Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
(Purely personal comments based on my 5 1/2 years on here and making Country Fruit Wine. I don't claim to be any sort of expert, I've just received my share of bumps and bruises and try not to make the same mistake twice)
By no means are these hard fast "Rules" but rather what I believe are best practices for new Fruit wine makers.
Please note that I make Country fruit wines only NOT grape wines. Practices vary, but only slightly .
This is not a detailed list but rather some guidance based on what I have learned:
Equipment and materials
1) Have 2 Hydrometers, They break easily and if it breaks as you are preparing your wine, it forces you to guesstimate or rely on calculations that are tedious and may not be 100% accurate depending on how much your fruit varies from the 'normal' fruit of that type
2) Have a pH Meter (How expensive is up to you. BUT even the most expensive is worthless if you don't calibrate it properly. So you need those calbrating solutions/powder packets)
3) Gather not just 1, 3, 5 and/or 6.5 gallon carboys but also gather 1/2 gallon, 16oz, 12 oz glass containers that you can securely put an airlock on. (Hint think recycling centers) Kombucha bottles 16oz work nicely. Odd size containers are very useful in storing or aging smaller quantities of extra wine.
4) Check all your additives and make sure you know when to use them and what they do. Avoid products that contains sodium, like Sodium Metabisulfite and instead use Potassium Metabisulfite. (Why would you want to add salt to wine?)
5) Start with good quality fruit or wine base - Using pre-prepared "100% Fruit Juices" may not be giving what you think. Learn to read the list of ingredients. That Cherry Juice may in fact be Grape, Apple, Pear and some Cherry juice. So the result is a blended wine not a 100% Cherry wine in that case. No if you know that and are OK with that - go for it. Just remember the old phrase "Garbage in Garbage out" applies, a watered down juice will not product a solid tasting wine.
6) Oh, and don't skimp on the quantities of fruit. many online recipes will call for 3-4 lbs of fruit per gallon. THAT will give you a very 'light on the palate wine.' Just know that and a be aware. Go in with your eyes open and ready to have fun,.
7) Remember to get good cleaning supplies and know what they do. We Sanitize we do not Sterilize our equipment. So the proper products are important and some that sound great can adversely affect your wine. (Bleach - not good to use unless you are going to rinse, rinse, rinse, and then store the cleaned item for a while.
8) Get a couple of really LONG brushes and make sure they will really reach and clean those carboys and buckets. Don't think you can have too many brushes.
Ok Enough about gathering equipment - Now on to the wine making:
A) Read a lot on here and good books about home wine making. Look for "Best Practices" guidance and avoid the shortcuts for the first couple of batches. Some of those come with potential cost to your wine quality.
B) AVOID YOUTUBE videos, - they are loaded with unproven 'shortcuts' and outright bad guidance. The few good ones out there are hard to recognize for a newbie. I use the approach - If 15 people and the books tell you one way to do something, be very wary of that "New Exciting Wine making process."
C) Gather and check your supplies before you start. The only supplies you don't need to have on hand before starting are Bottles, corks, corker and labels.
D) TAKE NOTES about all the steps and measurements as you do them. Especially the SG and pH just BEFORE you pitch the yeast. Also take notes on progression of the ferment and aging process.
E) Oversize your batches to allow for the loss of volume due to lees. Check on this site for approximate losses folks experience with each type of fruit. That oversizing will provide you a safety margin and provide you additional wine for topping off and a little taste testing along the way to bottling day.
F) Don't rush to pitch the yeast - once you have the wine ready - Let it set overnight if at all possible. If you have properly prepared the wine must it will keep over night easily unless the room is hot. After that overnight wait retake your SG and pH measurements. (TA can be done with pH meter too if you prefer that measurement) Know what your expected ABV will be if the batch ferments all the way dry. An ABV over 13.5 might not be the best route for your first batch of wine.
G) DON'T ferment in a carboy, Use food safe plastic bucket and cover it with a cloth cover. You can tie a cord around it if you have nosy pets. And active fermentation can produce a LOT of foam very quickly. (See Foam Fountain in 'J' below.)
H) Stir the must daily for until the SG is approaching 1.020 and Take the SG reading once a day for your first couple of batches - THAT's how you know how well the fermentation is progressing
I) Start with a wine variety that is something simple, read about experiences folks have had with that type of wine. For example: Watermelon or persimmon wines are a very difficult wines to get right. Blackberry, Apple, Blueberry, are pretty good starting wines. At least be aware of what to expect that may be unique to the wine you want to make.
J) Transfer to a carboy when 2 conditions are met 1) Foaming has died down and the surface is starting to have just scattered collections of foam. 2) When the SG is below 1.020 or even 1.000. If one of these conditions is not met, there is a significant risk of spilling out foam after you rack the wine in to the carboy, Known as a foam fountain or wine volcano. Not fun cleaning that up and it's a waste of wine. When doing this you will be leaving the fruit pulp and most of the gross lees behind. (NOTE: Some folks call this "Secondary Fermentation" or Second phase of fermentation. In reality it's all the same fermentation the fermentation often slows somewhat as the yeast approaches it alcohol tolerance limits or has less food [Sugar] to consume.)
