I remember, when I was a little boy, my dad made wine in a 1 gallon glass jug. He would usually get a jug or two going around Thanksgiving, so it would be ready by Christmas. And, I always thought it was special 'cause he'd give me a little taste - sweet and warm all the way down!

Thinking about that, (and missing my Dad who's been gone for many years now), got me to checking into simple recipes for homemade wine and I came up with the following. If I remember right, this is pretty close to how he made it.

2 cans Welches frozen grape juice, (made as usual with spring water or filtered water).
4 cups sugar dissolved in warm spring/filtered water.
1 cup 100% cranberry juice.
2 packages regular 'ole grocery store yeast dissolved in lukewarm spring/filtered water, (NOT rapid-rise yeast).
Pour it all together in a gallon jug. Leave a little "head space". Stretch a big, heavy duty balloon over the opening and put it in a "room temperature" closet for 3 weeks. In 3 or 4 weeks, without picking up any of the sediment in the bottom of the jug, bottle however you wish. Eat, DRINK, & be merry!

Tried it... only I rigged an airlock to the top of the jug. I've never seen anything perk an airlock like that stuff does. If you try it, I'd suggest using a 1 1/2, or 2 gallon jug to ferment. Produces LOTS of activity on top! Will post a taste test in 3 or 4 weeks, for anybody interested. JSM

It should taste pretty good.

I loved the Story about how your Dad would make it for Christmas and share some with you..... Those are the memories we can never replace.

Years ago my Mom was in some kind of cheese club and she received a wine kit in powdered form. I know it fermented in some type of glass jug but I don't recall what she used for an airlock. The taste was reminescent of a thick, sweet grape flavored cough syrup. It was sippable and somewhat drinkable.

Good luck with yours.

After further thought I'm wondering why you wouldn't just use one of the Mr. Beer kegs (and maybe a better choice of yeast).

I actually thought about going up to the LHBS and getting some wine-specific yeast, or even some ale yeast. And, I could have made it using a regular glass carboy, or a MB keg. The short answer is that I just wanted to do it the way I remembered it done when I was a kid. If I try another batch, I may try a little more refined recipe and way of doing it. But, for now.... this is just a look back.

My Great Grandmother and Great Aunt used to make Balloon Wine back in the early 70's. Pretty much that same recipe. I remember seeing 3 to 4 jugs with fully inflated balloons on top in the spare bedroom of their house fairly regularly. They had one get away from them once. The balloon burst and they had grape juice all over the ceiling. For years there was a little purple tinge to the ceiling in there.

JSMoore, I can certainly appreciate the look back. Hope it comes out as you remember.

Well JSMoore,I was really thinking of trying that recipe balloon and all until I read PcolaMike story.loved reading both storys.

Great story! It really made me smile. It kinda sounds like a tradition I want to start with my boys.

Hey StrangeBrew, try it anyway. Just use a really big, heavy duty balloon, or rig a air lock to a stopper as I did. Mine foamed over and I had to keep cleaning the air lock out for the first 24 hours. I did anticipate that and set the jug in one of my wife's cake pans. After the first 24, things settled down to a nice steady ferment. If I ever do this again, I think I'll use a larger jug, (for a little more head-space), and possibly drop back to 1 packet of yeast. I remember Dad used two. But, I'm not sure it really needs 2 packets, (14 grams?), in a one gallon recipe. Cheers!

Welp... just gave it a shot.. was bored this morning and went out to my local Lowes food and picked up a 2 gallon icing bucket with lid.. they were nice enough to give it to me along with a couple of 5 gallons

I used your recipe above but didn't quite use all the yeast.. probably 1 full pack and 2/3 of another. I also rigged up an airlock and set it all in a cooler in case it explodes hahah.. Since I didn't have any supplies, I took one of our rubber corks we use for wine bottles and drilled a hole in it and fed some rubber hose through it to use for the bung... worked pretty good!

I have a friend that owns one of our local wineries so I hope it turns out good so I can share it with him!!

http://jakecpunut.com/images/homemadewine.jpg

Just a quick note to let everybody know that my batch of "balloon wine" has finally settled down. Although, I'm sure there's still some stuff going on in there, there's no further evidence of fermentation. So, I drew off a couple of tablespoons full for a quick taste test. In a word, WOW! It's a little "raw" yet. But, it's very full bodied, slightly sweet and warms all the way down, (this stuff has a kick to it! ). I plan to bottle at 3 weeks, on 12/14. Then, I'll be trying to stay out of it until at least Christmas Eve. Lookin' forward to it!

JakeCpuNut, I hope yours turns out well too! Please do post a report!
JSM

will do! Did you use the exact recipe as stated? What process will you use to bottle?

After allowing for head space in the one gallon jug, and a little bit of blow off that I had, I'll only bottle about 3 quarts. I have some 20 oz coke bottles that I've washed out good. I'll sanitize and use them. Should get just a little less than 5 20 oz bottles. This time around, I'll go for the still wine, (no carbonation).

