FAST Wines That Don't Take Long To Bottle/Drink

[critterhunter]

A few replies in this thread…

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10584

Inspired me to try a new thread on any recipes for fast wine making. When I say “fast” I mean either being able to bottle fast but might need some time to age, or in particular being able to bottle AND drink fast. Probably (?) many of these recipes will involve store bought juice from Walmart or something, but please post any you can so long as they don’t require you to bottle in your twenties and hit middle age before you can enjoy it properly.

I’m hoping others will chime in with other recipes, how-to’s, and so on for those among us that just aren’t patient. I’m being honest here, I’m not making wine because I’m some big wine lover. Truth be known I’d rather drink beer than wine if I had a choice, but I AM into saving money, doing things myself, getting drunk, and did I mention the combination already about saving money WHILE getting drunk. :’)

I’m not going to lie and say that I can taste the subtle differences between a $50 bottle of wine and a $5 one, so I’m also not going to sweat about aging wine for eons in order to squeeze every last bit of quality out of it. I want to make it, make it cheap, bottle it fast, and drink it even faster. Whatever bottles manage to escape my grasp and live on for a year or so is going to be by share luck, because it’s going to take plenty of will power not to slug down everything in site when I don’t feel like driving to the store to buy a six pack.

That’s were I stand, and I’m sure many of you wine experts are cringing in disbelief at somebody even taking this approach and mindset. I’m not into awards, I’m not trying to impress anybody, and I never even eat at restaurants that serve wine. I’m more of a McDonalds/Taco Bell kind of guy and am lucky to sit down in a restraint that doesn’t have a napkin dispenser on the table when I do go in.

I just want something that can surprise me with good flavor here and there and is going to give me a healthy buzz without draining the wallet. My uncivilized class of friends I run with will be more than happy to get a few bottles of something resembling wine so long as it doesn’t taste so bad that they’ll throw up before they get a good buzz on it as well. So, with all the above in mind, maybe somebody else out there is also as impatient as me and would like to share what they have found. Can you at least bottle it fast (like say 3 months or less?), or even better can you bottle AND drink it fast? Post away!

Here’s a few blurbs from that thread to hopefully get things rolling. I’m not sure if this thread will have legs or not, because this might be so anti-wine culture that I get kicked off this forum. :’)…(REPOSTS)…

I think you are an excellent candidate for the Vino Italiano kit from Amazon. They have detailed instructions, many of the supplies and can be done in 4-5 weeks. You will learn a lot about making kit wines for a very affordable price. Keep in mind, you get what you pay for, it is not high quality stuff.
If you get a Chardonnay you can be drinking in 10-12 weeks. Many on this forum frown on these "basic" kits but I am not one of them. If you do buy this kit let me know, I can give a you a tip or two to make it palatable.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ELJK4G/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



Cheap & Fast

White Grape Peach (1 Gallon)

2 64 oz bottles of Great Value White Grape Peach (Walmart)
Sugar to S.G. of 1.080
½ tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 tsp citric acid
1 tsp yeast nutrient
½ tsp yeast energizer
¼ tsp Bentonite
1 Campden Tablet

After 24 hours
Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast

Stir daily until SG = 1.020
When SG = 1.020 rack into 1 gallon Jug
Insert Stopper and Air Lock
Check SG daily
When fermentation ends (SG = @ 0.996 3 days in a row) rack again. Time is not critical can go a few days if need be.

AFTER RACKING ADD
1 Campden Tablet
1/2 tsp potassium sorbate
F-PAC made from 1 pound bag of frozen peaches
Sweeten (I sweetened to 1.022 S.G.)
Insert Stopper and Air Lock

BULK AGE 90 DAYS TO CLARIFY
Rack to clean 1 gallon jug
Degass
Filter
Add 1 Campden Tablet
Wait 14 days
Bottle
Drink in 30 days but longer is better

 

[critterhunter]

The last recipe above seems right up my alley, although 3 months is still a stretch for me. I was wondering about a few things. To make 5 gallons (7 gallon primary) would I just increase all the ingredients by a factor of 7? Also, would Champain yeast work well for it? And, what is a F-PAC?

Any other fast juice recipies in particular are welcome as I would like to avoid using fruit for the next batch or two. I do have another 30 pounds of pears frozen for down the road but I want to concentrate on juices for now, unless somebody has a fast pear fruit recipe?

