I understand people are anxious to know how long a wine matures, whereas the truth is they just want to have a good drink of it. A number of people will not simply believe that wines improve with age. Going about the process of making wines with urgency should not exist and impatience like that is hard to believe. People truly believe that wine can be made, matured and drunk in six or seven weeks- that's way too young. You might barely get fermentation done and your wines clear and bottled in that time, but truly they can't be drinkable.
You know it very well that you will be itching to get your teeth into these wines and you cannot blame yourself for that because you are not alone; winemakers have these eager feeling to sample the latest batch to be bottled off. And for some reason, keeping the homemade wine at least a year before you manage to drink it is a waste of time, especially after when you had a taste of it when siphoning it into bottles. But, you have to remember this for your own sake. At bottling time, put two bottles in the attic or some other place where they cannot be reached easily or you can send it to your special someone to keep it if you like. Seriously, those two bottles of each lot made will soon amount up to a nice little stock.
The whole secret of building up a stock is to make numerous lots at the same time and when a jar is emptied at bottling time, start again with another lot. In this way, you will always have a few gallons fermenting, several dozen bottles for use as needed and a dozen or so slowly growing into a nice reserve. Then, when the first two bottles put away for a year or two old you may sample them. These will have become such magnificent wines in that time that your lesson will have been well and truly learned and the vow took that hence forth half of all that is bottled is going to the attic.
It's also definitely a good idea to keep some of your wine for five years. For at five years it's better than four and at three years it's better than two. Also you can be rest assured that these times have been proven by many winemakers and trusted for years. So, are you ready to keep your wine long enough to have a better taste?
Finally, wines need to be stored in a place where the temperature remains constant throughout the year. Sudden changes of temperature are to be avoided. So, if you can store your wines on a stone floor, or in a cupboard which has a stone floor, that's great; if not, store your wines where you can monitor them.
Monday, May 3, 2010
How To Prevent Contaminants From Spoiling Homemade Wine?
Wild yeasts and acetic bacteria are the two enemies of successful homemade wine making. The acetic bacteria converts alcohol into acetic acid thereby turning wine to vinegar is ever present in the air. Similarly, the yeasts and spores of fungi which turn wine insipid and flat or turn it sour are also in the air. When using fresh fruit and other ingredients from the garden or from the shops, the bacteria, yeasts and fungi are also present, but fret no more because they are easily destroyed so they do no harm.
The ingredients usually used in making wine are usually supplied in sealed containers so that they will not be contaminated by the causes of so-called spoilage. However, the water that you might be using contains harmful bacteria that can spoil the wine or possibly the wild yeast can cause 'undesirable' ferments and these ferments could give 'off' flavors such as sour flavors.
It is not usually known that the molds on cheese, half-empty pots of meat paste and jam are often yeasts growing there for it is the yeast floating about in the air that ruins the wines that you make. So, in order to beat these souring yeasts, you must keep the fermenting wines and finished wines covered closely. Treatment of such finished wines is covered under the heading 'storing' and it is important that you cover fermenting wines.
When the prepared yeasts have been added to the liquid, the top of the jar should be covered with a piece of polythene and this should be pressed down all around by hand and a strong string tied tightly around it. This will keep airborne diseases away from the wine. Also, a good idea is to use a fermentation lock.
If the whole idea in using fermentation locks is to keep airborne diseases from contaminating the wine, make sure that the bung and lock are airtight. If they are not, the gas leaking will prevent air from reaching the wine during the early stages, but as it slows down the outgoing stream of gas through the leakage holes wouldn't be strong enough for this and so the airborne diseases could easily reach the wine.
You should fit the lock carefully to the bung and jar, and also run a little sealing wax where the bungs enter the jar and where the lock enters the bung. Although this precaution isn't necessary, it's better to be safe than sorry. Lastly, remove one piece of the lock and bung and insert a new bung when fermentation has ended. This wine can now be put away to clear.
The ingredients usually used in making wine are usually supplied in sealed containers so that they will not be contaminated by the causes of so-called spoilage. However, the water that you might be using contains harmful bacteria that can spoil the wine or possibly the wild yeast can cause 'undesirable' ferments and these ferments could give 'off' flavors such as sour flavors.
It is not usually known that the molds on cheese, half-empty pots of meat paste and jam are often yeasts growing there for it is the yeast floating about in the air that ruins the wines that you make. So, in order to beat these souring yeasts, you must keep the fermenting wines and finished wines covered closely. Treatment of such finished wines is covered under the heading 'storing' and it is important that you cover fermenting wines.
