Wine Making Basic Steps

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1) Clean all fruit. De-stem and or de-stone. For soft fruit place them into a course cloth or nylon bag to press. If using a fruit press, hard fruit (apple) should be well chopped before pressing. Soft fruit can also be pressed in the bag right in the fermenting bucket. All dark skinned fruit should be kept in the bag after pressing (dark grape, blueberry, blackberry, etc.) Light fruit pulp can be discarded after pressing (apple, peach, white grape, etc.)

2) Start with a primary fermenter that will have 20 to 25% more space for your fruit pulp. ( for 5 gallon batch use a 6- 6-1/2 gallon bucket). If you are adding water to the pressed juice or using 100% pressed juice always test the sugar content of the juice before adding any sugars. Water should be added to give you the total yield that your recipe calls for. Remember this is the amount without the fruit bag.

Example: If the juice & water you test with your hydrometer is at 1.040 then ADD sugar to bring the starting gravity up to 1.085 - 1.090 for wine with a finished alcohol of 12 to 12-1/2 % A/v. If you want a lower alcohol, add less sugar.

3) Test for acid balance. Follow the instructions from the Acid test kit

White Wine .65 - .75 Tartaric / 4.2 - 4.9 ppt. Sulfuric Red Wine .60 - .65 Tartaric / 3.9 - 4.2 ppt Sulfuric Fruit Wine .55 - .65 Tartaric / 3.6 - 4.2 ppt Sulfuric

Add 1 ea. level Tsp. of ACID Blend to raise the Acid level .15 (15%) Tartaric or 1 ppt Sulfuric to one gallon of the juice.

Excessive Acidity will cause the wine to have a sour taste and odor.

4) Juice cut with water will require nutrients to be added back. On a average add 1-tsp. per gallon of Yeast Nutrient (Diammonium Phosphate)

Fruits contain a Pectin cellular structure to contain their juice. The Pectin Enzymes break down the cells to release the juice and flavor. Also Pectin will cause a cloudy finish to your wine. Pectin Enzyme will clear the wine by breaking down the pectin's. Is best added before fermentation. In liquid form add 3 drops per gallon. I dry form add 1/2 tsp. per gallon.

5) Your fresh fruit will have Wild Yeast and Bacteria. A easy way to get ride of these nasty's is to add 1 each crushed Campden tablet per each gallon. Let the juice stand for 24 to 36 hours before adding the yeast. Remember that Campden Tablets contain Sodium Metabisulphite.

If you are allergic to sulfur, and do not want to use Campden Tablets, then you will need to bring the juice just to a boil and then cool it covered. ( you don't want to loose to much of the great aroma and flavor). Cool to 75 degrees and then add the Yeast Starter.

6) While you a waiting for the Campden tablets take care of the wide Yeast. This is a good time to start your fresh wine yeast. (18-24 hours before adding the yeast.)

Yeast Starter: Boil 1-1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of the juice with one tablespoon of sugar for 3-4 minutes. Let this sugar mix cool to 75 degrees. (place it in the freezer for a few minutes to aid in cooling). After the mix has cooled, sprinkle in the yeast on top. Cover and let the yeast work for 18-24 hours. Lightly swirl the yeast mix to put all the yeast back into suspendtion before adding to the wine must.

A very easy way to start your yeast is to use a 750ml. wine bottle. Sanitize the bottle and fill it with the cooled yeast starter. Add the yeast and seal it with a #2 stopper and a Air Lock. The starter will start to ferment in a sanitary container that is easy to pour into your main fermenter.

7) After adding the yeast starter slurry to your wine juice. We recommend fermenting your wine in a closed fermenter. A good food grade bucket with a matching lid is a good way to start. Make sure your lid is air tight. Drill a small hole in the lid for a rubber stopper to fit snugly. Insert into the stopper an Air Lock or a piece of tubing long enough to go into the stopper and over the side of the bucket and below it one foot (approx. 4 foot long). With one end of the tubing in the stopper, that is in the lid. Place the open end of the tubing into a half filled gallon jug of clean water. (used plastic milk jugs work well). This is called a Water Lock. It will allow the Co2 to escape but no air to come in as the Co2 bubbles into the water jug.

