Jim Karr
Well-Known Member
Start with five pounds of regular raisins. (Same as SunMaid)
These must be put through a grinder, similar to a sausage grinder (with a crank and a screw). Blender will not work, food processor will not work.....the resulting paste is so gooey and sticky it becomes a large "turd" and will only spin around and around inside anything motorized. Grind by hand.
Place paste into fermenter, and add about four pounds of sugar. The raisins contain a lot of sugar already, and they are sweetened to boot.
Boil about three to three-and-a-half gallons of water. Pour water into paste and sugar mixture, stir well.
After must has cooled to about 80*F, pitch yeast. I used about two teaspoons. Fermichamp will not strip out the color as it ferments, and it's great in starting with high sugar contents and finishes well in high alcohol levels.
The paste will settle to the bottom of the fermenter. When bottling or racking to secondary, the paste/lees on the bottom will need to be strained or squeezed to get out a sizable amount of wine. The paste will squeeze out quite easily, and leaves perhaps a pound of dry sediment.
I started my batch on January 8, and bottled it just before Memorial Day. I haven't put any into my hydrometer, but the alcohol level is quite significant. Two or three glasses will put you down "nicely".
These must be put through a grinder, similar to a sausage grinder (with a crank and a screw). Blender will not work, food processor will not work.....the resulting paste is so gooey and sticky it becomes a large "turd" and will only spin around and around inside anything motorized. Grind by hand.
Place paste into fermenter, and add about four pounds of sugar. The raisins contain a lot of sugar already, and they are sweetened to boot.
Boil about three to three-and-a-half gallons of water. Pour water into paste and sugar mixture, stir well.
After must has cooled to about 80*F, pitch yeast. I used about two teaspoons. Fermichamp will not strip out the color as it ferments, and it's great in starting with high sugar contents and finishes well in high alcohol levels.
The paste will settle to the bottom of the fermenter. When bottling or racking to secondary, the paste/lees on the bottom will need to be strained or squeezed to get out a sizable amount of wine. The paste will squeeze out quite easily, and leaves perhaps a pound of dry sediment.
I started my batch on January 8, and bottled it just before Memorial Day. I haven't put any into my hydrometer, but the alcohol level is quite significant. Two or three glasses will put you down "nicely".