When the prepared yeasts have been added to the liquid, the top of the jar should be covered with a piece of polythene and this should be pressed down all around by hand and a strong string tied tightly around it. This will keep airborne diseases away from the wine. Also, a good idea is to use a fermentation lock.
If the whole idea in using fermentation locks is to keep airborne diseases from contaminating the wine, make sure that the bung and lock are airtight. If they are not, the gas leaking will prevent air from reaching the wine during the early stages, but as it slows down the outgoing stream of gas through the leakage holes wouldn't be strong enough for this and so the airborne diseases could easily reach the wine.
You should fit the lock carefully to the bung and jar, and also run a little sealing wax where the bungs enter the jar and where the lock enters the bung. Although this precaution isn't necessary, it's better to be safe than sorry. Lastly, remove one piece of the lock and bung and insert a new bung when fermentation has ended. This wine can now be put away to clear.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Things To Consider When Making Homemade Wines From T'Noirot Extracts
Flavoring world famous wines, and liqueurs can be a cumbersome job unless you use T'Noirot extracts. These extracts are scientifically mixed to give flavors equal to the world-famous liqueurs of the same name. You are guaranteed the natural taste and nothing fake or synthetic tasting in your homemade wine. It's also so easy to use.
T'Noirot extracts are potent and should not be judged by their pure scent. Anyone smelling the raw undiluted extract is likely to think that something is off or bitter. Do not pay any attention to the strength of the odor and do not taste any wine being made from the extract until it is done fermenting. The flavor will also improve immensely as it ages.
T'Noirot extracts are made from aromatic plants. The flavors are unique which makes them excellent for the use of wine making. When making wines using the extracts, your result will be a light but deep flavor and will be less expensive than using all fruit.
Unlike many wine making processes, this one should be carried out over a period of ten days in a one gallon jug. Do not rack the wine into different containers. The sediment in the bottom is where much of the complexity develops with the T'Noirot extracts.
Also, dividing the wine batched is not a wise idea. Even if you have two half gallon jars on hand, resist the urge because the flavors will not be able to develop proportionally. Instead use a larger vessel if you must but only rack the wine one time and only do so after all fermentation has stopped.
Here's a simple recipe to get you started:
Delicious Wine from T'Noirot extracts
Ingredients: 6 bottles of cherry brandy extract, 3 lb. sugar, 1 gal. water, yeast and nutrient.
One-third of the sugar should be boiled in a half gallon of water for two minutes; after cooling, pour it into the gallon jar. Add the extract, & yeast. Cover as directed and ferment in a warm place for ten days. Boil the rest of the sugar in remaining water for two minutes and when cool add this to the rest. Ferment in a warm place for a further fourteen days. Cover and leave in a cool place until all fermentation has ceased.
T'Noirot extracts are potent and should not be judged by their pure scent. Anyone smelling the raw undiluted extract is likely to think that something is off or bitter. Do not pay any attention to the strength of the odor and do not taste any wine being made from the extract until it is done fermenting. The flavor will also improve immensely as it ages.
T'Noirot extracts are made from aromatic plants. The flavors are unique which makes them excellent for the use of wine making. When making wines using the extracts, your result will be a light but deep flavor and will be less expensive than using all fruit.
Unlike many wine making processes, this one should be carried out over a period of ten days in a one gallon jug. Do not rack the wine into different containers. The sediment in the bottom is where much of the complexity develops with the T'Noirot extracts.
Also, dividing the wine batched is not a wise idea. Even if you have two half gallon jars on hand, resist the urge because the flavors will not be able to develop proportionally. Instead use a larger vessel if you must but only rack the wine one time and only do so after all fermentation has stopped.
Here's a simple recipe to get you started:
Delicious Wine from T'Noirot extracts
Ingredients: 6 bottles of cherry brandy extract, 3 lb. sugar, 1 gal. water, yeast and nutrient.
One-third of the sugar should be boiled in a half gallon of water for two minutes; after cooling, pour it into the gallon jar. Add the extract, & yeast. Cover as directed and ferment in a warm place for ten days. Boil the rest of the sugar in remaining water for two minutes and when cool add this to the rest. Ferment in a warm place for a further fourteen days. Cover and leave in a cool place until all fermentation has ceased.
Things That You Should Know About When Making Homemade Wine From Ribena
Ribena is a famous syrup made of excellent quality that could well be added to fermenting 'musts' made up from fresh fruits of your choice to get special results. If you wish to use Ribena in winemaking, you must reduce accordingly the amount of sugar in whichever homemade wine recipes you have in mind. Of course, the addition of one or two bottles of Ribena per gallon would make a vast improvement to the flavour and even to the quality of the wine.
