| How to make wine |
Wash the fruit to remove dirt, insects and bits
of greenery - especially if making country wines. Blend the fruit in a food processor or even a hand mincer. The fruit can be heated or frozen to break down the cell walls, or both which ever you prefer. When the fruit is processed, pour into a pre-sterilised 5 gallon fermenting bin. Dissolve half the sugar in a large pan, e.g. a preserving pan and pour into the fruit, add the nutrients, tannin etc. Only add the yeast and enzymes when below 35 Celsius, otherwise the heat will inactivate it. Seal with an air tight lid and keep in a warm place for 5-7 days. Stir the mixture daily, ensuring that the fruit is thoroughly mixed. At the end of the initial fermentation, take a second pre-sterilised 5 gallon fermenting bin and pour the wine mixture into it via a large sieve or colander. This will remove the bulk pieces of fruit. Repeat the process with a large mesh nylon bag and then with a fine mesh nylon bag. Using hot water from the kettle, wash the fruit to make up the required volume to dissolve the other half of the sugar. Allow the dissolved sugar to cool before pouring into the fermenting bin with the wine. Mix thoroughly and decant into pre-sterilised 1 gallon demijohns. Ensure that at least 2-3 inches gap is left to allow space for any vigorous fermentation. Place the demijohns onto a grow bag tray from homebase or similar. At some time, some of the wines WILL froth over and the grow bag tray helps to keep the carpet or floor clean. After the vigorous fermentation has subsided, additional water can be added to the demijohn. When the wine appears clear, carefully decant the wine into a pre-sterilised demijohn with plastic tubing, repeat this process over a few months until both the wine is clear and there is no sediment. When the wine has stopped fermenting, it can be bottled. Is is possible to add Campden tablets to kill the yeast, but I prefer not to add sulphur dioxide to any wines. |
| Temperature |
The best temperature for the initial 5-7 days
fermentation is between 20-25C as this will allow a rapid fermentation
of the wine yeast and reduce or stop growth of any natural yeasts which
have not been removed. An ideal place would be an airing cupboard or
near
to a central heating boiler. When the wine has been strained through the muslin and put into the demijohns, it can left somewhere warm like an airing cupboard or in a warm part of the house for several weeks. When sufficient sediment has accumulated it can be removed, such a process is called racking, the wine can then be either left somewhere slightly cooler or back in the airing cupboard. |
| Sterility |
Unless you are trying to make nice vinegar,
then all the materials that you are using need to be sterilised, the
personal choice is Chempro SDP, but you can use Milton or similar
materials, a cheap but effective method is to mix sodium metabisulphite
and citric acid, but preferably outside as chlorine gas is generated,
guaranteed to sterilise most things and bring on an asthma attack for
those with asthma ! Essentially you need to remove bacteria which will cause the wine to go off. |
| Materials |
Food grade plastic for the fermenting bins,
glass for the demijohns, rubber corks, plastic or glass airlocks. Use
of copper is not recommended, but aluminium for a preserving pan does
not seem to cause any problems. |
| Fruit Flies |
This is a free source of natural vinegar ! If
the fruit flies get into your must or wine, then there is a very good
chance of getting the wine converted to vinegar free of charge,
appropriate
use of sticky fly papers near to the wine is very much recommended. |