GALLON OF WINE RECIPES

Steps:

• Using a stockpot, heat 2/3 gallon of water and allow it to boil.
• Once the water is at a steady, rolling boil, remove the stockpot from the stove.
• Add the raisins and chamomile to the water. Then, stir well. Cover the pot and let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes.
• Uncover the pot and pour in the honey. Stir well until the honey dissolves and blends thoroughly.
• Pour the mixture into a one-gallon carboy using a funnel. Split the vanilla bean and add it to the must.
• Pour the remainder of the water (1/3 gallon) into the carboy to help the mixture cool down. Make sure to fill the jug up to the neck, leaving at least two inches of headspace.
• Check the temperature of the mix. Once it cools down to room temperature, pitch the yeast.
• Top off the jug with bung and airlock.
• Set it aside in a cool, dark place where there is no direct sunlight.
• Let the fermentation begin.
• Check the airlock now and then for the bubbles. Once it stops producing bubbles and the mead has cleared, you can taste it. Either start back sweetening or prepare for bottling.
• To back sweeten your mead, use honey or sugar to make a quarter and a half cup of sweetening syrup.
• Put the syrup into a clean, sanitized one-gallon glass jar and rack the mead into it. Give it a gentle swirl to mix thoroughly.
• Install a clean, sanitized airlock in the sweetened mead and let it ferment for another week or two.
• Once the fermentation is complete (no more bubbles), you can bottle the mead.

Steps:

• Pour the wine into a clean, wide-mouthed half-gallon glass jar. Put the lid on and shake it well to aerate the wine. Remove lid, and add drinking water until the jar is about three-quarters full, along with the live raw vinegar or mother. Cover the jar with cheesecloth and keep the cloth in place with a rubber band.
• Leave the jar undisturbed in a dark place at room temperature for 3 to 4 weeks, checking regularly to see that a vinegar mother (a translucent, gelatinous disk) is growing on the surface, and no mold is forming. (If you see green, black or white mold, scrape it off; if it grows back, throw out the mixture and start over.) You should begin to smell vinegar after a few weeks, and can taste it every week or so to monitor the fermentation.
• After about 2 months, when the alcohol has acidified, or when a taste of the vinegar makes your mouth pucker, it's ready to strain and bottle. (You can save the mother to begin a new batch.) The vinegar can be used as is, or aged in the bottle for up to a year to mellow its flavor.