Homemade Wine - First Attempt

I have been a novice connoisseur of wine for a few years now. I have read books and online articles about wine tasting, growing the grapes, how
long you should store wine, what does it mean if a wine is dry or sweet, etc. But I had never really tried to make my own wine.
Then In 2005, I moved into an old duplex apartment that had an odd, chest high, closet, and the idea jumped out at me that this would make a
perfect, mini, wine cellar. Immediately, I started looking on the internet for instructions to making wine. I found that making wine is like baking a
cake. There was a short list of ingredients and a few simple directions. The only thing is this cake takes two months to bake!

Read as I explain the steps I took in my home-brew project.

I wanted this batch of wine to be my test run. If the project failed miserably I would have only spent a minimum of $25.
Be warned that even if this recipe turns out perfectly, with these budget ingredients, you are likely to get a barely drinkable wine.
For me the experience was enough and I was on my way to becoming a true wine maker!

I first set out to for the local grocery store with my list of ingredients: a 2 1/2 gallon container of spring water (the jug that has the little spigot at
one end), 64 ounces of unsweetened grape juice, a 5 lb bag of white, granulated sugar and baker's yeast.

After I got back from the store I started my project by emptying about 1 gallon of water from the container to make room for the sugar and juice.
I warmed the remaining amount to around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Being a little impatient, I took the jug and placed it into a large, plastic bin that
I filled halfway with luke-warm water. This method works a little faster and is not likely to overheat your mixture. Also, at the store I had found a
cheap little thermometer from the pet department. This was one of those thin, plastic, stick-on strip kind that goes on the side of a fish aquarium.
The temperatures are easy to read and the thermometer is right at the source. Once the temp was right, I added the entire 64 oz bottle of grape
juice and lbs. of sugar. I set this aside while I focused on another important step. If you use whole, crushed grapes, the mixture is called "must".

In a 32 oz measuring cup, I made another mixture of warm water, a little sugar, grape juice and baker's yeast.
I only filled the measuring cup to about 20 ounces. This is to let the yeast "wake up" so-to-speak and not get over whelmed by being added to the larger amount of water and juice. I let this smaller mixture sit for about 20 minutes at which time the frothy head from the yeast had overflowed and was running down the side of the cup.

I took the smaller mixture and added it to the main jug of ingredients. When I did this the yeast went crazy!
There was a steady stream of small bubbles rising from the bottom of the container like when you open a soda. But these bubbles didn't die down after a few minutes. They became more intense and streams started coming up from all over the bottom of the container. Note that the yeast are so active at this stage that they produce a lot of carbon dioxide, hence the bubbles. I left the spigot of the container slightly open so to release excess pressure. Be aware that there are many types of bacteria, even yeast that are always floating around in the open air. At this stage of the process though the carbon dioxide gas is so heavy that it acts as a barrier to prevent these contaminants from entering the container.

Of course by now I was really hooked and this living bubbly mixture was now my baby for the next two months. I would wake up several times during the night to check the status of the bubbles. If they were not very lively I knew the mix was getting too cold. I also made sure it was not too hot. I added warm water to the larger bin several times a day. I started this project in the winter around February. The temperature outside was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I ran our little gas heater on low even when I was not at home. When I was home, I checked the temperature of the brew every 30 minutes or so. Maybe next time I will start the process in the summer.

My colony of bubble making yeast continued to flourish for about a month then the bubbles started to slow down and the streams started going
away. I did some research online and found that sometimes the sugar and juice are not enough for the yeast to survive on. Sometimes they
actually a dose of vitamins! Vitamin B1, Thiamin, in particular. Back to the local grocery store I went and found this vitamin with all the other
vitamins in the health and beauty department. The bottle said B1 with HCL. I asked the store's pharmacist about the HCL and he said it was only
used as a catalyst to help the B1 do its job. I went home and broke one vitamin table in half, crushed it and dropped it into the batch. To my relief
the yeast soon started thriving again. But another month later and the bubbles were all but gone. This is when I knew it was time for the next
major step in the wine making process, stabilization.

Stabilization
Once the yeasts have done their job you want to make sure they do not continue producing bubbles (carbon dioxide) once the wine is bottled.
If they do continue, the bottles could burst open or at the very least, leak it's precious content. There are a few methods of stabilizing wine. The one I used was to add a small amount of sodium sulfate. Caution - some people are allergic to sulfates, therefore, some wine makers do not even stabilize their wine. This is risky as there are other types of naturally occurring yeast that could turn your wine into vinegar.

Now that the wine was stabilized and the yeast were fully dead you need a way to remove them. Yeasts add a certain desirable flavor to wine
while it is fermenting but after this process is complete the yeast can have an adverse affect if they are left in the wine too long. Therefore, you
need to go on to the next step, clarification.

Clarifying is the process of separating the dead yeast and unused fruit particles from the wine itself. The method I used was to add a special

type of clay called Bentonite, to the wine. This clay has a negative static charge that attracts the yeast proteins. They cling to the particles of clay were both become much heavier than before and settle to the bottom of the container. Once all of the silt has settled, you need to "rack" the wine.

Racking is the process of siphoning the good wine out of the original container without disturbing the silt of dead yeast and clay that is at the
bottom. It is best to place your siphoning hose at the very bottom of the new container so that there is little splashing of the wine. When the wine
splashes it comes in contact with the air that is in the new bottle and oxidizes. This is the same thing that happens to an apple once it is cut and
left out. It turns brown very quickly. Oxidizing not only affects the look of the wine but can drastically degrade its taste.

The wine is now clear of silt and ready for bottling.
A stronger solution of sodium sulfate and warm water is used to sanitize wine bottles and wine making equipment. The sulfate produces a
gas that is slightly lighter than air. Once you rinse your wine bottles, you can place them on what is called a bottle tree. This is a wooden stand with about a dozen pegs pointing upward. You place the bottles on these pegs, upside down so that the gas from the sulfate is trapped in the bottle and creates an even stronger barrier against contaminants than carbon dioxide.

Finally, pour you finished product into bottles taking care to avoid contact with the open air as much as possible. Having everything ready for the bottling process and using a funnel will help to reduce oxidation. During this time you can add supplements to your wine that give it extra flavor and character. I added a sweet, food grade glycerin to mine to give it more body and create a softer flavor. If your wine is not tart enough you can purchase and add tannin. Tannin is the natural substance in the grape skins that give the wine its most notable flavor. Once you are through, seal the bottles with your choice of plastic caps or natural corks.

At this point you can chill a bottle for this evening's supper and maybe set aside a few bottles to give as gifts to friends. The reaming bottles should be stored in a dark, cool place to age for a few more months. More specialized yeast and better quality ingredients produce wine that can be aged for years.

This was a very enjoyable learning experience for me and I plan to make more wine in the future. The next batch, however, will be made with higher quality ingredients and more specialized equipment. I look forward to having a quality wine that I can proudly say I created from scratch.