Joy of Home Wine Making Kindle Edition

This book is a nice introduction to home fruit-wine making. It'll get you started in the right direction, but it's a bit outdated or perhaps just parochial. For instance, there is no mention of degassing wine, even though the author discussed more advanced home winemaking techniques such as filtering wine, measuring acid levels, and using a clearing aid.There are recipes for dozens of fruit and vegetable wines and cordials and discussions of the various processes and purposes of steps or tools in home wine-making. I've found most of the value of the book come from things other than the recipes--which I often balance with alternate recipes form elsewhere that sometimes seem to offer superior procedures or get acid blend amounts more right (though the acid needed with always vary with the particular pieces of fruit you are using in wine--as the author notes). As I understand it, this book is a pioneering book in the recent history of home winemaking and is somewhat of a classic now. It's helped me get to know the basics of the process and the tools and ingredients available.

This is a good starting point for getting your feet wet with home wine making. There is enough in this book to keep you busy for a while. Then you can progress on to other books or websites.The book can be a bit confusing if you have read other books, or if you read any wine making websites. The author refers to PA (Potential Alcohol) while almost any other reference you will see elsewhere lists SG (Specific Gravity) While that is not a big deal, it is just one of a few things I noticed. It does not take away from the book though.The book has quite a few recipes. Many are very similar to recipes all over the Internet, probably because many of them originated from this book as it was first released in 1996.I currently have a batch of carrot wine and blueberry fermenting using recipes from this book. In six months to a year I will let you know how its doing. I am also contemplating making a batch of potato wine. I know, sounds kinda gross, but I read the recipe and it has oranges and peppercorns in it. Not sure why, but it sounds interesting and I think I am going to try it.If you are new to wine making and feel intimidated, get over it. This is not brain surgery. I got into wine making a while back and it is pretty easy. Almost simple. And no, you do not need to buy all kinds of special equipment to do this. You can use gallon jugs from wine or apple juice. You can use balloons instead of airlocks. You can use 5 gallon frosting buckets from the supermarket bakery section instead of buying 5 gallon "fermenting" buckets. The only things you might have to buy are the hydrometer, which cost me $6. And then cost me another $6 because it is delicate and apparently I am not a gentle person. And a corker. I bought a cheap one for about $10. Works great, takes a little effort, but not too hard.Good luck!

This is a great book for an amateur winemaker, especially one interested in using fruits or other ingredients. The book reads more like a conversation with the author than a dull textbook and it keeps you interested. The recipes in it are somewhat dated homebrew technology, chemicals, etc. have changed a lot, but then again this is a 20 year old book so take it for what you will. It still serves as a great starting point for a lot of recipes and gives the beginner a pretty decent idea of what to look for.

This book was recommended by a wine blogger when I asked for assistance on making wine at home from fruits. I absolutely LOVE this book! The author is knowledgeable and humorous at the same time. She clearly explains the steps, and the reason for them, so that you understand WHY each thing is important and what could result if you fail to follow the steps. Still, she makes it fun and easy and the 2 recipes I have tried so far, that are currently in the works, already taste and smell incredible! I can hardly wait for them to be finished and aged. When I first received the book I decided to use it to read and help me fall to sleep at night. Bad idea! I couldn't put it down because it was so interesting and I ended up staying up way too late! Seriously! I have purchased other books on wine making but this one is by far the most informative and her writing style makes it fun to read. If you are mostly interested in making wine from fresh or frozen fruits and even veggies, I highly recommend this book.

I like sidebars and graphics when I'm trying to learn something, so I was reluctant to start this book because it is mostly full pages of text. I tend to lose concentration without breaks in the page - just my reading preference, I suppose. Anyway, the tone of the text is very conversational, sometimes humorous, and easy to follow. I love the unique recipes using fruits and veggies one wouldn't consider as wine elements. I haven't tried anything yet because of the necessary components with which I am unfamiliar, such as Campden tablets, yeast nutrients, tannin, etc. However, I am determined to try it, and Terry Garey's writing style and recipes is the reason i am willing to go for it.

This is a very entertaining, fascinating book with wine recipes using everything from grape juice to turnips. It is a wonderful intro book with a step-by-step EASY First Gallon recipe. All you need is a recycled gallon or 4L glass jug, plastic wrap, rubberband, funnel, chopstick or other stirrer, frozen juices, lemon juice, and wine yeast. For later she recommends plastic tubing, bottles, and corks for transfer. This book is also useful for ADVANCED wine makers. You can make wine year round with frozen or canned fruits and juices, seasonal crops, vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruits, etc. This is an informative, handy book you will enjoy for years!

This was a fun project, and I learned quite a bit. To top it off, the results were tasty. This author is entertaining and offers great advice through her experience. She has some great recipes also.

One of my favourite winemaking books.I've made a few batches of homemade wine over the years, but never really bothered to take it to the next level. Garey is clearly obsessed with winemaking (or, specifically, country wines); she knows what she's doing, she's done a lot of it, and she's good at explaining how it's done. Rather than just present endless recipes (although there are plenty of those) she takes pains to point out that becoming an expert is like anything else: practice and make mistakes until you understand the principles.She deliberately avoids discussing grape wines or kits - at least not in extensive detail. This is a sensible decision: as she explains, if you want those, go out and buy them. Country wines are a whole different experience that you won't be able to buy anywhere.Far too many books on this topic are written by strange beardy types who just aren't good at writing. I would recommend this book both for beginners and for those who are more experienced.

Garey's book is a must for anyone just setting out on the journey of home wine making.It's insightful with some welcome splashes of humour. Some great ideas and recipes to try out with an experienced winemaker's tips and secrets added in.As one of the other reviewers mentioned, not all the ingredients are available in the UK but this doesn't detract from the overall quality of the book.

Informative

I bought this as I was quite new to winemaking. I like this book because it covers all levels of expertise from the absolute beginner to the expert. The author also has some helpful tips covering storage, bottling and blending wines. There are also several recipes for generic white, red and rose wines, which are worth a look.But it is worth noting that this book was written by an American author so the measurements are in quarts and lbs rather than metric. Therefore its worth looking up the quantities first or have an online convertor to hand.

A good book to start you off in home wine making,funny at times .Lots of recipes not too technical. "Cheers"