We rarely buy wine anymore. It started innocently enough — my first batch of garden wine (or country wine, as they’re more commonly known) was dandelion wine. I was looking at the dandelions in my mom’s yard and wishing I could do something with them. It turned out great and it unleashed an intense desire to turn anything and everything from the garden into wine.

A couple years ago, when I saw a recipe for making corn cob wine, I knew I had my next project. We grow corn and I strip the kernels from the cob to either freeze or can and then toss the cobs in the compost.

The corn cob, though, still contains some sugar and makes for a good starter for wine. The end result is a nice white wine that tastes decent shortly after bottling, but the taste improves considerably over about 6-12 months.

It’s best to do this with fresh picked corn, used as soon after picking as possible. At that point in the summer I’m usually exhausted from preserving, so I usually freeze the cobs and start the wine at some point in the winter.

How to make corn cob wine

Corn cob wine requires a handful of ingredients, and there are some simple substitutions for some of the ingredients if you’re short on them. The tannin powder, yeast nutrient, and acid blend can all be replaced with simple kitchen ingredients, as outlined in my intro post to winemaking. (It’s also the post to start with if you’re new to winemaking and don’t know the terms or equipment.)

This post and the recipe card below will proceed under the assumption you’ve got the actual ingredients, but feel free to use substitutions when and where you want.

1. Boil the corn cobs

You’ll want fresh-picked corn for this, so preferably from your garden and not from a store or farmers market. Once corn is picked, the sugars get converted to starches, so you want to move as quickly as possible.

Carefully strip the kernels from the corn and freeze or pressure can the kernels. You just want the cobs for this recipe.

Boil the cobs in about 2 quarts of water for about 30 minutes. This extracts all the goodness from the corn cob.

Strain out all the solids and reserve the corn water. The cobs can be composted or discarded at this point.

2. Put everything in your fermentation vessel

Pour the corn water in your fermentation vessel. I use these great one-gallon glass jars with airlocks from Amazon, but in the earlier years of wine making, I would use a one-gallon glass apple juice jug with a makeshift airlock (a balloon with a couple pin pricks in it).

Add 4 pounds of sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Then add 1/2 teaspoon of pectic enzyme, 1 1/2 tablespoons acid blend, 1/8 tsp tannin powder, and 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient, stirring to combine everything.

Top up with fresh water.

Adding cool, fresh water should make the mixture closer to room temperature or slightly below. If it’s still warm to the touch, let it sit and cool to room temperature before proceeding.

When ready, sprinkle about half a packet of wine yeast on top.

Close the vessel and cap with an airlock.

3. Primary fermentation

Let it sit in a cool, dark place for 7-10 days for primary fermentation. This is the most active stage of fermentation where it bubbles considerably.

Once this is done, rack (transfer) the wine to a new fermentation vessel, leaving behind sediment.

4. Secondary fermentation

Let the wine ferment for an additional three months or until no more bubbles appear in the airlock. Rack (transfer) wine to a new vessel as needed, to remove the wine from the sediment.

5. Bottle, age, and enjoy

Bottle your wine and let it age for at least 3 months. You can drink it sooner, but the flavour improves with age. If you can hold off and wait 6-12 months, the flavour will be even better.