Wine Wisdom

When you enter the world of home wine making, there are no limits as to the different types of wines you can make. You are free to combine ingredients, add flavors, use locally grown fresh fruit, or berries you grow in your own home garden. You can allow your personal tastes to dictate the dryness or sweetness of your wine, or determine whether you will use fresh fruit or go with commercially available wine ingredient kits for a more traditional wine.

Wine Making Kits and Wine Making Supplies

A wine making kit is a great way to start in the art of home wine making if you are a beginner, because it will introduce you to all the basics of wine making and provide you with the essential wine making supplies and ingredients you need to get started. Once you're familiar with the process, you may want to make wine with whatever fresh fruits are available at different times of the year.

You will be able to use all of the equipment you got when you purchased any of the different wine kits available on eckraus.com, and purchase whatever additional supplies you may need to use when making fruit wines. When making fruit wines, the added equipment you need will require additional space, so be sure you understand this before deciding to make fruit wines.

Wine Grape Ingredient Kits

Wine grape ingredient kits allow you to choose from wine grape varieties that come from all over the world. These grape varieties will allow you to make wines from the same grape varieties as the wines you'd typically purchase from wine retailers everywhere. These concentrates give you the ability to make wine from the same grapes that are used to make your favorite European, Californian, or other types of wines that are made elsewhere in the United States or other parts of the world.

The huge range of grape concentrates that are available, and the ease with which you can get them, and the obvious difficulty you'd have in getting comparable fresh grapes means that grape concentrates are probably the best option when it comes to making traditional wines from wine grapes.

Using Fresh Fruit to Make Wine

There is a huge variety of different types of fresh fruit you can use to make your own wine, and it isn't more difficult to make fruit wine than it is to make wine with grape concentrate. Always make sure you are choosing fruits that are in season at the peak of their ripeness. Consider using strawberries or rhubarb in spring, blueberries, blackberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines or plums in summer, and apples in fall.

When you make wine from fresh fruit, you will have to test the acidity and amount of sugar in your liquid and make adjustments accordingly. You will also need to find out exactly how much fruit you need to use to make a gallon of wine. Home wine making recipes will instruct you as you go through each of the steps in the fruit wine making process.

The decision as to whether to use fresh fruit or wine concentrate is an entirely individual one. When you're making your own wine you can add anything you want to it to alter the taste. You may want to add dried berries, herbs, or flowers to a grape wine to enhance its flavor, or you may want to use fresh berries to make a sweeter wine. If you are going to use fresh fruit, consider purchasing it from farmers markets because you'll know that you're getting it at the peak of freshness and ripeness. Enjoy this fun experience, and invite your family and friends over to savor the taste of your newest creations.

Home brewed wine is a beautiful product that is composed, in essence, of three parts - material selection, method of crafting, and time given for fermentation. With the right wine making supplies, intrepid brewers can elevate their collections beyond store shelf fodder by incorporating their own twists on additives and base ingredients. Wine making kits will come with components such as grape juices, yeasts and brewing containers, but curiosity drives many home brew enthusiasts to think outside the box when it comes to wine kits, researching switches and swaps that make vino truly personal. One of the most common changes is the sugar, or sugar alternative like honey, that is used to feed the yeast that ferments the juice.

Honey: Pros and Cons

Honey is a very complex ingredient all by itself - flower pollens and dozens of sugar compounds like dextrose and maltose are all packed into that thick, sweet syrup we all know and love. The taste of honey can vary widely depending on what flowers the producing hive frequents, giving rise to classic types like wildflower and more exotic varieties like orange flower or elderflower. When incorporated into the ingredients found in wine making kits, honey adds a deep complexity and sweetness to wine that many home brewers find more attractive than sugar, but it comes at a price. Due to the multiple sugars present in honey versus the single compound in traditional wine making sugar, fermentation takes considerably longer. According to home brewing enthusiast and blogger Jack Keller of JackKeller.net, 1.25 pounds of honey can be substituted for a pound of sugar in a given wine recipe, though if all of the sugar is exchanged for honey, you'll end up brewing a honey wine or mead, rather than a traditional wine.

