Joy of Home Wine Making (36 page)

Barley water is traditionally drunk by English women to keep their complexions lovely. Barley wine is traditionally drunk by English men who want to get a buzz on. This would be a very strong beer if you made it with malt instead of sugar and added hops. However, we are making barley wine. The lemon seems to be traditional, and I like the wine better with it.

DO NOT USE PEARLED BARLEY! Use whole barley or cracked whole barley if you can get it.

1 lb. whole or cracked barley

3 lbs. sugar or 3½ lbs. light honey

½ lb. golden raisins (optional, but nice)

zest and juice of 2 large fresh lemons or 4 tsps. acid blend

zest and juice of 2-3 oranges (optional)

½ tsp. tannin

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme (if you use the oranges)

1 packet champagne or sherry yeast

You can toast the barley as in the recipe for Cracked Wheat Wine, if you like. If not, rinse it well, chop the raisins, put them in a clean glass or steel bowl with enough of the water to cover, and soak them overnight.

The next day put it all, including the citrus zests if you are using them, in a
fine
nylon straining bag, and place it into a sanitized primary fermenter. Pour in the soaking water. Heat the rest of the water and the sugar or honey to boiling, skim if necessary, and pour it over the nylon straining bag. Add the orange juice if you are using it. Add the acid blend, yeast nutrient, and tannin. Cover and fit with an air lock.

NOTE: As mentioned above, you can buy or make barley that is toasted to different degrees to make this wine. The darker the barley, the darker the wine. However, be very cautious in your experiments to avoid any burnt taste. What works in beer is not as easily masked in wine, since we aren’t using heavily flavored malts and hops.

After it cools down, add the Campden tablet, if you choose to use one. Twelve hours after the Campden tablet, add the pectic enzyme if you are using the orange juice. If you don’t use the tablet, merely wait until the must cools down to add the pectic enzyme.

Twenty-four hours later, take the PA and add the yeast. If you want to, you can give the yeast a nudge by starting it in boiled, cooled orange juice.

Stir daily. After a couple of weeks, when the PA is down to 3 to 4 percent, take out the bag and let it drain. Do not squeeze. Discard the grain. Let the wine settle, then rack it into a secondary fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

Rack once or twice in the next six months or so, depending on how much deposit it throws. It might take more time to clear.

NOTE: As with the wheat wine, you can increase the alcohol content by adding more sugar halfway through. Follow the directions in Cracked Wheat Wine.

NOT SAKE RICE WINE

This is not sake, which is made differently. People will want to call it sake, but resist them. You have to be a Japanese peasant or a skilled sake brewer or a multimillion dollar sake-making corporation to make it properly. Honest.

2 lbs. long grain brown rice

3 lbs. sugar or 3½ lbs. light honey

4 tsps. acid blend or zest and juice of 3 large lemons

1 lb. golden raisins

1 tsp. pectic enzyme

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

½ tsp. tannin

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

1 packet champagne or sherry yeast

Rinse the rice well, chop the raisins, and put everything in a clean glass or steel bowl with enough of the water to cover it. Soak everything overnight.

The next day put it all in a
fine
nylon straining bag and place it into a sanitized primary fermenter. Pour in the soaking water. Heat the rest of the water and the sugar or honey to boiling, skim if necessary, and pour over the nylon straining bag. Add the acid blend, yeast nutrient, and tannin. Cover and fit with an air lock.

After it cools down, add the Campden tablet, if you choose to use one. Twenty-four hours later, take the PA and add the yeast. If you want to, you can give the yeast a nudge by starting it in boiled, cooled orange juice.

Stir daily. After a couple of weeks, when the PA is down to 3 to 4 percent, take out the bag and let it drain. Do not squeeze. Discard the grain. Let the wine settle, then rack it into a secondary fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

Rack once or twice in the next six months or so, depending on how much deposit it throws. It might take more time to clear. This wine keeps well.

WE CALL IT MAIZE WINE

This wine is for my Native American friends. There was once a corn oil commercial on television in which a “beautiful Indian maiden” would solemnly intone, “We call it maize,” when speaking of corn. We used to howl with laughter at the poor woman. No Native American we knew called it maize.

My British friends were merely puzzled, because to them the word
corn
refers to wheat, and yes, they do call corn maize. Having an international assortment of friends is always entertaining.

I once followed a recipe for cornmeal wine. It was terrible. I now suspect, since it was a European book, that the recipe really meant for the winemaker to use the coarse Italian polenta style cornmeal, rather than the finely ground stuff I tried to use.

You can buy cracked corn at feed stores, stores that sell bird feed, and some co-ops. Otherwise, I wouldn’t try this wine unless you want to try using the coarsest polenta meal.

2 lbs. cracked corn

3 lbs. sugar or 3½ lbs. light honey

4 tsps. acid blend or zest and juice of 2 large lemons

zest and juice of 2-3 oranges (optional)

1 lb. golden raisins

1 tsp. yeast nutrient

½ tsp. tannin

1 Campden tablet, crushed (optional)

½ tsp. pectic enzyme (if you use the citrus)

1 packet champagne or sherry yeast

Rinse the corn well, checking for any pebbles, etc. Chop the raisins, and put everything in a clean glass or steel bowl with enough of the water to cover. Soak overnight.

THE NEXT DAY: Put it all in a
fine
nylon straining bag and put into a sanitized primary fermenter. Pour in the soaking water. Heat the rest of the water and the sugar or honey to boiling, skim if necessary, and pour over the nylon straining bag. Add the orange juice if you are using it. Add the acid blend, yeast nutrient, and tannin. Cover and fit with an air lock.

After it cools down, add the Campden tablet, if you choose to use one. Twelve hours after the Campden tablet, add the pectic enzyme if you are using the orange juice. If you don’t use the tablet, merely wait until the must cools down to add the pectic enzyme.

Twenty-four hours later, take the PA and add the yeast. If you want to, you can give the yeast a nudge by starting it in boiled, cooled orange juice.

Stir daily. After a couple of weeks, when the PA is down to 3 to 4 percent, take out the bag and let it drain. Do not squeeze. Discard the grain. Let the wine settle, then rack it into a secondary fermenter. Bung and fit with an air lock.

Rack once or twice in the next six months or so. This wine is best dry.

These are just basic recipes. I haven’t made amaranth wine, or quinoa, oat, or rye wine, but I don’t see why you couldn’t, following one of the recipes above. They are all pretty much alike. I’ve seen recipes using rolled wheat and rye, but I’ve never made them, either.