How to make Wine from Supermarket Grape Juice without buying Special Equipment
By Paraglider
Welcome to the home winery!
In this hub, I'm going to walk you through a safe, reliable method of making fresh wholesome wine from supermarket grape juice, using no special equipment and strictly no chemicals or artificial additives.
Why bother?
Now that wine is a supermarket commodity, what's the point in making your own? You will have your own reasons, but here are a few of mine:
- It's good fun, feels creative and fills the kitchen with summery smells.
- It's very cheap, wholesome, and surprisingly good.
- I live in an Islamic country where wine is not a supermarket commodity!
Will it be any good?
I'll be honest - it will taste like a decent vin ordinaire, and be none the worse for that. It will be on a par with the staple drink of millions of everyday folk throughout Europe. Because that's what we're making - everyday wine.
It is, of course, possible to make truly fine wine, but to do this you will need to follow a slightly more involved procedure:
- Buy a hillside with ideal aspect, soil and climate
- Terrace it and plant your vines
- Protect them from frosts, hailstorms, insects, neighbours
- Oh, and start about thirty years ago . . .
So, being realistic, our goal is a steady supply of wholesome and pleasant red, white and (if you really must) rose table wine.
Wholesome?
Guaranteed! This wine will contain no chemical additives or artficial preservatives. That is a promise you will not find many commercial winemakers making. Your wine is made from pure fruit juice and, drunk in moderation, will do you nothing but good.
What do I need to get started?
The good news is, you hardly need any equipment at all. You will need:
- One 5 litre (or 1 gallon) plastic drinking water container. (Not 5 separate bottles)
- One plastic pouring funnel
- Four 1 litre (2 pint) cartons of red or white grape juice with no preservatives
- 750 grams (a pound and a half) of ordinary granulated white sugar
- One sachet of general purpose wine yeast
Wine Yeast?
This is important. Please do not try using baking yeast. It will ferment, but it will stop too soon, leaving you with an oversweet, understrength concoction, often with a bready smell. Much the same is true of brewer's yeast, except it will smell beery. What a surprise!
If you are lucky enough to have a winemaker's supplier nearby, that's where to get your wine yeast. Don't be intimidated by the expert salesman - one sachet of general purpose wine yeast is all you need. If he offers you Campden tablets, vitamin B6, a hydrometer, a thermometer, a fermentation trap and a snake of plastic tubing, just smile sweetly and say no.
If you have no local supplier, there are plenty of on-line sources available, listed under "winemaking supplies". Alternatively, you can make cider instead, which works pretty well, even with baker's yeast.
Paraglider's Promise
If you do try making wine by this method and run into any problem, describe it in a comment and I'll do my best to help, or at least explain what's gone wrong.
If you have a go and it works out well (which is most likely) share your success to encourage others to join the winemaking community.
I'm also happy to answer queries about home winemaking. Although my starter method is simple, it is based on sound principles. Advanced winemaking involves more equipment and processes. If the interest is there, I'll base a few more hubs around the finer points.
Why not ask!
Let's get started
Your grape juice should be kept at room temperature, not in the fridge. If it's in the fridge, take it out now and do something else till tomorrow.
Drink the 5 litres of water. Most people prefer to do this over a few days. When the bottle is empty, don't rinse it out. It's clean. It was full of drinking water, remember?
Day One:
Pour about half of one of your cartons of juice into the big bottle.
Add one teaspoonful of wine yeast, put the top on the bottle and shake it to buggery. (This is the correct technical term for this process as used by winemakers the world over, though a small handful still refer to aeration).
Leave it in a warmish place and take the rest of the day off. (Yeast is a living organism. Its comfort zone is much like ours. Think shirt-sleeves temperatures. You don't need to keep it in the dark, but direct sunlight will spoil it.
Day Two:
You'll notice it will have started bubbling. Add the other half carton of juice and one full carton, so the bottle is now a little under half full. Tighten the bottle cap then back it off half a turn. This is very important. Fermentation produces a lot of carbon dioxide gas which must be allowed to escape.
Take a 2 litre coke bottle and do whatever you want with the contents. I'm told it goes well with a Big Mac, whatever that is. We need it empty, that's all.