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

For 5 gallons, increase all (except the yeast), by 5. The yeast packets are good for 1 to 6 gallons.
Do not fill the primary bucket! The must will need room to grow depending on what yeast you use.
I would start with 5 & ½ gallons to have a little more than the "required" 5 gallon secondary.
This will minimized head-space in the secondary and give you a few (almost a gallon) samples.

Maybe the use of a clearing agent would drop the 3 months to a few weeks.
Super Kleer works like magic (no... really), but i would let it sit for 2-3 weeks to compact the sediment a little before racking to minimize "dust" in the bottles later on.

 

[Arne]

Check out Lon's Skeeter Pee recipe. It is a really fast drinker. Arne.

 

[Brian]

Check out Lon's Skeeter Pee recipe. It is a really fast drinker. Arne.

Iagree with Arne... if you want a fast drinker this is about as fast as it gets..

 

[Torch404]

I 2nd Skeeter pee.

I also like green tea wine with some ginger. They make a lovely white with a fine flavor. They clear quick and are ready to drink almost immediately.

Here's JK's recipe, the better quality the tea the better the wine.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request216.asp

 

[UglyBhamGuy]

I 2nd Skeeter pee.

I also like green tea wine with some ginger. They make a lovely white with a fine flavor. They clear quick and are ready to drink almost immediately.

Here's JK's recipe, the better quality the tea the better the wine.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request216.asp

Have you made any changes to JK's recipe that you feel contribute to the wine?
Some people say, "double the fruit and half the sugar" on his fruit wines.

 

[mxsteve625]

Wine Expert has the "Island Mist" kits that are ready to bottle in thirty days give or take a couple of days. These are ready to drink right after bottling but are sweet and have a low ABV. One way to decrease the sweetness and increase the ABV is to use half of the F-Pack up front instead of waiting as the instyruction say. Add the remaining half of the F-Pack per the time period in the recipe. I've done this a couple of times with good results.

 

[Torch404]

@UBG

With Tea wines I'm convinced that the quality of the wine is directly related to the quality of tea. Lipton tea, red leaf, etc are pretty average tasting tea and their wine tastes similarly average.

With tea wine I keep it simple and prefer to use real lemon juice/zest rather then acid blends, I don't know if it affects the taste just personal preference. I always add a little more ginger as I like the flavor and it can cover up some rough edges.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

If you haven't visited it already, the Skeeter Pee website is skeeterpee.com

Another of my favorite cheap wines is made with white grape & peach frozen concentrate. It's not as fast and cheap as Skeeter Pee, but it makes a nice wine that rates high on most casual wine drinker's lists.

 

[ithink2020]

Here are two of my favorite Wines:

WELCH'S FROZEN CONCENTRATE WINE
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques65.asp

WELCH'S WHITE GRAPE AND RASPBERRY WINE
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request181.asp​

I'm currently making 12 gallons of the Welch's Frozen Grape (Concord) Juice Concentrate wine and 5 gallons of Skeeter Pee made from the slurry of the Concord.

I'm also using Super Kleer to clear help clear the wine. Works great!!!

Matt

 

[critterhunter]

I’ve got a few questions about the above fast peach/grape juice recipe. First, what is a F-Pac and where do I get that? Second, I’ve never really read up on degassing. What’s that involve and what’s the cheapest/easiest way to do it? Third, when they say filter I’d also like to know the cheapest/easiest way to do that? Also, I have yeast nutrient but is it necessary to have yeast energizer as well?

Onto Skeeter Pee. That sounds right up my alley. I’m wondering about a few things with that as well. What if I don’t have a wine slurry from a batch of wine? Is there a way to make it without that and what does that involve? Also, can I bottle this stuff into plastic pop bottles that have screw on plastic caps, or would I have to use glass wine bottles with screw on metal caps? I don’t have a bottle capper or a corker. And, would the stuff then have to be refrigerated or can it sit at room temperature until I am ready to put it on ice and drink? Finally, besides lemon and lime, are there any other forms of citrus juice that can be used for different flavors like perhaps Pineapple or something?

I could use further info/input/details on the above peach/grape recipe or Skeeter Pee because keep in mind I'm a newbie.

On “Fast” Wines or the appearance there of…

What I plan to do is use two of my three carboys to do “normal” wines that take 6 months to bottle. If I stagger those two carboys by 3 months then I should be bottling something every 3 months to lesson the lag time of “regular” wine making times. In other words, I’ve got pear wine going right now. Once it hits three months then I’ll use my second carboy to make another type of “six month wine”. Three months later I’ll bottle the pear and then immediately make something else with that now free carboy. Three months later I’m bottling the second carboy and immediately making something with that. Three months later it’s time to bottle the first carboy again, and etc.

