Tag: Making

Making Homemade Wine

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Making homemade wine is a tradition that many people still continue today.  Many people assume that making wine is a difficult process and I am here to tell you that it is not.  Making home brew is simple but it can be time consuming and once you start it is hard to stop and what was once a small hobby becomes more like an obsession.

There are definite tools of the trade and instructions you should follow in order to make your wine taste great and that is safe from bacteria or other harmful things that could stand in your way of great wine making.  Also, you should realize that you are not stuck just making grape wine, you can use any fruit juice you wish and make any blend that sounds good to you!  Creating the perfect blend of fruit and flavor can open up a whole new world for you in regards to wine.

To start making your own homemade wine you will need some basic tools.  It is EXTREMELY important that you follow all sanitation guidelines for your tools during the wine making process.  Harmful bacteria can quickly ruin a perfect batch of wine, not to mention make you sick, so be sure to be careful when handling and sanitizing all tools used during the process.  Here is a list of tools you will need:

Turkey Baster
Old wine bottles (for final product, sterilized)
Siphon (vinyl tubing)
Sanitizer (bleach or other recommended alternatives)
A plastic water bottle or glass jug (unscratched on the inside)
Rubber stopper (#8 or #9)
Airlock (balloon, PVC pipe, or commercial airlock)
Stirrer small enough to fit through opening of bottle
Funnel

This is a basic list to make simple wine, but you can also make very complex wine with just these simple tools.  There are many companies today that provide you with kits and that is perfectly fine, but you can also make your wine with the things you have laying around your house already.  Either way, once you have your equipment you are ready to begin the fun part!

By this time you probably already know the flavor of wine you want to make and no matter what the flavor you will be needing the juice from the fruit or fruits you choose to use.  You can get this juice from one of two ways.  You can either buy the juice from the store making sure that it does not contain additives other than Vitamin C, or you can make your own juice from the raw fruit.  You will need a few other ingredients such as sugar, yeast and possibly the following chemicals:

Potassium Sorbate
Sodium/Potassium Metabisulfite
Yeast Nutrient

Be careful of allergies when using any substances for your wine making endeavors.  There are some substitutions that can be made so do your research!

Now find a recipe to follow and do that to the letter and you will soon be drinking your own special homemade wine.  Many recipes can be found by doing a simple search on-line.  Soon you will understand the basics and be able to make your own recipes!

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Make Wine At Home Wine Making Kits

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Wine making has become steadily a fun hobby for many, in particular wine lovers. Due to ease of wine production wine making kits offer, not only an experienced wine lover but a beginner also can prepare his wine by following few simple steps. Many stores specialized in brewing wines sell kits which usually contain required wine making accessories and equipments, making the comprehensive procedure of wine making easier. Although it is considered widely that best wines can be made in big wineries only but this has become the believe of past as now if one practices the wine making procedure at home then he can gain mastery over it in a short span of time and this all can be done with home wine making equipments contained in home wine kits.

A wine kit usually comes with instructions that are to be followed in order to craft a tasty wine. But it gets imperative to make sure before get into the procedure of wine production that you have all the equipments in your kit and also the wine supplies. Here is a list of items which you need to have beforehand while going to make wine

Fresh fruits or grapes
Sugar
Fermenters or gallon bucket with lid
Winemaking recipe handbook
One glass or gallon jug
Airlocks
Hydrometer
Cleanser
Wine yeasts
Carboy
Corker

After getting assured that you have all the required items, you can start the procedure by following these simple steps mentioned below

Pressing

First step is getting juice from fruits or grapes and it can be done with the help of presser.

Adding the sugar

It is not an essential step as it can be avoided if fruits are already very sweet. Generally, the main purpose of adding the sugar is the fermentation of alcohol but naturally sweet fruits like grapes dont need the addition of sugar. It is believed that the more will be the use of the sugar, the more will be the content of alcohol once the process is finished.

Add the yeasts

Further, yeasts should be added as they convert the sugar into alcohol like fermentation.

The last but not the least steps are the fermentation and bottling or aging of wine. These are the procedures during which wine gets ready to use after leaving it for around one month at the temperature of 40 to 50 degree F.

Thus, go ahead and get started for enjoying the journey of wine making by following aforementioned steps with the help of home wine kits. For more information visit: http://www.artfulwinemaker.com

Wine Making Kit – Make Your Own Wine

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If you are the creative type and have always wanted to invent new and exciting flavors of wine, then you may want to consider using a wine making kit to bottle your own wine. If you are a beginner, you want to make sure the wine making kit you purchase has all the ingredients or materials needed to create a successful wine. Here are some suggestions or tips on items to look for when deciding on which wine making kit to purchase.

Essential Wine Kit Items

Since you are a beginner, you want to ensure your wine making kit has a fermenting bottle or container-usually 6 gallons-air hoses, stoppers and locks. You will also need an instructional manual that is detailed and easy to understand the recipes. Your ingredients will vary depending on the type of wine you want to make, so be sure you understand what the ingredients are and what they do before you begin.

Where to Buy Your Wine Kit

Purchase your wine making kit from a reputable dealer either online or wine specialty shop. The merchant you select should be available to you in case you have any problems or need assistance during the process. Many wine dealers who sell beginner kits will be just enthusiastic about the process as you, so don’t feel like you’re putting them out by asking for assistance.