Pour 750 grams (about a pound and a half) of sugar into the coke bottle. A plastic funnel makes this a lot easier. Pour boiled tap water or drinking water onto the sugar until the bottle is about half full (1 litre or 2 pints). Shake it until all the sugar is dissolved. Don't add it to the wine yet.
Day Four or Five:
By now, the wine should be fermenting well. Add one more carton of grape juice and all of the sugar syrup. The level should still be below the shoulder of the bottle. Swirl the bottle to mix in the sugar syrup. Tighten the bottle cap then back it off half a turn, as before. That's it for today. You should still have one unopened carton of grape juice.
Day Ten or so:
The liveliest fermentation should have eased off by now, so it's safe to add the last carton of juice. The bottle should be filled to the bottom of the neck. Usual drill with the bottle cap. Now you just have to wait. Check the bottle cap every day, and watch for the bubbling showing signs of stopping, typically after two or three weeks.
Finally:
When the bubbling has stopped, or at least slowed right down to the occasional bubble, place the bottle in the fridge (not the freezer!) and leave it for about three days. The cold will halt the fermentation and will also help the yeast to settle to the bottom of the bottle.
Line up enough empty coke or water bottles to hold the wine. Very, very carefully, so as not to disturb the sediment, pour the wine into the bottles using the funnel. Get a friend to help by holding the bottles and moving the funnel from bottle to bottle. Fill all the bottles in a single pass, without un-tipping the fermenting bottle. This way, you won't disturb the sediment.
The wine can be drunk straight away, but it will improve in the bottle for several months. But don't even consider 'laying it down' or any such nonsense. It's not that sort of wine.
Cheers! You're now a winemaker.
Comments are welcome...
but before asking a question, why not read through the comments below as I have already answered most possible questions. You may find the answer is already there!
Comments, newest on top
Yes you could, but unless the juice was very high quality the chances are you'd end up with wine around 9 to 10% ABV.
Could I buy 22 litres of pure juice, and just add yeast - ie. no water or sugar?
then stabilise and clear 10 days later?
It doesn't really matter, as the yeast replicates until it achieves equilibrium, but approx one level teaspoon is fine for a gallon brew.
Paraglider you are awesome. I am enjoying your cider already! I have a question with regards to your red wine though, how many grams is that 1 sachet of yeast?
I just mean- do the usual thing with the cap, i.e. close it then back it off half a turn.
Hi
In day 10 or so you say
"Usual drill with the bottle cap."
What do you mean by this can you clarify?
Thanks
Dave
Where can I find yeast in KSA?
Oops` for got to tell the reason i ask about the water vs wine . is because i am using 1 gallon water bottles so 4 L of juice and 1L of sugar water wont fit ,,haha
Thanks again.
Thanks paraglider ,,, i made five 1 gallon batches a few months ago. it came out so-so ..hopefully this time will be better. i think i have a better grade of juice this time. But i have a question. What if i replace the water wnd desolve the sugar in warm juice instead. What effect would this have on your receipe? Would the extra wine give the yeast more food ? is this a bad idea ?
I have not seen this asked before. is the risk of contamination too high ?
just starting my batches today.
Thanks again.
Thanks Paraglider! I will try using 700gms of sugar next time, I had thought about doing that before but since I don't know anything about making wine, I wasn't sure if that was the right idea. My house is cool so with the weather getting warmer, I hope it speeds up the process a little. I'll keep u posted.
Hi T in Saudi - enjoyed your success story. I think you'll find that as the weather gets hotter, the fermentation times will get shorter. The 750g figure is based on a 'typical' juice. You could reduce it to about 700, for a wine slightly less strong, drier and slightly quicker to make. It sounds as though you might prefer that? I've started keeping my decanted ciders for a bit longer in the fridge. I think the quality after about three weeks is as good as you can get (without more techniques).
