How to Make Wine

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By Chuck



Makes a Nice Tart Wine

Wine making essentially involves the mixing of fruit juice and sugar and then adding yeast to convert the sugar to alcohol.

Here is a simple recipe and process for making cranberry wine. When my brother and I were making wine we found that cranberry wine was the best in terms of ease, taste and clarity. Grape wine was just as easy but it tended to retain a yeasty taste and tended to be somewhat cloudy. In both cases we used juices from the grocery store rather than the crushing of berries for juice.

Here is what you will need:

1 one-gallon glass jug

2 - 12 ounce cans of frozen cranberry juice concentrate or 2 - 64 ounce bottles of cranberry juice

1½ cups of sugar – adjust to taste but bottled juice is usually sweetened

¼ teaspoon of wine yeast (you can use dry baker's yeast, but it is better to go to a wine making supply store and purchase regular wine yeast)

¾ cup of warm (not hot) water

A rubber stopper with a glass tube through it or a air lock device for the gallon jug (I prefer the rubber stopper with the tube as it seems to work better) both of which can be obtained from a wine supply shop

12 – 18 inches of plastic tubing that will fit snugly over the glass tube (only need this if you are using the rubbers stopper method)

Container of water

1 funnel

Clean and sterilize glass jug by washing with warm, soapy water and rinsing thoroughly. Then run it through the dishwasher where the heat will sterilize it.

It is very important to make sure that the jug and all utensils used in the making of the wine have been sterilized by running through the dishwasher. This will kill any bacteria which will spoil the wine if it comes in contact with the wine.

If using frozen cranberry juice concentrate, thaw and mix in clean container that has recently been washed in dishwasher. You can use either tap water to mix the juice or distilled water (if you use distilled water you will avoid picking up any taste that the tap water might contain). Add sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved.

If you use regular, rather than concentrate, cranberry juice, pour juice into clean container and mix sugar until thoroughly dissolved.

Dissolve a tablespoon of sugar and the yeast in the ¾ cup of warm water, stir until thoroughly dissolved, cover and set aside for a couple of hours to get fermentation started.

Pour juice, with sugar dissolved in it, into jug using funnel to avoid spilling. Add warm water and yeast mixture. Insert rubber stopper into top of jug. Attach plastic tubing securely over end of glass tube. Place jug on a shelf in a warm (about 70 degrees F) shelf in basement. Place container of water next to jug and place end of plastic tube in water. Make sure water level remains sufficient to keep end of tube under water. The tube will allow carbon dioxide gas, a by product of the fermentation process, to escape while the water will prevent air contaminated with bacteria from entering the jug with the wine.

After about a month you will notice that air bubbles are no longer entering the container of water from the wine jug and the juice becoming clear. There will be sediment on the bottom of the jug. At this point, get a two or three foot length of ½ to ¾ inch clear plastic tubing, remove the stopper and siphon juice into a second sterilized jug. Be careful not to disturb or transfer the sentiment. The sentiment can be poured down the drain while the jug with the wine should be securely capped with a screw-on cap or cork stopper. Store in a cool place for 6 to 12 months while it ages and then serve. If necessary add additional sugar to sweeten the wine. Serve chilled.

This process usually results in a nice clear and somewhat tart wine with the taste of cranberry.





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AskSusanPeters profile image

AskSusanPeters  says:
17 months ago

I made a batch of wine (7 gallons).  The darn stuff has quit working and is too sweet.  Can I just add a bit more yeast and wait for the sugar to go away? Sweet, like some kid needing a sugar fix from 8 cups of sugar in Kool Aid.

Tom  says:
10 months ago

Maybe you put too much sugar in it in the first place. Don't put ANY sugar.

Andrew Stylus profile image

Andrew Stylus  says:
9 months ago

Ahh yes, the fine art of making wine. It really is a rewarding feeling to take that first sip of wine you created

Matthew Cepican profile image

Matthew Cepican  says:
9 months ago

Interesting. -Matthew Cepican A&R Vesuvius Records

ROBERT   says:
7 months ago

Hi i was wondering im making 5 gallons of wine ive dun this before but forgot i used concentrated juice i want to know can i use just 100% juice in a jug. I also wanted to know can i still add sugar and if i did how much i really dont know and do i still add water or just all juice and also how much yeast should i use if u could help me i would appreciate this thank u

Chuck profile image

Chuck  says:
7 months ago

Robert - Thank you for visiting my HubPages and for your comment. If you want to make wine from a frozen juice concentrate click on this link http://hubpages.com/hub/A_Prohibition_Era_Wine_Rec to go to my HubPage entitled "A Prohibition Era Wine Recipe". This will give you step-by-step directions including how much water, sugar and yeast to add. Good luck. Chuck

TexasLady profile image

TexasLady  says:
5 months ago

Could one just boil the needed utensils? The only dishwasher we have is ME, and I'm anything but sterile, with four kids.

If I can do this, let me know please! I'm a professional wino from way back. :D

Chuck profile image

Chuck  says:
5 months ago

TexasLady - I don't see why you can't simply boil them. The idea is to prevent bacteria from getting into the mixture and spoiling the wine. Good luck with your winemaking.

Chuck

eburrelljoe profile image

eburrelljoe  says:
5 months ago

hi hi i like you

you are kool i like you pictures i am

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you are kool

johnr54 profile image

johnr54  says:
3 months ago

I've always been afraid to try making wine because my father used to make it and it was terrible. You've inspired me to give it a try again sometime.

alex  says:
3 months ago

oh that great.... but can be also a calamansi can a wine?

mroconnell profile image

mroconnell  says:
2 months ago

I like the idea of cran-wine.

Here are some more resources for grape based wine.

http://mroconnell.googlepages.com/#grocery

how2start profile image

how2start  says:
5 weeks ago

This is really cool to learn that you can make wine from cranberry juice.  I'm now wondering if you can do the same thing with pineapple juice.  Hawaii has a pineapple wine that they are famous for.  Do you think you can substitute the cranberry for pineapple juice to make wine out of that instead?

It'll also be pretty cool if you can blend the two wines (pineapple + cranberry) to make something like a BayBreeze wine cocktail. Its a great tasting & popular cocktail.

Regardless, cool hub!  Thanks!

mroconnell profile image

mroconnell  says:
5 weeks ago

You can ferment anything with sugar in it. So ya, go for it! Pina-Wine-ada

Chuck profile image

Chuck  says:
5 weeks ago

Agreed - you can use any juice, not just cranberry juice. Since pineapple juice is usually sweeter you may want to reduce the amount of sugar you add but you will need some sugar and may want to experiment some to get the right level of sweetness. As to blending, that sounds interesting and can either be done at the beginning and let them ferment together or blend them after fermentation. Again, you may have to experiment until you get the desired taste.

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