Corn Cob Wine

As I sit here and contemplate the hours until the 40 begins again, I thought I would post about one of my first brewing experiences. Last year, we canned a lot of corn. Trying to make sure we could use everything possible, I began looking for something to do with the cobs that we had cut all the corn from. We ended up with a couple of options: Corn Cob Jelly and Corn Cob Wine. I will discuss the jelly in another post, but needless to say, I had been wanting to try my hand at brewing for years but I never had the patience. This recipe seemed simple enough so we gave it a shot.

You will need:
A plastic gallon jug
8 corn cobs [roughly]
1 packet of yeast, activated [1 teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoons of warm water + yeast]
3 quarts of water
2 cups sugar
Mason jars
Coffee filters/fine strainer

Slice the lid of the jug so as to create a hinge. Slide the corn cobs inside the jug. Boil the water and then dissolve the 2 cups of sugar inside after removing it from the heat. Once it cools enough to handle, pour the water/sugar mixture into the jug up to about an inch or so from the rim. Then add the activated yeast to the mix. Close off the slice in the jug enough to stop any unwanted visitors, but with enough space to allow gas to escape from the fermentation. Then put the jug into a nice warm place and check on it until it stops bubbling [roughly 1 1/2 to 2 weeks]. Once the fermentation stops, decant the liquid through a filter [coffee filters or a fine strainer work just fine] and into a Mason jar. Place it in the fridge and allow the yeast to settle out. You can decant it further if you wish, or just drink it straight from the jar, slowing once you get to the bottom. In all honesty, I have to say I was impressed with the simplicity but nice quality product. It is definitely something we will continue to try as this year's harvest comes around again. Enjoy!