Hi Paraglider! I just want to say you are awesome! Thanks for your hub. I started your recipe back in December; it was my first time EVER making wine or cider. It turned out so good that my friends could not believe it was homemade! I have since made a white, another red and am currently on 2 reds and 2 whites. i follow your instructions to the T and they turn out perfectly. Just one thing: my wine turns out very strong compared to other wines I have tasted...not that I mind but I wish there was some way to know what percentage alcohol content? I use a weight scale and measure exactly 750gms of sugar which I put in an Almarai juice bottle (1.75L) and I add water to more than half full of the bottle and mix it until dissolved. Also, I have made a red using Danya grape juice and it turned out perfect but when I made a red with Ceres grape juice, it was sweet. All my wines have had to be left for 4-5 weeks after the final carton of juice was added because the bubbling hasn't slowed down that much or my wine tastes fizzy still. Once I put it in the fridge for 3 days, though, the fizziness goes away and it's perfect. And my personal preference for the cider is the Nadec apple juice over the Almarai. Almarai turns out a little too sweet and Nadec turns out sparkly with just a hint of sweetness. Thanks again!!!!
You're funny.
Hi SweetiePie. My father was strictly TT but he enjoyed making wine as a hobby. It's interesting just to conduct and manage the fermentation. Thanks for the read.
It might not spoil but it won't improve much beyond a couple of months. It's not a wine designed for aging. It's too light to age well.
then after that. can i stock it for a year to improve the taste ? or if i'll do that it will spoil ?
Very interesting hub, Paraglider. I am a teetotaler myself, but I can see how this info would be useful for those living in places where alcohol is not sold.
Follow the procedure on my cider hub. Make the wine in its original container. It won't be very good though. One litre is too small a quantity.
Will i follow the same procedure?
No extra water, 100g sugar, quarter teaspoonful yeast.
yes. can you help me please.. please...
A school wine-making project? Hmm. . .
Hi there. We have a wine making project in our school. What if i only have a 1 litre of grape juice ? how will i do it ? what amount of water, yeast, and sugar do i need ? i hope u'l help me. please respond. thanks :D
Hi Latic - that sounds good. A little extra strength doesn't hurt. It makes it more stable and potentially longer lasting.
Hi Paraglider,the apple wine has turned out really well. It has a refreshing taste but is stronger than the red wine that I made,I don't think it needed the extra sugar.I would recommend that you give it a go if you haven't already.
Glass, with a proper cork, is still the best way to mature a wine. But there is also a lot more that can go wrong. Besides which, this wine isn't designed for aging and should be drunk within three months or so.
Great Hub. When bottling using water bottles (plastic), how long should the wine keep. Will glass last longer.
Latic - With grape juice, add 150 grams/litre. so, 23 x 150 = ?? (The total sugar content should be around 200 g/l but the grape juice provides around 50 g/l)
Ian - Don't add water now. Just ferment it out, refrigerate it, and decant into empty drinking water bottles. I think it will end up around the 10% mark. Next time, if you follow the method in this hub, it will come in 12 to 13% depending on the original grape juice.
Hi,I've just had my first taste of the red wine and I am very pleased with the result. Thank you for the recipe,my apple wine is still bubbling away nicely and I will let you know how it turns out.My next question is if I were to make 23 litres in one go what amount of sugar would I need?
Hi and thanks for writing this. I just came across this article after I put my wine together. Thankfully, it has not fully fermented out but it is almost complete after two weeks in a 5 litre plastic bottle.
My question is; I have not added any water, will this affect the outcome of my wine? I merely added four litres of pure grape juice, 1lb of table sugar and half a pack of red wine yeast. Will it taste like table wine? Is it ok to add water later on or should I just leave it alone and add water for my next attempt? I would like to get an alchol content of about 11 to 14 percent.
Thanks
Ian
It is no cause for concern. It just means that your wine is clearing naturally, as it should. At drinking time, pour the whole Arwa bottle into a fresh one at a single pass, leaving the sediment behind. Serve your friends from the new bottle. Enjoy ;)
A big THANK YOU is in order! I have three large Arwa bottles (same as in your picture) full of some respectable, young table wine. I have a question regarding sediment. In the individual bottles I can see minimal amounts of sediment which obviously didn't remain in the large water bottle. Is this cause for concern? Should I re-pour these again into new water bottles to try to get as much out as possible? I would assume these will get consumed in the next month but I just want to be sure the batch stays tasty for my next soiree!
Cordials are usually so heavily processed that any natural nutrients are lost. You can use them, but you will usually need to add yeast nutrient to the must.
