Wine Making Page
8 lb. apples
3 lb. sugar
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (food for your yeast available in wine making
stores)
1 tsp. acid blend (a mixture of acids that give wine the proper tartness,
available in wine stores)
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme (pectin in fruits can prevent wine from clearing,
this enzyme breaks down pectin)
2 crushed campden tablets (campden tablets are made of sodium metabisulphite,
again try your wine store)
Wine yeast (ask your store to recommend one for apple wine or use all
purpose yeast)
Wash and chop the unpeeled apples into your primary fermentor. Add a
little less than 1 imperial gallon (160 oz.) hot water. Add all other ingredients
except the yeast. Stir. After 24 hours add yeast cover your primary fermentor.
Stir daily. After 5 days, strain the must (fancy word for the unfinished
wine) through cheesecloth or a nylon bag. Rack (siphon) must into secondary
fermentor, top up with water and attach air lock. After 3 weeks rack wine
leaving the lees (a fancy word for the sediment that forms on the bottom).
Clean the secondary and put the must back in it. Top with water. Add 1
crushed campden tablet. Affix airlock. Wait three months and do a specific
gravity test. If it is below 1.000 the wine has finished fermenting. If
not, wait another month and try again. If the wine is not clear enough,
get a fining agent ( like gelatine) from your wine store and follow the
package directions. When wine is clear, rack it into the secondary leaving
any lees. Taste the wine if
it is not sweet enough, you can add sugar syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part
water heated till the sugar dissolves). Add 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate
and one crushed campden tablet. These prevent fermentation from starting
again and help the wine age without oxidizing. Add one ascorbic acid tablet
(this wine is subject to oxidation and needs the acid to prevent it from
browning!). Bottle
in sterilized bottles and cork.
BLACKBERRY WINE
4 lb. blackberries
3 lb. white sugar
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (food for your yeast available in wine making
stores)
1 tsp. acid blend (a mixture of acids that give wine the proper tartness,
available in wine stores)
2 campden tablets, crushed (campden tablets are made of sodium metabisulphite,
again try your wine store)
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme (pectin in fruits can prevent wine from clearing,
this enzyme breaks down pectin)
wine yeast (ask the store to recommend one but use "Montrachet"
for this recipe if it's available)
Cull any bad or under ripe berries. Crush them in your primary fermenter.
Put everything in the primary except the yeast. Add hot water to make one
imperial gallon (160 oz.). Check the specific gravity and add extra sugar
if needed. When the temperature goes below 70F, add the yeast by sprinkling
it over the top. Stir daily for 5-6 days or until the must (fancy name
for unfinished wine) has a specific gravity of 1.040. Strain out fruit
pulp using a nylon bag or cheese cloth. Rack (siphon into) a one gallon
secondary fermenter. Top the secondary up with water and attach an air
lock. Rack from secondary into another secondary or into the primary leaving
the lees (a fancy word for the sediment that forms on the bottom). If you
racked into the primary, clean and sterilize the secondary and rack the
wine back into the secondary. Top the secondary with water and attach the
airlock. Wait three months and do a specific gravity test. If it is below
1.000 the wine has finished fermenting. If not, wait another month and
try again. If the wine is not clear enough, get a fining agent (I like
gelatine) from your wine store and follow the package directions. When
wine is clear, rack it into the secondary leaving any lees. Taste the wine
if it is not sweet enough,
you can add sugar syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water heated till the
sugar dissolves). Add 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate and one crushed campden
tablet. These prevent fermentation from starting again and help the wine
age without oxidizing. Bottle in sterilized bottles and cork. This wine
really improves with age. If you drink it before 6 months, you're a wino
with no self control. A year would be even better.
CHERRY WINE
4 lb. sweet cherries or 3 lb. sour cherries
3 lb. sugar
3 tsp. acid blend (a mixture of acids that give wine the proper tartness,
available in wine stores)
2 campden tablets, crushed (campden tablets are made of sodium metabisulphite,
again try your wine store)
1/4 tsp. grape tannin (an astringent found in grapes that gives body
to the wine and helps it age well)
1 tsp. yeast nutrient (food for your yeast available in wine making
stores)
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme (pectin in fruits can prevent wine from clearing,
this enzyme breaks down pectin)
wine yeast (ask your wine store to recommend one for cherry wine or
use all purpose)
Crush the cherries into the primary fermenter. Add everything else except
the yeast. Add 2/3 imperial gallon of warm water (103 ounces). Stir to
mix. When the temperature goes below 70 F, sprinkle wine yeast over must.
Stir daily for 5-6 days or until the must (fancy name for unfinished wine)
has a specific gravity of 1.040. Strain out fruit pulp using a nylon bag
or cheese cloth. Rack (siphon into) a one gallon secondary fermenter. Top
the secondary up with water and attach an air lock. Rack from secondary
into another secondary or into the primary leaving the lees (a fancy word
for the sediment that forms on the bottom). If you racked into the primary,
clean and sterilize the secondary and rack the wine back into the secondary.
Top the secondary with water and attach the airlock. Wait three months
and do a specific gravity test. If it is below 1.000 the wine has finished
fermenting. If not, wait another month and try again. If the wine is not
clear enough, get a fining agent (use gelatine) from your wine store
and follow the package directions. When wine is clear, rack it into the
secondary leaving any lees. Taste the wine if it is not sweet enough, you can add sugar syrup (2 parts
sugar to 1 part water heated till the sugar dissolves). Add 1/2 tsp. potassium
sorbate and one crushed campden tablet. These prevent fermentation from
starting again and help the wine age without oxidizing. Bottle in sterilized
bottles and cork. Cherry wine produces very high alcohol content. The higher
the alcohol content the more time it takes for the wine to age well. Therefore, the longer you leave this wine
to age, the better. Less than six months is a wine faux pas.
CRAB-APPLE WINE
Use the apple recipe but only use 6 lb. of crab-apples.
PLUM WINE
3 lb. plums
3 lb. sugar
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
1/8 tsp. grape tannin
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
2 campden tablets
2 tsp. acid blend
wine yeast
Use only ripe fruit. Remove stones and crush thoroughly. Put all ingredients except wine yeast in primary fermenter. Add a little less than 1 imperial gallon (160 oz.). Stir. When the temperature goes below 70 F, sprinkle wine yeast over must. Stir daily for 5-6 days or until the must (fancy name for unfinished wine) has a specific gravity of 1.040. Strain out fruit pulp using a nylon bag or cheese cloth. Rack (siphon into) a one gallon secondary fermenter. Top the secondary up with water and attach an air lock. Rack from secondary into another secondary or into the primary leaving the lees (a fancy word for the sediment that forms on the bottom). If you racked into the primary, clean and sterilize the secondary and rack the wine back into the secondary. Top the secondary with water and attach the airlock. Wait three months and do a specific gravity test. If it is below 1.000 the wine has finished fermenting. If not, wait another month and try again. If the wine is not clear enough, get a fining agent ( like gelatine) from your wine store and follow the package directions. When wine is clear, rack it into the secondary leaving any lees. Taste the wine if it is not sweet enough, you can add sugar syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water heated till the sugar dissolves). Add 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate and one crushed campden tablet. These prevent fermentation from starting again and help the wine age without oxidizing. Bottle in sterilized bottles and cork. Plum wine tastes absolutely terrible when you first bottle it but, after aging for a year, you'll love it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
