Plum Wine

Today we are going on a wine making journey.  Are you ready?  Here we go ….

·         Day #1

1)    Pick plums

2)    Wash feet

3)    Wash plums

4)    Get a big drink of something as you will be busy stomping for awhile

5)    Place plums in large vat (canning pot works well)

6)    Start stomping … at first the seeds hurt your feet, but they toughen up after awhile

7)    Continue stomping until all are mush

8)    Yield: 8 quarts of mashed plums

9)    Get large cooler or other container and clean well

10)         Add 4 gallons fresh cold water

11)         Add 12 lbs sugar; stir to dissolve

12)         Pour in plum mush

13)         Sprinkle with 3-4 tsp. yeast

14)        Cover

·         Day #2 Stir yeast caked plums (looks really gross)

·         Day #3 Stir yeast plums (smells very vinegary and is bubbly)

·         Day #4 Stir yeast plums (smells yeasty, plums are breaking down)

·         Day #5 Stir yeast plums (smells very yeasty, still breaking down, Bear & and tasted it – the dog liked it and I thought it tasted like cider)

·         Day #6 Stir, stir, stir (not so yeasty smelling and plums have broke down a lot)

·         Day #7 Stir, stir, stir

·         Day #8 Drain/strain off liquid and pour into glass jars (wide mouth gallon size work best); cover and let sit in cool dark place, undisturbed for 6 weeks.  Yield: 5¾ gallons

·         Day #9 Heard what sounded like a huge gunshot, a jug broke and plum wine went everywhere (we had contained the jugs in large coolers so the mess was restricted to one cooler) — do not lay jugs on their sides.  Yield: 4¾ gallons

·         Day #10 — 6 weeks later: Loosen caps (be very careful when doing this as it is like opening a bottle of warm tonic water…extremely fizzy) Let stand with covers loosened for 4 days so that fermentation stops.

·         Day #11 Strain, bottle and cap… taste samples while doing so.  Yield: 18 bottles of wine on the wall.

© Crackerberries 2011