Andy N. 2,136 #1 Posted September 19, 2020 I know fall doesn't technically start for a few more days, but I consider wine making a fall activity. Wine grape truck showed up today so we decided this year to try Pinot Noir. We average about 25-30 gallons production per year of various grape and fruit wines. IMG_0551.mp4 4 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 9,696 #2 Posted September 20, 2020 Show us more! Our backwoods wine making consist of pasture fence row wild muscadine grapes. These are typically ripe early to late July around central Texas. A couple of one gallon small mouthed jug style containers and balloons. Cook the grapes with water and strain the grape juice through fine cloth (like your going to make grape jelly). Use the old father-in-laws low-tech recipe. As the wine ferments the balloon blows up, as the fermenting slows down (about 4 weeks) the balloon shrinks and the wine is ready. We've learned if the balloon pops I added to much sugar. (sometimes you can try another balloon and if it has off gassed enough you might save the batch). If the balloon doesn't blow up much we made vinegar. Forgive me for stealing your thread, but this brings up a "grape" story.... @ebinmaine you'll like this! I was dating my to be wife, and she wanted to make grape jelly. Her dad also wanted some grapes for his wine making. Being the country boy suitor that I was I naturally took a walk with her down to their low roofed barn which was overhung by large Oak trees full of muscadine grape vines. I climbed up on the barn roof and easily picked a couple of 5 gallon buckets of grapes. My wife had a new jelly recipe that was to make an almost purple/clear (not cloudy) grape jelly. You were to cook the water and grapes but not mash them. Then you were to put the water/cooked grapes in a linen pillow sack and suspend it for the juice to drip out. Needless to say we had a ton more grapes than we needed. But we uses them all. We suspended SEVERAL pillow sacks full of grapes from broom sticks held up by chairs in their bath tub. The grapes dripped into large crocks setting in the tub. By the time we were done juice coated the tub purple. We made enough juice to make all the wonderful jelly and wine her mom and dad wanted. We even had leftover juice to freeze and give away. I'm sure her mon and dad had a good laugh at us young-uns ......and that tub had a purplish tint for several years. 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,286 #3 Posted September 20, 2020 7 hours ago, oliver2-44 said: you'll like this You're correct! Love hearing stories like that. Neither Trina or I has ever been much of a wine drinker. But of us love it when folks "do" for themselves. We are, more and more each year. @Andy N. Super cool that you and the wife take the time to do this. Nice work. Keep us posted on the results. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy N. 2,136 #4 Posted October 31, 2020 (edited) Fall cleanup and first round of leaf pickup today. For not being around tractors and equipment when she was growing up, I think she has this WH thing down! I swear, I did help with the cleanup. IMG_0528.mp4 Edited October 31, 2020 by Andy N. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