Apart from this, there is no costly fruit to buy, no messy crushing-in fact nothing much to do at all. And, most important of all, Ribena has been treated with a pectin-destroying enzyme, which means that you could boil it if you wished without fear of pectin clouding the finished wines. Such boiling would, of course, kick off the SO2 and give you wine flavored somewhat cooked blackcurrants. Apparently, what you wish to achieve when making wine with Ribena will be to lessen the amount of sugar to about three and a half pounds per gallon, by using half Ribena and half water. In doing this, you will lessen the SO2 preservative and this amount is not likely to prevent fermentation. Here's the stages you could use for the addition of Ribena syrup. All water used in the procedure was first boiled and has been cooled naturally.
Step 1: I use two bottles of Ribena diluted with twice the amount of water (four bottles full). Add yeast to the mixture be sure it is allowed to ferment for ten days.
2: Next, after ten days, two additional bottles of Ribena and one additional bottle of water are added and the batch is allowed to ferment for another ten days.
Step 3: Finally, after twenty days of fermentation, add two more bottles of Ribena and one bottle of water. This should be allowed to ferment until completion, usually, three months. The result is a good, round wine flavored of fresh blackcurrants.
Now, the whole fermentation was carried out in narrow-necked bottles plugged with cotton wool and fermentation locks being fitted after ten days. Racking was not carried out until one month after the last addition while monthly racking followed until fermentation ceased. Even at this early stage the wine was nice to drink, but it had improved enormously at the age of 6 months.
Apart from this, there is no costly fruit to buy, no messy crushing-in fact nothing much to do at all. And, most important of all, Ribena has been treated with a pectin-destroying enzyme, which means that you could boil it if you wished without fear of pectin clouding the finished wines. Such boiling would, of course, kick off the SO2 and give you wine flavored somewhat cooked blackcurrants. Apparently, what you wish to achieve when making wine with Ribena will be to lessen the amount of sugar to about three and a half pounds per gallon, by using half Ribena and half water. In doing this, you will lessen the SO2 preservative and this amount is not likely to prevent fermentation. Here's the stages you could use for the addition of Ribena syrup. All water used in the procedure was first boiled and has been cooled naturally.
Step 1: I use two bottles of Ribena diluted with twice the amount of water (four bottles full). Add yeast to the mixture be sure it is allowed to ferment for ten days.
2: Next, after ten days, two additional bottles of Ribena and one additional bottle of water are added and the batch is allowed to ferment for another ten days.
Step 3: Finally, after twenty days of fermentation, add two more bottles of Ribena and one bottle of water. This should be allowed to ferment until completion, usually, three months. The result is a good, round wine flavored of fresh blackcurrants.
Now, the whole fermentation was carried out in narrow-necked bottles plugged with cotton wool and fermentation locks being fitted after ten days. Racking was not carried out until one month after the last addition while monthly racking followed until fermentation ceased. Even at this early stage the wine was nice to drink, but it had improved enormously at the age of 6 months.
Preparing A Homemade Wine With Low Alcohol Content
Few people know this but a high percentage of alcohol is not everything. Some wines are made in the region of eight to eleven percent alcohol. There are wines made, of course, a good deal stronger than the others made for commercial consumption.
It makes sense that a good percentage of alcohol ensures that wines keep well for a longer period of time. Sometimes a stray spore of yeast, either left in the wine or contaminated, will begin to reproduce and live on the sugar present. The only way to avoid this is to make a homemade wine that is extremely dry in nature. But, not all people like dry wines.
Some people prefer teir wines to be medium dry to medium sweet or even sweet. Fortunately, the wines made based on the recipes in winemaking books must keep well because they contain enough alcohol to destroy any yeast or bacteria that may reach them and provided the maximum alcohol has been reached, and if all procedures have been followed this will have been achieved.
Overall the process in making low alcohol wines calls for adding just enough sugar to make the amount of alcohol needed and to allow the wine to ferment right out. A good rule of thumb is that wine will be too dry if you use less than two and a quarter pounds of sugar in one gallon. So, if two batches are being made, double the amount of sugar called for.
Very well then, you can now take any recipe in your winemaking book but not those containing dried fruit as these contain lots of sugar instead use one pound and fourteen ounces of sugar. If invert sugar is being used, remember that invert sugar contains some moisture, so for every pound of household sugar, you must use one and a quarter pounds of invert sugar. In addition, invert sugar is typically supplied in tins containing seven pounds or in blocks by whatever weight is ordered. If weighing this proves awkward, dissolve it and measure it again by the pint, considering that one pint represents two pounds of sugar.
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