The first fermented beverage I ever made was wine. It was 1983, my junior year of college. A friend's parents were visiting him, and I got to talking to his dad. He gave me a recipe for making sakè. I went to the local sub shop to pick up a pickle crock to use as a fermenter. Never even having heard of sanitation, my first batch turned into vinegar, obviously from the organisms living on the bucket. Well, apparently the alcohol in that first attempt was enough to kill most of the offending creatures, because I never had an infected batch after that, despite the fact that I used nothing but soap and water to clean the bucket.

Some of sakè's ingredients (rice, raisins and orange wedges) necessitated straining through a cheesecloth, and by my senior year I got tired of this work. I figured that the sugar, yeast and water were all that were needed to make alcohol, and anything else was just flavoring. So I bought several cans of Welch's frozen 100% grape juice to use for making "grape" wine (I was brought up on Manischewitz so I have grown to love sweet wines). It came out pretty strong, as my fraternity brothers can attest to: one day a bunch of them were sitting on the frat house steps, drinking Mad Dog 20/20, proclaiming how strong it was. I went up to my room and got a bottle of my concoction, and traded with one fellow. His tasted like grape juice to me, while he gagged from the potency of mine, snatching his bottle from my hand and gulping some down as a chaser.

I used to think winemaking was a significant achievement, until I started making beer in 1994. Now it seems trivial. Just mix the ingredients (I use concentrated juices rather than crushing grapes) and wait. No boiling, no quick cooling, no carbonating, and no meticulous sanitation. I don't even use any special yeast - just good old Red Star or Fleischmann's bread yeast. I once made a wine with champagne yeast, and I didn't notice any difference in flavor.

I don't make or drink as much wine as I used to, now that I'm heavily into beer. But I have experimented and developed a few recipes:

Sweet Grape Wine (3 gallon recipe)

1) Eight 12-oz cans Welch's 100% grape juice concentrate
2) 6 cups cane sugar
3) 1 heaping tbsp Red Star yeast
4) 1.5 tsp potassium sorbate
5) 1.75 cups cane sugar

Mix 1, 2, 3 and water. When fermentation is complete, add 4 and 5. You can vary the amount of sugar you add at this stage to adjust it to the sweetness you desire. Let settle for a few weeks before bottling.

Apple Wine (4.5 gallon recipe)

1) Eleven 16-oz cans apple juice concentrate
2) 5 cups cane sugar
3) 4 tsp Red Star yeast
4) 2 cups cane sugar
5) 2.5 tsp potassium sorbate

Mix 1, 2, 3 and water. When fermentation is complete, add 4 and 5. Let settle for a few weeks before bottling. This wine has been a hit with most people. Few could even tell it wasn't made with grapes. It's much like a semi-sweet white wine.

Cherry Wine (1.5 gallon recipe)

1) Four 16-oz bags of frozen pitted dark cherries (thawed)
2) 1 cup cane sugar
3) 1 tsp Red Star yeast
4) One 11.5-oz can Welch's Light Juice Cocktail
5) 0.5 cup cane sugar

Mix 1, 2, 3 and water to make 1.33 gallons. After a month, scoop out the pulp and add 4 and 5. Let settle for a few weeks before bottling. This wine was absolutely wonderful the first several weeks: sweet, cherry-flavored, and sparkling. It was sparkling because it was still fermenting in the bottle, and unfortunately all the sugar eventually fermented out and it was kind of sour and not too good. Therefore I suggest adding a stabilizer (e.g. potassium sorbate) before bottling to keep it sweet (which will also keep it still).

Very Grape Wine (3.25 gallon recipe)

1) Nine 12-oz cans Welch's 100% grape juice concentrate
2) 3.5 cups cane sugar
3) 2 tbsp bread yeast (Fleischmann's or Red Star)
4) 1.5 tsp potassium sorbate
5) 4 cups cane sugar

Mix 1, 2, 3 and water to make 3.25 gallons. When fermentation is complete, add 4 and 5. Turned out very grapey, slightly sweet, and very good, kind of like my favorite wine, Manischewitz.