Hi, I made red grape wine for the first time and I am not using any wine kit. My question is how much water to add to your wine during primary fermentation. With 60kg of grapes I added only 15 litres of water. A friend of mine who has been making red grape wine for a long time told me that if he has for example 10 litres of crushed grapes he adds 10 litres of water ( he also adds sugar with water like I do ) so the mix is half grapes and half water. Did I add enough water and can I add water now that the secondary fermentation is ready?
Adding water to grape wine
- Thread starter stephenm2
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madscientist451
Well-Known Member
Why are you adding any water? Grape juice + yeast = wine.
I dont add any yeast I use the wild yeast that is present in grapes and it ferments very good. In my country most of the people who produce their own wine add water to it during the primary fermentation ( i dont know why ) so I thought that if I dont add enough water my wine could taste too strong or sour.
jgmillr1
Well-Known Member
It sounds like those who add water are doing so to either lower the acidity, reduce the flavor or simply get more wine out of the batch (at a lower quality perhaps). Sugar is being added back to make up for the dilution so it retains a higher alcohol level.
To address your question, adding water and sugar can be done if there is a reason for doing so. However it sounds like you aren't sure why it is being done so you don't know what you are shooting for and consequently don't know how much to add. Do you know what grapes are being used? That would give some guidance on the acidity/flavor level.
Wild yeast is a bit of gamble but often works in wine-producing regions. Some strains will ferment cleanly and complete the fermentation while others can produce off-flavors or stop at a low alcohol level. If the wild yeast strains in your area contain sufficiently capable yeast, then it should not be problem.
