My grandma makes wine every spring from the mulberries off her huge tree, which only puts out fruit in the spring. This is her recipe: Put a gallon of fresh mulberries in the blender and puree them. Let the puree sit overnight at room temperature, then skim off the chaff (which will float to the top). Add four cups of regular cane sugar and one eighth teaspoon of plain old baker’s yeast. The quantity of yeast is very important. If you add too little, your wine will rot. If you add too much, your wine will turn to vinegar. I guess it’s a trial-and-error thing. And the more sugar you add, the stronger your wine will be. The yeast eats the sugar and turns it into alcohol, and the finished product isn’t even sweet. It has to sit around at room temperature for about a month to cure. And whatever you do, DON’T SEAL THE BOTTLE. The gasses will build up in the bottle, and eventually it will explode and turn your kitchen into a huge purple mess. But when you get it right you end up with some strong, dry, 30 proof mulberry wine. She makes gallons of the stuff every spring and gives much of it away to friends and neighbors.
I've read that the reason people use wine yeast and not baker's yeast is because the baker's yeast tends to die off at about 9% ABV. The wine yeast I ordered has been bred to top off at 17/18%. They may be making heartier baker's yeast or that 9% thing may be an urban legend but that is the reason most people buy yeasts made specifically for alcohol fermentation. Perhaps one of the experts will weigh in on that.
I wish to make wine as I cannot eat all the grapes that I can grow.
Does your grandmother use an airlock or open crock?