Hey Paraglider
Just found your incredibly insightful hub. I normally use proprietary winemaking kits and was searching for bulk orders of grape juice concentrate and came across your hub, go figure!
Anyway, my query is, have you ever tried using fruit cordial, perhaps in conjunction with grape juice or fruit juice? I understand it may be difficult to get the 'no-preservative' variety, but its intriguing me. Love the blog! CTRL-D'd
Adding more sugar will result in a stronger wine but also increases the chances of stopping early, sweeter than you want. It also increases the time of fermentation. 13% is about right for a table wine. Much stronger and it will taste out of balance. If you want more alcohol, just have another glass!
So will I end up with a 13% wine with this yeast anyway? Will adding more sugar make any difference?
It would only manage that in a perfectly balanced must with perfect temperature control. Not with packaged fruit juice.
Hi! The yeast I have bought says that it can under the right conditions brew up to 21% to get a stronger wine should I add more sugar?
Ok,perhaps 'brewing' was the wrong choice of word.:)
You'll notice I never write about brewing beer. I know the processes but still prefer going to the bar for a pint!
Thanks for the quick response,I will give it a go! Is there anything that you don't know about brewing your own?
Yes, it would work, but for an apple wine (as distinct from a strong cider), I'd use 2 apple cartons and 2 white grape, and also increase the sugar from 750g to 850g (because apple juice is not as sweet as grape juice). Let me know how it goes, if you try.
Hi paraglider, I had a go at the cider and it came out fantastic thank you. I have started a red wine and was wondering if I replaced the grape juice with apple juice and followed the same recipe, would it work? I quite like the idea of apple wine.
Yes, but often it's not worth the effort. You can make a vigorous yeast starter (100ml grape juice, 2 tsp sugar, pinch of yeast nutrient, qtr tsp dried yeast). Let it get active ( about 24 hrs) then add it to the stuck wine. But usually, it's better just to cut your losses and start a new batch. Put it down to experience.
thanks again.. advice is great foe a newbie.
is there anyway i can rectify my wine if it has got stuck in fermantation ?
If the final gravity is 1.060, either you've got a stuck fermentation or you used way too much sugar (or both).
Sweet wines are harder to control. You can sweeten with sugar at the end when the wine is finished and stable, or you can use artificial sweeteners to be sure there's no risk of restarting the fermentation.
I always recommend practising with normal strength dry table wines first. OG around 80, Final gravity in the range -5 to -10.
Cheers paraglider
Thanks for the advice, I didn't mention this about the sloe wine: I fermented it in November 2011 and bottled it this week ,
I did not have a hydrometer before I fermented it, but bought one the other day so when I bottled it I tested it, I'm wandering if it will strengthen up now.. Although there seems to be a lot if sediment floating round in it that even a sediment trap could not stop.. This is the reason I'm changing to trying making wine from supermarket juice this week I made one from 50% grape juice and added a carton of orange , yet to add more juice... Tell me paraglider ,,, would it be ok at the fermentation stage to add sugar syrup ? And I guess no more than 750 grams is needed although I enjoy a sweet wine
Andrew - my method in this hub is designed for those who don't have or want to use a hydrometer. I'm making the assumption that the juice will contain about 50 grams per litre of sugar. The extra 750g raises this to about 200g/l, which will ferment out to a dry wine around 13% alcohol.
If you haven't yet added sugar to the one you're making, try adding 750g dissolved and made up to 1 litre, plus another carton of juice. That should fill the jar to the shoulder. After a few more days, top it right up with juice.
I suspect the sloe experiment has failed if it has stuck at 1.060 after a year!
Hi paraglider.. i read every comment here tonight .
i'm a newbie to wine making and after i picked some sloe berries last year and went through the process i thought !!! was correct, i was a little challenged to say the least.
o i thought i'd look for a more practical and non mess way.
ta da!! well i followed another online recipe, unfortunatley i did not know about this board.
so first of all its very similar to your method,, but i feel i'm making mistakes every time i make an attempt.
process:
1 gallon demijohn: put 2 litres of carton juice.. add sachet of wine yeast.. now i did not have a sachet i had a tub and just judged/misjudged the amount.
now after a short while say after a cuppa i went back to shake the demijohn.
now after 2/3 days i will addanother carton of juice.
