How To Make Homemade Wine
If you’d like to make homemade wine there is no excuse for not doing so: you need neither license nor cellar and you may already have the utensils in your home, apartment or garage… for wine may be made in a small space. Making a few gallons of wine can be as easy as baking a tray of biscuits or bottling a few jars of jam, and the fruits of your labor will bring enormous pleasure to you and your friends.
Brian Cook is an expert on homemade wine and he has this warning for anyone who wants to try a homemade wine recipe: “Be aware that there is often an unsuspected kick in homemade wines that has to be experienced to be appreciated. Drink homemade wine as you would drink neat whiskey.”
Brian goes on: “I ought to say that two people using the same recipes do not necessarily turn out identical wines any more than they would turn out identical sponge-cakes by using the same mixture.”
The water and ingredients no doubt have a lot to do with this variation of wines produced from the same wine recipe. Fruit and vegetables from different regions and grown in different soils can have an effect on the finished product. The water quality in different regions can also play a part. A hot dry summer or a cooler wetter summer will affect the sugar levels in the fruit. Professional wine growers can offset such differences in the quality of their grapes by skillful blending, which results in each vintage of wine containing the characteristics that have created its popularity.
Utensils required for home wine making
The best utensil for boiling your juice and other ingredients is one made of good quality enamel. It must not be chipped. Avoid cheap enamel utensils as they often contain lead in the glaze which could contaminate your wine.
Brian Cook also recommends against using aluminum or copper as there is a slight risk of minute particles of the metal being boiled into the brew. This may poison the yeast, and fermentation would not take place.
For soaking and fermenting your fruit you may use a china vessel or one made of polythene. China vessels should not be too wide at the rim as this exposes too large a surface to the air. A polythene bucket is ideal - but do make sure it is of polythene, as some plastics are unsuitable. And choose a light color or a white one. Where large batches of wine are to be made, a polythene dustbin makes an excellent fermentation vessel, as does a strong polythene bag, lining a worn-out barrel or similar vessel.
Now before you head out to buy your grapes, you’re going to need some homemade wine recipes and some instruction in winemaking. Brian has written a top-selling e-book all about how to make wine at home from a variety of fruits. It’s chock full of recipes for grapes wines, fruit wines, flower wines, vegetable wines and he even has some bonus recipes for making sherry and champagne. So before you start making wine grab a copy of “Making Great Wine” and you’re wine making efforts are sure to be a huge success!
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