8) Make sure your fermenter is in a area that will keep a constant temperature. After the Co2 has started. Keep a eye on the water jug. If it starts to get to full replace it with clean water. With the lid still tight on the fermenter. Swirl the fermenter to keep the must blended.

9) After approximately 5 day your wine fermentation will start to slow down. As the soon as you see the fermentation start to slow this is your indicator that the wine is ready to transfer to the secondary fermenter. Your Gravity of the wine at this time should be 1.040 -1.020.

NOTE: The Secondary Fermenter IS ALWAYS the size of the batch. Excessive air space can contaminate your wine and cause it to go to Vinegar. We recommend using glass as your secondary fermenter. Glass will not give off plastic flavors as the wine alcohol rises to 10-12-1/2 percent.

Transfer the wine out of the bucket by siphoning into the glass fermenter. Make sure the sediment in the bucket stays in the bucket and does not get sucked up in the siphon while transferring the wine. Always transfer the wine down the sides or fill the glass fermenter from the bottom up. Never splash the wine. Slashing will start oxidation and off flavors.

10) Let the wine stand for 3-4 weeks or until fermentation is completely finished. Your wine can age longer sealed if you like. Or, you may want to stabilize the wine (kill all of the yeast) and add the finings now. Before stabilizing your wine take a Hydrometer reading. It should be 1.000 or lower. If the reading is 1.000-1.005. and you like sweet wine you can stop the fermentation now.

11) By again adding 1 each Campden Tablet for each gallon of wine, this will kill the yeast. Crush the Campden well and add to the wine with the Finings. Stir your wine very well to bring the Co2 up to the top of the fermenter. You will be stirring up the small layer of sediment from the bottom.

Important: If you have more than 1/8 inch of sediment in the bottom of your fermenter and your wine is cloudy. You should first siphon off the sediment and then transfer it back into the glass fermenter. Do this BEFORE you add the Campden tablets and finings.

You may have to stir the wine two or three times in a two day period to remove the Co2 or degas the wine. After degassing and adding the Campden Tablets and Finings let your wine stand for 2-3 weeks. Finings will remove most or all the small matter floating in your wine. A Fining popular with white wine is Sparkolloid Powder. Others include Isinglass Bentonite and Gelatin.

12) Transfer your wine off of any sediment into another container. If you are going to bottle the wine now. And the wine is not to dry for your taste, then proceed. If your would like to sweeten the wine a little or a lot, this is the time to do it. You can bottle some of the wine as is or add a sweetener to the remaining wine. Add Potassium Sorbate (1/4 tsp. per gallon) to your wine to prevent renewed fermentation before you add the sweetener. To sweeten your wine we recommend for five gallons removing One cup of your wine. Add to the one cup, 2 cups of sugar and bend well. Add 4 tablespoons per gallon or sweeten to taste. Remember you can bottle part of the batch dry, slightly sweeten the batch and bottle more. And if you like desert style wine add more sweetener to the remaining wine to your taste.

13) A easy way to sanitize your corks is using One Campden tablet to a 1/2 gallon of hot water (not boiling). Let the corks soak in the Campden water for 20-30 minutes. Always make sure your bottles are sanitized before filling.

14) When corking. The length of the cork times 2 equals the amount of space left in the bottle. If your cork is 1-1/2 inches long then the space in your bottle should be 3 inches before you start to insert the cork.

15) If you are going to store your wine in a lighted area, it is best to use a dark bottle. But if you store your wine out of light use any color or clear bottle you have.

Enjoy your wine and Share your craft. Teach a friend to make great wine too.

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