and again on say day 10 or so..
problem i now have with this method is i dont really know how sweet it is, but am i right by saying i would have to add a small amount of sugar obviously we dont know the sugar content at this time of the juice.
i have a hydrometer and have printed off a guide from internet to guide me..
i put far to much yeast in more like a table spoon... should i add more sugar to make tomorrow say to make that yeast activate more???
or have i misunderstood that to?
i'm day 1 of the fermantation period.. and id like to try rectifying this before its to late.. by the way i syphoned my sloe wine today from november last year... tested hydrometer and was kicking out at around 1.060 which i think is about 7.8ABV to 8.0 ABV?
advice is greatly appreciated, as i wanted the sloe wine sweet but it is obviously not ready and will not be sweet when it is?
maybe to late huh?
:} you're right.., but anywayz thank you very much.., you're such a great author.,., you are myidolnow:}
If you ferment right through to dryness, there is no residual sugar. Having said that, I wouldn't pretend to know what diabetics should or shouldn't drink. That's a question for the medics, not for me :)
paraglider.,, i have a question., is it ok for diabetes? cause i think it is more sugar?.,, just a question, hahahha..,
thank you paraglider for the quick reponse..,, ok,., i'll wait for the fourth day for the next cartoon and sugar syrup.., i'll feedback later.., thank you very much..
That's absolutely fine. Even if the yeast has fermented all the sugar in the original half carton (unlikely) it will not be dead, just dormant. It will waken up now you've added more juice.
i'm enjoying the cider i've made.., its my wine every week.., and now is may second day of this procedure..,
in my 1st day I'll put the half cartoon of grape juice, and i shake it very well, after i check in 24 hours, i'll noticed that the bubbling is very slow., one or two., but i knew that it has been ferment bcoz theres a bubbles and it smell like wine., so i put the 1 and a half of cartoon of grapes.., is this ok or the yeast is already killed.., please guide me.,, thank you..
The main active component of commercial yeast nutrient is diammonium phosphate (DAP). Some makers also add vitamin B6. Generally, neither is necessary with a grape-based must of normal table wine Original Gravity. Raisins have a high microorganism population and should be sterilised before use. Also, they are often packed with mineral oil (liquid paraffin!) to stop them sticking together. This can give a disturbing oily sheen to the wine. Harmless, but...
I refrigerate the wine a couple of days to aid in clearing and halt fermentation. I then use the hulls left from the final racking. Either way I use a starter wort and pitch this to my must. I'm assuming this assures colonization by the active strain, even though one would think any dormant yeast wouldn't hurt as they are sub-sequent generations of the same strain. I have suspected airborne strains of "kitchen Yeast" to have inoculated one batch in particular. It is my understanding that the first on the scene will win the colonization race. So this would go for bacteria as well as unwanted yeast strains. I have also taken to using minced raisins as a Tannin supplement; I'm not sold on the idea b/c the majority of wines requiring Tannin are not Grape based, so this could lead to off-flavors and or coloring. I'm also not quite sure of the ratio though one would need to offset say a 5-gallon batch. Any ideas? Also certain plant fertilizers (yeast are single cell plant-like structures) are purely ammonia nitrate, would these make a safe form of nutrient? Thanks again for your quick response and invaluable insight...
HillbillyDragon - it sounds as though you are doing all the right things. The key to successful winemaking is experimenting with understanding, not just randomly, and not making too many changes between batches. Determining strength by weight loss is neat, but it won't be completely accurate because quite a lot of water vapour comes off with the CO2, also contributing to total loss. The hydrometer method is best.
When making your yeast nutrient, are you heat-treating the lees to kill dormant yeast cells? If not, you won't be sure which yeast is starting first.
