In an earlier article about making wine for free, we discussed the basic equipment costs you will have to budget for when making wine and discovered that for about $35.00, you can get yourself ready to start fermenting juice. You can of course spend much more than that on other equipment and chemicals, but you don’t need to.
The next consideration in making your first batch as inexpensively as possible are the ingredients. As we discussed, there are some who claim that you can make wine for “free.” We’ve already discovered that indeed, you could make it for “free” assuming you have a vessel that you can squeeze backyard fruit juice into, and simply allow wild yeast to inoculate that. You’ll have wine, but likely not something you’ll be pleased with.
Recently, I saw an article that suggested that you could get “free” fruit by making a deal with the manager of your local grocery store. Apparently, grocery stores throw out fruit that no one will buy – the stuff that has ripened in the produce stands to the degree that any longer, it will soon begin to rot. It was suggested that you could have a conversation with the grocery manager and arrange to pick up this fruit and take it off his hands instead of having it thrown out.
While it is true that fruit that are at their peak of ripening contain more sugar than unripened fruit, I’m not sure I’d be wanting to drive the car over to the grocery store to pick up produce that is almost at the point of going bad and getting the leftovers. For one thing, it takes close to 100 pounds of grapes to make five gallons of wine. Granted, you don’t need to purchase one hundred pounds of blueberries to make 5 gallons of blueberry wine, and I suppose you could get enough of the stuff that is too ripe to sell to make a gallon or two.
But is it really free? You’re driving to the grocery store. You’re burning gas. That’s not free. On top of that, with most non-grape wines, you are going to need sugar. Sometimes, quite a bit of it. So even if you were able to score enough parsnips to make a few gallons of parsnip wine, you will need to have spent some money on that sugar, unless you’ve got beets growing in your backyard and know how to extract sugar from them.
For many fruit and vegetable wines, you are also going to need enzymes. Fruit contains pectin in varying amounts (some are high in pectin while others are lower in pectin) and if you want to make a decent fruit wine, you may need to add pectic enzyme to break it down. If you are going to make something from vegetables, you’ll need to be aware that many vegetables contain high amounts of starch so the addition of a starch enzyme may be required. But don’t worry – both pectic and amylase enzyme are inexpensive. Four dollars worth of each will be enough to do several batches made from fruits or vegetables.
To improve your results even more, you may want to add some grape tannin or leave a teabag while the fermentation is occurring. Without tannin, some wines will taste flat and have little “mouth feel.” Again, grape tannin or teabags are not expensive, but they are not “free.”
The best fruit to use in your endeavours is the best quality fruit you can get your hands on, picked at its peak. Not sitting on the grocery store produce stand for several days, after being harvested up to a week or more before it reached its prime. If you have loads of fruit in your backyard, then you’re in a great position to make some excellent fruit wines very inexpensively! But not for free, as at the very least, you’ll need to purchase sugar and perhaps the other additives mentioned above.
Learning can be fun – and learning to use the various ingredients that are required to improve our wines is also fun. As much as it sounds intriguing to make it for free, don’t forget that this is an art as well as a science – and why not use the best ingredients you can afford?
Ian Hugh Scott has been making his own wine for years. As well as wines from commercially available kits, he has discovered the pleasures of experimenting with other ingredients such as black currants, strawberries, blueberries, and even ginger and parsnip! Follow along with Ian’s regular activities. Article Source:
Everyone who has ever purchased a wine kit and read the instructions probably know that degassing wine is an important step before adding clarification ingredients. At the same time, many have questions about this process. But first, what is this gas and where does it come from?
All home winemakers likely know that in order to make wine, the juice needs to be inoculated with yeast. The yeast produce alcohol while consuming the sugar in the juice. Alcohol is not the only bi-product however. Carbon dioxide is also produced by yeast. When the fermentation is vigorous, considerable amounts of carbon dioxide gas are released into the air through the airlock. Due to a variety of circumstances, the wine can hold quite a bit of gas after the fermentation is completed. In still wines, the presence of carbon dioxide in anything but very small amounts is undesirable.
For those who don’t have a vacuum pump, removing the carbon dioxide (or degassing as the method is referred to) can be a time consuming process. As well, the winemaker needs to be cautious about too much oxygen coming into contact with the wine while trying to help along the process of degassing. So what should you do?
