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Tuesday 22 March 2011

How To Homebrew Wine

How to Make Cheap Wine


As the title says, this is cheap wine. This hobo-wine is certainly not for connoisseurs. This is more for those who do not expect quality, but want to try an enjoyable, cheap, and easy educational project.
Another way to make an inexpensive wine at home, is to obtain unconcentrated varietal grape juice and some basic equipment from a homebrew supply store; the results are pleasant to drink. The procedure is also simpler; one pours the juice into a sanitized bucket and sprinkles yeast and then rests the sanitized lid over the bucket.
The time-saving shortcut instead of using frozen concentrate is to buy pasteurized grape juice with no additives, sugar, and champagne yeast. The juice is already sanitary in its plastic half gallon bottle at the supermarket. Add the bubbler gadget with a rubber cork on top to let the gas escape. Your enemy in the winemaking procedure is sulfur dioxide, so make sure the juice is natural. [The pasteurization killed the grape's wild yeasts and molds with heat instead of using sulfur compounds which would interfere with your fermentation.] Although your friends may never like your homebrew, fellow homebrewers will be impressed with your ingredients label, home brand, and all your work.

Food Ingredients

The following quantities make a gallon of wine.
  • 2 cans of juice concentrate (room temp). You can use any type of concentrate like Welch's concord grape, strawberry, kiwi-whatever, etc., as long as it doesn't contain any preservatives, artificial flavors or coloring.
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 1 packet of champagne yeast (more will not increase alcohol content but will impart a bad "yeasty" flavor) - IF you use bread yeast, if will taste like sweat socks. It is recommended that you use only champagne yeast.
  • Water, dump between half to a third of the water out of the jug. At the end, top up the bottle using tap water (boil it if it contains a lot of chlorine) - boiled water and tap water should be avoided - Reverse Osmosis water isn't needed but it may help during fermentation.




Steps

  1. Never underestimate the importance of sanitizing! Sanitize everything you’re going to use to hold the fermenting wine, to keep bacteria from growing. The easy way to sanitize everything at once is to use your dishwasher at the high heat setting, with appropriate detergent. Some dishwashers are designed especially to sanitize your dishes (183 degrees F water temperature), this will at least reasonably clean the equipment, and it makes the task really easy. After the machine finishes the dry cycle you will be ready to start making the wine. If you do not have an automatic dishwasher, wash with detergent, then bleach the funnel and anything else you may use. You do not need to clean the jug, as it has only had pure water in it. Air dry.
  2. Buy a 1-gallon plastic jug of Reverse Osmosis water at the store (or if you have a reverse osmosis filter you can use that to filter a gallon of water out of the tap). Bring the water to 144F for 22 minutes.
  3. Add the room temperature juice concentrate to the clean, dry jug. Use the funnel if needed.
  4. While the water is hot, dissolve 2 cups of sugar into the water. Stir while pouring.
  5. There are different schools of thought here. You could activate the yeast following the directions on the packet. Another method of activating the yeast is to place 1 teaspoon of sugar into a separate bowl. Add 1/4 cup of luke-warm water (100-110 degrees Fahrenheit). Add the yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes. The yeast should become very frothy.
  6. Pour the dissolved sugar-water into the jug filled with the juice concentrate. If it is too warm, cool it by placing the jug into a sink filled with cool water; add ice cubes to rapidly cool the mixture and limit the time the open container is exposed to bacterial contamination.
  7. Touch to make sure the mix is cool, then add the yeast. Cap the jug and shake thoroughly to completely mix all the ingredients .
  8. Remove the cap of the bottle, and follow one of the directions mentioned below, with the check valve being the preferred method.
    • Option 1: Place a balloon over the top. Secure it by putting a rubber band or tape around it. The yeast produces CO2 and the balloon will expand. Very important: Poke a hole in the balloon with a pin. This will always keep the pressure positive in the jug and balloon to let CO2 out and at the same time does not let air in. (Air cannot be introduced to the mix or it will become vinegar.)
    • Option 2 (Preferred): Instead of a balloon, use a US$1.25 check valve used in an aquarium. The check valve is a one-way valve which lets out the CO2 but does not let any air in. Run a tube from the check valve to a cup of water just so you can see if it is fermenting properly, by watching the CO2 rise in the brew itself by the next day.
    • Option 3: Use play-dough to seal a tube into the mouth of the jug and place the other end in the bottom of a glass of water. Bubbles will be seen occasionally as the CO2 exits.
  9. Keep the jug at room temperature and do not expose it to direct sunlight. After a few days, if it does not start to bubble, throw it away and try again being more careful to use sanitary equipment. Otherwise, wait 10-14 days, when the mixture will suddenly go from cloudy to clear. Then transfer into another bottle or smaller bottles, leaving the sediment on the bottom of the first bottle, and then enjoy!