And, yes, I used exactly the recipe that I put in the post. Really, the only thing I changed was using the air lock instead of a balloon. Glad I did though. Fermentation was so heavy for the first day or so, the balloon would've popped.
JSM

I fermented my Apfelwein with a balloon...if you take a clothes pin or needle and poke a small hole in the top of the balloon (and stretch it before you put it on the top of the jug), it won't pop even with pretty vigorous fermentation.

Great family story, JS. The only change I might make is a small addition of yeast nutrient and a dry wine yeast such as Montrachet (super cheap).

But making it the traditional way sounds interesting as well. Enjoy and keep us posted!

OK, Here's a quick update for you on the balloon wine.

A time issue pretty much forced me to go ahead and bottle this past Friday, 3-days earlier than I had intended. But, I felt pretty safe doing so because there has been no sign of fermentation in the jug for a number of days. I bottled in recycled 20-oz. soda bottles, and got 4 1/2 bottles out of the gallon batch. Since it was only a gallon batch, I just poured the wine carefully through a small funnel into the bottles. Pouring slowly, I was able to avoid the sediment on the bottom of the container.

The first thing that stuck me as I filled the bottles was the brilliant red color, and wonderful wine-smell. I had already anticipated that I would end up with a partial 5th bottle, and I planned to use that as a taste bottle, just to get an idea what I had made. As I remembered from my Dad's wine, it was quite sweet. It had a really good smell and a nice full-bodied feel. I have no idea what the alcohol content is because I took no readings. But, it does have a nice warm feeling as it goes down - easy to see that one shouldn't drink too much at one time! The taste and warm feeling brought back memories!

Although the wine bottled semi-cloudy, it has cleared substantially after only 3 days. The soda bottles I used are clear. And, you can now see right through them. The color seems to have also intensified. It is a brilliant ruby red color - Beautiful!

In it's present, "young" state, I'd say it's a little too sweet to drink just to enjoy a glass of wine. But, I found out that it does go very well with food, (well..... a turkey sandwich on wheat with chips, anyway). I also used the last couple of ounces of it in a mushroom gravey. YUM!

The next bottle get's opened on Christmas Eve. I'll post notes again with a picture.
JSM

Thanks for the update

Just wondering how you are storing your bottled wine? Room temp? In the fridge?

Hi Jake. I read somewhere that storing in a cool area would help to clarify the wine quicker. So, I split the batch, 2 at room temp and 2 out in the cold, (probably average 50*).

What I found was that the 2 stored in the cabinet at room temperature started clearing right away, while the ones out in the cold actually took on a chill-haze. So, all 4 bottles are inside, stored at room temperature. And all are clarifying nicely, now.

I suspect that by the time I open a bottle on Christmas Eve, it will be nearly "commercial clear".

How's your batch coming along?
JSM

Wow, sounds like you're having great luck with this! Congrats! I've tried winging a few batches, and none have turned out like yours... Perhaps I'll try your recipe!

Matty, The original recipe was:

2 cans Welches frozen grape juice, (made as usual with spring water or filtered water).
4 cups sugar dissolved in warm spring/filtered water.
1 cup 100% cranberry juice. (not cocktail)
2 packages regular 'ole grocery store yeast dissolved in lukewarm spring/filtered.

Based on the taste that I've had of the wine so far, it's quite sweet. I think I'd reduce the 4 cups of sugar to around 3. Somewhere, I read that 1.060 to 1.100 was a good OG for wine. And, I think I'd switch to a packet of S-04, or S-05 ale yeast instead of the bread yeast. The bread yeast has a lower alcohol tolerance and pooped out before they ran out of sugar. Reducing the sugar and switching to ale yeast ought to produce a little dryer, more drinkable wine. You could even switch to a wine yeast to dry it up even more.

Good luck with it!
JSM

Cool.. I'll keep mine at room temp then.. I bottled Monday night and got 4 1/2 Mr Beer PET's filled.. Smells great, taste great! We're having a party this weekend so I'm going to break it out!!

btw, sent you a pm so just disregard it!

I'm ready to start another batch... wondering about different juices now!

I am going to give this recipe a shot tonight. Sounds really interesting. Got my attention. I am assuming we would use a gallon and a half of spring water pre-boil?

This is a 1-gallon, total volume batch and you don't boil anything.

Ah, I must of misunderstood. I was going to see if it would be decent if I go from Cranberry to Apple or some other juice. I ain't the biggest fan of cranberry.

Lemme ask ya. How overwhelming is the cranberry flavor?

You don't even taste the cranberry at all. When you buy Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, (100% Juice - NOT COCKTAIL), if you read the contents lable, it's actually about 1/2 apple juice anyway.

BTW, don't use juice "cocktails" for wine making at all. If you read the ingredients lable on most of them, there's a lot of unpronouncable stuff in there. Chemical presertives are not a good thing for wine making.

I'm not quite sure why Dad added the cranberry juice. But, I suspect that maybe it adds a little bit of acid, or bitterness to the taste in much the same way that true wine makers would add an acid blend or tannin to their ingredients.

One nice think about doing little one-gallon batches.... if you don't like it, pour it out and you ain't lost much. So experiment! When you hit on something you like, plus it up and make a bigger batch. I did. I have a 3 gallon batch working right now.

