - 13% alcohol. You will need a hydrometer to correct the specific gravity to about 1.095. this will produce a strong dry wine, if you use a good wine yeast.

If you're concerned about the odd 1% or so, then yes, that would be necessary.

Most juice wine recipes suggest adding sugar and water to a couple of litres of juice. My suggestions are based on two simple facts: that there is sugar in juice, and that juice contains more flavour than water. So instead of adding water and sugar, just add juice.

There isn't enough sugar in most carton juices to make a wine over 12%, but by the same token you're not going to make one less than 10%. For a beginner, why mess about with a hydrometer and learn about specific gravity when you don't need to? The wine will be fine. If you want to make better wine, then go on and read more and learn more technical winemaking skills, but why put people off winemaking by complicating things from the start?

I said in the Entry that 'making decent wine is very easy', and that is not only true but also clearly appeals to some. You'll lose that enthusiasm if you start talking about your hydrometers straight away.

I am about to embark on a 28 litre Cranberry/Blackcurrant/Grape/Apple effort. I think I'll add 5kg of sugar just to be sure. Wish me luck.