Wheat Wine (4)
- 3 pts whole wheat
- 1-3/4 lbs demerara sugar
- 11.5-oz can Welch’s 100% White Grape Juice Frozen Concentrate
- 1 sweet orange
- 1 small lemon
- 6-1/2 pts water
- 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1/8 tsp tannin
- 1 crushed Campden tablet
- Pasteur or Champagne wine yeast
Soak wheat 24 hours in just enough water to cover. Drain and put wheat through a mincer. Put water on to boil. Thinly peel orange and lemon, being careful to avoid peeling white pith. Juice the fruit and set juice aside. Combine minced wheat, citrus peelings and juice, grape juice concentrate, sugar, and tannin in primary and add boiling water. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover with muslin and set aside. When cooled to room temperature, add crushed Campden and yeast nutrient. Stir well, recover and set aside 24 hours. Add activated yeast. Stir daily for 3 weeks. Strain through nylon straining bag to remove solids (do not squeeze bag). Continue fermentation until specific gravity drops to 1.000 and then rack into sanitized secondary and fit airlock. Set aside 2 months. Rack into sanitized secondary, top up and refit airlock. After 2 additional months, rack, top up and again refit airlock. After third 2-month period, rack into bottles and store in dark place. Allow to age two years before tasting. [ Author’s own recipe ]