Tip #1 – Sulfite
Before you begin degassing, always add sulfite to your wine. Degassing with a method that involves stirring or agitating the wine with the air lock removed from the carboy will increase contact with air. Too much contact with air can cause oxidation and allow for a greater possibility of bacteria spoilage. The addition of sulfite to the wine will provide it with protection against this.
Tip #2 – Warmth
At cooler temperatures, carbon dioxide is more difficult to remove from any liquid. If you have kept your wine in a cool cellar, it will have retained much more gas than it would have if it had been in a warm location. The ideal temperature to degas wine is about 75 F (about 24 C). Try to find a warm spot to store your carboy for a few days before you start the degassing process.
Tip #3 – Racking
Racking the wine a couple of times in between vigorous stirring can help drive off carbon dioxide. Splash the wine coming out of the end of the siphon tube against the sides of the carboy. As you do this, much of the gas will be driven out.
is one part of the winemaking process that can be frustrating to some. But it is an important step especially for those who want their wines to clarify and then be bottled in 4 to 8 weeks.
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I’ve seen a number of advertisements online suggesting that you can make wine for free. There are “experts” who apparently claim they can tell you how to make wine at no cost to yourself. Can you really do this? Well… yes and here’s how:
First, let’s assume you have a vessel of some sort like a jug that you can put juice in. We’ll also assume you have some grapes or fruit in your backyard. Remember, we are talking about making wine for free, right? So what you do is you go to your backyard, pick some fruit that is high in sugar content, squeeze the juice out of it into the jug, leave the jug uncovered for a few days. What will happen is that wild yeast will inoculate the juice and begin turning the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. And you’ll have free wine!
But will it be what you want to drink? Probably not.
In all honesty is there isn’t much chance you can make wine that you will enjoy absolutely free. If you try, you’ll more than likely end up with something worse than plonk. The simple truth is that you will need to spend some money if you’d like to make something you can proudly serve to guests and enjoy yourself.
But you don’t need to spend very much.
There are some basic items you will need to make good wine. One of the most important things you will need is a package of yeast that is meant for winemaking. You can pick one of these up for about a dollar for a 5 gram package, enough to inoculate up to 6 US gallons of juice.
Second, you’ll need some type of “fermentation vessel” for the initial stages of the fermentation when the yeast begin to work and start turning sugar into alcohol. A food grade plastic pail is the best choice for this. You could probably pick one of these up for free by visiting a local restaurant and asking them to save both a pail and lid for you. Often food supplies are delivered in various size food grade plastic pails to restaurants and catering companies. After they have been emptied, these pails are often just thrown in with the trash or placed in a recycling bin. Or if you want, you can purchase a pail brand new for about eight dollars.
You will also want a glass vessel of some sort for the secondary stage of the fermentation. Depending on how much wine you plan to make (for the beginner,5 gallons is probably the upper limit for a single batch), you can get various sizes of jugs and carboys. A small one gallon jug could cost about five dollars while a 5 US gallon carboy will pull about thirty dollars out of your wallet.
Enough food grade plastic hose to comfortably siphon the wine from the plastic pail into the glass vessel is all that is really required at a minimum, although a racking wand attached to the plastic hose with a clamp to stop and start the flow is really handy. The cost for this basic piece of equipment is about eight dollars including the wand and clamp.
You’ll also want to purchase a hydrometer and testing tube which will help you in determining the sugar content of the juice you want to make into wine. Without one of these, you will be really shooting in the dark as far as alcohol potential of the juice you are starting with, or how far along the fermentation is. Eight dollars. In order to draw a sample of wine or juice to test the specific gravity, a wine thief is recommended (you could use a sanitized turkey baster) and costs about five dollars.
The last couple of pieces of essential equipment in include a rubber bung that will fit the opening of the glass vessel, and an airlock that will fit into the hole in the bung. This protects your wine from the air and all the wild organisms floating around that could do nasty things to your wine, while allowing carbon dioxide gas to escape. Bung and airlock cost: Two dollars.
You will also need to purchase a little potassium metabisulfite. If you don’t have either campden tables (sodium metabisulfite) or potassium metabisulfite, you’re going to risk ending up with lousy wine. Sulfite is important in protecting your wine from bacteria as well as a great sanitizing agent for your equipment. I recommend potassium metabisulfite. Four ounces will be more than adequate to protect five gallons of wine and to make up a one gallon sanitizing solution and will cost about four dollars.
