The Process Of Making Homemade Wine

Making homemade wine is quickly growing as a hobby among wine enthusiasts around the world. As wine making kits and books become more readily available, it has become an easily achievable goal for anyone who is persistent enough to perfect the art. Why should anyone try making homemade wine? There are so many choices of wines available on any shelf, perhaps you wonder if it is worth the time to make your own.

It is true that it is a lengthy process, but the satisfaction of doing it yourself and long-run savings make it a very feasible undertaking. Making homemade wine also allows you to try unique flavor combinations, from not just grapes, but many other fruits. Creating your own flavors means you can use grapes, peaches, berries and even apples.

The first stage in making wine at home is to understand the basic steps. The first stage is flavor extraction. During this process, you will extract the juice, and dilute with water. This is called "must", and then sugar and yeast will need to be added to cause the fermentation process.

During this second stage of fermentation, there are two stages. During the first phase, the aerobic stage, the yeast will build up. In the second stage, the alcohol is produced. In order to know how long to wait for the alcohol to ferment properly, you will need to have a recipe for your ingredients. Once the fermentation has occurred, you then strain the liquid and pour it into an airtight vessel. During this stage, you can watch the fermentation happen as the yeasts uses up the oxygen and bubbles. Once this stops, the yeasts eventually goes to the bottom of the vessel, and the wine clears. Siphon it at this point and pour it in a clean jar for aging.

The bottling and aging process is an important step to understand in making homemade wine. While this is comparatively an easier part of the process, you must still take care to do it right. Once fermentation is complete, it is time to bottle your wine. The old adage that a wine grows better with age is true. New wines don't taste good immediately after fermenting, and leaving it bottled allows the flavors to mellow together. After the different ingredients have time to interact, you will have a unique bouquet of flavors.

Those who are just starting to make wine at home can get by with some basic equipment, but you might find you enjoy it so much you want to purchase a more sophisticated system. Basic items are:

• two gallon bucket/lid
• wooden spoon
• large aluminum pan (enamel is ok) to boil ingredients
• pantyhose or a mesh sheet (to strain the must for both stages)
• fermenting vessel (called a demijohn)
• funnel
• bottles/corks
• siphoning tube
• bottle brush

There are other optional items you can purchase to streamline the process, but this is a basic starter list.

Ingredients to have ready for your wine making adventure include fresh, canned or frozen fruits, water to dilute it, wine yeast, a pectin enzyme, grape tannin and sugar. You will also need potassium sorbate to inhibit yeast production, a yeast nutrient and a campden tablet.

And if you are going through the trouble of making your own homemade wine, why not go a step further and learn grape growing? You can find many resources online as well as in your local library on the subject of how to grow grapes.

Things you want to avoid when making homemade wines include stainless steel or metal pans and colored plastics. These can cause a chemical reaction during fermentation and are not advisable for use.

When making your wine at home, you will want to ensure that you practice top notch hygiene practices. Bacteria in any form can turn a good batch of wine bad if you are careless. This is the most crucial aspect of wine making, as it is the leading cause of lost wine. Make sure that you sterilize all of your bottling equipment prior to use, including utensils. Boiling is the best and most effective method, or you can choose a product that is recommended for sterilizing baby bottles.

Once you have supplies for making homemade wine, you can expect each bottle produced to cost from $1.00-$4.00 on average. A six gallon batch of wine produces approximately 30 bottles. Once you have mastered making wines at home, you might just want to market some of your creations - or at least gift them to friends!