Hey Paraglider~ I live in a fairly remote (and dry) region of Kentucky, and I come from a long line of "Moonshiners." So it was natural for me to try this "Country Wine" recipe. The results were better than expected; since I have made many wines from scratch. More specifically I have made such surplus amounts that I have been able to distill the "spirits" off of some of my larger batches for both fortifying and of course my own personal enjoyment. I don't have access to Wine Yeasts and have found that bakers yeast serves my purposes well. (especially with Citrus wines) Another thing is I made a homemade Hydrometer. I used a thick clear drinking straw, I weighted it with a small lead shot and enclosed the weighted end in resin. I placed it in pure tap water (as a Baseline) then in a solution of 99%Isopropyl alcohol, and marked each reading respectively. Then using a box tape I divided the difference of the two readings into quarters.Knowing my alcohol would never exceed 25% I applied this meta-data to the bottom quarter of my hydrometers and marked off my scale. According to my readings, my yields have been around 10%. (and I would agree) Before the hydrometer I used to weigh each batch before and after fermentation, drawing a rough basis by the weight lost in Co2 as to the yield of alcohol left. I also made a homemade airlock using a small length of tube, I sealed one end into my glass carboy and placed the other in a jar of water. (I also use the tube to siphon my wine off of the lees which I have also learned to make a homemade nutrient from) I don't have access to much here in the mountains so I thought I would share my ideas and get your thoughts. Thank you for helping me get started in such a wonderful hobby! ;)
I'll check the hypermarkets here before hitting the causeway for the magic kingdom. Thanks mate!
Juffair - Yes, or you can use the sterilising tablets for babies' milk bottles. Called Milton tablets in UK, but probably not everywhere. Any pharmacy or baby shop should sell them.
Hi! Can I use glass swing top bottles for the final product? I have a bunch of them leftover from a lemonade I usually drink. If I were to sterilize them with boiling water would that be ok?
Hi Ron - yes, you can. Just divide all quantities by two and follow the method. But remember, the times don't change, only the quantities. 10 litres takes the same time to make as 2 litres and lasts nearly twice as long ;)
I've made mead too, but not for a few years.
Hi Paraglider,
Nice post and very informative. I stumbled across this page while googling about the possibility of using Super Market juice to make wine.
A few months ago I tried making mead with some Himalayan honey, I used bakers yeast and it came out really good...initially it was sour-ish and had a bready after-taste/smell, but after about 2-3 months it was totally perfect. I made only around 2 litres of the mead..honey was limited..but I wish I made some more.
My question is what is the minimum amount which can be made from the super market juice. You have used 4l + Sugar water...can I make something like 2L for a "test"?
Thanks
Ani - If the yeast you're using was able to survive the extra sugar and 'almost' ferment right through to dryness, you could try splitting the difference and going for about 850 grams, for a full strength dry wine. Good luck - and thanks for the appreciation :)
Hi Paraglider, my wife & friends have wholeheartedly thanked me and YOU for the beautiful wine they had yesterday. Everybody agreed that this is the best homemade wine they ever had( they even appreciated the 'extra' sweetness!)
Besides one of yesterday, I've started another batch today. So now I'll simultaneously manage 2 batches for next 3 weeks!
I'll try the cider. Thanks..
Hi Ani - that's good news. Have you tried my cider method yet? It only takes a week and gives you something to drink while your next wine is fermenting!
Hi Paraglider. Finally it's over and cooled in the fridge. Tasted yesterday, it was fantastic. I've invited few friends at home whom the wine be served.
A big Thanks....
( I'm starting next one today )
Yes, you can bottle it, making sure the bottles and corks are sterile first. Keep it in a cool place but not the fridge, except for the first few days when you're clearing it.
Hey Paraglider, my wine just got done and i got these glass bottles and some corks is it ok to bottle them or will they explode? lol my wife's worried hahaha. also just wondering i made a red wine am i supposed to keep this refrigerated or is it ok to leave out? Thanks mate love the hub keep up the good work.
Jan - when it's in the fridge, the top should be screwed down. This prevents it picking up any off flavours from the food in the fridge.
Its now 2 weeks since last container added. It tastes great! Haven't managed once to get top on properly. Going in fridge!! Thabkyou like reading comments.
OK, please do :)
Thanks Paraglider.
Now I'll wait for another couple of weeks. These will be the longest weeks !!!
I'll let you know how it tastes.
Ani - sorry, a mistake in my response. Should have said give it a full two weeks after adding the last carton. More if it is still bubbling.
1kg is too much sugar for this amount of grape juice, which could explain why it almost stopped early. To give the yeast the best chance of finishing the job, keep the fermenting wine in a warm place (75 to 80 F) and give it a full week after adding the final carton.