Sugar: Pros and Cons

Sugar, despite being a relatively simple ingredient, also comes in a wide range of forms that affect the wine it ferments. Traditional table sugar will produce wine that is consistent and familiar, but experimenting with more unique forms such as the blonde turbinado sugar or dark muscavado sugar with its hints of molasses will give your palate plenty to explore. The drawbacks of using sugar is that table varieties may not produce the depth of a finished product that you'd like, and the more exotic forms of sugar may be outside of the price range of beginning brewers. Sugar, however, is an excellent and stable ingredient to stretch your winemaking "legs" with, making it a must-have inclusion in wine kits. Sugar can also be added to a finished wine to sweeten it; rock sugar and bar or caster sugar are the most popular choices for this option due to their respective long and short dissolve times.

If you're interested in home brewing wine, or are already a fan of the hobby, experimenting with both honey and sugar is the best way to find out which one, or what form of combinations, will work for your needs.

Everyone who becomes a home winemaker has their own reasons for deciding to home brew their own wine. There is so much available information about wine making on the Internet, it's enough to make your head spin. To eliminate your need to hunt for some basic “must know” information all over, we're providing you with what we think are 9 most important aspects you need to know about home wine making so you don't miss something important in the beginning.

1. Invest in Wine Making Kits

When you first see the price of wine making kits, the price may scare you. However, when you take the time to take a look at all the things you get with the kit you will see that almost all of the wine making supplies are reusable, so you will continue to use them when you brew future batches of wine. This, in turn, saves money over time. Plus, purchasing kits assures beginning wine makers that they have all the supplies they need for the process.

2. Making Your Own Wine Isn’t More Expensive

If you drink wine regularly, the cost of wine kits will save you money as you brew more and more batches.

3. Making Wine With Fresh Fruit Isn't More Difficult

When making wine from fresh fruit understand the need for extra equipment such as the catch stand, crusher, destemmer and fruit press. If you don't have a lot of room, this isn't a good option for you.

4. Wine Concentrates Offer a Much Larger Grape Selection

Because of the huge selection, and because wine concentrates are made with grapes that are picked at the peak of their freshness, they consistently produce excellent tasting wines. If you try to buy grapes or use your own, the quality of the grapes may not be as good.

5. First Time Home Wine Makers Are Better Off Using Wine Concentrates

Wine concentrates offer reliability. Concentrates come in the exact amount needed to make a batch of wine. Consistency is important, and it will minimize discouragement and frustrations.

6. Only Use Mature Ripe Fruit When Making Fruit Wines

Unripe green fruit has too much acid and very little sugar, neither of which are qualities that will produce the best tasting fruit wines.

7. You Can Make Wine From Dried Berries or Rose Hips

Only purchase dried berries or rose hips from places that sell wine making supplies as opposed to grocery stores or other locations. These dried flowers and berries are cultivated specifically for wine making. Buying berries from these sellers assures you that you get the right amount for specific amounts of wine.

8. Adding Oak Chips to Your Fermenter Will Give Wine the Flavor of an Oak Barrel 

Oak barrels aren't practical for home winemakers because of the cost, and because of sanitation issues. When you add oak chips to your fermenter, you are adding oak chips that are made from the same wood that is used to make wine barrels.

9. Homemade Wine Lasts Just as Long as Store Bought Wine 

Red wines get their deep color from the skins, so the longer you leave those skins on, the deeper the color will be. Acid or tannin in the wine also helps retard spoilage and prevent oxidation. The flip side of this is that high amounts of acid or tannin change the taste of the wine – though not for the better. Allowing wine to age creates a deeper and more flavorful wine.

If you are a wine lover the process of making your own wine can be a very rewarding one. You can also get customized labels to give your wine a more professional look. Regardless of whether you're a wine connoisseur or someone who is new to the world of wine, by making your own wine, you will develop a far greater appreciation for the wine making process, and the taste of great wines.

Brewing wine or beer at home requires some basic knowledge about the different stabilizers that are used. Although the stabilizers for wine and beer differ, determining when to use the stabilizing agent has certain similarities.

Increasing the Shelf-Life

The most common use of a stabilizer for beer or wine is related to the shelf life of the final product. A stabilizing agent is added after brewing the beer or wine to keep the final product good for a longer period of time.

In the case of beer, stabilizing agents are used to slow the development of haziness. When haziness develops, beer is no longer good. A stabilizing agent for beer can work in one of two ways: it will either degrade the proteins that cause haziness or it will bond to the proteins so that the beer lasts longer in storage.