Good luck with it!
JSM

I remember, when I was in college, having some apple cider that fermented all on its own...I added firewater (100-proof cinnamon schnapps) to it and it was AMAZING. I tried to replicate it by pouring a package of yeast into a gallon jug of apple cider and putting it in the closet...no airlock, no headspace...nothing. After a little while, I took a look at it and poked a hole in the lid with a pin. It didn't come out so well.

After that, we also made a few attempts at homemade wine that all invariably came out AWFUL. Thanks for posting this, I think I'll have to try this, or a variation on it, sometime.

New pictures added to post under "Beer PrOn".

Well I'm digging up an old thread. I tried this recipe tonight (minus the cranberry juice). I picked up a packet of wine yeast instead of generic yeast. Many many wilsons while brewing this tonight. I forgot to sanitize funnel(s) and stir spoon... hopefully everything comes out well. I'll keep ya'll informed.

I decided to give this a try this morning; I know my mom has mentioned my grandma making "balloon wine" when she was little and I was always curious about this.
As per your recommendations, I used only 3 cups of sugar instead of 4. I also doubled the recipe to make 2 gallons so I could "brew" in my Mr. Beer keg. I thought I had 100% cranberry juice at home, but it turned out to have other ingredients in it, so I left that out at the last minute, not wanting to contaminate things. So, in summary, here's what I did:

4 cans 100% grape juice (frozen kind)
1 pkg. Mr. Beer yeast
15 cans warm water (I got the temp. to 71 degrees for pitching the Mr. Beer yeast)
6 cups sugar

After sanitizing everything, pour juice concentrate, water, and sugar into Mr. Beer keg. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Pitch yeast and stir again.

I'm going to let ferment for 3 weeks and then bottle in beer bottles (because that is what I have). I don't plan on carbonating, but may try a few bottles just for fun.
I'll report back after it's finished!

Sounds great! Welcome aboard, make sure to stop by the Welcoming Center to say "hi"!

^^^^^^

That was directed at Katie... Sorry...

Racked this recipe to secondary. It smells like wine... the taste is still a bit... off. Tastes like wine but not good wine. I'm going to let this sit another month and see what happens.

Tried a glass of this. Very nice color and clarity even at about 4 weeks. Other than being very strong its not bad. Pretty dry, but I think that's because I used wine yeast. Gave some to my friend who drinks a lot of wine. He told me it was pretty good, way better than he thought it would be. Very easy recipe with good results. I will be trying this again, but next time I'm going to buy some grapes and do a mash.

Great story! In a 3 or 5 gallon carboy I use apple 100% juice. I add 4 1/2 cups of sugar per gallon. Dissolve the sugar into the juice. Then 1 package of Lalvin K1-V1116 wine yeast(about a dollar). It has a high ABV point. Follow the yeast instructions for getting it ready before adding it to the wine. Put an air lock on the top and put in my basement(cool) for about 3 weeks. Then I rack it with a siphon hose and leave the sediment on the bottom. Then in about a week I rack it again. Two more racks a week apart and it is very clear. Then I let it age for a couple of months and bottle it. It is slightly sweet with a wonderful apple taste and one heck of a kick. Everyone that I share it with loves it. I have dozens of folks making wine now because of it.

I used to only do one gallon at a time with a condom on top with some pinholes in it but the demand for my wine was to great and I had to start making bigger batches.

started looking around after reading this thread and found this easy recipe and decided to give it a go, i used frozen stawberries though

http://www.ehow.com/how_6345571_make-wine-short-period-time.html

You should have switched to magnums.

Notes from the link. My comments are in parenthesis:

Remove the balloon from the jug when it is completely deflated and lying alongside the jug. This will take approximately 30 days. The wine is drinkable (but not great) at this point, but will benefit from 30 to 90 days of aging (90 is better). Pour the wine into other bottles(good idea), if desired, or replace the original cap and store the wine in the refrigerator until ready to drink(not a great idea IMO).

Clean, empty soda bottles are good for storing wine as the screw on caps can be shut tightly to keep the wine from developing on off taste(good advice).

When serving the strawberry wine, pour it from the jug slowly without disturbing the sediment at the bottom of the jug. This sediment will cloud the wine. (It really shouldn't be stored with the sediment in it for great wine.)

Just my 2 cents,
Billy_Bones

will fermentation actually take 30 days? beer only takes half that

i have some boones farm bottles left over from boat outings, can those be used? or should i use mason jars?

Well, I guess you can stop it early. But you should wait until the balloon deflates. It can get done earlier if you use less sugar or no sugar. I guess it depends on how high you want the ABV. And how sweet you want it. I like a sweeter wine with a kick as opposed to a dry wine. The sugar converts into alcohol. So the more you use the higher the ABV and the longer it takes to process.

Those Boons Farm bottles should be good. My wine has no carbonation in it so even plain old water bottles will work.

Have fun. 8-)

i dont plan on carbonating it, just botteling at the end of fermentation. i used two pounds of sugar in a one gallon batch so im assuming this should have plenty of kick to it!

This is pretty interesting and since I'll have a few packets of Mr. Beer dry ale yeast lying around I figure I could put them to use.

One question though. Instead of racking back and forth, would it be possible to just filter it maybe with a coffee filter or something like that? Or is that not a good idea?

