404 



Fioniilie Gene 



CURRANT WINE. 



Never expecting' to arrive at a coinpeteiipy that 

 would eiiaWe me to enjoy the luxury of foreign 

 Wines, I was led to seek fur sulistitiues in onr 

 home productions. Having never met with any 

 currant wine that wonid answer, I turned my 

 attention to cider, obtained sundry receipts fur 

 making cider wines and made experiments on 

 them for several years, in order to make cider an- 

 swer as the siilislitute for wiiio ; but all my under- 

 takings failed, leaving it to remain cider. Although 

 considerable improvement can be made on the 

 common mode of matiulactming ciiler, so as to 

 make it worth three or four times the value of or- 

 dinary cider, yet the malic acid of the apple, will 

 iJDt afford the vinous flavor, like the tartaric acid 

 of the grape. 



I then began the culture of grapes, hoping that 

 out of American grown grapes to be able to make 

 a home-made wine that would serve as an apology 

 for the luxurious flavor of foreign wines. 



It is only two years ago that I first met witli a 

 currant wine, at Oliver Plielps', in Canandaigua, 

 that possessed a sufficiency of the vinous flavor to 

 characterize it with the name of wine; all the 

 others that I had drank of before, were deficient 

 in the vinous flavor : they were too heavy and of 

 a syrup taste, probably owing to the want of a 

 just proportion in their ingredients. 



But finding iMr Phelps' so good an imitation of 

 foreign wine I was induced to imitate it. Accord- 

 ingly, I took his, and also Maj. John Auhim's re- 

 ceipt for making currant wine, (which I have an- 

 nexed) and varying their jirocoss in ol/taining the 

 juice of the currant, to conform with Maj. Ad- 

 liim's procss-s fur making wine of the grape, and 

 last year made the following experimenrs: 



I picked the currants about llie middle of July. 

 I had seven pecks, (instead of iniic, a.s t'ivcn in 

 the receipt fur a barrel of wine) washed and pound- 

 e<l theiri in an open barrel, and instead of pressing 

 out the juice immediately, I cpvered the barrel 

 with a board and left, it to stanil and ferment ; but 

 (instead of 12, 24, 36, or 48 hours, as Major 

 Allium prcs.'rd)es fur grape juice) by n'eglect I 

 let them remain four or five days, when they had 

 gathered some mould on the top ; then pressed 

 out the juice by hand ; (a pre.'JS ofsomekiiid would 

 have lessened the labor, and to have added a few 

 gallons of water would have obtained more extract 

 from the currants, and also ficilitated the strain- 

 ing of it) tlien, divided the juice into equal parts 

 in order to make two half barrels ; one with maple 

 sugar, and the other with honey. 



To the one 1 added thirlyseven iiounds maple 

 sugar that had not been drained of its molasses, 

 and sufficient water to make fifteen gallons of the 

 whole ; then tested its strength by putting in a 

 hen's egg, (Idajor Adlum's handy and coMvesdeiit 

 sul).<titute for the Sacchromclcr) and found that it 

 floated the egg, showing about.the size of a shil- 

 ling piece above the surface ; then put up the must 

 into the cask. 



To the other I put forty two pounds of strained 

 honey, and v.'ater to make the riuantity (fifteen 

 gallons.) After the lioncy was dissolved, I also 

 tested this with the egg, and found it to show a 

 part of the sliell above the .surface about the size 

 of a pistareen ; — which clearly showed that honey 

 contains as iimcli saccharine, for its weight, as su- 

 gar. 



The casks were put into the collar to ferment 



NEW ENGl.AND FARMER, 



and make, leaving the liuu^-s open for a few da_\s, 

 then put ihem in loosely, and in ten or twelve 

 days bunged tights 



In December it was racked off, when each cask 

 afforded two gallons of lees in currant pul)) ; after 

 racking, it was put back into the casks again, and 

 fined with a pint of skim-milk, and left to staml. 



In September I took about two bushel of peach- 

 es, (of the Colundnan peach) pounded them up, 

 and left them to stand a few days and ferment, as 

 1 had iloiie with the currants, from which, with 

 some labor, I obt.iined about three gallons of juice, 

 and to which I added two pounds of honey to the 

 gallon, and tested it with the egg, and put it up in 

 a small keg, fiir making. 



In October I picked about half a bushel of 

 the Isabella Grapes, and spread tbem in the cham- 

 ber for three or Com- weeks to dry ; then mashed 

 and put them into a stone jar, to ferment ; by neg- 

 lect, these were also left; to stand nearly a week, 

 when a blue nioidd had formed on the top, and 

 the acetous fermentation had evidently commenced; 

 I'rom them I ol)tained about two gallons of juice, 

 to which added two pounds of honey to the gallon, 

 which bore the effg to the size of a two shilling 

 piece above the surface ; then put the must into a 

 stone jug to make. 



Both of these were racked off and fined in De- 

 cember. 



Owing to the prussic acid of the Peach, when 

 assiaulated with saccharine, not developing the 

 vinous flavor, the like as the tartaric acid of the 

 grape, the peach juice has produced a very inferior 

 liquor in its flavor, although possessing a good 

 body. It is of a pale white cider color, and a 

 strong acid cider taste; so that I consitlcr the 

 experiment of making wine from peaches an entire 

 failure. 



