Tennessee Gun

Tag: wine

  • How to Build a Wine Bottle Torch

    How to Build a Wine Bottle Torch

    DIY: Wine Bottle Torch
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    Lighting is very important for Preppers, campers, and honestly everybody else.

    Today’s article will show how to make a lamp out of an old wine bottle.

    This works well as a tiki torch, and can be used outside with citronella oil to repel bugs.

    Besides being a source of light and a way to repel bugs, this is a classy piece of decoration as well as an excuse to buy more wine.

    Of course if you don’t want to buy more wine you can always make some homemade wine.

     

    Materials

    • Empty Wine Bottle – Use any kind glass bottle with a 1” diameter neck
    • Teflon Tape
    • Copper Top Plate Connector (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
    • 1” Split Ring Hanger (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
    • 1/2” x 3/8” Copper Coupling
    • 1/2” Copper Cap
    • Two Hex Nuts (threaded for 3/8”-16 thread rod)
    • Two #10 x 1” Zinc Plated Wood Screws (if your mounting it to wood)
    • 3/8”-16 Zinc Plated Threaded Rod (a 3’ rod will cut down to 8, 4-1/2” rods)
    • Tiki Replacement Wick
    • Torch Fuel

    Tools

    • Channel lock pliers
    • Adjustable wrench
    • Hacksaw
    • Screwdriver
    • Funnel

    Procedure

    Hanger

    1. Position the Top Plate Connector on your mounting surface and mark the holes for where the screws will go.
    2. Install Plate connector and screw in the 3/8”-16 Rod until it stops.
    3. Thread the two Hex Nuts on to the Rod and tighten one all the way down at the point where the Rod meets the Top Connector Plate. Leave the other Hex Nut at the front end so it can be used to secure the Split Ring Hanger.
    4. Thread on the Split Ring Hanger just enough so that the Rod is flush with the inside of the ring. Turn the 2nd Hex Nut counter-clockwise to snug it up against the Split Ring Hanger.

    Torch

    1. Carefully and tightly wrap the 1/2” end of the Coupling with your Teflon Tape.
    2. Continue building up the tape until it fits very snugly into the opening of your bottle.
    3. Insert the Wick into the Coupling until it sticks out about 1/4”.
    4. The Tiki replacement wicks are about 3/8” in diameter so they fit well.
    5. Unscrew the Split Ring Hanger on one side and position the bottle neck into the ring.
    6. Flip the front half of the ring back into place and tighten down the Hanger evenly on both sides. You may need to loosen the other side to make sure both sides are an even tightness. (Don’t over tighten the Hanger. You don’t want to break the glass.)
    7. Use a funnel to fill the bottle with your favorite torch oil.
    8. Insert the Coupling & Wick into the top of the bottle and twist it snugly into place. Give the Wick a few minutes to absorb the oil before you try to light it.

    Use the Copper Cap to keep the Wick dry when you’re not using your torch.

  • How to Make Homemade Dandelion Wine

    How to Make Homemade Dandelion Wine

    52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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    At the best of times, survival situations are highly daunting and require a level of mental and physical alertness that is destroyed by alcohol. But what if your situation is not so dire? Your supplies are well stocked for months and you are not going to be in any danger for the foreseeable future, then it might be time for a bit of a drink.

    If the local stores have ran out of stock, you are just going to have to rely on yourself to make your own alcoholic beverages. A good supply of alcohol is not just good for personal consumption.  You could also be used to barter for items that you don’t have.

    Did you know that you can make wine out of almost any plant? It requires no special ingredients and the only thing that you might need is some sugar, yeast, acid and whatever you are going to make your wine out of.

    The most common garden item that most wine makers choose to use, is the humble dandelion. You could make your brew out of any thing else that you have lying around like tomatoes or other vegetables.  However, dandelions are abundant and don’t really have any other great uses. Except for the leaves which are edible.

    All the equipment that you need, is a sealed container to ferment your wine , an airlock to let air out of the sealed container but not let air in, and some bottles or jars to store and age the finished product in.

    Making wine is an easy process and anyone can do it if they have the slightest bit of knowledge on the subject.

    How to make dandelion wine

    Ingredients:

    • Quart of yellow dandelion flowers.  Rinse them thoroughly
    • 8 cups of sugar
    • Gallon of boiling water
    • Lemon slice
    • Orange, sliced
    • Packet of yeast. If you do not have yeast, then you are not going to want to completely seal the container that the wine is fermenting in so airborne yeast can get in.

    Procedure:

    1. You are going to want to place your well rinsed dandelion flowers into boiling water and boil them for 5 minutes. Then remove the blossoms, discard them and let the water cool to about 90 degrees F.
    2. Make sure that your sealed container is sterile before you add any thing to it. You can easily sterilize your fermenting container with boiling water but make sure that you are thorough about it because any bacteria left in there is going to destroy your wine.
    3. Put the dandelion juice that you have created into your seal-able fermenting container. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir them in thoroughly.
    4. Attach the air lock, which can be made out of tubes and pill cases, similar to a water bong. Then let your wine ferment for about 13 days. The best way to tell when fermentation has stopped is when bubbles stop forming inside the airlock.
    5. Siphon your dandelion wine off of the sediment in the fermentation container and seal it in preserving jars and let it age for about a week.
    6. Wait a week and enjoy your dandelion survival wine.

    That is how easy it is to make your own wine out of whatever you can find lying about. If your wine does not taste right or tastes like vinegar it is probably because there was too much bacteria in the wine which killed the yeast, ate the sugars and excreted acetic acid. This is easily solved but not everyone has packets of yeast in their bug out bag.