Trying to filter with a coffee filter won't filter a lot of fine particulates (including yeast), and it risks significantly aerating the wine, which you really don't want once it's wine...it can lead to off flavors from oxidation.

All right good point. I guess I'll try to find some tubing laying around that I could use as a siphon.

Home depot has lots of tubing...it's actually what I use for siphoning.

Yeah I was planning on making a trip over there and picking some up actually.

I had no idea, when I started this thread 13 months ago, that it would be around this long; and that so many folks would get involved with it. Since then, I've made several 3-gallon batches, using a recipe that developed from a combination of the original posted recipe and some "try it and see" changes. Several folks I've shared the finished product with have remarked about it's taste and "kick". Kind of in honor of a certain singer & musician, I named the wine, "Parrot Head Red". My neighbors all call it "kick ass wine". Who knows! It ain't the best, most mellow drinking wine. But, it ain't too bad.

Here's the recipe I currently use for a 3-gallon batch:
6 cans frozen Welches grape juice
18 cans spring water
3 cups 100% cranberry juice - (NOT cranberry juice cocktail)
2 lb Sugar
1 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
3 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 Packet Red Star Montrachet Yeast

2 Weeks in primary
4 Weeks in secondary

OG Measured at - 1.085
SG @ transfer to 2ndary - 0.994
FG Measured at bottleing - .0994

Hope y'all keep havin' fun with it! I am!
JSM

Just an update from my last post (I made the recipe in my Mr. Beer keg and used the standard issue Mr. Beer Ale Yeast):

The beer is STILL in the Mr. Beer fermenter, because it is STILL fermenting! I see bubbles coming to the top whenever I look in there with a flashlight. Your recipe said 3 weeks for fermenting, but that was with the bread yeast....I assumed the ale yeast would keep it going for longer (and produce a better result), but wow! I'm going on two months here!

Because I was starting to get impatient, I took a small sample from the spigot yesterday just to see if anything good was happening. I've got to say, I was pleasantly surprised! The wine looks and tastes almost exactly like the local "blush" wines that we've tasted at nearby vineyards. It's definitely not a dry wine, but it's not way too sweet either.

I'm not sure when I should bottle...I don't want them to explode if it's not done fermenting! I guess we could just drink "from the tap" of the Mr. Beer keg...
But since I won't be adding any carbonating sugars at bottling, perhaps the worst thing that could happen is sparkling wine? Does anyone have any advice for me here? I'd like to get that stuff out of my Mr. Beer keg so I can make something else!

Have you taken any hydrometer readings? That would tell you if it's done fermenting. And you haven't racked it or anything? 2 months seems like a long time to be sitting on a yeast cake but it sounds like it tastes ok.

Yes, hydrometer readings are really the only way to tell. It could be done fermenting, the bubbles might be from off-gassing.

It was probably done fermenting a long time ago. Again, the only sure-fire way is to take some hydrometer readings.

I also agree that the wine could be just releasing absorbed gas. During the fermentation process, LOTS of gas, (carbon dioxide, I think), is released. That's all the bubbles you see rising to the top as it ferments. Some of that gas is also absorbed into the liquid, as well. I can't explain the chemical process that's at work there. But, it does happen. "De-gassing" is a step in wine making where the wine is racked off the "lees", then stirred vigorously to help it release all of the gasses that were absorbed during the fermentation process. Often times yeast inhibitors are added, at some point, to stop any fermentation. The wine would be allowed to rest for a period of time after de-gassing, to allow it to clear again. And, then it would be bottled.

If you are concerned about bottle explosions, bottle it in bottles designed to hold pressure, (20oz coke/pepsi/7up bottles work good). If the wine is as good as you say, it will be long gone before you have to worry about bottles exploding, or any off tastes caused by the absorbed gas!
Cheers!
JSM

Cool, thanks for that info. I'll get it into bottles asap.

As for taking hygrometer readings, I'm kind of new to this. Would I have had to have taken a reading at the start of fermentation in order for any reading now to matter? Also, should I be able to tell how much abv. is in there by taking a reading now?

With beer recipes I've made, they tell you which specific gravity to hit at the end of fermentation, but how am I supposed to know with this??

Thanks again!
Katie

Hi Katie,
I don't use the hydrometer that much. But, in order to tell what your ABV is, I think you'd have to have the original reading, or "OG", in order to compare to the final or "FG", and arrive at an alcohol content. To use the hydrometer to judge if fermentation is finished, take a reading today and compare it with a reading a couple of days from now. If the second reading is roughly the same as the first, fermentation is finished.

How do you know what the "FG" of a beer or wine should be? Depends on the style of beer. Each recognized type of beer has a target value. If you have QBrew for your computer, that's built in. On wine, you can kind of wing it. If the "FG" is greater than 1.000, (ie: 1.002), the wine will be kind of a sweet wine. If the "FG" is less than 1.000, (ie: 0.995), the wine will tend to be dry. My Parrot Head Red starts out at around 1.085, and ends up at around 0.994, and comes in slightly dry, and just over 12% ABV.