Wine Ingredient Kits Can Save Time

If you’re looking to cut the processing time down while you’re still a beginner, you may want to consider purchasing some grape concentrate when you purchase your kit. The grape concentrate frees you from researching grapes and the flavors they achieve, and it will cut the processing time down significantly. Once you are used to the process itself, it may be easier for you to choose different grapes for your wine and start from the very beginning.

Wine Making Recipe For Homemade Wines

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The equation to a successful home made wine is fifty percent strictly following the instructions and fifty percent involving a good wine making recipe. If you do not have one, and even if you follow the instructions down to the letter, chances are you end up with home made vinegar rather than wine. Among the most basic recipes around involve only five ingredients which are grapes, granulated sugar, Campden tablets, pectic enzyme and wine yeast.  

Grapes  

Have at least eight to ten gallons of grapes. Buy those really sweet varieties and seedless types for an easier process. Crush the grapes in batches to produce a consistent grape must. Place the must in really clean buckets or similar containers leaving at least a fourth of the container empty.  

Squeeze some of the must with cheesecloth to produce a cup of juice. With a hydrometer, the juice should have a specific gravity reading of less than 1.090. Properly covered, set aside the juice.  

Campden tablets  

With a cup of warm water, completely dissolve five Campden tablets. Stir the solution into the must with a wooden spoon. The tablets will be used to kill any present bacteria and prevent the must from getting contaminated in the future. Leave the bucket covered with cloth and wait for at least twelve hours before mixing in the next ingredient.  

Pectic enzyme  

Add four teaspoons of pectic enzyme to the must. Cover again and set aside for another twelve hours.

Wine yeast  

While waiting for the twelve hour period from adding the pectic enzyme, mix at least five milligrams of wine yeast to the juice earlier set aside. After the second twelve hours, mix in the yeast juice with the must. Stir the whole mixture two to three times a day keeping it covered in between. As with any wine making recipe, the fermentation process is the most crucial.  

Granulated sugar  

When the fermentation process is done, add sugar to taste and to reach a specific gravity reading of 1.090 after removing the non-wine particles and substances present.  

This wine making recipe allows you to switch the grapes to any fruit you wish to make your wine with and experiment with the amount of sugar to come up with the sweetness your wine would have.  

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The Making of Champagne

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There are only three types of grapes that can be used in the production of champagne. These three varieties are: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Pinot Noir is the wine growers nightmare, but the drinkers paradise. Pinot Noir is extremely sensitive to rot and disease. A very difficult grape to cultivate and all contact with the grapes skin must be avoided to ensure a white champagne. Pinot Noir grapes of the highest class can only be found growing in Burgundy and the region of Champagne. It is used to give backbone and structure to champagne.

Pinot Meunier is the grape that the majority of champagne houses use and dominates the regions of Aisne and Seine- et- Marne. The Pinot Meunier grape is a very hardy grape and is the only variety that ripens in very cold years. It is also less sensitive to spring frost and gives a 10- 15% higher yield per vine than the Pinot Noir. Producers praise Pinot Meunier for its fruity qualities and wines from this grape mature quickly. Pure blanc de noirs from Pinot Meunier are unusual and are rarely good for no more than ten years.

Chardonnay is probably the worlds finest grape. Today Chardonnay is a fashionable grape which is harvested more and more in France. The greatest increase has taken place in Champagne. The grape allows itself to be formed to perfection in various climates and soils. The Chadonnay vine does however waste energy in producing leaves instead of using it to ripen the grapes. This however is combated by hard pruning and planting the vines very close together. On the whole the grape is very easy to cultivate with just one problem being its sensitivity to frost.

There are seven steps in the process of making Champagne:

1- The vineyard:The vine farmers work goes on all year round. He must prune, fertilize and spray the crop protecting against viruses, parasites and spring frosts. The average age of a vine is 15 years, with a vine reaching its peak at 30 years.

2- The harvest:In any wine region the harvest is the highlight of any given year. The harvest festival is a colorful occasion. The harvesting usually begins in the middle of September.

3- The pressing:The press house is located as near as possible to the vineyard as its essential that the grapes are whole and in their best condition when they reach the press house. In 1992 the legally set volumes for each pressing were set at 2550 litres from 4000 kilos of grapes.

4- Fermentation:When the grape juice has been taken to the fermenting vats it immediately begins to ferment, due to the yeasts originally in the grapes skin. Selected yeast cultures are also added.

5- Blending:When the wine has finished fermenting during the winter it is racked twice, separating the wine from the yeast sediment that builds up. In march blending begins with the cellar master- chef de caves- blending the wines with each other to produce the best possible champagne.

6- Second fermentation:When the blending has been completed in giant tanks more sugar and yeast is added and then the wine is bottled and sealed temporarily.

7- Disgorging:After the second fermentation has completed the bottlenecks are frozen at – 28c half freezing the sediment, which is shot out of the bottle by a machine with a sharp mechanical movement. The lost wine is then replaced with new wine and some sugar. The bottle is then fitted with the cork and the bottle of champagne has been made.

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