Home winemaking is the perfect hobby for the person who likes throwing around obtuse words at dinner parties just hoping someone will say, “Oh, what’s a carboy?” Or “How do you know so much about wine?”
It’s great for the ego, but also good for the pocketbook and your own sense of self-satisfaction. We also can’t overlook the no-brainer Christmas gift benefit.
For about a hundred bucks, you can set up a wine shop almost anywhere in your house that yields six one gallon batches.
It’s easy, or so they say – “they” being Northern Brewer, whose website tells us, “It couldn’t be easier — you supply the fruit, some table sugar, and empty bottles — then just choose one of over 100 recipes in the included book, and use real winemaking techniques on a 1-gallon scale to begin building your cellar and impressing your friends.”
There it is: “impressing your friends.”
Before you know it, you’ll be talking siphons with old girlfriends and in job interviews. One big “You’re so interesting!” and the indelible stains on the garage floor will all be worth it.