Tips

  • If you do not have a large enough pot, it is perfectly acceptable to use two pots instead.
  • Not all of the water fits back into the gallon jug. Before boiling, dump out enough water to fit in jug.
  • When done fermenting, strain as you pour into a wine bottle or glass, leaving the clumpy yeast in the jug. Make sure to wash and sterilize again.
  • When adding the yeast, the juice should not be too hot or it will kill the yeast and ruin your wine. The jug should feel just warm to the touch.
  • The quality of the wine produced depends on the quality of the ingredients. Try experimenting with higher quality juices and different types of yeast (See Warnings).
  • When purchasing your juice, pay attention to the ingredients list on the label for "Preservatives" because these are intended to inhibit fermentation and spoilage.
  • As an alternate buy a gallon jug of apple juice (no preservatives), pour yourself a glass (for head space) pour in 1 cup of regular cane sugar, and 1 pack of wine or ale yeast, replace the cap just loose enough to allow the CO2 to escape. In 3-5 days you have hard cider. Let it settle, pour off into an empty leaving the trub. Foolproof.
  • Tips for adding the sugar - put the kettle on! 2 cups full from the 2ltr water bottle. Dissolve the sugar into the two cups of hot water. Then when its cool enough add it to your mixture.
  • the yeast will die around 10-20% alcohol concentration.
  • if you are using balloons, keep the cap on(under the balloon) just enough to let CO2 out, this will further prevent air from getting in, and will further ensure the pressure in the jug is positive.




Warnings

  • Yeast consumes and consumes until there is no food left (in this case sugar), then it becomes dormant (or until the alcohol content is so high that the yeast cannot survive). By adding more sugar, you increase the brewing time and also raise the alcohol content. Theoretically, if you add a lot of sugar you could ensure it would be very sweet when finished, but it would also be very potent, and take a long time to finish; however, likely, the yeast would die from the high alcohol content before it can produce more alcohol.
  • Use dry wine yeast, not the sparkling wine variety or baking yeast. When wine yeast is unavailable never use “rapid-raise” types.
  • Don't assume the alcohol content is as low as your average glass of wine. Plan not to drive for a while after consuming! (However unless you use specialist yeast for alcohol production the yeast will die before the alcohol content reaches much more).
  • Do NOT use "Brewer's yeast" as sold in health food stores - this is dead yeast, and won't do anything!
  • Baking yeast (active dried yeast) does not leave its taste if your wine has gone through ultracentrifugation.

Things You'll Need

  • 1 gallon water container (use a water jug that is 60 cents at the store)
  • Bleach
  • Funnel
  • Rubber band
  • Balloon
  • Pin (can be a safety pin, earring, tac, etc.)

Related wikiHows


Sources and Citations



How to Make Kool Aid Wine


This is a fun, extremely easy way to make very cheap but drinkable alcohol. It won’t replace a nice beer or wine, but it's perfect for occasions where you need plenty of cheap alcohol. The initial equipment investment is about $5, and ingredients will usually only cost you about $4 for 4L of “wine.” It’s around 8-10% alcohol. A litre translates to $1 for a night - you can’t beat that price in any store! It’s drinkable after about 2 weeks, but improves greatly after 3-4 weeks.