So for the basic equipment, at the low end assuming you managed to get a free plastic pail, your initial costs are about thirty five dollars if you’re only going to make a gallon, or fifty five dollars if you’re going to obtain the 5 US gallon carboy. The yeast and sulfite will need to be replaced as you continue to make more wine, but the other equipment noted above should last you through many batches.
Learning is not that difficult, and now that we’ve covered the basic equipment, in another article we’ll look at the ingredients and costs of those. You can do it inexpensively, but it won’t be “free.”
Ian Hugh Scott has been making his own wine for years. As well as wines from commercially available kits, he has discovered the pleasures of experimenting with other ingredients such as black currants, strawberries, blueberries, and even ginger and parsnip! Follow along with Ian’s regular activities. Article Source:
New home winemakers often get confused between potassium metabisulfite and sodium metabisulfite. Some winemaking guides only refer to sulfite and it’s up to the reader to try to understand which form of sulfite the author was referring to. What’s the difference? And does it really matter?
Both potassium and sodium metabisulfite are used as sanitizing agents and as additives to wine to protect it from oxidation and to inhibit bacteria growth. When used in a solution with water, both can sanitize winemaking equipment and the workspace where wine is being made. When added directly to wine in small amounts, it releases sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas which is what protects wine from oxidation and micro-organisms.
Potassium metabisulfite, which is sometimes abbreviated as KMS, K sulfite, and K-meta, comes in a powder form. The sodium version is available in powder as well as tablets which are usually referred to as “Campden Tablets.” Some suggest that KMS and sodium metabisulfite are exactly the same, however this is not completely true.
Although they can be used interchangeably for the same purposes of sanitizing and preservation, those on a restricted sodium diet should try to use only potassium metabisulfite in their wine. Another difference is that the sodium version can contain a slightly smaller amount of sulfur dioxide.
When purchasing a , the type of sulfite that is included which is to be added to the after it has completed fermentation is potassium sulfite. It is best to follow the directions exactly and add this to your wine in order to protect it during the degassing stage, prior to clarifying and bottling. If you are planning on aging your wine for a couple of years or more, you may want to consider adding an additional amount of KMS prior to bottling or while it is bulk aging in the carboy.
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Are you one of the many people who enjoy drinking red wine but find that you get headaches after drinking it? You don’t get them after drinking white wine but those reds really seem to bring the ache on. Have you like others blamed it on sulfite? If you have, consider that the majority of wines, both red and white, contain sulfite. Sulfites (usually the potassium metabisulfite form) are found in many grocery foods as it is a common preservative that inhibits bacteria growth.
So, it’s probably not this common food preservative that is causing those headaches. What else could it be?
Many red wines are subject to a “malolactic fermentation” (MLF). Lactic acid bacteria are introduced either along side the first yeast fermentation or after the yeast have completed their job of turning the sugars into alcohol. These bacteria break down the harsher tasting malic acid that can be found in higher quantities in some wines and turn it into lactic acid. The process helps to soften the taste of those wines that have high levels of malic acid. Malolactic fermentation is generally not carried out with most white wines.
MLF introduces other chemicals into the wine as a side effect of this fermentation, including histamine. Histamine of course can have severe effects on those individuals who are susceptible and can cause mild to severe headaches and other unpleasant symptoms. So if you enjoy the flavors and aromas of red wine and it’s intoxicating effects, what can you do to avoid the unpleasant effects?
Why not make your own red wine? The easiest way to do this is to purchase one of the many that are available. These kits can result in superb wines that will rival many of the store bought bottles. Kit wines should never undergo a malolactic fermentation as the producers of those kits have already balanced the juices and juice concentrates that go into them. No malolactic fermentation means no chemical bi-products that include histamine.
Learning is not that difficult, and the kits that are available make it very easy and simple to bottle wines you will be proud to serve your guests.
Ian Hugh Scott has been making his own wine for years. As well as wines from commercially available kits, he has discovered the pleasures of experimenting with other ingredients such as black currants, strawberries, blueberries, and even ginger and parsnip! Follow along with Ian’s regular activities. Article Source:
Home winemakers will often come across an ingredient or additive called “Campden Tablets.” What are they exactly, and when should you use them?
