New newbie winemakertalker

rodolfo · Jul 30, 2023

Hi! I'm a young guy from southern Finland, who finally recently got to winemaking. I've been tasting my friends' and relatives' homemade wines eagerly, some more traditional and some more creative. I'm especially interested in country wines and all kinds of other beverages I can make from local and seasonal ingredients.
Right now I have one large batch of kit-made red wine clearing up, and some blueberry must waiting for me to start fermentation.
I'm also interested in gardening, and I do grow herbs and other kinds of plants as much as I can fit in my apartment with all of my other hobbies.

BigDaveK · Jul 30, 2023

Welcome to WMT!
"Local and seasonal ingredients" will keep you busy.

winemaker81 · Jul 30, 2023

Welcome to WMT!

The list of things that can be fermented is legion, and someone on this forum has probably already fermented anything you can find. And if not, there's something similar enough to provide a guide.

Note: Dave is the poster child for "I can ferment that!', including fruits and flowers local to him. His threads include a lot of good discussion that provide information beyond the main topic. I suggest you browse the Beginner's and Country Wine forums, reading any threads that catch your attention.

Jovimaple · Jul 30, 2023

Welcome!

Jack Keller was an American winemaker famous for fermenting lots of different fruit and vegetables. His recipes are floating around the internet in .pdf form, and he was working on a book, Home Winemaking: The Simple Way to Make Delicious Wine, that his wife and son completed when he passed away. I bought it on Amazon. His recipes tend to be higher alcohol and lower on fruit but they can be a great starting point.

vinny · Jul 30, 2023

Welcome. There is plenty of fun to be had here. Gardens are also very rewarding. Some cities have community gardens that allow those in apartments to grow some of their own foods. I have a tower garden to grow greens indoors. I love it. Worth every penny if you have ever considered something like it.

I have made made wine from all sorts of of things. Rose petal, carrot, tomato, dandelion, berries, and fruits. @BigDaveK dozens more. Sometimes time is all it takes. Other times you aren't done, and you need to add some oak or other tweaks to fill it out and make it shine.

rodolfo · Jul 30, 2023

Thanks y'all!

winemaker81 said:
The list of things that can be fermented is legion, and someone on this forum has probably already fermented anything you can find. And if not, there's something similar enough to provide a guide.

Note: Dave is the poster child for "I can ferment that!', including fruits and flowers local to him. His threads include a lot of good discussion that provide information beyond the main topic. I suggest you browse the Beginner's and Country Wine forums, reading any threads that catch your attention.

Jovimaple said:
Jack Keller was an American winemaker famous for fermenting lots of different fruit and vegetables. His recipes are floating around the internet in .pdf form, and he was working on a book, Home Winemaking: The Simple Way to Make Delicious Wine, that his wife and son completed when he passed away. I bought it on Amazon. His recipes tend to be higher alcohol and lower on fruit but they can be a great starting point.

I actually have browsed this forum for a while, especially the country wine section, and mr. @BigDaveK 's admirable posts have caught my eye already. I also happened to download the Jack Keller recipe compilation a while ago; it has endless amounts of recipes to try.

vinny said:
Welcome. There is plenty of fun to be had here. Gardens are also very rewarding. Some cities have community gardens that allow those in apartments to grow some of their own foods. I have a tower garden to grow greens indoors. I love it. Worth every penny if you have ever considered something like it.

That's pretty interesting, but I like the olden ways a bit better; I'm growing some herbs and chilis that survive on my window sill. I hope to better my situation as soon as possible, and maybe pursue studies in agriculture or biology, and maybe get to do some gardening there.

Today I added the yeast to my blueberry must, but it hasn't started to bubble yet. I also started a batch of finnish Kalja, which is a malt brew similar to Kvass in Eastern Europe. This time I flavored it with a bag of caraway seeds.