Papa's Balloon Wine

[Steve Urquell]

Bordeaux it ain't, but a bunch of people enjoy it anyway. This is my grandfather's recipe for hooch wine, which he made from probably ~ 1930 till he died in 1990. It's pretty sweet--the yeast craps out from the alc. content and leaves residual sweetness.

I've made it several times using concord grapes and also wild plums (delicious). The last time I made it was around 1993, hadn't ever brewed and didn't know a thing about gravity etc.

2 cans Welch's concentrated grape juice
5 cups white sugar
2 packs bread yeast
1 big assed balloon

Mix in 1 gallon jug, top off with water, tie on balloon with string, ferment till balloon deflates, enjoy.



Papa with 2 jugs of his creation, and on his Allis Chalmers model G. We found some of this wine in the shed behind him several years after he died. It was in a flip-top bottle and had turned. Aunt took a swig and promptly ejected it.

[blacklab]

That's awesome! That top pic could spawn a thousand photoshop contests.

How do you alter the recipe for fresh grapes and/or plums?

[Steve Urquell]

That's awesome! That top pic could spawn a thousand photoshop contests.

How do you alter the recipe for fresh grapes and/or plums?

The last time i did it, I think I just took a few pounds of wild red plums, mashed the juice out of them and used it instead of the grape juice. like I said, last time I did it was 1993, and I didn't know anything about gravity.

It's a fun easy recipe though, as long as you're not expecting fine wine.

[DonkeyShoes]

I like the zero-turn mower. Probably the first one ever made.

[blacklab]

I like the zero-turn mower. Probably the first one ever made.

That's funny, I was looking at the pics again and was about to say the same thing.

[Steve Urquell]

That old Allis is still going strong--dad mows w/ it all the time. I think it was built in the 40's.

[blacklab]

That old Minnie is still going strong--dad mows w/ it all the time. I think it was built in the 40's.

Seems like a lot of stuff from back then is still going, if it was cared for properly.

[zoebisch01]

Seems like a lot of stuff from back then is still going, if it was cared for properly.

Long before the days of engineering a product into inches of failure. There are cases for and against this, but in the end I personally think something that costs a good hunk of your income should last.

Those are some fun pics.