What do you do with free grapes?

Booze them, obviously.  

I worked a tournament last October that had large trays of grapes in the ref room. I asked if they had any plans after the tournament was over, and they told me they had given Saturday's trays to a shelter and were considering doing the same with another two large trays on Sunday.

Uhh, can I have them?

And that is how I left Ohio with 20# of free grapes.  

After washing and mashing them, I added campden tablets and let sit covered with cheesecloth.  The next day I went on the hunt for red and black plums and did the same.

A day later, I combined both mashes in a 7.5 gallon bucket, measured the specific gravity, added all the nutrients, and sealed it up with a bubbler inside of a cat-proof cage.

 

 

 

It spent one month fermenting before I decanted it.  Nobody tells you that stone fruits have a large quantity of sulfur.  I transported the empty bucket in my car and it still smelled like farts for a whole week.  But it sure had a gorgeous color!

 

procedure

16.72# grapes = 2 gal + 1 cup
15.88# plums = 2.25 gal

1. Pick and wash fruit
1. Need 3 gal of plum mash + 5# grape
1. Used 2gal grapes
2. Used 2.25 gal plums
2. Boil 4 gal water
1. Add enough to get 5.5 gal liquid
1. Used .5 gal water
2. Used .5 gal water
3. Transfer to 6.5 gal fermenter
4. Add 5 campden tablets, cover with cheese cloth
1. Let sit for 24 hrs, stir periodically
1. Used 3 tabs
2. Used 3 tabs
5. Add 5 TBSP pectic enzymes
6. Add 2 tsp grape tannin
7. Add 2.5 tsp yeast nutrient
8. Add 4 pounds cane sugar
9. Take Starting Gravity reading
10. Add 1 packet Lalvin RC-212 red wine yeast
11. Place airlock and ferment in dark room at 68 degrees for one month.
12. After finished fermenting, transfer to 5 gal bucket lined with nylon strainer to remove solids.
13. Take Final Gravity reading