Making Wine at Home

Its the Grape Season and guys here is a small article on making wine at home.

There are infinite ways of making wine at home. 

Here, we are going to describe the simplest, the most practical method of wine making. 

We are going to use “100%” grape juice bottles or boxes of 1 liter, which can easily be found in many stores. However, beware: even some famous brands may produce really bad results. Most probably, their juices are not exactly “100%”. Thus, I advise you to choose a “reliable” grape juice brand.

The Ingredients

The method described on this site is probably the easiest way of making wine, thus it is perfect for a beginner who just wants to learn how to make wine at home. Here is what you will need:

- 3 bottles or boxes of 100% grape juice (i.e. 3 litres) 

- 4-6 empty glass bottles

- Baker’s yeast (dry)

- Granulated sugar

- Paper napkin (clean/odorless fabric)  

-  Rubber bands or cellophane tape

-  2-3 cl water

-  a funnel.

The Fermentation Process

Now it is time to start explaining how to make wine. First, divide the 3 bottles or boxes of grape juice into four. Thus, you will need an empty bottle. You can use cleaned wine or juice bottles of 1 liter. 

Now, you have four bottles/boxes containing 75 cl grape juice. Add 2.5 (two and a half) tablespoons of granulated sugar to each of them and shake until the sugar is dissolved. Granulated sugar is necessary to increase the alcohol volume of the wine to about 10-11%. During the fermentation process, the sugar content of the grape juice and the extra sugar will turn into alcohol.

Put 2-3 centiliters of clean water (room temperature), ½ teaspoon of baker’s yeast and 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar into a glass. Mix it until sugar and yeast are dissolved. Cover the glass and put it in a dark place. Depending on the air temperature, a relatively thick layer of foam will form on the surface of the water within one or two hours (faster at higher temperatures). 

Add 1/4th of the layer of foam and 3 teaspoons of water with yeast and sugar to each of the four grape juice bottles/boxes. You may shake the bottles/boxes in order to ensure complete mixing. 

Then, in order to prevent air inflow and allow the outflow of gases produced during the fermentation process, seal the necks of bottles/boxes using napkin. 3 layers are sufficient for wider necks and 2 for narrow ones. In order to fix napkins, you may use the rubber bands or cellophane tape. However, do not forget to allow the outflow of gases to be produced during fermentation; i.e., do not fully cover the napkin with a cellophane tape. Otherwise, you will experience overflow. 

Finally, place the bottles/boxes in a dark place as odorless as possible (in fact, during all phases of wine making, the environment should be as odorless as possible). 

The ideal fermentation temperature is about 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). At that temperature, the fermentation process will take about 9-12 days.

At the end of 9-12 days, layers of sediment will have formed at the bottoms of bottles/boxes. Now, you have a turbid alcoholic juice.

Bringing it One Step Further

In order to revitalize the process of fermentation and to minimize turbidity, you should transfer the liquid three or four times at regular intervals (one or two days). Transfer the four bottles/boxes into 3 bottles of 1 liter, however, do not transfer the sediment. Thus, there will be some loss during each transfer. 

After each transfer, seal the necks of the bottles as described above and put them in dark/odorless places. 

You can reuse your old bottles after cleaning them with water. 

Meanwhile, taste your product during each transfer. If it is too sweet, sugar has not turned into alcohol and you should wait longer before the next transfer. If it is too sour, you should make the next transfer sooner than you have done the previous one. 

During the last transfer (third or fourth one, depending on your choice), try to minimize bubbling. 

Bingo, your wine is ready to consume! Cheers!

Aging

If you want to refine your wine through aging, you may transfer your tasty product into wine bottles. Fill the bottles as much as possible in order to minimize the air remaining in it. Remember, this process needs a cool and dark place and you should place your bottles horizontally. Depending on your patience, you may wait 1, 3 or 6 months. However, do not forget: A bad wine will not become tasty through aging… 

Age your good products only.

The above resource was forwarded by friend of mine.... Just to make sure this is not a original article...