Want to try wine making...just the basics

[Morrey]

I have been focused on beer making most of my time brewing, along with successful batches of cider making. Not in need of the basics like sanitation and temp control, just need some of the basics to make a batch of wine perhaps from grape juice or frozen concentrate.

I like something moderately dry...not Moscato sweet, so I suppose the OG and right yeast will be important. If someone would be so kind to link to a starter guide of some sort, I'd be very grateful. Nothing fancy, just want to try something in carboys I have sitting idle.

 

[hamiltonkiler]

Well. How much do you want to make? It really is as easy as as putting a couple gallons of grape juice. Real grape juice in a bucket and pitching yeast. Cover to keep bugs out. Rack to a carboy in 5-7 days. Let sit a few months and bang..

I like EC kraus recipes. Fruit wine is my favorite. Some of my fruit wine I add juice. For instance my water melon wine I add white grape juice for a little body. You can play with the acid and tannin for flavor profiles.
Cheers

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Morrey - I'd echo everything that Hamilton said; the only thing I would add is that this book has been invaluable to me:

As I recall, EC Kraus will send it free, if you purchase any winemaking materials. There should be an offer at their website.

EC Kraus is resource for other recipes, as well; they have a great section on them here:

http://eckraus.com/wine-recipes/

I see that you mentioned using existing carboys. If you want to go 1-gallon, this is an awesome setup that has pretty much everything you need:

https://www.midwestsupplies.com/master-vintnerr-fresh-harvestr-fruit-winemaking-kit

Hope this helps -

Ron

 

[Yooper]

This is where I learned most of my current winemaking techniques from:
https://winemaking.jackkeller.net/basics.asp

Then just click on the "step 1", etc for more details. It's really a wonderful resource that Jack shares with the world.

 

[AkTom]

Go over to winemakingtalk.com and check out Danger Dave’s Dragon Blood. It’s a berry wine. Ferment dry and sweeten to whatever you like. I’ve made several 6 gallon batches.

 

[Morrey]

Thank you ALL for the good tips and LINKS which is providing me exactly what I hoped to find.

I've made cider several years, and from what I've read, wine is at least somewhat similar. I use kmeta, sorbate, nutrients, acid blends....etc, so I have most of this onhand.

@TasunkaWitko, since I upgraded to Ss Uni Tanks on my beer brewing side, I have lots of fermentation pails, airlocks and carboys available. Figured if the wine needed some time in secondary, I'd have plenty of vessels to tie up since they are surplus at this point.

 

[bernardsmith]

Most wine has an ABV of about 12% - so that means you are looking for a starting gravity of about 1.090. Wine grapes are grown to have that amount of sugar. Most other fruit is cultivated to have about half of that so if you are making wines from berries or other fruits you will want to add sugars. The cheap way to add sugars is to add table sugar - and that is fine. An alternative method is to freeze your fruit juice (note that liquid expands when frozen!) and collect the juice as you gently allow it to thaw. Collecting the first third (so if you have 3 gallons of juice , you collect the first gallon that thaws) will contain all the sugar and flavor and will show a gravity at or about 1.090. Of course, the other 2/3 of that juice will be more or less water, so your overall cost will be greater.. but table sugar adds no flavor.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I used this instruction set for my first couple batches of Welch's grape juice wine. It is for their kits, but it's a great reference for grape juice wine. Far removed from beer and cider making, but easy nonetheless. I've used both frozen concentrate and the gallons. The frozen concentrate seems to be the crowd pleaser. We also added about three-quarter to a pound of sugar per gallon to boost the ABV. As far as a wine whip goes, I cut a plastic coat hanger and used a heat gun to set its shape. No need to spend the money on a purpose built one.

I used Red Star Montrachet yeast.

If you can't read the pic below, here's the link.

 

[Morrey]

Most wine has an ABV of about 12% - so that means you are looking for a starting gravity of about 1.090. Wine grapes are grown to have that amount of sugar. Most other fruit is cultivated to have about half of that so if you are making wines from berries or other fruits you will want to add sugars. The cheap way to add sugars is to add table sugar - and that is fine. An alternative method is to freeze your fruit juice (note that liquid expands when frozen!) and collect the juice as you gently allow it to thaw. Collecting the first third (so if you have 3 gallons of juice , you collect the first gallon that thaws) will contain all the sugar and flavor and will show a gravity at or about 1.090. Of course, the other 2/3 of that juice will be more or less water, so your overall cost will be greater.. but table sugar adds no flavor.

I note the OG of typical fresh pressed apple juice I source each fall to hover around 1.057 as an average. If this holds true, I can always add sugar or frozen concentrate to bring me to the 1.090 mark. The making of cider is quite similar to making apple wine in many regards.

I'm reading an apple wine from concentrate recipe in the link @Yooper provided. I have used all of the ingredients (have on hand) with the exception of wine tannins. Is this necessary to add a hint of astringency for mouthfeel...or an ingredient that can be used optionally?

When I do ciders, I will rack a couple or three times to get clear cider off the lees before carbing. It took me about 7 weeks last fall and I had clear cider that was outstanding. In the recipe I read, the directions were to rack a couple of times with the process calling for 6 months in carboy, then one year in bottles for aging. Is this typical for homestyle fruit wine? I was thinking the process would yield decent wine a bit more quickly than this?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I note the OG of typical fresh pressed apple juice I source each fall to hover around 1.057 as an average. If this holds true, I can always add sugar or frozen concentrate to bring me to the 1.090 mark. The making of cider is quite similar to making apple wine in many regards.

I'm reading an apple wine from concentrate recipe in the link @Yooper provided. I have used all of the ingredients (have on hand) with the exception of wine tannins. Is this necessary to add a hint of astringency for mouthfeel...or an ingredient that can be used optionally?

When I do ciders, I will rack a couple or three times to get clear cider off the lees before carbing. It took me about 7 weeks last fall and I had clear cider that was outstanding. In the recipe I read, the directions were to rack a couple of times with the process calling for 6 months in carboy, then one year in bottles for aging. Is this typical for homestyle fruit wine? I was thinking the process would yield decent wine a bit more quickly than this?

From my understanding, wine tannins are essential to making wine taste like wine. They are naturally occurring in grape skins. Grape juice has been stripped of tannins so they should be added back in. Small bottles are cheap and readily available. Wood also contains tannins so if you plan to use oak chips in your wine you'll have to take that into account.