So - you have decided that you
want to try your
hand at making some wine. This article will describe the basic steps
and some
of the pitfalls to avoid to make sure your first batch turns out good
enough to
drink.
First things first - how much wine do you want to make at home? (Find out more)
I recommend you make at least 5
gallons of wine at home to begin with. Why? Because
beginning home wine makers just cannot wait to taste what they have
made. In
addition, 5 gallons is only 25 bottles. So you'll get the batch
finished, and
then you will try a bottle or 2 or 3. Then you'll wait a week and try a
few
more bottles. Sooner than later, it will all be gone before it has a
chance to
age and get really good.
If you just want to do
something quick and
simple, you could do a gallon in a plastic milk jug. The drawback is,
once you
have tasted it a few times - it's all gone and you'll have to start
over. With 5 gallons - you just
might be tempted to
let a few of the remaining bottles age. Believe it or not, the biggest
mistake
beginning winemakers make is not letting their wine age in the bottle.
The
difference in taste is, to put it mildly, AMAZING.
The next step is to decide
which type of juice
you want to ferment. Grape juice, cranberry juice, muscadine, and
cherry are
all good starter choices. The first 3 should produce a rather normal
tasting
wine while cherries usually will give you a sweeter wine. Of course,
you can
always add sugar to sweeten your wine after it is stabilized and has
stopped
fermenting.
The next step is to completely
sterilize all of
the containers and equipment you will be using. Some people use
extremely hot
water, others recommend using a sanitizer. I like the sanitizer because
you do
not have to scald yourself with the hot water. The sanitizing solution
should
be poured over everything and should make contact with all surfaces.
Then you
just rinse everything off with hot water.
Put your juice in your 5
gallon bucket - that's
the next step. BUT - it's not time to put your yeast in yet. (Discover why)
We first want to sterilize our
"must"
or our juice. You can do this with 4 Campden Tablets. These are sulfite
tablets
that will get rid of any type of bacteria that could be present in the
juice.
Crush the tablets and then dissolve them in some warm water and then
pour them
in your juice or "must". Let this sit overnight while the sulfites do
their work.
24 hours later, you are ready
to sprinkle in or
"pitch" your yeast.
The type of yeast you decide
to use is really a
question that is beyond the scope of this article.
However, I'll say
that there
are hundreds of different yeast strains for literally thousands of
different
uses. For our first batch, we can just use the bakers yeast that you
can easily
find at the grocery store. Later, and after some research, you will
probably
want to use one of the specialized strains.
Now - wait 7 days and watch.