You can't reduce the sweetness, but if it's really too sweet you can keep it until you've made another batch with the correct amount of sugar. Then you can blend the two batches.
But hey, sweet wine can be OK too :)
Thanks Paraglider, for your comment. Yesterday was the 10th day and I poured the last qtr of juice in the container.
I could still see minor bubbles( which I earlier thought as 'insignificant') around the neck of the container. I tasted it. Simply delicious and 'strong'! By mistake, I mixed almost 1 kg of sugar and hence it has become sweet.
Is there anyway, I can reduce the sweetness?
How long shall I keep it before transferring to the fridge?
Ani - taste it. If it is still sweet and not bubbling at all, you might have a stuck fermentation.
Rose - If you and your family enjoy it, why change it? But if you want to measure alcohol content, you need to take hydrometer readings before and after the fermentation. This method doesn't allow for that because the sugar is not added until much of the natural juice sugars are already fermented.
Hi! I posted questions about 7 weeks ago about my first try in wine making. It came out delicious! However my father seems to think that it tastes more like "schnapps" (sweet whisky) than wine, and my mother says its quite sweet. Should I put in less sugar? It does seem to have a high content of alcohol, about 15-18% (though I don't know how i would measure that). Any suggestions? My kids and husband happen to all think its great tasting. I didn't get a chance, yet, to have my 'french' son-in-law taste it and give me his comment.
Hi. I'm in the 4th day of action and everything except the last ltr of juice is sitting pretty inside the wonder-container.
Just one point: I dont see significant bubbles in the bottle. Is it something to worry? Is it some lesser fermentation than expected/required?
Request you advice..
Thanks
Yes indeed. Thank you
Well you know, Tassim, that home made cakes are always considered better than the shop-bought version. So why should the same not be true of home-made wine? As long as you prepare a wholesome must and look after the fermentation properly, you should be well on the way to a good money-saving product.
Success! My first, accidental, batch of Pineapple wine using bread yeast is complete! Obviously taste is very, subjective, but I'm not sure why there are so many nay sayers to Pineapple?! I racked it 3 times and only had to sweeten it a little. And by shear luck, my bread yeast actually live long enought to make a rather strong wine. I don't know the % alcohol because I am going to retrieve my hydrometer today for the post office, as it got lost in the mail haha! My batch of cran-raspberry is expected to be done this week, and it's looking great also! Paraglider, I've began a new batch of white grape peach per your directions with the EC 1118 yeast. I've also managed to collect some free empty wine bottles from where I work, and I've also upgraded my fermenting vessel. All is good in the land of wine making!
Baking yeast can be faster but might not see the job through to completion. Stick with the times of the method and you should be OK.
Very motivating hub. I've gone thru it today for the first time and am ready with the first day's activity.
Being in Saudi, I couldnt arrange wine yeast and settled for baking instant yeast instead.
Pls let me know, if the whole wine making process and fermentation period remains same as of using wine yeast.
Thanks again for such a nice up.
Bandett - no need to hydrate the yeast. It hydrates itself on contact with the juice.
The home made hydrometer - weight it so that in pure water it floats about 3/4 in the water and 1/4 out. Mark that level as 00. Find a table of SG vs grams/litre (Internet!) Make a sugar solution with gravity 1.100 by measuring volume of water and weight of sugar. Note that the weight of sugar per litre of syrup is not the same as the weight you have to add to a litre of water, as adding sugar increases the volume! Mark the 100 level on the hydrometer. After that, just make the scale in between by measuring with a ruler. Over the range -10 to +100 it is near enough linear. Good luck!
Hello Paraglider,
First,thank you for your HUB. I have read most all of the posts and started my grape juice wine 5 days ago per your instructions above. I also started an additional (4) 1/2 gal batches because the 1/2 gal bottles the juice came in are such great clear bottles i thought i would experiment with them as well. But i will get some more larger vessels for the future. I am also making some with apple juice as well. All using lalvin ec 1118 wine yeast. I plan on starting more wine and would like to use a hydrometer to learn more & measure SG level during process. I need to make one using a straw or similar tube. After making it.I could float it in some water and mark that level as 1.000 But how would i devise a scale on the tube to relate to the higher and lower SG levels And to estimate the Alc % . And would the weight on the bottom of the straw/tube need to be an exact amount ? Do you have any links to this type of info?I realise it an odd question. Just thought i would ask you due your vast knowledge and inventiveness. If not please feel free to delete this question as not to take up space on your HUB PAGE. Hope my wine turns out right, this is my first effort. Also, do think it necessary to hydrate the yeast before adding it to the starter juice ? Seems to work ether way. Take care, Bandett.