That of the grape juice is evidently injured by 

 the acetous fermentation, when suffered to stand 

 too long as before mentioned. It has a dark red 

 TencriiTe color, approaching to the Biu-gundy, 

 with a cooling taste, owing to the redutidancy of 

 the tart.Tric acid and fixed air. It has been rather 

 an indifferent liquor, but is improving considerably 

 by age, and gives indications that it would have 

 been a successful cx|)eriment, had the tpiantity 

 been larger, and the process been duly attend- 

 ed to. 



Tiie currant wine made of maple sugar lias its 

 color darkened to Teneriffe by the coloring mat- 

 tor, and its fiitvor rendered slightly bitter from 

 the impurities of the sugar, clearly showing that 

 the liqimr will be improved in proportion to the 

 purity of the saccharine used in making it. It 

 has a slight tinge of the Malaga flavor^ and nearly 

 equal in its quality ; it is a drinkable currant 

 wine. 



But that made of honey promises to become a 

 superior article ; it was a suggestion of my own, 

 proposed to Mr N. Goodsell, who at first ohject- 

 d to the experiment, — but having the ingredient, 

 the produce of my firm, I ju-eferred to venture it, 

 anil proposed to add a gallon of brandy, accor- 

 ding to IMr Phelps' receipt, should he consider 

 the honey as wanting in giving a sufficient body 

 to sustain iho liquor ; but he objected to that on 

 Maj. Adlum's' principle of developing tlic alco- 

 hol of wine, by fermentation, rather than by uis. 

 lillation, as making a more pure and wholesome 

 liquor, and should we find it in danger of pricking 

 we could then add the spirit. 



During the first two or three months, the sugar 



^^^^^^^^^^^^^ July 6, 1821. 



promised to be the belter liquor; but afterwards, 

 the honey gained on the sugar until it Was racked 

 I when it tell back for a few weeks, but afterwards 

 j it regained, and coiitiiiuesto increase in superiori- 

 ; ty over the sugar. It has nearly the color of aia- 

 I deira, perfectly fine and limpid, with a gooil body, 

 and the S|iirit of the honey gives to it the exhil- 

 jarating properiies of s/iW champaigiie : its flavor 

 denotes the unadulterated purity of its ingredi- 

 ; ents and physicians have admitted it good for 

 I medicinal uses, next to Madeira, and by several 

 1 persons it has been considered equal to the Sicily 

 ' Madeira, which retails at two dollars. While 

 computing the ingredients at their market price, 

 and allowing something for the labor, it lUiiy be 

 estimated to cost about fifty cents. 



Those who do not produce honey, can jirocure 

 the Havana honey in Rochester at one dollar the 

 gallon, which is estimated to weigh thirteen 

 pounds, — that would need to be clarified ; — it can 

 be put into a stone jar, and that into a kettle 

 of water and boiled, which vtill boil the honey 

 and allow it to be skimmed : or add some of 

 the water to fill the cask, and boil it in the ket- 

 tle. 



The manner in which I obtained the supply of 

 honey in Jidy, was by driving the bees, after they 

 have done swarming, out of the old hive, into a 

 new one. 



As the honey was considered as a secondary 

 exjierimetit, I put it into an old half barrel I had 

 on hand, which sprung aleak in the winter, and by 

 the spring I had lost more than half its contents. 

 I propose to get an iron bound ca.'^k, and have it 

 painted fiir preservation. They can often be had 

 of the merchants, afterbaving retailed out their 

 im|iorted wines : and to retain their lees, and put 

 the current wine on those Ices, will improve its 

 vinous flavor. J. IIAWLEY. 



Oliver Phelps' Receipt fur unaking Currant Jf'ine. 

 Pick your curi'ants in a fair day, when fully 

 ripe, say between the fifteerith and twentieth July. 

 Wash them in a tin cullender clean from dust, 

 then put them into a clean flanmd bag, and press 

 out their juice. Measure it, and to every gallon 

 of pure currant juice add two gallons of cold well 

 water, and to every gallon of this mixture add three 

 pounds of good clear brown sugar, the purer and 

 lighter, the better, (excepting the Havana) and to 

 every eighteen gallons of liquor add one gallon of 

 the best French brandy. 



When the wliole is well united put it into a 

 good clean cask ; fill it nearly fidl, and put a piece 

 of leather over the bung hole with a small weight 

 on it. Take care that the cask is not so full as 

 to work over, as this wotdd injure the liquor, 

 and after the feriiienlaiion has ceased, hung the 

 cask as tight as possible. In tlie month of May 

 following, it will be fit for nse, or for bottling, as 

 yon choose. All this process must be done with 

 neatne.ss, and you cannot fail in having the first 

 rate of •tirrant wine. 



John •idli'm's Rectipt for making Currant Jl'inc. 

 Take two bushelf; of currants, sixteen gallons 

 of water, and from seventytwo to eigbtyfour 

 pounds of sugar, (according as you would have it 

 more or less strong.) Bruise the cm"rant.=, add th« 

 water, then press or squeeze out all the liquid; 

 then add the sugar, dissolve it, and put it into your 

 cask in the cellar to ferment; keep some of the 

 lie[nor to fill up the cask as it wastes by ferracnta- 