When it comes to wine, stabilizing agents are added to increase the shelf life and prevent re-fermentation from occurring. When a stabilizer is added to wine, it will last longer even if it is not possible to store it in a cellar or fridge.

Adding for Flavor Maintenance

Although the primary purpose of a stabilizer for both wine and beer is increasing the shelf life of the brew, it can also help maintain flavor in particular situations.

A stabilizer is always added to sweet wines because it is possible for re-fermentation to occur. The stabilizer maintains the flavor of the wine by preventing it from starting to ferment a second time. Although it is appropriate to prevent re-fermentation in sweet wines, it is not necessary to add the stabilizer to a dry wine. Dry wines do not have room for more fermentation.

Stabilizers do not have much impact on the flavor of beers except as it relates to shelf life. If a beer does not have excellent taste before adding a stabilizer, it will not improve when the stabilizer is added.

Equipment Considerations

A stabilizing agent is not useful when the wine or beer has a poor flavor. When brews are consistently coming out with a poor flavor, it is best to look at the cleanliness and sanitation of the equipment or the filtration system. Poor taste is more often the result of equipment problems or minerals in the water than the wine or beer going bad in a short period of time.

The decision to add a stabilizer to wine or beer is a personal choice. Stabilizers can help increase the shelf life and maintain a good flavor, but it does not help if the original flavor was not good. Deciding when to add stabilizers will depend on personal goals and the type of brew.

A good wine will have beautiful facets and notes that bloom from the glass and inspire the palette as it glides across the tongue. Pair it with the wrong foods, however, and all of those lovely nuances will be destroyed - tangled in unpleasant ways with the natural chemicals and PH balance of your vintage or situated in a way that blocks delicate notes from reaching their perceptual destination. When you keep these tipsy pairings on your no-go list, your next dinner party will escape the sour taste of a wine faux pas.

1.) Eggs and Dairy: Using these ingredients in a dish gives it a tendency to coat the tongue and block components of wine from reaching the drinker's palette. The thick consistency of the milk fat and egg yolk resists washing away with bites of food or sips of wine, unlike thinner-consistency fare.

2.) Salty foods: Wines with pronounced tannic notes pair poorly with salty foods like prepared ham because these two strong characteristics "argue" with each other in the mouth. When serving dishes are heavy in salt, tannic wines should actually be swapped out in favor of lighter, acidic choices to ensure that no clash occurs.

3.) Vinegar-laden sauces: As editor Ted Loos notes in a piece for Epicurious, vinegar sauces will diminish the fruity flavors of a Pinot Noir and provide an unpleasant finish. Vinegar and pickled dishes will "flatten" normally complex wine flavors, leaving even the most intrepid wine taster disappointed.

4.) Fish: Offerings such as smoked fish will overpower some lighter wines, while the flavor profile of more delicate fish will be lost when stacked against complex bouquets and strong note groupings.

5.) Baked Goods: While some wines actually do pair well with sweet treats, don't reach for a brisk bubbly with these confections. The tart flavors of champagne do a disservice to even the finest icing, ruining both treats before they have a chance to impress an eager partygoer. Opt for a gentle white wine in lieu of a glass of sparkling bubbly and you'll save dessert for everyone.

Bear in mind that none of the foods on this list are necessarily "bad" foods, nor are any of the cautioned-against wines less than delightful to vino enthusiasts. They simply don't play well together. When you select the right dishes and sauces to accompany your favorite wines, however, your choices will elevate your fare to a true harmony on the palate.

Have you found particular wines that don’t pair well with your food? Let us know what those are so we can share with others!

Although a homebrew kit and other brewing equipment will have some basic instructions for sanitation, it is not always enough to simply clean off all of the minerals on the equipment. When minerals or organic materials used in brewing are left behind, the next batch of beer will not come out the way it is expected. Fortunately, cleaning the homebrew kit and equipment properly is not a hard process.

Scrub the Equipment

The best way to clean any kit and equipment used in brewing is by scrubbing away the visible dirt, debris, materials and stains. Start the process by rinsing off as much large debris or items as possible.

After rinsing, apply an appropriate cleaner to the equipment. The best cleaner is a powdered brewery wash, or PBW, which is designed specifically for cleaning the kit and equipment. If the brewery wash is not available, then a powdered oxy cleaner, liquid dish soap, or baking soda is also appropriate.

