How To Make Wine In Your Own Home

Wine is a very popular alcoholic beverage that comes in different flavors and varieties and is made by fermenting grape juice. The evolution and development of wine can be traced back to millions of years ago and referrals have even been made in the Holy Bible. However, there were many crossroads and detours on the way, as the brew passed from one generation to the next, through different civilizations. This paved the way for modifications and alterations, leading to different varieties being available commercially in today’s market. Wine can be brewed in different ways and produced either from the various species of grapes or from their hybrids.

 

Winemaking, or vinification, is a complex process that involves production of wine from the initial step of selection of the grapes till the final process of bottling the wine. There are basically two ways of producing wine, one is the sparkling wine production that involves carbonation and the other is the still wine production without the carbonation step. There are three basic varieties of wine produced worldwide. Red wine is produced from the pulp of red or black grapes, white wine by fermenting either white grapes or red grapes and rose wine from red grapes. The process of selection and fermentation of raw materials may differ, depending on the variety of wine to be produced. Given below is a simple procedure listing how to make wine in your own home, just for you!

 

 

The first step is called sterilization and is very important to prevent the growth of bacteria during the process of fermentation. Hence, this process should be given much importance. The easiest way to do this is by using your dishwasher to sanitize everything that you are going to use for making the wine. Set the washer at high heat setting, with appropriate detergent. Once the dry cycle is over, you can start off with the process of wine making.

 

Purchase a 1 gallon plastic jug of Reverse Osmosis water and bring the water to a boil, at 144F for around 22 minutes.

 

At room temperature, add two cans of juice concentrate to the clean and dry jug, making use of a funnel. You can use different types of concentrate for the purpose, like strawberry or Welch’s Concord grape. Make sure that the concentrates do not contain any type of artificial preservatives or coloring.

 

While the water is still in the boiling stage, add 2 cups of sugar into the water and stir continuously, to dissolve the sugar completely.

 

This step involves the activation of yeast and it can be done by different methods. It is advisable to use champagne yeast for the purpose and activate the contents following the instructions written over the packet. A second method of activation involves placing one teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl and adding ¼ cup of lukewarm water to it. Next, place the yeast powder in a bowl and allow it to rest for around 10 minutes or until the yeast becomes frothy.

 

Pour the sugar-water mixture in the jug containing the juice concentrate. However, ensure that the mixture is cooled before adding it to the concentrate. After this, add in the yeast and cap the jug properly. Mix all the ingredients inside the jug thoroughly, by shaking it.