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Got a question someone here might know something about. I have a bunch of fruit growing around my house. We have pear and apple trees, blackberries, and strawberries. We have so many pears that we are thinking of buying a wine kit and trying our luck. May try the berries next if we have any luck. might try growing some grape vines if we get into it. Anyway it seems pretty easy to get a kit on Amazon (don't hurt me Mr. Jones) and get started but before purchasing or starting is there any advice anyone wants to share with a beginner? We are thinking starting with gallons and if anything turns out right then getting bigger containers.

Get yourself a big bucket throw your fruit in it, cover with water, add some yeast and some sugar.. cover and stir every couple day and add some more sugar. After tow weeks drain off liquid, then strain it with some cheese cloth then bottle it. I do all the above steps except I don't bottle it, instead I put it through a distillery.🍷

Juicing is better than whole fruit but if you don't have an apple press go whole fruit.

I prefer dry ciders and use red star champagne yeast. It takes at least 15 lbs of apples/pears for 5 gallons of cider. You'll want to check you initial gravity to ensure you don't have too much or too little sugar for the yeast to eat. You'll want to make sure your batch has no more sugar that what it takes to make 10% abv. The whole idea is for the yeast to ferment ALL the sugars then you rack/bottle with anywhere between a quarter to a half cup of dextrose depending on how much carbonation you like. There are calculators. Follow them to the tee so that you don't get bottle bombs.

Wines are a bit easier since most wines should be flat just juice/puree your fruit make sure you have the correct gravity amd then ferment. You'll want to figure out whether you want sweet or dry and match it to the right fermenting yeasts. Some produce higher alcohol than others so it's important to note that if you want sweetness you'll need to increase the sugar beyond the yeast's tolerance/ability to eat it. My favorite wine is new wine, right off the lees.

You can go to lowes and get bpa free buckets with seals for like $6 and just drill a hole for a rubber grommet and airlock. Cheapest way to start out.

Oh I saw that you want to do gallons... for the smaller fruits that's ok since you probably won't have enough fruit to do 5 gallons. For apples/pears you'll want to go 5 gallons. MAINLY for the fact that you'll only produce a couple 22oz bombers off a gallon and believe me, after aging for 3-6 months the yeast loses it's bite and you'll be drinking this stuff nonestop. It's a little different at first bit the more you drink it the more you crave it.

Let it sit in the fermentor for at least 2 weeks then rack it to another bucket/carboy for at least another 2 weeks, then bottle. Really all you want is to do is pull the liquid and not the yeast/sediments. I'll tell you this, raw apples/pears will be pretty cloudy and doesn't make as fine a cider as clean clear juice. Whatever you do, do not filter after you pitch the yeast because then you'll have nothing but low grade vinegar.

You might be able to add a spoonful or two of pectic enzyme but there's no gaurantee it will clear it all up since there are so many apple/pear particles. That's where the aging comes into play and in my opinion it's much better to age in the bottle.

I do 22oz bottles mainly because It's quick. You'll be able to do a little ovwr a case of bombers vs small 12oz bottles and the stuff drinks so quick that the bombers just seem to be the right size.

Main thing is to keep it all airtight, use good sanitation, and be patient. The more you expose it to air, the more it turns to vinegar.

Understood. Thanks for the advice!