Remove any dirt, stains, or debris with a small amount of water with a cleaner and a scrub pad or brush. If the equipment is plastic, then use a terry cloth to avoid leaving behind scratches. Rinse the equipment until the cleaner is completely removed.

Sanitize the Equipment

Cleaning and sanitizing are not the same process. Sanitizing is only performed after the cleaning is complete because it is not possible to sanitize the debris left behind. Sanitation is the process of killing any microscopic organisms that are left behind after cleaning.

Sanitizing your homebrew equipment is a simple process. A sanitizing chemical, such as One Step No Rinse Cleanser or sodium metabisulphate, is dissolved in water and allowed to sit on the equipment and kit for the duration of time specified in the directions. In most cases, sanitizers will sit for roughly five minutes to bring the level of yeast, bacteria, and other microscopic concerns to a minimum. Don’t worry about knowing specifics; these sanitizers will have specific instructions on how to determine the amount of time and ingredients required.

Similar to wine, there are so many types of cleaners on the market you probably won’t know what is going to work best for you until you try them. If One Step and sodium metabisulphate don’t do the trick you can always try B-Bright Cleaner, Cleanpro SDH or campden tablets. Check out our full line of home wine making cleaning supplies and homebrew cleaning supplies for your system today. Cleaning is not only vital to getting the best taste; it is also a simple process.

Spring is in the air! For many of us that means our favorite frosty brews are finally available. Here are some we suggest not skipping this spring; grab yours while it’s cold and still available. Even better, use these beers as inspiration for your next batch of home brewed beer.

Port Brewing Company: Hot Rocks Lager

This lager is a deep ruby brown with an aroma of dark caramel, chocolate, and toffee. In the early days of home brewing hot rocks were used because of their ability to conduct heat and boil water. Hot Rocks Lager’s smoky caramel flavor is said to remain present because of this old fashioned way of brewing. Get yours today – out in early spring!

Gordon Biersch: Maibock

Translated from German Maibock means the rock beer of May. This brew is available seasonally from February through April only. The caramelized Munich malt combines with the perfect level of bitterness to create the perfect flavor. With a 7.3% alcohol volume (standard for many craft beers) so when enjoyed in moderation the effects might just creep up on you. Gordon Biersch’s Maibock is brewed with a Weihenstephan 34/70 yeast strain similar to our Fermentis Beer Yeast, Salfager W-34/70.

Rogue: Morimoto Soba Ale

Morimoto Soba Ale is a specialty beer that Rogue started brewing in 2003 and with internationally known Chef Masaharu Morimoto – a James Beard awarded chef. Soba, known as buckwheat, is a member of the rhubarb family giving this Ale its fruity flavor. Morimoto Soba ale is made with no chemicals, additives or preservatives and only 8 ingredients.

Dogfish Head: Aprihop

Aprihop, an American IPA, is a seasonal fruity beer for “hopheads”. Brewed with Pilsner and Crystal malts gives this beer its especially hoppy taste. Along with its hoppy taste is a nice addition of apricots to finish it off with a fruity flavor. This is one of Dogfish’s most popular seasonal beers and is only available from March through May.

Heavy Seas Beer: Loose Cannon

While not a true seasonal beer, this IPA is said to win people over upon first smell. Its fragrant smells of grapefruit, herbs, and pine make this beer especially perfect for spring. Similar to Dogfish’s, Airhop, Loose Cannon is also a hoppy beer. Loose Cannon is hopped in three ways: kettle, hop back, and dry hopped.

We’re hoping this was enough inspiration to pull out your dusty home brew kit and start brewing your own spring or summer beer. We suggest starting with something easy like a pilsner. Try making your own home brewed Pilsner with our beginners Brewers Best Beer Recipe kit.

When looking at the grape crushing process in winemaking one might assume that it's really just a fancy way of juicing the grapes. In fact, without crushing, that grape juice might never actually turn to wine in the first place. Simply put, crushing and destemming are one of the most important parts of the winemaking process.

The point of crushing is not merely to juice the grapes, but to get the juice running - to get the sugars and the yeasts intermingling by breaking the grape's skin. This allows the yeast to begin turning the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In other words, it's not really going to become wine if you don't crush the grapes. You can get some great grape juice, but you're not going to get the fine wine you’re looking for.