Originally developed in Campden, England at a laboratory that does food safety research, Campden Tablets are used for precise measurement of the preservative sodium metabisulfite. They have been used for decades in home winemaking activities to prevent oxidation of wine and inhibit bacterial growth. As well, they can be used to make a sanitizing solution for winemaking equipment.
Each tablet contains precisely 0.44 grams of sodium metabisulfite. Due to this precision, a home winemaker can with close accuracy determine the exact amount of sulfite being added to their wines or juices that are meant to be turned into wine. Generally, one tablet per gallon of wine is used when sulfite is called for. One tablet per gallon will provide about 50 parts per million of sulfur dioxide.
However, this tablet form of sulfite is not without its drawbacks:
1. In order to be useful, the tablet needs to be finely crushed before it is can be added to the wine. Without crushing, the sodium metabisulfite will not dissolve very well and therefore will not add much protection. It also should be dissolved in a small amount of warm water which is then added to the wine or juice.
2. Campden tablets contain sodium metabisulfite which can be a problem for those on a sodium restricted diet.
In , this tablet form of sulfite is best used when making small batches of wine in one to three gallon sizes. Beyond that, the powder form of potassium metabisulphite is preferred. Although precision can only be obtained when using sensitive scales, measuring the powder in 1/4 teaspoon sizes is close enough for the results that are expected. As well, making sanitizing solutions with potassium metabisulfite is much easier than with Campden Tablets.
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Have you been disappointed with the way your homemade wine has turned out? I know quite a number of people who have not been pleased with their results. Sometimes it’s off flavors. Or worst of all, wine turning into vinegar. Here are some common mistakes that home winemakers often commit which could result in something your not all that proud of:
Mistake #1 – Not Sanitizing Equipment
This is quite possibly the biggest and most often made mistake of home winemakers. Just because a batch of wine turned out fine previously, and you didn’t spend the extra few minutes sanitizing your equipment doesn’t mean you’ll be so lucky every time. It only takes a few minutes and can save a lot of frustration and feelings of wasted time to mix up a solution of potassium metabisulfite and water (3 Tablespoons per gallon of water) and use it on your equipment, primary fermentation pail and carboy.
Mistake #2 – Assuming Fermentation is Complete
Have you ever had bottles of wine that exploded or the corks suddenly started popping out? This is caused by pressure build up of carbon dioxide in the bottles, usually due to yeast that are consuming any remaining sugar. Some people think that by adding sulfite and potassium sorbate, they can stop the fermentation before it’s complete and end up with an off dry, semi-sweet or sweet wine. It is unlikely that by adding sulfite and sorbate that a fermentation will stop. Adding sorbate will simply prevent yeast from reproducing and restarting a fermentation.
Let your wine ferment completely. If you wanted to end up with something sweeter, add a sweetener after the fermentation has completed.
Mistake #3 – Drinking Wine Too Soon
Although 4 week appeal to those who want to have wine quickly in order to consume it, all wines can benefit from some further aging in the bottle. Avoid drinking it for at least a week after you’ve bottled it. If you can, wait several months. After bottling, wine can suffer from bottle shock where the flavors become muted and sometimes referred to as “disjointed.” It’s a temporary condition and you will find that your wine improves if you give it some time.
Keep these mistakes in mind while you make your wines, and by avoiding them you will increase your chances of having something you will be proud to serve others.
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Airlocks are a vital part of the home winemaker’s equipment. Fitting into a bung or rubber stopper that is used as a closure for the carboy (secondary fermenter), an airlock should allow carbon dioxide gas to escape while keeping air out. Many new winemakers don’t seem to know exactly what do with an airlock.
I’ve seen two wrong ways of using the cylinder shaped airlocks:
1. An Empty Airlock
An airlock needs to have liquid in it in order to stop air from entering into the carboy and possibly contaminating the wine. An empty airlock, while allowing carbon dioxide gas to escape, is offering zero protection to the wine as air and bacteria can get in. The liquids that are commonly used include plain water, a potassium metabisulfite and water solution, or vodka.
2. A Full Airlock
While a full airlock will offer protection against air getting into the wine, it does not allow carbon dioxide gas to escape. Indeed, while a fermentation is going on, if the airlock is overfilled, the carbon dioxide gas building up in the carboy will cause the rubber bung or stopper to blow out of the opening of the carboy – and you’ve just lost your protection from air and other contaminants.
