Book Review: The Joy of Home Winemaking

The first thing I ever brewed up came from The Joy of Home Winemaking by Terry Garey, published in 1996 Garey has a simplified recipe using minimal wine making equipment and juice concentrate to make a simple apple wine. It kind of lets you get a feel for everything without spending a lot of money, though later, you wonder if it was really wise to start brewing without a hydrometer.

While there are other fruit wine making books out there, this is the one I recommend for beginners. Garey organizes the book quite well and has a good tone. Experimenting is encouraged, yet the basics are not ignored. Recipes include blueberry wine, canned cherry wine, elderberry wine, potato wine, mint wine, herb wine, grain wines, and an onion wine that Garey admits to never having made. Garey adds a personal touch to recipes, commenting on how the author likes to make it, but suggestions on how you could make it to fit your tastes. This book is a how to with recipe guidelines, and I think that is why I like it.

Geary also has included a section of drinks to make from your wine, making liquors from spirits, an appendix on troubleshooting problems, and a conversion chart from metric, bottle sizes, and wine supply stores. There is an index of topics, and an index of wine recipes.

Take a look at Garey’s website.