Prepare the wine making produce by cutting up
larger fruit, busting skins on smaller fruit,
chopping up fruits such as raisins, and bruising
any produce like ginger root, etc. Also, any large pits
should be removed.It is also important to
understand that you can over-process the produce.
Food processors, blenders and such should not be
used for this purpose. Doing so will cause too much
bitterness from the skin and seeds of the produce to
be incorporated into the resulting wine.
Stir together all of the wine making ingredients called for, EXCEPT
for the
YEAST, into a
primary fermenter. Collect any pulp in a
fermentation bag and submerge the bag into the
wine making mixture.Add water to equal the
batch to 5 gallons. The
Campden Tablets should be crushed up before
adding. Do not add the wine yeast at this point in
the process. Adding the wine yeast at the same time
you add the Campden Tablets will only result in
destroying the yeast.
Cover the fermenter
with a thin, clean towel and wait 24 hours. If no Campden
Tablets are called for in the particular recipe you
are making then you can omit this waiting period.During this waiting period the Campden Tablets
are sterilizing the juice with a mild sulfur gas.
After 24 hours the gas leaves the container making
it then safe to add the wine yeast.
Sprinkle the wine making yeast
over the surface of the juice and then cover with a
thin, clean towel. Allow this mixture (must) to ferment for
5 to 7 days. You should start to see some
foaming activity within 24 hours of adding the
yeast. Typically, 70% of the fermentation activity
will occur during this 5 to 7 day period.
After 5 to 7 days remove the
pulp from the fermenter and discard. Siphon the wine into a
secondary fermenter in a careful manner, so as to leave the sediment behind.You can easily remove the pulp by lifting out the
fermentation bag. Wring out any excess juice from
the bag. Siphon the wine off the sediment without
stirring it up. Get as much liquid as you can, even
it some of the sediment comes with it. If necessary,
add water back to 5 gallons.
Attach a wine making
air-lock and fill it
approximately half-way with water. Allow the juice to ferment for an additional 4-6 week
period or until it becomes completely clear.
You may want to verify with your hydrometer that the
fermentation has completed before continuing on to
step 7. The hydrometer should read between 0.990 and
0.998 on the Specific Gravity scale. Be sure to give
the wine plenty of time to clear up before bottling.
Once the wine has cleared
completely, siphon it off of the sediment again. Stir in 5
Campden Tables that have been crushed and then bottle.When siphoning off the sediment, unlike the first
time you siphoned the wine, you want to leave all of
the sediment behind, even if you lose a little wine.
Before starting your first batch of homemade
wine you may want to take a look at the following
article listed on our web site:
The Top Ten Reasons For Fermentation Failure.
This will help you to avoid the mistakes that have
been most commonly made by beginners.
Being sanitary is one of the keys to great home wine making. Be sure to thoroughly clean all
the wine making equipment before getting started. Four crushed
Campden Tablets to each quart of water makes a good sanitizer. Just follow the directions provided with the Campden Tablets.
During the wine making process, it is very important to keep fermentation temperatures stable between 70-75 degrees F. Getting the fermentation too cool could result in the fermentation stopping before all the alcohol is made. Getting the fermentation too warm could result in off-flavors in the wine.
The wine will be dry tasting when done fermenting. If you prefer your wines sweeter, simply add sugar, honey, etc. to taste. However, you must first add a
wine making stabilizer such as
Potassium Sorbate, or there will be a strong chance of re-fermentation occurring in the bottles.
You may decide to purchase a wine making
Hydrometer. It measures the concentration of sugar in your wine at any given time. With this information you can determine your wine’s alcoholic content or simply monitor the progress
throughout the home wine making process.
Prepare the wine making produce by cutting up
larger fruit, busting skins on smaller fruit,
chopping up fruits such as raisins, and bruising
any produce like ginger root, etc. Also, any large pits
should be removed.It is also important to
understand that you can over-process the produce.
Food processors, blenders and such should not be
used for this purpose. Doing so will cause too much
bitterness from the skin and seeds of the produce to
be incorporated into the resulting wine.
Stir together all of the wine making ingredients called for, EXCEPT
for the
YEAST, into a
primary fermenter. Collect any pulp in a
fermentation bag and submerge the bag into the
wine making mixture.Add water to equal the
batch to 5 gallons. The
Campden Tablets should be crushed up before
adding. Do not add the wine yeast at this point in
the process. Adding the wine yeast at the same time
you add the Campden Tablets will only result in
destroying the yeast.
Cover the fermenter
with a thin, clean towel and wait 24 hours. If no Campden
Tablets are called for in the particular recipe you
are making then you can omit this waiting period.During this waiting period the Campden Tablets
are sterilizing the juice with a mild sulfur gas.
After 24 hours the gas leaves the container making
it then safe to add the wine yeast.
Sprinkle the wine making yeast
over the surface of the juice and then cover with a
thin, clean towel. Allow this mixture (must) to ferment for
5 to 7 days. You should start to see some
foaming activity within 24 hours of adding the
yeast. Typically, 70% of the fermentation activity
will occur during this 5 to 7 day period.
After 5 to 7 days remove the
pulp from the fermenter and discard. Siphon the wine into a
secondary fermenter in a careful manner, so as to leave the sediment behind.You can easily remove the pulp by lifting out the
fermentation bag. Wring out any excess juice from
the bag. Siphon the wine off the sediment without
stirring it up. Get as much liquid as you can, even
it some of the sediment comes with it. If necessary,
add water back to 5 gallons.
Attach a wine making
air-lock and fill it
approximately half-way with water. Allow the juice to ferment for an additional 4-6 week
period or until it becomes completely clear.
You may want to verify with your hydrometer that the
fermentation has completed before continuing on to
step 7. The hydrometer should read between 0.990 and
0.998 on the Specific Gravity scale. Be sure to give
the wine plenty of time to clear up before bottling.
Once the wine has cleared
completely, siphon it off of the sediment again. Stir in 5
Campden Tables that have been crushed and then bottle.When siphoning off the sediment, unlike the first
time you siphoned the wine, you want to leave all of
the sediment behind, even if you lose a little wine.
Before starting your first batch of homemade
wine you may want to take a look at the following
article listed on our web site:
The Top Ten Reasons For Fermentation Failure.
This will help you to avoid the mistakes that have
been most commonly made by beginners.
Being sanitary is one of the keys to great home wine making. Be sure to thoroughly clean all
the wine making equipment before getting started. Four crushed
Campden Tablets to each quart of water makes a good sanitizer. Just follow the directions provided with the Campden Tablets.
During the wine making process, it is very important to keep fermentation temperatures stable between 70-75 degrees F. Getting the fermentation too cool could result in the fermentation stopping before all the alcohol is made. Getting the fermentation too warm could result in off-flavors in the wine.
The wine will be dry tasting when done fermenting. If you prefer your wines sweeter, simply add sugar, honey, etc. to taste. However, you must first add a
wine making stabilizer such as
Potassium Sorbate, or there will be a strong chance of re-fermentation occurring in the bottles.
You may decide to purchase a wine making
Hydrometer. It measures the concentration of sugar in your wine at any given time. With this information you can determine your wine’s alcoholic content or simply monitor the progress
throughout the home wine making process.
