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Wine Making In 8 Simple Steps
Thursday, February 22, 2007
After about six years of wine making and learning about acid testing, pH, balance etc., you wonder if you can condense the process down to just a few simple steps. These simple steps are assuming the following:
1. You are going to use store bought juice’s. ie. Welch’s frozen or any other that does not have preservatives added;
2. You plan to consume your wine as early as possible, usually about 2 – 3 months after primary fermentation;
3. Your not out to win any awards but what something you can kick back with and enjoy.
I know many winemakers would cringe with the 3 assumptions above, but I feel there numerous people looking to get into winemaking and would like to take a simple approach. Or, maybe your are an experienced winemaker looking to make a batch for quick consumption. Either way, here are the simple steps to making wine.
I know many winemakers would cringe with the 3 assumptions above, but I feel there numerous people looking to get into winemaking and would like to take a simple approach. Or, maybe your are an experienced winemaker looking to make a batch for quick consumption. Either way, here are the simple steps to making wine.
This procedure is designed to make 1 ½ gallons which will probably end up being about 1 gallon bottled.
Procedure
1. Use two 11 ounce frozen juice to 1 gallon of must for a medium bodied wine. For a heavy bodied wine use 4 to a gallon. That means you will need 3 to 6 to make this batch.
2. Dump juice into your primary fermenter and add enough water to make 1 ½ gallons. Check the sugar content by using your hydrometer. If needed add enough sugar to bring the hydrometer reading to between 1.080 – 1.095. Retest after adding sugar and if higher that 1.095 dilute with a little water.
3. If you wish to, you can add two crushed campden tablets to your must. I really don’t think you need to since your must is pretty much sterilized. If you do add campden tablets, you will have to let the must sit for a day prior to adding the yeast.
4. Add your yeast nutrient
5. Add your yeast. Personally, I prefer to use half a packet of dry yeast.
6. Allow to ferment for 7 – 10 days then rack over to secondary fermenter.
7. If you plan to add oak chips, now is the time for that. Keep in the secondary for about 6 to 8 weeks. Rack again.
8. About 2 weeks after the last racking, you can begin to consume your masterpiece. I use either a 1 gallon or 2 gallon plastic water jug with a spout, if I plan on drinking my wine immediately. Otherwise, I just bottle it for later.
There you go. Eight simple steps to making wine. Nothing real hard about it and the best thing is that you can begin drinking it in about 2 to 3 months. Give it a whirl and let me know how your masterpiece turned out.
8 comments:
Hey,this is an "ask and ye shall recieve" moment.Here I was,looking everywhere for an easy,concise recipe for making wine from grape juice.I Googled,and there you were.
The Husband and I have already started a batch and weren't sure how long to leave it in the primary.Thanks for the info!
If you are interested in wine making then you need to do a little homework before you get started. Wine making is not
something that you can just plunge into and learn along the way, you need to do some research so that you know that you
are not missing any vital wine making steps or processes. If you do miss these wine making your wine could very well turn
out tasting like anything but wine.
Wine making is a something fun that you can do in your spare time and at the end you will have a glorious result. Wine
making is something that people tend to get hooked on because the very first batch is not usually perfect, it may taste
delicious but it will not be perfect. As you learn about wine making and as you get the wine making experience behind you
your wine will get better and better. You will undoubtedly pick up tips and tricks to help you improve your wine making
capabilities.
As you're growing up as a teenager, there are a number of things that you look forward to; getting your drivers license,
graduating from high school, going to your senior prom, having your first date and having your first beer. The problem
with this last one is that the drinking age and the thing you want make it something that you just can't have yet. And
still, you want it and will go to any lengths to get it.
Underage beer drinking is certainly no secret and to try to sweep it under the carpet isn't going to make it go away. But
the most odd thing about underage drinking when it comes to beer is that even after kids sneak their first beer, they
still want to have another one. If you're wondering why that sounds so strange then you need to think back to when YOU
had your first beer. It was pretty nasty tasting. Let's be honest, beer is bitter and is an acquired taste. Very few
people, if any at all, enjoyed their first beer. Many even get sick after it because of the taste or the fact that
they're not used to the alcohol yet.
Perhaps I missed it somewhere along the way, but I think Debra's question ("...and weren't sure how long to leave it in the primary. Thanks for the info!") was a reasonable one...and a good one to ask.
What, pray tell, was the answer?
Thank you!
Regards,
Bill
Bill,
Usually I leave the must ferment for 7 to 10 days in the primary fermenter.
You can also use this type of wine recipe to top off your wine kits or country wine when you transfer from vessel to vessel.
I am gathering the ingredients/equipment to make elderberry wine (my first time) and one thing that I have not found covered in all the wine making instructions.... type of water! Our water is very hard, will boiling it before adding it to the must be ok or should I add "get better water to my shopping list"?
I usually use 5 gallons of bottled water. It usually has most of the chemicals out of it and makes a great wine.
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