Wine Making Page
Let's make wine:
Whatever kind of wine you make, the process usually follows several steps:
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First, sterilize everything that will come into contact with you wine.
The standard method is to wash the equipment and then rinse it with a solution
of potassium metabisulphite. Potassium metabisulphite is a powder that
can be purchased at wine making stores. You can make a solution by mixing
2 ounces in a gallon of water. This solution can be reused and will last
for a couple of months. You can tell if it is still potent by smelling
it. If it smells bad, it's still OK.
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You mix the ingredients from your recipe or kit in the primary fermenter
EXCEPT for the wine yeast. Using your hydrometer, take a specific gravity
reading. If it is lower than that called for in the recipe or instructions,
add more sugar.
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Put the primary fermenter on a shelf or counter. Take the temperature of
the wine. If it is below 70F then add the yeast. Cover the primary fermenter
with a sheet of plastic tied down or a loose fitting lid. The purpose of
the cover is to keep bugs and dust out.
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The yeast will work like crazy for the next 5 to seven days. Starting at
5 days, take a specific gravity reading. When it gets down to about 1.040
rack it into the secondary fermenter. Whatever happens, do not leave wine
in a primary fermenter over 7 days. Racking means to take the siphon and
siphon the wine out of the primary into the secondary, leaving the sediment
in the bottom. Top up the wine in the secondary to within 2 inches of the
top and attach an airlock filled with metabisulphite solution. The idea
at this point is to keep the air off your wine.
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As instructed by your recipe, you may have to rack once or twice more.
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When the wine is stable, you can use fining agents to clear your wine.
A fining agent is one of several materials you can use to precipitate particles
out of the wine, making it more clear. There are also filtering devices
available.
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Sterilize your bottles. Siphon the wine into the bottles. Stop the bottles
with corks that have soaked in water for a couple of hours.
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Drink your wine.
As every recipe varies to some degree, follow the recipe instructions.
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