Rapid Rice Wine

To eat food you've grown is just fine;
There is no better way you can dine
- I think it's just great
To fill your own plate -
But best is to drink your own wine.

I don't know about you, but I like a glass of something when I eat. Or cook. Or entertain. In fact, I like a glass of something, full-stop.

So here is a simple recipe for a wine that's ready in a mere three weeks, but will improve if kept longer.

Equipment

A 5 gallon fermenting bin, sterile
A 1 gallon saucepan or stock-pot
A cooker (1 fast ring needed)
3 1 gallon demijohns, sterile
3 bungs with airlocks fitted, sterile
A siphon tube, sterile
A funnel, sterile
A nylon mesh, sterile
18 wine bottles and corks, sterile
A corking device
A long handled stirring spoon, sterile

Ingredients - makes 3 gallons, plus a little for sampling.

2 kg rice (cheapest will do)
1.5 kg raisins
4.5 kg sugar
3.5 gallons boiling water
wine yeast
yeast nutrient
finings

Method.

The basic requirement for wine-making is to keep everything scrupulously clean, and even sterile, if it comes into contact with your fermenting or fermented brew.

Firstly, then, put your raisins (whole, no need to chop), and your rice into your fermenting bin. Boil up your first gallon of water in the stock-pot, and dissolve 1.5 kg sugar into it. Bring back to the boil, and then pour over the rice and raisins. Repeat, twice. Finally, boil up the last half gallon, and add it, neat. Fit the lid, and let everything cool over night.

The next day, add the yeast and nutrient according to the makers instructions. Stir. For the next 21 days, you need do nothing, except stir on a daily basis, and maybe siphon off a little every few days to taste, and see how it's getting along.

At the end of this time, siphon off into your demijohns, through the mesh and funnel, to keep them pesky raisins out of your wine. At this point, if your wine isn't sparkling clear, and you care about that, you can add finings to precipitate the cloudiness. Again, go by the manufacturers instructions.

Once your wine is clear, you can either drink it, or bottle it for keeping. Good luck!

I find 3 gallons costs me about £12.00 to make, including the cost of fairly-traded sugar, or about £0.67 per bottle. What's more, this wine can be substituted, without much compromise and in equal quantities, into any recipe that calls for dry sherry.

Best, 2ndRateMind.

Here's where to get gear, yeast etc, in Bristol: http://www.citikey.com/business/10039491/

Here's a few words on sterilising: http://thehungerstop.blogspot.com/2009/06/sterilising-jars-and-such.html