Hope that helps!
JSM

It may be a little for my two cents, but I used balloons for my first two batches of cider and they worked fine. A little trick I heard about is to put a pin hole in the top of the balloon to help keep it from blowing off. there is enough pressure built up in the bottle to keep the balloon inflated but will still allow it to vent as the pressure continues to build. I'm enjoying the second batch now getting ready to try my hand at beer.

Mine is at 13%ABV. I forgot to degas it. Darn!!

Here you go:

We should downsize this to a 2 gallon batch and fill up some of
these empty LBK's some of us have laying around. Maybe try and
improve upon this already proven easy to brew wine. Pectic enzme?
is there any substitute?
Might be nice to break out for the holidays.

This morning I bought 3 cans of the frozen welches grape juice
and one can of frozen bluberry pomgranite. I would like something
like a merlot but not too dry or too sweet. Us 05 and yeast
nutrient is what I am thinking in the LBK. Jon, didn't you do wine a while
back?

You gonna put it in a keg? If so, let it ferment to dryness and add a can kf the blueberry pomegranate when you keg it.

No, I was gonna bottle it.

Mixed up a batch of this in the MB keg.

3 cans of welches frozen grape concentrate
1 can of blueberry/ pomegranate
6 cups of sugar
1 pack of bread yeast rehydrated
1 pack premier generic yeast zapped in the microwave
in 1/2 cup water for nutrients.
2 gallons of bottled water.

Should have used a little less water, it's way over the
"quart mark" so I loosened the lid slightly and have it
submerged in the swamp cooler with an ice bottle.

Just pulled this out of the swamp cooler after 4 days to make room for my
mead and pulled a sample. I was expecting yeasty jet fuel but
damn it's wine. A little cloudy and sweet still but very tasty
wine already. I will let it sit out at room temp from here on
out and see how it finishes.

After I cleaned up the keg a little and moved it. I could see
the yeast moving around in there. I guess I woke them up?
Maybe they take it on down and dry it out some more.

Bottled this today. I am well pleased with the taste. It's still
a little tart but very drinkable as is. I got 22 12 oz bottles
and a powerade bottle so I can look at it and taste it every now
and then. I bet it mellows with some age and I bet I get another
batch going soon.

I really need to do one of these myself sometime...but not before I move.

Glad it's turning out so promising, HJ!

I really like the back story on this wine, what a great memory that must be.

After reading it, I decided to give it a try too. How long is everyone letting this ferment? Are most folks bottling after fermentation or racking for a while?

Day 14 - Moved to sanitized pot, washed and sanitized the fermenter so I could put the wine back in it. Took a hydro sample - WOW! 14.8% ABV, a little cloudy but tasted better than many commercial wines that I have had The only thing I did differently is cut the sugar to 3 cups instead of 4.

Will bottle in a week or 2 and have for New Years. I am impressed with the taste for a first try and super-easy.

I think I left mine for like 4 weeks on the yeast. When I bottled
the yeast cake/ trub was very tight and the wine was near crystal clear.

Having a taster of this tonight. It's a really smooooth wine,
the tartness is gone, it's not a sweet wine at all but it's not
hot and it's not dry. Very neutral, tastes like a merlot but
easier drinking and lighter. I don't know much about wine so that's
about the best way I can describe it. It's very drinkable at
just under 2 months and I have a pretty good buzz after just a few
ounces.
I have drank worse store bought wine, a lot worse.

It's still good stuff and we had a few bottles during Christmas.
I need to start another batch of this.

Has anyone ever tried this with white grape juice to make white wine?

Is this a dare? cause we will brew about anything around here.

Katie I used your basic recipe to formulate my first batch and
have another batch almost ready to bottle. On it I used 5 cans of
grape concentrate, I added the fifth after about 1 week fermenting.
Hoping for a darker more "merlot like" this time.

I have done this with white grape juice recently. It took every bit of 3 weeks to clarify in the fermenter, but it turned out pretty good.

I used 2 cans Welch's white concentrate, 3 1/2 cups sugar, 2 packs Fleischman's yeast in LBK.

Came in at 15.6% ABV and is pretty smooth with a little sweetness.

Personal preference is the red wine, but I had to try the white.

I gave 3 - 20 ounce bottles of the red wine away. Two loved it and the third loved it enough to make his own. I'll have to find out how it turned out.

Not trying to stir things up, but since the Fleischman's yeast has worked so well with 2 batches of wine - has anyone tried it with a beer. What would be the best and worst case scenario?

I have not tried Fleishmann's bread yeast, but I did make a batch with Red Star Bread yeast during my yeast trials.

It turned out quite well! As I recall, the yeast was a bit fruity and estery, reminding me of some English Ale yeasts. Definitely not bad for a number of styles if it's the only yeast available to you for whatever reason.

I read this post and every post about this wine...I gotta say, this looks like a lot of fun! I think I am gonna go to the store today and buy the stuff I need to make this.

I am thinking about adding some oak chips to this next batch. What would be the guidelines for that? Can I add them initially? Or do they needed to be added after a week or two? I have a little baby around the house now, so I need to keep things as simple as possible!
I ordered the wine yeast from the Mr. Beer website, and they sent this Red Star "Cuvee" stuff. We'll see how that works; probably better than ale yeast, at least.

