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