K) Fermentation takes as long as it takes* . When the SG reading hasn't changed for 3 days your ferment is either finished, If below 1.000, or stuck/stalled if well above that number. *(I've had batches ferment all the way dry in less than 3 days and I've had a few take 3 weeks to finish)
L) Once fermentation has finished get your wine off of the any remaining gross lees (Unless you are doing a sur lei ferment. If you don't know what that is, you probably should not be attempting it yet.)
M) You get it off the lees by racking into a carboy and putting in your proper dosage of K-Meta into the carboy first. If you want to dissolve it first fine, a couple of ounces of wine or water works great. Normally the action of the wine flowing into the carboy will dissolve and mix it into the wine as it goes.
N) The above "M" was your first Post Fermentation racking and you will need plan to rack again normally in 10 days to 3 weeks to get rid of the remaining large quantity of lees. After that second racking the amount of lees should be much smaller and may amount to nothing more than a dusting but remember NOT to suck that dust over into the next carboy.
O) Rack the wine every 3 month after your second racking and at each racking add the correct dosage of K-Meta
P) Now you are into aging the wine. Except for white wines and some of the more delicate fruit wines aging in bulk is commonly done for 9-12 months.
Q) Questions? - Hey this is the place to ask and try to stay ahead of the game. I didn't get into a LOT of areas but some good time spent reading posts on here and asking some question will help you succeed in this hobby. Plan ahead - Asking about when to pitch the yeast after you have already prepared the wine, might lead to issues. We love to help folks but this forum is not a "Monitored" 24/7 help desk. It might take a day or two for answers. Rmember to browse around on this site. There are many sections including the Country Fruit Winemaking and the Recipes forums. Scads of information and not that hard to locate with a little time. On and one last thing about time. Wine making is a hobby for those willing to play the Long-game. Great wine doesn't happen in 6 weeks. (If you don't have patience - this is probably not the hobby for you)
I'll end this epic post with my personal take on how wine progresses:
At 6 weeks - yeah it's "Wine"
At 6 -9 months - You can see it's potential now. (Ah it's young but starting to resemble something good)
At 12 months - Enjoyable (Ok That's pretty doggone decent)
At 18-24 months - Something you can be proud to share ( I shoulda made more of this - Hey Bill want to tastes something really good
After 3 years - WOW This is GREAT (And you say to yourself - "NOBODY is getting any of this unless they are really REALLY good friends.")
Oh, and good luck having any of your first batches last 3 years unless you have a great deal of self-control.
By no means are these hard fast "Rules" but rather what I believe are best practices for new Fruit wine makers.
Please note that I make Country fruit wines only NOT grape wines. Practices vary, but only slightly .
This is not a detailed list but rather some guidance based on what I have learned:
Equipment and materials
1) Have 2 Hydrometers, They break easily and if it breaks as you are preparing your wine, it forces you to guesstimate or rely on calculations that are tedious and may not be 100% accurate depending on how much your fruit varies from the 'normal' fruit of that type
2) Have a pH Meter (How expensive is up to you. BUT even the most expensive is worthless if you don't calibrate it properly. So you need those calbrating solutions/powder packets)
3) Gather not just 1, 3, 5 and/or 6.5 gallon carboys but also gather 1/2 gallon, 16oz, 12 oz glass containers that you can securely put an airlock on. (Hint think recycling centers) Kombucha bottles 16oz work nicely. Odd size containers are very useful in storing or aging smaller quantities of extra wine.
4) Check all your additives and make sure you know when to use them and what they do. Avoid products that contains sodium, like Sodium Metabisulfite and instead use Potassium Metabisulfite. (Why would you want to add salt to wine?)
5) Start with good quality fruit or wine base - Using pre-prepared "100% Fruit Juices" may not be giving what you think. Learn to read the list of ingredients. That Cherry Juice may in fact be Grape, Apple, Pear and some Cherry juice. So the result is a blended wine not a 100% Cherry wine in that case. No if you know that and are OK with that - go for it. Just remember the old phrase "Garbage in Garbage out" applies, a watered down juice will not product a solid tasting wine.
6) Oh, and don't skimp on the quantities of fruit. many online recipes will call for 3-4 lbs of fruit per gallon. THAT will give you a very 'light on the palate wine.' Just know that and a be aware. Go in with your eyes open and ready to have fun,.
7) Remember to get good cleaning supplies and know what they do. We Sanitize we do not Sterilize our equipment. So the proper products are important and some that sound great can adversely affect your wine. (Bleach - not good to use unless you are going to rinse, rinse, rinse, and then store the cleaned item for a while.
8) Get a couple of really LONG brushes and make sure they will really reach and clean those carboys and buckets. Don't think you can have too many brushes.
Ok Enough about gathering equipment - Now on to the wine making:
A) Read a lot on here and good books about home wine making. Look for "Best Practices" guidance and avoid the shortcuts for the first couple of batches. Some of those come with potential cost to your wine quality.