I'm right there with you ! I'm glad this thread popped up because Id have never thought to make wine in a lbk! I do have a quick question (as usual) can I find bread yeast in a normal grocery store?

Edit ninja'd please answer Katies question first lol

mikey, yeah, the should have bread yeast in a grocery store. check the baking aisle or the one with flour.

katie, i think you need to soak the oak chips in vodka or sanitizer and i would add them when fermentation is mostly over OR when you rack to secondary (if you do so). you could add sooner to get more oak flavor if needed.

Cool thanks cards fan!

Make sure you get the regular bread yeast, NOT the Quick Rise bread yeast, and not the bread machine yeast.

If I got the quick rising would it be ready sooner just kidding I'm glad you posted that because I had no idea there would be so many different varities !

Yes, you can find bread yeast in pretty much any grocery store.

Well, I am giving this one a shot. I have it sitting in the basement right now, and am anxious to see what it looks like in a few days. Wish me luck...I think I added a bit too much sugar hindsight, but I guess we will see...for all I know I have grape flavored rocket fuel fermenting in the basement right now, ready to blow my house to the moon and leave a purple hue across the big blue Georgia sky.

As long as you don't try to distill it, you're probably not in TOO much danger of that happening.

hehe. True!

Might want to loosen that lid the first few days Deuce.

yeah, lol I was just thinking about that when you posted.

UPDATE:
went down into the basement, and peeked in the side...there is definitely some bubbling going on. Anxious to see how this turns out!

Thanks to JSMoore for sharing his story and starting this thread! I now have a batch going in the lbk as well.Mostly stolen from Hatchet Jack, (thanks) the recipe I used was:
4 cans 100% Weches grape juice
6 cups sugar
1 pack rehydrated fleischman's yeast
filled to the top mark with spring water

Hopefully this works out if it does Im going to get a wine pipeline going for SWMBO!

I pulled a sample from the LBK on my second batch yesterday.
On this batch I used 5 cans GJC instead of four and red star yeast.
The fifth can being added a week into fermentation.
It's more merlot like which is what I was shooting for but it's
also borderline too sweet. It could change once bottled so I
will report back.

I got a lot of compliments from the first batch I made. Everyone
that tried it liked it. Probably 15-20 people tried it and all
were impressed. One of my wife's friends said " So you guys have
a vineyard now too" Lol

Follow on update: after 6 days, I saw a pretty clear surface, with no sign of fermentation. I took a pull, and the color is cloudy...taste is fairly dry...reminded me of merlot. The one thing about it that I will confirm from previous posts is it seems VERY potent...burned a little going all the way down. I put it some old wine bottles that I sterilized in the oven, and then filled up the bottles. I had 3 bottles. I flipped the corks over (they had those spongy cork thingies) that the bottles originally came with and drove em back down with the palm of my hand onto each of the bottles.
That was good for maybe a third of the batch I guess. The rest I put into beer bottles and capped em up. I plan on using the beer bottles as samplers, starting next month, to determine the adequate time to let sit in the bottle before serving. Will keep you all posted on the outcome. Cheers!

did you do a hydrometer test to see how far the FG got down to?

I did not...unfortunately when I decided to buy some of my "extras" from the Mr. Beer website, I had no idea what a hydrometer was. >.<

I probably will wait to pick one up until I get my 5 gallon kit, sometime next month.

i just wonder if it normally finishes to terminal gravity in 6 days. if not, those yeast are still working on sugars left over and might carbonate the ones in bottles. the corked ones would prolly blow the tops.

LMAO! well, considering I have to go to california for a month...oh boy...my wife is gonna LOVE what I did with the basement.

there's no guarantee i'm correct. i'd just be surprised if it was done in 6 days. someone else will come along and comment.

Very cool.

My dad used to tell stories about making baloon wine with raisins in the grape juice.

I just made my second batch of this stuff. The first one, I let sit in the fermenter for way too long (like, 2 months, because I mistakenly thought it wasn't finished), so it tasted all yeasty and kinda' bad. I used it for cooking.
This second batch, I got around to bottling after 4 weeks. Hopefully it won't taste all yeasty this time, although my sample today did taste a little like yeast.
I opted to carbonate some of the bottles....thinking that perhaps any extra yeast could eat up the added sugar and not taste yeasty anymore. I guess we'll see what happens.
I was surprised that there was hardly any "yeast cake" at the bottom of the Mr. Beer keg when I was finished bottling. Just a thin (maybe 1/4") layer.
I used wine yeast, Red Star Cuvee yeast, from MrBeer.com.
I'm really kind of excited about trying this with different fruit juices. Like, maybe some peach wine? Or raspberry?
It tastes really super sweet to me, like these will probably wind up as "homemade wine coolers". How is everyone else getting a "merlot" flavor??

Hi Folks! I haven't been on this board for a while. But, I stopped by for a look-see, and was surprised to see this thread still alive. As I read through some of the posts, I picked up on something that I'd like to comment on. So, here goes:

The simplicity of this type of basic wine is part of it's attraction. It's nice to experiment. But, you can often get some nasty results if you monkey with things too much. I've made a bunch of this stuff, and still use the same basic recipe I started with. However, I have started to monitor, and keep notes on things like specific gravity at different points through the fermentation process. I've also kept notes on minor things I've done to improve the end result.

