Showing posts with label white wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label white wine. Show all posts

Friday, November 4, 2011

All about White...

There's a recipe, over there on the left, called white hillbilly wine. Now, I was a little apprehensive about putting it up in the beginning, because the white wine was only a few months old, and I didn't like it all that much. Cait did though, she thought it was pretty good, and pointed out that I'm not all that inclined to white wines anyway, and so she convinced me to put that post up.

Well, the wine's almost a year old now (or was until we finished it off a few days ago), and between months nine and eleven, something happened, the harshness smoothed out, the bouquet became quite smooth, and it had good mouthfeel. It turned into a top-notch wine, and I plan on making three more gallons to have on hand and to age.

It wasn't just me.

We had a wine-tasting with a couple of friends last weekend, which I'll post about later. They tried the white wine, and our friend Hannah said, and I quote, "This is as good as anything you can buy at the wine shop." I was thrilled.

I didn't even bother telling them that it's actually from Welches' white grape juice concentrate. The white hillbilly wine ultimately came out much, much better than the red, and as it's one of the easiest recipes to make, I would encourage anyone who wants to have some cheap fun to make it, or any starting winemakers. The key is definitely patience. Unfortunately, there is no instantaneous gratification with this recipe, it takes time.

The good news is, it's really easy to make, and it takes no effort whatsoever to set those bottles down in the basement and forget about them for a year. You'll be glad you did!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

White Hillbilly Wine

After the original hillbilly wine, I decided that the natural order of things would require that I make a white version of my hooch (I really don't care for that word). I came up with a similar one-gallon recipe, and gave it a whirl. I'll admit, I'm more inclined to make the red again. Having said that, I made 10 bottles of this stuff originally, and have sampled two as they're aging. The first one, about a month after bottling, was a little bit harsh, and the second bottle was much more palatable. I think it's safe to say that given time to age, this wine will soften, and develop a slightly more complex flavor. I wouldn't put up the recipe if I didn't think so (not that I have any problem with sharing my disasters!).


White Hillbilly Wine
24 oz. white grape juice, frozen, concentrated
2.5 cups sugar
water to one gallon
wine yeast


Add concentrate to sanitized one-gallon vessel. Add in the sugar and yeast. Bring to one gallon with water (make sure there's some headroom, this recipe is a lot like the red Hooch and tends to foam up a little on the first day). Shake it up, put on an airlock and let the fun begin!

12 to 16 days later fermentation should stop. You can now rack the wine into a new vessel. Fit with airlock. After one month you can bottle! (one month is conservative)

Tips: Let your concentrate reach room temperature, or even warm it up in the microwave a little before beginning. The yeast won't begin to ferment at cold temperatures. Beware though: if the mixture is over 110 degrees (43 degrees Celsius) the yeast will die. Keep them happy!

Related Recipes: Easy Apple Cider, Hillbilly Wine, Easy Mead.