The Correct Way:
So how full is “full enough” when using standard cylinder type airlocks? If you look closely at the large cylinder portion (not the tube that is inserted into the bung or stopper), you will see a line about half way between the top and bottom. You should fill the airlock to this line before inserting the internal plastic dome. Then, snap the dust cover over the top.
Doing it the correct way will protect your while allowing carbon dioxide to escape. Even over filling too much beyond the line on the airlock can slow down the degassing process.
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Experienced winemakers stress the importance of sanitizing equipment and work areas. Perhaps so much that new winemakers might get a little nervous about whether they’ve done a good enough job before starting their winemaking activities. Keep in mind that we’re not looking for sterilization – where every micro-organism is killed and nothing can live on the surfaces of our equipment and work areas. Indeed, sterilization is probably impossible and undesirable when making wine.
Sanitization on the other hand is the process of making our equipment unfavorable to bacteria growth. Bacteria can be very harmful – acetic bacteria can turn wine into vinegar.
Tip #1 – Keep It Simple
Although there are a variety of products available to winemakers for sanitation purposes, I prefer to keep things simple and use only one product. In doing this, I don’t get mixed up about what products I’m using or use one when I meant to use another. Potassium metabisulfite is used to stabilize and protect wines as an additive. It can also be used to make a sanitizing solution with water. It works, so why purchase other ingredients to do exactly what sulfite will do?
Tip #2 – Make It Up Ahead Of Time
To make things easy and fast in my activities, I make up a solution in a one gallon jug that has a tight fitting screw top lid. The generally accepted ratio is 3 tablespoons of potassium metabisulfite to one gallon of water. I usually make mine a bit stronger, using 5 tablespoons because the solution can lose some of it’s strength over time especially when stored above 65F.
Tip #3 – Use A Spray Bottle
I also have a small spray bottle that I fill up with the solution of water and potassium metabisulfite. For sanitizing the surfaces of airlocks, bungs and my plastic spoon, I simply give those surfaces a thorough spraying with the solution using the spray bottle. A rinse with water, and it’s done. The spray bottle is also helpful in sanitizing work areas such as counter tops,
Using these three tips will help you sanitize your equipment and work area fast and efficiently.
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Anyone who has made wine for a while knows the correct level of liquid in the airlock is vital to assuring good wine. But questions come up about what exactly one should put in the airlock to protect the wine from air and other contaminants. Some suggest just plain water, others say a sanitizing solution of water and potassium metabisulfite, while yet more suggest vodka or some other alcohol-based liquid.
What should you use? Let’s look at the three different recommendations:
Water
Traditionally, plain water has been used in airlocks for winemaking. It does a fine job of allowing carbon dioxide out of the carboy while not allowing air to get in. Some winemakers fear that perhaps water does not offer the best protection because bacteria can live in it. So they have suggested the use of sanitizing solution.
Sanitizing Solution
Many winemakers will mix up a gallon of sanitizing solution using 3 tablespoons of potassium metabisulfite per gallon of water. This will do a very good job at sanitizing equipment and home winery work areas. Sulfites inhibit bacteria growth. Because of this, some winemakers will use this solution in their airlocks.
If you are hoping to get the extra protection of bacteria control that sulfite offers, you will need to replace the solution in the airlock every week or so. Why? Because the sulfite in the water oxidizes quickly and the sulfer gas will leave the water. After about a week, the solution won’t have that much more strength over water alone.
Vodka Or Other Alcohol Based Liquid
Some winemakers recommend the use of a liquid with a high percent of alcohol in it. Alcohol of course has anti-bacterial qualities itself. Using alcohol might be fine during cooler months, but when it warms up, it should be completely avoided. And probably not for reasons you might think! It still might be offering protection to your , but the alcohol odor will attract fruit flies. And the last thing you want in your home winery is an infestation of fruit flies. They carry the dreaded acetobacter – acetic acid bacteria that turns wine into vinegar.
Whatever you decide to use in your airlocks, the most important thing is to remember to check them every couple of weeks. Whether you have used plain water, sulfite solution, or alcohol, it will have evaporated to some degree, and it’s vital that you keep the liquid right up to the line on the center of the airlock.
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