One of the common comments I've read in this thread, and one of the things I've learned a little about myself, is how the wine often turns out too sweet. With that in mind, I want to point out that different types of yeast have different tolerances for alcohol. If your wine is too sweet, chances are the original specific gravity was too high and the yeast just pooped out before all the sugar could be consumed. The specific gravity for most types of wine should be something less than 2.000, before pitching the yeast. If your must is any sweeter than that, your yeasties will not survive the amount of alcohol produced by the excess sugars.

Most "table wine" comes in at 10% - 12% alcohol. If your goal is to produce a stronger alcohol content, you can do so by using a different type of yeast that is more alcohol tolerant. Good 'ole bread yeast, as used in the original Balloon Wine recipe, is not going to yield very high alcohol content before it poops out. Bread yeast can also give some "yeasty" flavors that some may not like.

A look at The Lalvin Yeast website will give you some ideas about what kind of yeast you can use to better control things. Of course, other companies produce competitive products, too.

With all of that said, the most important changes that I've made in the original recipe are
a. The use of a hydrometer to get the right SG, to start with.
b. I use, for the most part, Red Star Montrachet wine yeast.
c. I sometimes use some oak chips during primary fermentation.
d. I use a stabilizer and sweeten to taste, (if required), when fermentation is complete.

I hope these ideas help y'all make some mighty fine wine!
Cheers!
JSMoore

Welcome back and thanks for the input. When I do mine, I'll be aiming for sweet rather than dry, and fully plan to choose my yeast accordingly. I love the idea of the simplicity, but will definitely be recording things so I know how best to recreate (or not) batches.

What kind of stabilizer do you use? How much condition time do you assume?

With the right yeast, you can get away without using stabilizer. I believe Red Star Montrachet will produce a dry wine up to OGs of 1.085...if you adjust higher, it'll come out sweeter.

You could also experiment with adding DME instead of sugar, to leave behind some residual sweetness.

I'm thinking I could also try an ale yeast with a low alcohol tolerance, perhaps. Because remember, low ABV/ABW is not a BAD thing for me :-P

Eh, with a wine, even low alcohol tolerant strains will likely push up above their tolerance...so you're likely looking at a minimum 8% ABV (as a completely unscientific guess, based entirely on my intuition, rather than measured results).

I suppose you could cold crash when you get to an ABV and sweetness that you like, rack off the yeast, stabilize it and bottle it.

But dang, that sure does sound like a lot of work!

I'm thinking of just "bottle and shove in the fridge and only make a gallon at a time and drink it fast" ;-)

Yup, that works too. The yeasties *might* continue to work slowly, so you may end up with slight carbonation, but that's kinda the point of drinking it fast.

I'm up to making 3 gal batches now and get about 14 - 15 750ml bottles. I use 1 crushed campden tablet and 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate per gallon as a stabilizer. If you're making 1 gal batches and drinking it quick, you probably don't need to bother with that.

I shoot for an OG of about 1.085 to 1.090 and use the Montrachet yeast. That usually ferments down to about 0.996 pr 0.998, or just on the dry side. That works out to something like 10% - 12% ABV. And I use room-temperature simple syrup, (1/2 cup cane sugar dissolved in 1 cup boiling water), as needed to back-sweeten to something like 1.001 or 1.002. That gives a pleasant, slightly sweet taste that a lot of folks find agreeable.

I've found that, even though this wine is fairly drinkable at bottling time, a month or 6 weeks in the bottles, stored in a cool dark place, does wonders for the taste. If you do that, be sure to stabilize, or you run the chance of having some bottle bombs.

I guess you can use a lot of different ingredients in this kind of wine. But, I tend to favor the KISS principle and avoid a lot of things like raisens, DME, corn sugar, clarifiers, etc. JMHO, you end up with a much nicer, wine. I DO occasionally add 1 oz per gallon of french oak chips in a hop sack for about the first week or 10 days - gives it a little bit of a Merlot taste.
Cheers!
JSMoore

Always love to see your feedback and your avatar, JSMoore! Stop by more often, and don't hesitate to share any other wine recipes you've come up with. Do you have one using white grape juice for a nice house white?

Good to see you drop by and appreciate the recipe. I just sampled
some of my second batch last night made with all GJC, sugar and
red star bread yeast. It is really nice and I also have 5 gallons
about ready to bottle. Interesting about the oak chips as I had
thought about trying that to add complexity. Any other tips?

Hey Jon_TWR, here's a recipe that has a couple of extra ingredients, but still falls into this simple "Balloon Wine" category. I found this on the internet somewhere and can't remember where. So, I can't give or take much credit for it. However, it did turn out great. It's kind of a desert wine that will slip up on you, if you know what I mean. In fact, my wife won't drink it any more because she says: "It makes me do very un-lady-like things!"

