Content

• Ingredients
• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Preparing the supplies and ingredients
• Part 2 of 3: Fermenting the wine
• Part 3 of 3: Making wine like a pro
• Tips

Wine making is an age-old tradition. While you can use all kinds of fruits to make wine, grapes are the most popular choice. After you have combined the ingredients, let the wine ferment and then age before bottling. This simple, traditional process results in a delicious wine that you as a maker can be proud of.

Ingredients

• 16 cups of fruit
• 2 cups of honey
• 1 pack of yeast
• Filtered water

To step

Part 1 of 3: Preparing the supplies and ingredients

1. Gather your supplies. In addition to the ingredients for the wine, you will use some basic tools to ensure that your wine can age without being disturbed by insects or bacteria. Making your own wine does not have to be expensive and it is not necessary to get special tools. However, you will need the following things:
   • A glass jar or pitcher in which you can store about 8 liters of liquid (you can often find this second-hand, but make sure you clean the jar or pitcher well before use.)
   • A carboy (glass bottle with a narrow neck) in which you can store about 4 liters of liquid
   • An airlock
   • A thin plastic tube to transfer the wine
   • Clean wine bottles with corks or screw caps
   • Campden tablets (optional)
2. Choose which type of fruit you want to make wine from. You can use any fruit, although wine and berries are the most popular choices. Make sure the fruit you choose has as much flavor as possible. It is best to use organic fruit that has not been treated with chemicals. For example, use fruit that you have grown yourself or ask for untreated products in the health food store. There are also fruit growers who specialize in fruit that can be made into wine.
3. Clean the fruit. Remove leaves and stems and make sure that there is no soil or sand on the fruit. Then rinse the fruit thoroughly and keep it in your jar or pitcher. You can peel the fruit before pressing, but much of the wine's flavor comes from the skin. Wine made from fruit that has been peeled before pressing has a milder taste.
   • Some winemakers choose not to wash the fruit before pressing. Since yeast naturally resides on the skin of the fruit, you can also make wine from just the skin and the air. However, washing the fruit and controlling the amount of yeast allows you to influence the taste. Natural yeast can cause an unpleasant aftertaste. If you are in for an experiment, you can also make two different wines: one with natural yeast and one with added yeast. You can then choose which of the two you like best.
4. Squeeze the fruit. Use a clean potato masher or your hands to squeeze the fruit and squeeze out the juices. Keep squeezing until you have enough juice to fill your jar or jar to about 2 inches below the rim. If you don't have enough fruit to fill the jar with juice to the correct height, use filtered water to refill the jar or jug. Optionally add a Campden tablet. The sulfur dioxide in this tablet ensures that yeast and bacteria are naturally killed. If you make wine with natural yeast, do not add a tablet.
   • Instead of a Campden tablet, you can also pour 2 cups of boiling water over the fruit.
   • Tap water can influence the taste of your wine because substances have been added to this water. Therefore, it is preferable to use filtered water or spring water.
5. Stir in the honey. Honey nourishes the yeast and sweeten your wine. The amount of honey you use directly affects the sweetness of your wine. If you like sweet wine, add some extra honey. If you don't like it sweet, just add 2 cups. The type of fruit with which you make the wine also influences the sweetness of your end product. Since grapes are naturally high in sugar, you don't need to add much honey to grape wine. Berries and other fruits that contain less sugar will need a little extra honey.
   • You can also add sugar or brown sugar instead of honey.
   • If your wine is not sweet enough, you can always add more honey later.
6. Add the yeast. If you use your own yeast, you can now add it to the mixture. Pour it into the pot and stir the ingredients together with a long spoon. The mixture that now arises is also called must.
   • If you are making wine with natural yeast, you can skip this step.

Part 2 of 3: Fermenting the wine

1. Cover the jar and let it sit overnight. It is important to use a lid that allows air in, but at the same time keeps insects from getting to the mixture. You can buy a special lid for this, but you can also use a piece of fabric that you tie tightly around the bottle with an elastic band. Place the covered pot in a warm place at a temperature of about 20 degrees.
   • If you store the pot in a cool place, the yeast will probably not grow. However, if you put the pot in a place that is too warm, the yeast will die. Make sure you find a place that has the right temperature.
2. Stir the must a few times a day. The day after you prepare the mixture, you can remove the lid and stir the must well. Do this about every 4 hours on the first day and stir the mixture a few times daily for the next 3 days as well. When stirring, the mixture should bubble. If this is the case, it is a sign that the fermentation process has started and hopefully a delicious wine will emerge.
3. Strain and siphon the liquid. After about 3 days, the liquid will bubble a little less and it is time to strain out the solids and transfer the mixture to the carboy. Once you have transferred the liquid, install the airlock so that the gases generated during the fermentation process can escape, but the liquid is closed from oxygen.
   • If you don't have an airlock, you can also clamp a balloon around the opening of the bottle. You can then replace it with a new balloon every few days.
4. Let the wine age for at least a month. However, it is best to wait nine months for the wine to take on a better taste. If you used extra honey in the preparation of your wine, it is best to let it ripen for a long time to prevent the wine from turning out too sweet.
5. Bottle the wine. To prevent the wine from being taken over by bacteria, it is best to throw a Campden tablet into the mixture as soon as you remove the airlock. Then transfer the wine into clean bottles, which you fill almost completely and close immediately with a cork or screw cap. You can then drink the wine immediately or let it mature a little further.
   • Use dark bottles to maintain the color of red wines.

Part 3 of 3: Making wine like a pro

1. Learn the right tricks to make delicious wines. People have been making wine for thousands of years and have learned quite a few handy tricks in the process. If you are making your own wine for the first time, keep the following things in mind:
   • Use clean equipment to prevent bacteria from ruining your wine.
   • During the first stage of the fermentation process, make sure your mixture is covered, but can breathe.
   • During the second stage of the fermentation process, no oxygen should be added to the mixture.
   • Make sure you fill the bottles well so that there is as little oxygen in the bottle as possible.
   • Store red wines in dark bottles so they don't lose their color.
   • Better make your wine too dry than too sweet: you can always add sugar later.
   • Taste the wine during the transfer to make sure the process is going well.
2. Know what to avoid while making wine. Avoiding these pitfalls increases your chances of success. In any case, don't do the following:
   • Sell ​​your wine to friends or acquaintances. This is not allowed, unless you offer the wine in closed bottles at a fair, annual fair or regional market.
   • Exposing your wine to vinegar flies.
   • Use metal drums.
   • Use containers or spatulas made of coniferous wood. This can ruin the taste of your wine.
   • Try to speed up the fermentation process by keeping the wine at a high temperature.
   • Filter the wine too early or for no good reason.
   • Keep your wine in dirty jars or bottles.
   • Bottling the wine too early.

Tips

• Make sure all supplies are clean and sterile. Bacteria can turn wine into vinegar. However, this does not mean that you should throw it away immediately. Vinegar can be used perfectly as a marinade for meat and poultry. For example, use it to marinate chicken with fresh herbs and spices.
• Siphoning the good liquids from the solids is a must. Do this at least two or three times before bottling the wine.
• Give your wine an aged, woody flavor by adding a small piece of oak to the mason jar during the second stage of the fermentation process. (To make sure the wine reaches the correct height in the jar or jug, you can add cleaned glass marbles.) Then you can transfer, bottle, and seal the liquid.
• Store closed bottles lying down, with the neck of the bottle slightly elevated.
• If your fresh fruit is too sour and the fermentation process seems to be slow, your must may be too sour. In this case, add a piece of chalk. This can work wonders!