Fine Wine and Spirits

You can make wine from home one of two ways. One is from a kit that comes with instructions and is usually made with something along the lines of grape concentrate. The other way is to do it from scratch step-by-step. This way is much more rewarding. And although making wine from home from scratch, step-by-step, is more time-consuming and more difficult the results are much better as you have total control of the type of wine you make, how it tastes, and the quality of the wine overall. If you are looking to make wine cheaply and quickly and are not too concerned about quality then a wine making kit will suffice. If you want to make a wine that you can be glowing with pride from then read on.

You can make wine successfully from many different types of fruits not only the obvious grapes but also apricots, plums, elderberries, pears, peaches, apples. You can pretty much make your own wine from home using almost any fruit.

Here is a list of the equipment and supplies you will need to make your very own fine wine.

• A large plastic tub where steel pot to press juice into. A lid will be required.
• Something to squeeze or press the fruit with. The easiest way is to use an electric juicer.
• A glass vessel that will be used to ferment and store the fruit juice such as a jug. You can get the proper vessel at a brewing shop or online at a wine making supply website.
• A plastic tube for siphoning purposes.
• Yeast which is available at your local super market
• Sugar
• You will also need something to clean your equipment. You can either use boiling water or sterilizing solutions or tablets.

Step one to making your own wine at home - get your juice

Press the fruit you are going to use to make your home wine either using a hand press or the electric juicer. You will want enough juice to fill the glass fermentation vessels you are using.
A lot of times a wine making recipe will recommend watering down your juice to get the volume you need. If you want the absolute best results do not do this as this will cut down on the flavor of the end product.
Do not be afraid to get creative. There is nothing wrong with mixing the juice from several different types of fruits together to make your own unique blend of wine. In the beginning if you are new to making wine from home you may not want to wing it like this. You can follow a step-by-step recipe.

Step two to making your own wine from home - add the sugar

Very sweet juices will not need the addition of sugar to the recipe. The main purpose of the sugar is that of fermentation or the production of alcohol. Fruits that are naturally very sweet like a sweet grapes will not need the addition of sugar. If you decide to add sugar generally speaking add anywhere between 1 - 2 pounds of sugar per 1 gallon of fruit juice or lesser amount if you want a drier wine.

One thing you can do if you like to experiment is make several different batches of the same wine varying the amount of sugar that you use in each batch so if you have a five glass vessels for example you can use a slightly different amount of sugar for each vessel making note of the results of the end product. You can also use the same experimentation process to experiment with different fruits and fruit combinations. With time and experience you will be able to develop your own unique fine wine that no one else has. Keep in mind the more sugar you use the higher the alcohol content will be of the wine when you are finished.

Add the sugar to the fruit juice by warming the fruit juice and a pot stirring in the sugar. Warming the fruit juice first will ensure the sugar gets dissolved completely.

Step number three to making wine from home - add the yeast

Make sure your glass vessels are sterilized with the sterilizing solution or tablets or boiling water. Put the sugar fruit juice into the glass vessel. Add the powdered yeast and a little warm water and sugar into a cup to dissolve it. Leave it for a few minutes. This will start the activation process of the yeast. Add the yeast to the fruit juice mixture. Put your airtight lid on top. The yeast will convert the sugar into alcohol as your wine ferments.

Step number four to making your own homemade wine - the most important step, patience

Put your fermentation vessels (the glass jugs with the sugar wine yeast mixture) in a warm place generally speaking between 70 and 85°F. For the best results you want to let your wine ferment for at least six months. For best results up to a year. If you are inpatient and drink your wine too soon you will not be satisfied with the results.

For many people this waiting part is the toughest part as they are anxious to drink their own homemade wine.
As your wine mixture ferments you will notice the accumulation of dead yeast cells on the bottom of the glass jug. Leaving this dead yeast in the wine mixture will affect the taste quality negatively. The way to combat this is about once a month or so siphon the wine out into a new glass vessel making sure not to siphon the dead yeast from the bottom of the original glass vessels.

Check on your wine every couple weeks. Depending upon how much this dead yeast is accumulating you may want to siphon the wine a little more or less frequently than once a month.

The final step to making wine from home - bottling your wine

Place the wine in a cold place for one to two weeks however make sure you do not freeze it. Generally speaking a temperature of between 40 to 50°F. is good. This will improve the wines clarity making it a better quality. Bottle the wine and cork it. There are places you can go online to get your own custom wine labels.

If you are serious about wine making as you are making wine you want to keep accurate records of the exact techniques, ingredients, and methods you use to make each batch of wine. This way when you make a superb batch of wine you will have the exact recipe for that and you can replicate it for years to come.

If you are really fanatical about the quality of your wine let your wine sit on a rack for a couple of years. At this point you are probably so excited about drinking your own homemade wine this may be difficult. What I would recommend you do is make a large enough batch so you can bottle and rack most of it for several years and still have enough left over to enjoy and drink now.
I virtual mall of wine making resources including where to get wine making supplies and even the fruit totally free as well as hundreds of great articles and recipes for making wine at home make sure to take a peek at the winemakers inner circle.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derick_Partington


http://EzineArticles.com/?Wine-Making-at-Home-Step-by-Step---Make-Your-Own-Wine-at-Home&id=4824177