How to Make Wine at Home

Wine, which is an essential part of important ceremonies like weddings, parties, etc., is a drink that has been popular with humans since thousands of years. In earlier times, wine making was considered to be an art, and most people made it at home themselves. However, with the advent of this fast paced world, buying wine became an easy alternative and the practice of wine making at home started diminishing. Nevertheless, there are still some people who continue to make wine at home and consider it as a very rewarding hobby. Though most people think that wine making is a complex procedure, it is not actually so, if they follow the homemade wine making instructions carefully. Let us look at how to make wine at home as well as some homemade wine making recipes.

Benefits of Homemade Wine

Though it is true that making wine at home surely gives great satisfaction, one of the best thing about homemade wine is that it is cheaper than wine that is brought from the market. It is said that the cost of one bottle that one buys from the winery or a local store is equal to six bottles of wine made at home. Also, there is a misconception that wine can be made only by using grapes. Though most people prefer grapes to make wine, other fruits like apples, elderberries, peaches, etc., as well some vegetables, can also be used to prepare wine.

Home Wine Making Tips

The most important factors that aid in the process of making good wine at home include the correct ingredients, the right equipment, as well as proper hygiene. If you are planning to start wine making as a full-time hobby, it will be profitable if you are able to invest in the necessary equipment, which includes -

• 1 large stainless steel pot or food grade plastic tub with lid
• Several small glass fermentation vessels (jug, demijohn, carboy, etc.) which have airlocks
• An electric juicer
• 1 plastic tube

An important thing that you have to keep in mind is that before you make use any of these instruments, you have to sterilize them with sterilizing tablets or solutions. If you do not have any of these, cleaning them in boiled water is also fine.

How To Make Wine At Home - Step by Step Guide

1. The first step in the list of homemade wine making instructions is to take out the juice from the fruit. Though it is fine to use fruit concentrate to make wine, it is always best to use fresh fruits for this process. Whether you grow these fresh fruits in your backyard or buy them from the local market, make sure that they are fully ripe. Before taking out the juice, it is also important to separate the good ones from the rotten ones. To take out the juice of the fruits, you can either use a blender or squeeze them with your hands. Grapes can be easily squeezed with the hands, however, for the harder fruits like peaches, and apples, using the blender will make the process faster. Some people also soak the fruits in water for a few days to take out the flavor and color of the fruit. However, never add water to your fruit juice to increase the quantity as this can ruin your wine totally.
2. The next step in the process of wine making is to add sugar to the extracted fruit juice. Sugar is important because it is the sugar in the fruit juice that converts into alcohol during the fermentation process. However, fruits like sweet grapes have a high content of sugar naturally in them and hence there is no need to add more to it. On the other hand, other type of fruit juices require sugar in them. The quantity of sugar that has to be added will depend on the quantity of fruit juice. Adding two pounds of sugar to one gallon of fruit juice is usually considered perfect. Remember that more the sugar that you add in the fruit juice, more will be its alcoholic content. While adding the sugar, place the fruit juice on low heat and add in the sugar by stirring continuously till it is fully dissolved.
3. The next step in the wine making process is said to be the most important one, where you have to add yeast to the juice. First, transfer the fruit juice into the glass fermentation vessels. Take warm water in a bowl and add yeast and little sugar in it. After a few minutes, pour this yeast solution in the vessels containing the fruit juice and close it with the air lock. Shake well to ensure that the yeast gets fully mixed.
4. Once the above procedure is done, the vessels should be kept in a warm place (25 degrees C) for the fermentation to take place. Though the wine should be allowed to ferment for a period of nine months to one year, it is important that you change the vessel periodically. During the fermentation process, a white layer containing dead yeast cells are formed at the bottom and letting it remain in the same way for a long time will actually affect the taste of the wine. Hence, you have to change the vessels at regular intervals by siphoning the wine through a plastic tube. Tasting the wine while changing the vessels will also give you an idea about how regularly you have to change the vessels. Changing the vessel is typically done every month or two.
5. After a year or so, the wine should be transferred into sterilized bottles and closed with a cork. Though some wines may be ready to be used immediately, sometimes the wine may not have a good taste just after the fermentation process. Hence, it will be good if you can store the wine bottles in a cold place for sometime. Though you can use the wine any time after this, experts are of the opinion that the wine should be kept for at least 2-3 years after bottling to get the perfect flavor.

As you can see, the process of how to make wine at home is not difficult, but rather lengthy. However, taking an effort to make homemade wine, though the process is a little time-consuming, will surely be worth the wait in the end. Learning how to make homemade wine will ensure that you always have a supply of wine to go with all your meals.