Wine making threads...

thatgirlemma

I'm not sure if there are any other wine making threads around, I wasn't really sure where to look! But has anyone had a go at wine making? I've got the equipment! I just need the instructions! I can't follow the ones online because they don't give clear enough measurements....for example...."a packet of yeast"...i go and google for yeast for winemaking and the packets come in different gram sizes!!!
Any instructions for a first attempt? Id really appreciate it! Thank you
xx

lilbert

Ive just bought a brewing kit and a wine kit. Ive got 25 litres of merlot fermenting upstairs right now, its fascinating to watch it bubbling away lol. There is a homebrewing thread, ill go find it and post the link for you.
I used a kit because i needed it to be idiot proof but id be really interested in some recipes to make from scratch Im trying to keep the cost below £1 per bottle.

officeguru

Hi

I've been making wine for years... Mostly from a elderberry recipe... makes a beautiful, full bodied red wine... I have also made banana wine ... parsnip wine... kit wines etc etc... I have a basement so I have it bubbling away down there... I have found that it is just as much work to make 5 gals at a time (actually I have 2 x 5 gals on at the same time... One red, one white... There is just as much work involved making 1 gal or 5 gals but if anything goes wrong, it is quite a lot of wine to throw out... Also you have to have the space for 5 or 10 demijohns lying around... I've got 1 gal of red and 1 gal of rose left so it will be time for me to get on the go again.... I found a bottle of parsnip in the corner of my basement and it was about 6 years old... it was absolutely lovely... but as a new wine, it wasn't really drinkable... most of the recipe wines improve greatly with age....

Cheers

cootambear

thatgirlemma wrote: »

I'm not sure if there are any other wine making threads around, I wasn't really sure where to look! But has anyone had a go at wine making? I've got the equipment! I just need the instructions! I can't follow the ones online because they don't give clear enough measurements....for example...."a packet of yeast"...i go and google for yeast for winemaking and the packets come in different gram sizes!!!
Any instructions for a first attempt? Id really appreciate it! Thank you
xx

old style moneysaving?

cootambear

thatgirlemma wrote: »

I'm not sure if there are any other wine making threads around, I wasn't really sure where to look! But has anyone had a go at wine making? I've got the equipment! I just need the instructions! I can't follow the ones online because they don't give clear enough measurements....for example...."a packet of yeast"...i go and google for yeast for winemaking and the packets come in different gram sizes!!!
Any instructions for a first attempt? Id really appreciate it! Thank you
xx

yeast multiplies rapidly so pack size isnt important. yeast eats sugar to multiply, the main chemical bi products of this process are co2 (bubbles) and ethanol (alcohol). This process is called fermentation.

wild yeasts do this to overipe fruit, which is why some animals get drunk. monkeys like to get drunk.

when the yeast has exhausted its food supply (the sugar), it sinks to the bottom as a thick sludge.

you then syphon the clear stuff at the top in to bottles.

cootambear

are you making it from a kit or fresh fruit?

cootambear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpVT1VNo1zk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCM15sZRxv8

soupdragon10

I remember making wine years ago from some windfall apples from an orchard. My then OH and I were carefully picking over the fruit before cutting it up to soak and then notice my late DF gaily just chopping the apples and bunging them in, wildlife rot and all....Turned out to be one of the best wines we ever made, and even won first prize at a show!

If you are using fresh fruit it isn't an exact science, I normally just use what I've got. Kits are easier as it's more like using a cake mix instead of cooking from scratch.

Your library will probably have a copy of First Steps in Winemaking which is a good basic book.

Sambucus_Nigra

I have a standard recipe which I use for all my wines. You refine as you go what suits you.

There are wine forums around, and loads of recipes; if you have the equipment just go for it and get started.

A quick way is to make fruit tea bag wine, which is drinkable in about 3 weeks; just to start you off.

My foraged fruit wines from last summer were absolutely gorgeous.

I use a teaspoon of wine yeast per demigod; and always start mine off at 1.08 so the sugar levels depend on getting the mix to that before I add the yeast.

*And you have just reminded me to get some white grape juice as I have 4 bags of rhubarb frozen for my next batch - cheers!

splodger_seedswapper

i make my own wine (from fruit and veg - not kits)

i made about 30 gallons last season - going to try and make even more this year :rotfl:

macma

We do loads mainly to kepep the cost down.We have an allotment so make parsnip,blackberry etc but 2 simple very cheap wines are Ribena or apple and grape juice.
355ml Ribena
1 kilo of sugar
1/3 teaspoon citric acid
1 teaspoon of both wine yeast and nutrient.
Dissolve sugar in couple of pints of water add Ribena bring to boil and simmer for 10 mins -to get rid of preservative which would kill the yeast,cool pour in demi top up with cold water add yeast etc and ferment.
1 litre carton of fruit juice (Lidl do great offers so I buy when 1/2 price)1/2 litre of grape juice (Lidl again)
kilo of sugar, citric acid,1 teaspoon of pectolase,1 teasp each of yeast and nutrient.
Dissolve sugar in a couple pints of water (heating in a pan works well) put both juices in demijohn cool the sugar/water mix add to demi top up with cold water add pectolase and citric acid.leave 24 hrs add yeast (I don't know why the delay) ferment.