You may be surprised to learn that it is actually the grape skin that lends red wine its color, so the winemaker might not divide the wine and the pulp immediately after crushing the grapes. Destemming takes place at this point in time regardless of what sort of wine you're trying to make, but if you're after a white wine, you'll be removing the grape skins right along with the stems. When making red wine, the skin will usually be left in with the juice during the pressing and fermentation process.

There may be some variations to this step of the winemaking process depending on what type of wine is being made and who's making it, but generally speaking, grapes need to be crushed and destemmed.

Need some help with your crushing and destemming process? Check out our assortment of crushers and destemmers.

Forget Octoberfest--this is your fest.

If you're passionate about beer, home brewing, and everything that has to do with beer sampling and know of others that share the same interests, why not take a shot at organizing and starting your own brew festival tradition? There's a lot that you'll need to do and a lot of duties to assign, but if it all comes together, your own brew fest can be a fun, rewarding experience.

So what exactly do you need to do to plan your own beer festival? Here's a look:

Gauge Interest: The first step in planning any festival-- especially if it's a first festival--is to gauge interest. Do this by putting out feelers to local breweries and pubs in your area to see if they would be interested in attending and maybe even in helping you promote it. Talk with the owners about this. As people who deal with a clientele of beer enthusiasts on a daily basis, they'll be able to give you a better idea of how successful--from a participation standpoint--a brew fest might be.

Set a Date, Venue, and Logistics: If you're confident a brew fest will be well attended, then the next step is setting a date, selecting a venue, and working out other various logistics. For instance, if your brew fest is taking place outside, you'll likely need to look into tents, porta potty rentals, security, and maybe even a rain contingency plan. In line with other logistics you'll need to work out, consider planning special events and competitions for your brew fest. Taste tests, home brewing competitions and beer pong all make for good events at beer brew festivals. Don’t forget to check for any necessary permits you might need!

Seek Sponsorship: If you can secure any sponsorships for your brew fest you can save organizational costs, and can charge cheaper admission prices. Circle back to the local breweries and pubs you visited when seeing whether or not your brew fest was feasible and ask if they'd be willing to sponsor the event.

Market and Advertise: The final step is to market and advertise your brew fest. See if local businesses will hang flyers in their windows to help spread the word and consider buying ad space in your local newspaper. Create a press release and send it to local media outlets to see if they'll add the brew fest to their event calendars. Also encourage any sponsors to help promote the event.

It's a lot of work planning and organizing your own brew fest and a lot more work on the day-of to ensure it goes off successfully. But doing so can be a fun, rewarding experience that may spur a new tradition. Make it even more fun and try to promote your home brewed beer to promote at the festival! You can get everything you’ll need right from our website.

When you see pictures of French wine caves and elaborate wine cellars in the homes of movie stars, it's easy to get the impression that old wines are better than wines that have been recently bottled. But the truth isn't nearly so cut and dry. In fact, many wines are at their best in their first few years, and even the best-aged wines reach a point where time diminishes their flavor rather than enhancing it. The secret to an ideal experience is knowing which types of wine actually do taste better with age and how long to leave them in the bottle.

Wines That Get Better with Age

For some wines, aging in the bottle softens them and allows their full complexity to be enjoyed. Most, but not all, of these are full-bodied reds. According to Better Tasting Wine, the following wines should be allowed to age in the bottle for maximum enjoyment:

• Old World Cabernet Sauvignon (Bordeaux, Meritage, California wines made in the French style) -- 20+ years
• French Merlot (St. Emilion, Pomerol) -- 15 to 20 years
• Syrah (Shiraz) -- 5 to 15 years
• Riesling -- up to 15 years
• White Bordeaux (made from Semillon) -- 20+ years
• Champagne (top quality) -- 20+ years
• Sauterne -- up to 100 years

Wines to Drink Young

For purposes of wine, young is generally defined as five years old and younger. One of the most notable wines that are at its best as soon as it is bottled is the French Beaujolais Nouveau. The new vintage of this product of Burgundy, made with Gamay grapes, is released each year on the third Thursday of November to much excitement and headlines. However, Beaujolais isn't the only wine that can be enjoyed to its fullest while young. Better Tasting Wine lists several types that are best when consumed in less than five years:

• Pinot Noir
• Red Zinfandel
• Chardonnay
• Sauvignon Blanc

So don't worry if you don't have the time or the space to age wines for decades. You can enjoy plenty of quality wines right out of the wine store. Salut!