Ingredients

  • 3.5 cups (830 mL) of white sugar
  • 1 packet of traditional dried bread yeast (avoid “quick-rise”)
  • 2 packages of Kool-aid in whatever flavour you want.
  • 14 cups (3 1/3 L) water

Steps

  1. Assemble your equipment and ingredients.
    • Most of the equipment used can be stuff found around the house, and bottles can be fished out of people's recycling bins or reused if you drink bottled water. If you clean the bottles with dish detergent and let them soak in bleach for a few minutes, then rinse them well, you'll have nothing to worry about.
    • The rubber tubing can be found in Home Depot for about $4. It is intended for use with ice makers. You could also find it in aquarium stores or just about any hardware store, but may pay a bit more.
  2. Disinfect the equipment that will be used in the bottling process, including the bottles, funnel, and rubber hose, in a large pot of boiling water for at least three minutes. This will kill the critters that could potentially be plaguing your equipment. If you fail to do this step, the bacteria could kill the yeast and/or spoil the wine.
    • Be sure to use a different pot than the one you use to make the sugar water.
  3. Boil the water to kill any form of bacteria. Use the jug or bottles to measure how much water you will need. Fill a large pot with water and the sugar. As it gets hot stir to dissolve all of the sugar. Let the water and sugar mixture cool to room temperature.
  4. Activate the yeast. Pour the packet into half a cup of warm water (not hot or you'll kill the yeast) with a teaspoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple minutes, then stir it lightly. Move on to the next step.
  5. Use a clean funnel to fill the jug or bottles with the cooled sugar water. Do not over fill. Leave some air space for foaming.
  6. When you can see that the yeast has been activated (getting foamy) use the funnel to pour it into the bottle. Add 4 more cups of warm water, cap it, and shake it again. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved and that the yeast is mixed in.
  7. Find a safe location where you’ll be able to store the bottle upright, such as inside a bathroom cabinet, in a basement, or behind a desk. Take the balloon and poke a few holes in it using the pin. Take the cap off the bottle and stretch the balloon across the opening. Put an elastic around the balloon on the top of the bottle to hold it in position. Carefully put the bottle in a plastic bag that will catch any wine that overflows or spills. Put the bottle in your decided location and leave it there for about 2 weeks, until the balloon isn't full of gas anymore. The balloon will fill up with gas which will leak out the holes in it, but when the gas stops, the holes will close and air won’t be able to get in and ruin your wine. This process is where the alcohol is being produced, and is called fermentation.
    • If you use 2-Litres, then instead of using balloons you can tighten the cap to just before it is fully sealed, which will let gas escape when it builds up but won't let any in when it stops fermenting.
    • Instead of a balloon, you can use a common fermenter airlock. They cost about $1.50.
  8. When you can see that the balloon isn't full of gas anymore, the fermentation is over. Remove the bottle from its location, and be very careful not to shake it up. At this point, the alcohol has actually been produced and this stuff will get you drunk, but it is “flavorless” and is an acquired taste. (If it has gone bad, usually from something unsanitary, it will taste like vinegar. It makes you want to puke on one sip, so it's pretty obvious.) Waiting a little bit longer and finishing the rest of this will yield a much better tasting product.
  9. Separate the dead yeast. There should be a fine layer of dead yeast and such lying on the bottom of the bottle. This stuff isn’t poisonous, but it tastes awful and is known to give you bad gas. Place the bottle somewhere relatively high, such as on a counter, and put the second 4L bottle on the floor underneath. Using the rubber hose, siphon the unflavoured wine into the empty bottle without sucking up any of the gunk on the bottom. Try not to let it splash around too much. When only a small amount of wine is left right above the sediment, stop siphoning and throw the rest out.
    • Another way you can remove the dead yeast is to strain your liquid through a properly cleaned cloth.
    • Switching containers is not necessary; it's done to get rid of the dead yeasty-beasties. Yeasty-beasties cloud the wine, taste bad and can give you diarrhea. Aesthetics count. It is difficult to be proud of cloudy wine but a crystal clear 14% wine is something to be proud of, regardless of how you did it or how cheap it tastes!
  10. Add the two packages of Kool Aid powder to the wine in the new bottle, cap the bottle, then shake it for a few seconds to mix it thoroughly. Try tasting a bit, it will probably be awful. Don’t dump it out, it will get way better! Adding some more sugar here may improve the flavor a bit, but it really needs to age a little while longer. Leave it in the second 4L bottle for about a week or so, and check on it whenever you can to make sure there isn’t gas building up inside the bottle. If it is bulging a bit, just open the cap enough to let the gas escape then close it again.
  11. After the third week has passed, siphon it again except into small water bottles. You will fill nearly 8 regular 500mL water bottles. The smaller bottles are much easier to hide and to drink from.
  12. When the wine is around 4 weeks old or older, it should be ready for consumption. Have fun and don’t be afraid to tell people you made it yourself!
P.S. Best way to do it without getting blown up

