spike your juice... NOW

my boyfriend, corey, is already into diy homebrew, but i was super interested in the possibilty of making wine.  

my next door neighbor filled my head with amazing stories of making wine when he was younger—picking and chopping fresh fruits and dandelions, storing huge vats of fermenting deliciousness in his basement, and of course, drinking the shit out of a beverage you had the satisfaction of making yourself. 

oh boy oh boy, i want.

we considered going out and buying a whole second set-up to use for just making wine, but we realized that storing it in the basement was not a viable option right now, and we already had buckets of homebrew taking up kitchen space.

then i saw…

[♪ insert choir music here ♪]

whatthefux?!  its that easy? i couldn’t believe it, and i didn’t want to waste my money on glorified pruno…

the site claimed that its kits can turn any 64 ounce-sized 100% fruit juice (containing at least 20g or more of natural sugars) into a sparkling, alcoholic delight similar to federweißer. they stated that the finished product is between 4% and 14% ABV.  

okay, okay… i had to at least try it once, pruno or not.

  

i ordered the “mega pack” for $17.95.  it contains twelve packets for spiking, twelve labels, two airlocks, and two rubbed stoppers. (i didn’t want to use our beer airlocks and stoppers for the wine). it is a pretty good deal.

the directions are ridiculously simple… 

• buy a 64 ounce bottle of juice.
  (UNrefrigerated, 100% juice with 20g sugars or more)
• throw away the cap.
• pour in the spike packet.
  (don’t stir it!) 

 

• attach rubber stopper.
• fill airlock to fill line and cap it.
• attach airlock to the stopper.

 

• fill out one of the enclosed labels.
  (make sure you mark both the flavor and the date!) 
• store at room temperature.

 

• wait at least 48 hours.
  (bubble. bubble bubble… this is the hardest part!)  

• enjoy!
• enjoy some more ;]

www.spikeyourjuice.com goes on to say that as it ferments longer, the sugar content falls (the beverage becomes dry and tart), but the alcohol content rises— up to 14% ABV! 

now, the actual taste… 

 we cracked our first bottle (100% blueberry) at exactly the 48 hour mark. wow. yummmm. it was light and fizzy, and definitely had a bit of a kick.  even my experienced wine-making neighbor thought it was tasty! needless to say, we finished off the whole bottle, and immediately started making another.

I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!
its delish, makes a lot for a relatively small price, and its fun!

overall score:

 5/5