I, like most normal people, love beer. I love all sorts of beer: IPA, Double IPA, Stouts, wheat, etc. I love it so much, I thought about making some beer when a friend told me it was so easy to do. A few years back, I had received a great introductory book to brewing by Sam Calagione, so I followed up and purchased a beer kit on Amazon. My neighbor and I spent nearly all morning cooking a nut brown ale, which several weeks later turned out to be a very good beer. The process was extremely educational and provided me with a lot more appreciation of micro-breweries who churn out large quantities. The problem is that it was extremely time-consuming. Having children and active lives, it is not something one can do regularly.
The Little Grape Plant that could.
Serendipity stepped in later that month, as there was a clearance at Walmart on seedless grape vines. Being a somewhat “budget conscious buyer” (i.e. cheapa@#), I snapped it up for $5 and planted it near an unused garden arbor. I figured that I would get a few grapes out of it and it would be a great snack for the kids. I watered it religiously and made sure to keep the bugs off of it (home-made garlic bug spray). Fast forward one year, and the grapes took off like gang-busters (picture).
I had always wanted to try to make wine, and the fact that I had a good crop coming in, I immediately went out and purchased a do-it-yourself kit that was recommended to me. It came with a book called “The Winemaker’s Handbook”, which opened my eyes to an amazing new world of yummy fermentation. It was the absolute perfect starting guide, clearly explaining every step of the way for a new winemaker and containing an amazing variety of wine. I never realized how much more exciting wine making is, other than those just made with grapes.
Grape Harvest 9/10/14
After the harvest of my grapes, I settled on trying their “Wild Grape” recipe, and the results were outstanding. Even as a complete newbie, the wine came out smooth and extremely unique. It was a bit on the “paint thinner high octane” side, so I went out and bought a hydrometer and testing tube. Eagerly, I also started my second batch of California grapes and blueberry wine, which also turned out to be amazing.
My Berry First Batch
My small experimentation has turned into an obsession, having made everything from tomato to dandelion wine. My follow-up series will expand a bit more into the equipment that I found useful and cost effective (hint: Walmart is your best bet for certain ingredients).
So to sum up, if you lead a crazy busy life but have always wanted to try your hand at crafting some sort of alcoholic beverage, give wine
a shot. The Wine Kit is an in-expensive way to try out a batch of wine, and if you don’t like it you can just pass on the kit to someone else that would like to try. If you do like it, its an amazing hobby that will truly change the way you look at wines forever.
Items from the Article (Amazon Links):
- Starter Wine Kit
- Awesome Recipe Book (This is IN Kit)
- Hydrometer for Measuring Booze strength. Highly Recommend!
- Hydrometer Tube
- Beer Kit that I Have
Next Up: Expanding your wine empire and tips for subtly taking over the basement for your new obsession.