Ok. Thanks Paraglider! Will do
Vlad and Tassin - If you're going to get into this seriously and start experimenting, the first thing to buy is a hydrometer, so you can pitch for the alcohol content you want. (See my other wine-making hubs for more details). You might also like to try my very simple cider method!
Thanks Vlad. I went with Paraglider's suggestion as well as EC 1118 because it looked like the best all around yeast to me and had the highest % alcohol fermentation.
Tassin, that's the brand of yeast I bought for my experiment. The wine store associate suggested EC-1118. Not sure if they had the other types in stock but I went with what was recommended. Being a noob at this it's better to listen. Besides these experimental batches I also bought two 20L buckets of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon fresh california juice which is only sold during the grape harvesting season. Those two buckets fermented really well during primary phase without any additional yeast at all. Really anxious to find out how it will turn out :)
When I am ready to bottle the small batches as per the recipe here... if they turn out good I might print some custom labels for the bottles :) Name it "Paraglider"
718-1112 seems to be what I would call a general purpose wine yeast. I've not used any of that range. I'm not sure if it's available in UK. It's certainly not available in Qatar!
Ok, I'll keep my fingers crossed. In looking online at the various available wine yeasts, I'm a little overwhelmed by all of the possibilities. Maybe you're familiar with Lalvin, and/or could make a suggestion as to the type of yeast to use based on the chart on Lalvin's site? http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp
You might be lucky. It sometimes manages to go right through to dryness. It's just not guaranteed to work.
Since I unfortunately used baker's yeast (I have a friend bringing wine yeast!), how long can I expect the fermentation to last? Surely it would be shorter since it dies at a lower alcohol concentration...?
Vlad - Fermentation produces CO2. Whether it makes a foam or not depends on how viscous the juice is. Not important.
Hey, I just started making a couple small batches using this recipe. Apparently it is quite hard to locate 100% grape juice without preservatives in Canadian supermarkets. But I did manage to find only 2 brands that I thought are as close as possible to what is needed. One is Sun-rype 100% juice made from concentrate (they mention it has grape and apple and possibly a bit of pear) and no added sugar except it has Vitamin C and citric acid but it is also pasteurized and Welch's 100% grape juice with similar specs but no citric acid. I have proper glass 1 gallon jugs (also difficult to find 5 liter jugs around here), airlocks and rubber stoppers as well as good wine yeast, all from the same wine store.
Sun-rype juice is much ligher in color than Welch's and has a lighter taste to it whereas Welch's seems to have a lot more pronounced grape taste to it. I just started yesterday and it seems to have started fermenting well. Except the Sun-rype juice has no foam whatsoever but you can hear it sizzling/bubbling and CO2 is escaping through the airlock and Welch's batch has a good amount of foam in it. Looking at the 2 bottles the CO2 seems to be coming out at about the same rate out of both jugs.
So is the foaming important part of fermentation? Is the Sun-rype juice not foaming up because it is pasteurized?
Let me know. Thanks.
Thanks for the quick response! All is going well so far, but I will indeed start a batch per your directions today. I'm in the U.S. so it shouldn't be hard to find wine yeast.
Paraglider's more advanced winemaking hubs:
- The Theory of Winemaking
This hub explains home winemaking. When you understand the processes, you will be able to design your own 'recipes', (though, as we'll see, 'recipe' isn't really a word that applies to winemaking). - Aging Home Made Wine - How to Mature Home Made Wine
Aging home made wine is important. But unless wine is aged in the right way, it might spoil. This article explains how to age home made or commercial wine for best results. - The Winemaker's FAQ
The winemaker's FAQ, where you'll find answers to most of your questions about the theory and practice of winemaking. If your question's not included, just ask!
malera 46 hours ago
Thank you paraglider!!!