Tips

  • Plain sugar doesn't contain trace elements that yeast needs to live. For better yeast health, buy yeast nutrient at a homebrew shop, or add a few raisins to the solution.
  • Increasing the sugar and yeast won't make this alcohol any stronger. The yeast dies when the alcohol reaches about 10%, extra sugar will just make it sweeter. If you want to get hardcore, you need to build a "still", and distill the stuff. The thing with this is it's way more complicated and dangerous if done wrong. It's often called moonshining, you sometimes hear stories of alcohol fires or stills blowing up, which is no laughing matter. Home-brewed alcohols (beer and wine) are perfectly legal to produce, but illegal to sell without the proper tax stamps. Home-distilled alcohols (spirits) are illegal to both produce and sell in the United States [1].
  • You can try putting the wine in a fridge a couple days before you plan to switch containers. This can help cause the yeast and other sediment to settle to the bottom, making the transfer easier.
  • Kool Aid is entirely for flavouring. You could easily use Gatorade or any other flavoring.
  • After the wine is finished and has been bottled, check on the bottles every week or so to see if any more gas is being produced. If the bottle is bulging a bit, just loosen the cap until the pressure escapes then tighten it again. Keeping them in a fridge can eliminate this issue.
  • Using a Clean American Ale beer yeast (available at any homebrew shop) will produce a better, less phenolic taste. Keeping the "ferment" between 68 degrees F and 75 Degrees F will also limit phenol production.
  • The wine should last for at least two months, but it is best to drink when it is between 1 to 2 months old.
  • Higher Alcohol levels can be achieved if better yeast is used. Some homebrew shops carry a turbo / distilling yeast that can get around 20%.
  • The biggest tip possible with homebrew wines is "patience", at two months it's generally drinkable, at six it gets it interesting, it a year "that's nice", at five .... "wow... why do we buy wine?"
  • If you boil plastic 2 liter plastic bottles they will shrink by half their size.Keep an eye on them.

Warnings

  • When adding the Kool Aid, do it in a sink or bathtub. Occasionally, by the same process as that of Mentos and Diet Coke, the 'wine' foams rapidly and overflows the jug as the Kool Aid is added. Since it's just foam overflowing, you'll hardly lose any of the wine. However, spilt Kool Aid is brutal to clean, so do it in a sink just in case!
  • This is real alcohol, it has the same health risks as any other wine or beer. In moderation you are fine, but drink too much and/or too often and you may face serious health problems. It will impair you, so don't drink it and then drive.
  • If you absolutely have to take this in your car, at least make sure it is in the trunk. Depending on laws for your area, you might face fines if it is found, since the bottles are not sealed.
  • In most areas, making your own wine is perfectly legal, but you are not allowed to sell it. Regular laws regarding minors still apply. If you think it may be an issue, check with local laws before making this.
  • This will smell horrible after fermentation.
  • Never ever put the original 2 liter cap back on the bottle during the fermentation process or the pressure could build until the bottle violently explodes.

Things You'll Need

  • a measuring cup
  • two 4L (1 gallon)water jugs - or 2L bottles
  • eight regular size (500mL) water bottles
  • a fairly long piece of thin rubber hose
  • a balloon
  • an elastic band
  • a pin
  • a funnel.

Related wikiHows


Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.atf.gov/alcohol/info/faq/genalcohol.htm
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