Easy Wine Making |
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If you are a lover of wine and want to learn how to make homemade wine for yourself, you will need information on what to do to make wine the easy way. Making wine can be done in a few easy to learn steps. Frozen and Fresh Fruit The first step is the decision making step, it is the most important thing to do when making wine, because in order to make good wine you must have a clear idea of what kind of wine you will want to make. You will want to know if you plan to use frozen or fresh fruit juice. This step is important because you must make a plan before getting started. The fastest and the simplest way to make wine are to use frozen fruit juice concentrate. One of the best concentrated fruit juices is made by Welch's. It is best to use the frozen juice because it does not contain the ingredient potassium sorbate. Juices with potassium sorbate will prevent the wine you are making from fermenting. For the best results it is to buy the frozen fruit concentrated juice. If you want to save some money, you may also want to consider buying 5 gallon containers of specific types of juice such as Merlot or Syrah, etc. Saving money is how to make homemade wine without breaking the bank. You may also wish to try Vintner's Harvest, which is another type of fruit juice that usually comes in the 46 ounce or the 92 ounce can. Normal flavors for the juice may be Peach, Raspberry, and Cranberry juices. The can itself contains the directions to make a generic wine, for the novice wine maker. The directions on the can help new wine makers learn how to make homemade wine using easy to follow direction. The Body of the Wine Another concern, you will want to address is the flavor (the body) of the wine. You must ask yourself will it be a light bodied wine, a medium bodied wine or will you want a full bodied wine. There is a certain amount of juice recommended for each level, you need one can for every gallon of light bodied wines, and for medium bodied wines you need 2 cans and 3 cans for full bodied wines. Getting Started: How to Make Homemade Wine The next step is to pour the juice into your fermenter. Fill the fermentor to the three gallon mark with both water and juice. There are many kinds of fermentation equipment available on the market, a good one for this would be the Ale Pail, and it comes with a lid and an airlock that you can use if you want to, however it is not necessary if you want to watch it ferment. Yet another consideration you will need to focus on is the use of fresh fruit. If you use fresh fruit, it is recommended that you crush the fruit before you add it to the fermenter. A good tool for crushing fruit is a potato masher. The next step in the process, you will want to do a test for acid and sugar, this is something you should do this every time you make wine especially while learning how to make homemade wine for the first time. Testing For Acidity In order to check the acid, you will need PH paper, this is an easy way to test the acidity, but the best way to test would be using an acid testing kits, the cost of the test is minimal, usually seven dollars. The kit also teaches you the process of acid testing while you learn how to make homemade wine. The kit will have the percentages of acid your wine should have, it will give you the specific levels such as how much acid needs to be in fruit wines or reds and whites. Red wine should be lower in acid and white wine should be higher. On average the percentage of acid should be around .60% to .85% The kit should contain an agent for coloring, a bottle of sodium hydroxide, test tube and a syringe. The process for using the test is extremely easy. First you fill the test tube with at least 15cc of your must. Next you will want to fill it with the coloring agent, use about 3 drops. The next step is to fill your syringe with 10cc of sodium hydroxide (keep in mind that sodium hydroxide is poisonous, so be careful to keep it away from your pets and children.) The last step in the process is to slowly add the sodium hydroxide at a rate of 1cc at a time, into your test tube until the liquid changes it color. You will have an idea of what percentage of acid you have, because if you put 5cc of sodium hydroxide in your must to make it change color, then you will know your must has a .50% of acid content. After you have determined how much acid you have in your must, then you will want to adjust the acid level if there is too much or not enough. If your acid level is high, adding water may bring it down, make sure you retest it to be sure it is where you want it to be. If the acid is too low, you will want to add an acid blend according to the directions that will be listed on your acid testing kit. Remember that a wine with too little or too much acid will not taste good so take your time and get the acid level right. Testing for sugar When you have tested for the acid of your must, you will want to also check for the sugar content levels. In order to test for the sugar you will need to use a piece of equipment called the hydrometer. The hydrometer looks somewhat like a thermometer with a bubble at the end. They come in many styles such as thermo hydrometers, juice hydrometer, specific hydrometers, digital hydrometers and sugar hydrometers. The best hydrometer for testing the sugar levels in your wine is the