Welch's White Grape & Peach Wine - 2 Gal recipe
* 4 cans (11.5oz) Welch's White Grape and Peach frozen concentrate
* 2 1/2 lbs granulated sugar
* 4 tsp acid blend
* 2 tsp pectic enzyme
* 2 tsp yeast nutrient
* Water to make 2 gallons
* Your choice wine yeast. (I used my standby Montrachet)

Bring 2 quarts water to boil and dissolve sugar in water. Remove from heat and add frozen concentrate.
Add additional water to make 2 gallons total and pour into primary.
Add remaining ingredients except yeast.
Cover primary and set aside 12 hours.
Add activated wine yeast and recover, (no airlock). (Make sure temp is 68* - 75*F)
When active fermentation slows down, ( 5 - 7 days), transfer to secondary and fit with airlock.
When clear, rack to another secondary - top up with a little water or commercial white wine - fit with airlock - Wait 30 days.
After 30 days, rack to another secondary - top up - fit with airlock - Wait 30 days.
After 30 days, back sweeten with simple syrup to 1.003 - 1.004 if necessary/desired.
Bottle

This one takes a about 90 days. But, the wait is well worth it. If you're in a hurry, I suppose you could eliminate the last two 30 day waits by using some commercial wine clarifier.
Enjoy!
JSMoore

Oak is funny. It does add some complexity to the flavor. However, it's easy to go overboard with it. I used 1 oz french oak per gal. in a hop sack, removed at the end of primary fermentation. And that worked out just about right for my taste. You may like more - or less. Just experiment with it and see. There are other varieties of oak besides the french oak, too.

Another thing I tried was adding a cup of reconstituted, chopped up, all natural raisens per gallon during primary. It's supposed to add some body to the wine. But adding too much can give the wine a raiseney taste that might not be what you're looking for. Personally, I couldn't tell that the raisens did much for the body or mouth feel of the wine. But, it's worth a small-batch try anyway.

Probably the the thing that has contributed most to my wine making is learning how to control fermentation temperature. Reds can ferment warmer, 72* - 75*. Whites should be a little cooler at 68* - 72*. Whatever temp, keep it as stable as possible.

Hope this gives you some ideas!
JSMoore

I realized that unfortunately due to my constraint for time mine would unfortunately and most likely carbonate after I bottled it (this turned out to be a true statement). That being said as it has sat over time it was kinda "eh...whatever" in flavor as my wife stated. I accidentally put a bottle of this stuff (ran out of used wine bottles so opted for beer bottles instead) in the fridge, thinking it was another beer that I had made. This turned out to be the best mistake ever! It has since smoothed out, and the dry flavor kinda reminds you of a red champagne...but not quite as bubbly. It kinda reminds me of like grape soda in a sense but with a dry after taste, and it's pretty smooth going down when chilled.
That being said...I didn't get to check and see what the alc content was, but I will tell you that 3 12 oz bottles of this stuff kinda hit me over the head like a baseball bat! "Hard to stop drinking something so delicious as grape soda, so why stop?" was my thought. I woke up feeling like 999,999.99 dollars short of a million bucks.
That being said, it is a very fun conversational piece, and I will continue to enjoy/brew this stuff in the future.
Salud!

Took me long enough but I finally picked up on this topic. I'm going to give HJ's original recipe of 3 cans concentrate and one can blueberry pomegranate if I can find it, plus 6 cups sugar, a packet of rehydrated bread yeast and another packet that I'll boil to use as nutrient. I'll replace the blueberry pomegranate with another concentrate if I need to. I've got the in laws visiting in about a month and a half so I'm hoping it'll be decent by then. I'll try it before they get here to make sure it's drinkable. I may backsweeten a bit but it doesn't sound like it really needs it. Thanks JSMoore!

In reading this thread, I've decided I need to give this a go. But I'm wondering, after seeing some comments about the wines tending to be dry and thin, why not use Booster instead of some of the sugar?

Go for it! It'llcertainly thicken things up, anyway!

OK, so here is my recipe idea, based on Hatchet Jack's version. I plan to brew, er, wine-o, er, whatever this here in a couple of days. Suggestions welcomed and appreciated.

Into the LBK will go:

3 cans of welches frozen grape concentrate
1 pound of frozen blackberries, pureed
2 cups of sugar
1 pouch of booster
Water to fill

Yeast- I'm debating between bread yeast or Saflager S-23.

I threw this together over the weekend following the basic recipe:
-4 cans frozen Welch's 100% grape juice concentrate (I used white)
-boiled about 4 cups of sugar in water
-fleischman's bread yeast
-water up to the bottom of the "Q" on the keg

I had 2 ideas - after 2-3 weeks, if it looks like the bread yeast has pooped out on me, racking to another LBK and pitching a packet of wine yeast, and POSSIBLY also pouring another can of juice concentrate in at the same time (or possibly a small bottle of some other non-grape 100% juice, maybe pomegranate.) Any other thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

Oh, and hi, I'm new here!

Welcome! Feel free to introduce yourself in the Welcoming Center subforum.

OK, after delays, I finally got around to making some wine after I did my lager. Here's what I wound up with in the LBK up to the "quart" mark:

3 Cans of Grape Juice
1 Can white grape/raspberry juice
1 pouch of booster
2.5 cups of sugar
1 cup of nuked rapid rise yeast for nutrient
1 pouch of Hodgson Mills active dry yeast, rehydrated