Newbie to Winemaking

[Bhagya Sawhney]

Hello all! Greetings from half the world away! I've had a particular love for wine for a while now and recently I had the idea to make my own. I've researched online quite a bit now and it's almost as if I'm having an analysis paralysis. Would be nice if someone could write to me a basic, first timer recipe to make wine. I've already purchase a one gallon carboy and a two gallon bucket for the primary fermentation. Thanks in advance!

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Bhagya Sawhney and welcome.
Here is a very basic procedure rather than a recipe.
Can you buy an hydrometer? You really need one.
I am assuming you know all about sanitation and how to clean any equipment that will come into contact with your juice.
Get some fruit juice or press juice from fruit. The more juice you can press the less water you will need to dilute the juice (diluted juice is just that - watery - ). Measure the density (specific gravity) of the juice. Make a note of it.
Most wines are made with about 12% alcohol by volume. That means the starting gravity is around 1.090. One pound (a scant 1/2 kilo) of sugar will when mixed with water to make 1 gallon (about 4 liters) will increase the gravity of the water from 1.000 to 1.040. You know the gravity of the juice. You now know how much sugar to add to the juice to bring it to 1.090.
Pitch (add) your yeast. Best yeast is wine yeast but any yeast you can obtain will ferment the simple sugars in fruit.
Wines taste better when they have some tannin and some acidity. You will know about how much acidity to add by taste. You can always use lemon juice or if available where you are compounds of different acids designed for wine making (acid blend). But best to taste for acidity just before you bottle, and not when you are fermenting the sugars. This for two reasons.
1. As the amount of sugar falls and the amount of alcohol rises your perception of the acidity will change. Less sweetness = a greater perception of the acids in the fruit. And
2. Yeast prefer to do their thing with less acidity. Too much acidity can stall the fermentation. But that said, aging wine requires more acidity. (A lower pH means a longer shelf life). Timing is important.
Tannins can be found in fruit skins or in chestnuts or in black tea. You might want to make a cup of strong black tea and add that to your fruit juice (assuming you are making a gallon of wine) .
You want to ferment the must (the juice before you add the yeast is called must) in a container that has a little room for the yeast to froth and foam. When the gravity drops to around 1.005 - 1.010 you siphon the wine from that container (I prefer to use a food grade bucket) to a carboy and it is at that time when you "seal" the carboy with a bung and airlock. When the yeast is actively fermenting the sugars you need to cover the fermenter with a cloth to keep out flies and dirt.
Making wine is not hard. The yeast do all the work. Your job is to remove any obstacles the yeast may have. You then get all the wine and all the credit for the yeast's heavy lifting.

 

[hamiltonkiler]

What do you want to make?

This is basic. Ask questions from here.

Pour boiling water or alcohol into the glass carboy to sanatize. Pour out.

Fill glass carboy with pure water and 3# sugar. Shake well. Pitch yeast. Cover with towel for 6 days.
Take towel off
Cover with your palm and shake. As you take palm off it should de gass.

Cover with air lock for another month.

Now you have basic sugar wine.


If you want to do fruit etc. I recommend EC kraus.

Very easy to follow and the ingredient list is small including
Star San or one step
Sulfites for sterlizeing must
Yeast
Yeast nutrients
Acid if you wish
Tannins if you wish
Sugar or a source of sugar.
And fruit of choice.

All receipts boil down the same.

Sterile fruit and juice sugar
Nutrient and some acid blend and tannins
Ferment
Rack a few times
Pow. Age

Use lemon as acid
Use tea as tannins


The wine world is endless.

I like ec kraus country strawberry dessert wine reciept.

Real easy

 

[Bhagya Sawhney]

Hi Bhagya Sawhney and welcome.
Here is a very basic procedure rather than a recipe.
Can you buy an hydrometer? You really need one.
I am assuming you know all about sanitation and how to clean any equipment that will come into contact with your juice.
Get some fruit juice or press juice from fruit. The more juice you can press the less water you will need to dilute the juice (diluted juice is just that - watery - ). Measure the density (specific gravity) of the juice. Make a note of it.
Most wines are made with about 12% alcohol by volume. That means the starting gravity is around 1.090. One pound (a scant 1/2 kilo) of sugar will when mixed with water to make 1 gallon (about 4 liters) will increase the gravity of the water from 1.000 to 1.040. You know the gravity of the juice. You now know how much sugar to add to the juice to bring it to 1.090.
Pitch (add) your yeast. Best yeast is wine yeast but any yeast you can obtain will ferment the simple sugars in fruit.
Wines taste better when they have some tannin and some acidity. You will know about how much acidity to add by taste. You can always use lemon juice or if available where you are compounds of different acids designed for wine making (acid blend). But best to taste for acidity just before you bottle, and not when you are fermenting the sugars. This for two reasons.
1. As the amount of sugar falls and the amount of alcohol rises your perception of the acidity will change. Less sweetness = a greater perception of the acids in the fruit. And
2. Yeast prefer to do their thing with less acidity. Too much acidity can stall the fermentation. But that said, aging wine requires more acidity. (A lower pH means a longer shelf life). Timing is important.
Tannins can be found in fruit skins or in chestnuts or in black tea. You might want to make a cup of strong black tea and add that to your fruit juice (assuming you are making a gallon of wine) .
You want to ferment the must (the juice before you add the yeast is called must) in a container that has a little room for the yeast to froth and foam. When the gravity drops to around 1.005 - 1.010 you siphon the wine from that container (I prefer to use a food grade bucket) to a carboy and it is at that time when you "seal" the carboy with a bung and airlock. When the yeast is actively fermenting the sugars you need to cover the fermenter with a cloth to keep out flies and dirt.
Making wine is not hard. The yeast do all the work. Your job is to remove any obstacles the yeast may have. You then get all the wine and all the credit for the yeast's heavy lifting.

Thank you so much! That'll come in handy.