new and need help

hi
we had an abundance of concord grapes this year. right now i have a 5 gallon bucket of de-stemmed grapes picked yesterday.
would like an easy recipe with equipment i could buy at wal-mart.
i live in a very small town and getting other ingredients i have seen in other recipes wouldn't be possiable rght now.
thank you

FREEZE THOSE GRAPES!
Really the equipment is pretty ok from Wal Mart...You'll need a big bucket. But DO NOT try and use bread yeast on this....too much to loose. See the fine folks at Austin Home Brew or Midwest...or more beer...or any other online beer store. You'll be glad you did.

would i freeze the grapes whole or make juice?

kc1218 said:

hi
we had an abundance of concord grapes this year. right now i have a 5 gallon bucket of de-stemmed grapes picked yesterday.
would like an easy recipe with equipment i could buy at wal-mart.
i live in a very small town and getting other ingredients i have seen in other recipes wouldn't be possiable rght now.
thank you

Click to expand...

Not to pry here but if you give a general idea of where you are, then other homebrewers in your area might be willing to add some items on to their orders for some compensation: $ or wine. Getting a $1 pack of good wine yeast is easier that way.

Plus you might be able to borrow a bucket if someone has it.

Pairing up with a mentor is how I am getting started.

kc1218 said:

hi
we had an abundance of concord grapes this year. right now i have a 5 gallon bucket of de-stemmed grapes picked yesterday.
would like an easy recipe with equipment i could buy at wal-mart.
i live in a very small town and getting other ingredients i have seen in other recipes wouldn't be possiable rght now.
thank you

Click to expand...

I'd freeze those grapes whole, after being washed of course; that way you can keep the skin contact as long as you want. Also, it'll make crushing easier & might even boost your juice extraction from the fruit, I'm guessing you'll be crushing with a stomper-type device. I'd also buy equipment online or via mailorder from a brewing/winemaking supplier. I suppose you could do just fine with stuff from walmart, just make sure you get food grade plastic for things like your bucket(s) and tubing. Non-food grade plastics can often leach chemicals into foods/alcohol/etc... And at the very least makes things it leaches into taste like plastic; at the worst, makes it toxic. Hope you find this info usefull, GF.

My entire setup was improv for about a month when i started, EXCEPT for the yeast. you can either buy a bucket or get a used one from a bakery or such. I got my container from the container store actually, it works pretty well. go for the yeast online and just be creative with the rest of the equipment.