sugar hydrometer with 0% to 11% Brix scale. When reading your hydrometer, you need to understand that water reads approximated 1.000 on the hydrometer, while wine ferments a few steps under 1.095. For example if you want to achieve a 12% wine, you will want to start your wine at a SG (specific gravity) of 1.090 which is the wine making average. You will also want to consider the temperature; you will also want to calibrate the temperature to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. To get a reading you must pour your must into the testing tube and then put in the hydrometer. Take a look at the scale, if you don't have enough sugar, you will want to add some white sugar at a rate of one cup at a time until you get the right sugar level. If you have too much sugar (1.100) then you will want some water and test. Other Ingredients Now that you have done the test you will need to add the other ingredients needed to make sure your wine ferments properly. When you learn how to make homemade wine properly you will develop a system for using these ingredients. One of the products that all wines need is the yeast nutrient. It will act as a catalyst to turn the sugar into alcohol. However you will not be adding it yet but know that it is one of the most important products in the wine making process. If you are not making grape wine, all other wines need a little grape tannin added to your must. Some people use about 1/8th per teaspoon per gallon. Another product you can use if you do not have tannin is raisins; a handful per gallon should be enough. Another item you may need to add to your must is pectin enzyme; it breaks down any pectin in your wine. Pectin is used to increase the juice yield, extract the flavor, and it prevents a pectin haze from forming in the must. If you use to much don't worry, it will not leave a taste, smell or add to any of the setbacks that could occur in the wine making process, it will just give you more juice and color for your wine. So for fruit such as peach, strawberry, and apple it is important to use the pectin enzyme. The last thing to add to your must before you add the yeast is the Campden tablets, it is a sulfur based product that is used to kill certain bacteria and inhibit the growth of the wild yeast. It is recommended that you use one crushed Campden tablets per gallon of must before fermentation, another before the second racking and one more before the last racking before you bottle the wine. After you have added these items to your must you will want to let it sit for 24 hours, do not add the yeast because it may be killed by the Campden tablets. The last item you must add is the yeast. There are quite a few different types of yeast you can use and they come in two categories. You can use the dry yeast, it is cheaper and it is better in fruit wines. You may want to use the liquid type which is used in more style specific wines. The best dry yeasts to use are made by Red Star and Lavlin. Fermenting When you learn how to make homemade wine you will learn that fermentation is the most important process. There are two types of fermenting styles, open and closed. Open fermentation is a good process, some people say that the yeast needs oxygen (open air) to convert the sugar in the wine, the more oxygen you have will help to make your wine better. Closed fermentation is strongly suggested by many wine makers, claiming there is less of a chance of spoiled brew. Closed means the brew is sealed in a closed and air locked container. The air lock will allow the gas to escape but does not let any other things that may spoil your wine in. The first system you will use for the primary fermentation is a bucket with a large bag (grain/fruit type) to the top. If you do use this process be sure to keep it in a safe place away from your children and your pets. The primary fermentation process will take about 5 to 7 days. During the primary fermentation the solids will float to the top of your must as the yeast does its job. This will need to be gently stirred back into the fermenting wine every day, twice a day. When you are ready for the secondary fermentation, you will transfer it to your secondary container, the best container for this would be a glass carboy. Before transfer you will also want to skim the solids off the top before raking over. To accomplish the skimming part of the process you will want to use a slotted spoon so that the liquid will drain back into the wine. To rack over to your secondary you can do it one of two ways, you can use a funnel or a siphon. The funnel is easier and quicker so this may be the best way to rack the wine. Pour the wine into the secondary, airlock the container and leave your wine to sit for a month or more, and then get ready for the third racking. Rake it over and put it into a one gallon jug and airlock it again and leave it for two weeks. You will use a funnel for the bottling of your wine. When you get ready to bottle, first you must clean and sanitize the bottles, corks, and cap screw caps. With the funnel and pour wine into the bottle. Cap the bottle and age it for a few months. When you open the bottle test it before serving it, because you don't want to serve bad wine to your guests. Now that you have learned how to make homemade wine, you can take a break and enjoy some great wine.
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