B) AVOID YOUTUBE videos, - they are loaded with unproven 'shortcuts' and outright bad guidance. The few good ones out there are hard to recognize for a newbie. I use the approach - If 15 people and the books tell you one way to do something, be very wary of that "New Exciting Wine making process."
C) Gather and check your supplies before you start. The only supplies you don't need to have on hand before starting are Bottles, corks, corker and labels.
D) TAKE NOTES about all the steps and measurements as you do them. Especially the SG and pH just BEFORE you pitch the yeast. Also take notes on progression of the ferment and aging process.
E) Oversize your batches to allow for the loss of volume due to lees. Check on this site for approximate losses folks experience with each type of fruit. That oversizing will provide you a safety margin and provide you additional wine for topping off and a little taste testing along the way to bottling day.
F) Don't rush to pitch the yeast - once you have the wine ready - Let it set overnight if at all possible. If you have properly prepared the wine must it will keep over night easily unless the room is hot. After that overnight wait retake your SG and pH measurements. (TA can be done with pH meter too if you prefer that measurement) Know what your expected ABV will be if the batch ferments all the way dry. An ABV over 13.5 might not be the best route for your first batch of wine.
G) DON'T ferment in a carboy, Use food safe plastic bucket and cover it with a cloth cover. You can tie a cord around it if you have nosy pets. And active fermentation can produce a LOT of foam very quickly. (See Foam Fountain in 'J' below.)
H) Stir the must daily for until the SG is approaching 1.020 and Take the SG reading once a day for your first couple of batches - THAT's how you know how well the fermentation is progressing
I) Start with a wine variety that is something simple, read about experiences folks have had with that type of wine. For example: Watermelon or persimmon wines are a very difficult wines to get right. Blackberry, Apple, Blueberry, are pretty good starting wines. At least be aware of what to expect that may be unique to the wine you want to make.
J) Transfer to a carboy when 2 conditions are met 1) Foaming has died down and the surface is starting to have just scattered collections of foam. 2) When the SG is below 1.020 or even 1.000. If one of these conditions is not met, there is a significant risk of spilling out foam after you rack the wine in to the carboy, Known as a foam fountain or wine volcano. Not fun cleaning that up and it's a waste of wine. When doing this you will be leaving the fruit pulp and most of the gross lees behind. (NOTE: Some folks call this "Secondary Fermentation" or Second phase of fermentation. In reality it's all the same fermentation the fermentation often slows somewhat as the yeast approaches it alcohol tolerance limits or has less food [Sugar] to consume.)
K) Fermentation takes as long as it takes* . When the SG reading hasn't changed for 3 days your ferment is either finished, If below 1.000, or stuck/stalled if well above that number. *(I've had batches ferment all the way dry in less than 3 days and I've had a few take 3 weeks to finish)
L) Once fermentation has finished get your wine off of the any remaining gross lees (Unless you are doing a sur lei ferment. If you don't know what that is, you probably should not be attempting it yet.)
M) You get it off the lees by racking into a carboy and putting in your proper dosage of K-Meta into the carboy first. If you want to dissolve it first fine, a couple of ounces of wine or water works great. Normally the action of the wine flowing into the carboy will dissolve and mix it into the wine as it goes.
N) The above "M" was your first Post Fermentation racking and you will need plan to rack again normally in 10 days to 3 weeks to get rid of the remaining large quantity of lees. After that second racking the amount of lees should be much smaller and may amount to nothing more than a dusting but remember NOT to suck that dust over into the next carboy.
O) Rack the wine every 3 month after your second racking and at each racking add the correct dosage of K-Meta
P) Now you are into aging the wine. Except for white wines and some of the more delicate fruit wines aging in bulk is commonly done for 9-12 months.
Q) Questions? - Hey this is the place to ask and try to stay ahead of the game. I didn't get into a LOT of areas but some good time spent reading posts on here and asking some question will help you succeed in this hobby. Plan ahead - Asking about when to pitch the yeast after you have already prepared the wine, might lead to issues. We love to help folks but this forum is not a "Monitored" 24/7 help desk. It might take a day or two for answers. Rmember to browse around on this site. There are many sections including the Country Fruit Winemaking and the Recipes forums. Scads of information and not that hard to locate with a little time. On and one last thing about time. Wine making is a hobby for those willing to play the Long-game. Great wine doesn't happen in 6 weeks. (If you don't have patience - this is probably not the hobby for you)
I'll end this epic post with my personal take on how wine progresses:
At 6 weeks - yeah it's "Wine"
At 6 -9 months - You can see it's potential now. (Ah it's young but starting to resemble something good)
At 12 months - Enjoyable (Ok That's pretty doggone decent)
At 18-24 months - Something you can be proud to share ( I shoulda made more of this - Hey Bill want to tastes something really good
After 3 years - WOW This is GREAT (And you say to yourself - "NOBODY is getting any of this unless they are really REALLY good friends.")
Oh, and good luck having any of your first batches last 3 years unless you have a great deal of self-control.
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