My third carboy will be devoted to making “quick” wines such as skeeter pee or anything else I can lay my hands on recipes for such as those mist kits. Stuff that will take say 2 or 3 months (with emphasis on 2 months or less) or less to make. Anybody else use similar carboy assignments?

 

[ithink2020]

F-PAC:
An F-Pac is a method of created a concentrated juice to add flavor back into the wine. There are multiple ways of creating F-PACs.

1. Here is a Thread on Creating an F-Pac: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7547

2. If you have a Steam Juicer, you can juice the amount of fruit needed. In the case of the peach/grape juice recipe, you would juice the one pound bag of the Frozen Peaches. Then take that juice and put it a pot and bring it to a simmer. Allow the juice to simmer down to about 1/2 to 1/3. This concentrated Juice is now your F-PAC. Sorry cannot find the link to the thread on this.​

Degassing
Degassing is done to remove the CO2 gas that is stuck in the wine after it ferments. Degassing you wine will help with the clearing stage and will also help to not have a sparkling wine effect after you bottle a young wine.

Best way to degass you wine is with at WIne Whip or Mixer. Here is a link to a video that I found helpful: http://www.finevinewines.com/ccvideo/015wine.html​

Filter:
Easiest and Cheapest way: http://www.finevinewines.com/evideo/002evideo.html

Yeast Energizer
If the recipe calls for it, it is best to use it. Example, it is need when making Skeeter Pee, because the yeast need the extra help it provides.

 

[ithink2020]

I hope the above helps. I'll look at the other questions in a few, out of time at the moment.

 

[Dugger]

There are also accelerator packs for kit wines that claim to make the wine drinkable in a week or so. I haven't made these so can't attest to them but you may want to check them out.
Also, since getting hosed with the guys is part of your plan, check out the video link from another thread, " Graphic reminder..." under General Chit Chat section, if you haven't already seen it - sorry, I don't know how to post a link.
(tehttp://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Z2mf8DtWWd8st)

 

[Arne]

If you are going to be drinking it soon, I imagine the pop bottles would work. I have been using a capper with old returnable pop bottles and any other bottles that can be capped. Think screw top bottles should work too if you stick with the screw tops. The way you talk, it wont be sitting aroung for long, so you should be ok. ARne.

 

[mxsteve625]

As far as your skeeter pee question, if you don't have a slurry pitch Lavin Ec1118. Keep temps right and stir the snot out of it twice a day. I have had good success with the Lavin EC1118.

I am sure Lon or others will soon respond.

 

[mxsteve625]

Oh, also you can pretty much bottle it into anything you want such as 1 gallon juice refrigerator bottles or used soda bottles. Just make sure they are sanitaized and plan on drinking accordingly.

 

[Savana123]

One of my friend made a fast wine and it tastes very good but, at the same time I dont find it that fast as it do require some observation at the regular intervals which is very necessary.

 

[ithink2020]

Sorry, I wasn't able to complete my thoughts yesterday. I also hope I didn't come across as being short or anything. I was just trying to quickly provide you with some answers.

If you don't have a wine Slurry, I've seen suggestions about using a Yeast Starter. For making a yeast starter, check out Luc's Post. I've personally not done this before, but after reading his post, I think I'm going to start doing this with all my wines.

As for bottling in plastic pop bottles, there may be a debate here. Personally I wouldn't do it. You can get a gross (120) Caps and a good Capper for under $20. For the bottles, I just get a couple cases of beer (that is in non-screw top bottles) that I like. Then drink to empty, clean, sanitize and reuse. Also, if you want to look for Grolsch style bottles, just buy some Grolsch beer. You can get the beer cheaper than just buying the bottles and they are pre-filled!!!

I like your plan for your carboy rotation. Personally, I just make wine when I have time. Normally I do multiple batches at once. There is no wrong way to rotate your carboys. However, try not to rush a wine if it needs more. You don't want a cloudy wine, just because you were trying to keep to a schedule.

One more thing I will add. If you want to look for more Carboys. Check out your local water supply company. The companies that supply the 5Gal jugs of water for water dispensers. Some of those companies offer Spring water bottled in Glass Carboys and will sell the empties. I can pick up a 5 Gal carboy from a local company for only $20. I can get 2.5 Gal one for $10. Just a suggestion.

Let us know if you have any questions. Also, if there are any more seasoned wine makers that have any corrections or addidtions to my answers, please chime in!!!

Matt