Cheap and Effective Home Made Wine

This is a cheap and effective recipe for home brew wine that anyone can make at home and can be adapted to make pretty much any flavoured wine.

Equipment You will need (for 5 litres)

2 Glass demijhons or 2 one gallon water bottles
Syphon
Hydrometer (optional)
airlock

Ingredients

1 litre White Grape Juice
1 litre Orange Juice, no bits (budget brands are fine)
around 800g Sugar ( to total about 1.2kg plus suger in juice)
1 tsp Pectolase
Tannin or tea bags
1 tsp Glycerine (optional)
Yeast & Nutrient
Campden tablets and (unless you want a dry wine) Potassium Sorbate or “Wine Stabiliser”.



You don’t have to pre-dissolve your sugar but I find it helps to get everything mixed properly. Heat in a saucepan with about a pint / 500ml of water. It doesn’t need to reach boiling point. If fermenting in plastic, allow to cool a bit. If fermenting in glass, DJs really don't like thermal shock, allow the syrup to cool a lot.

If applicable, make a mug of tea and leave the bag in for 10-15 minutes, or see if there’s any already gone cold in the teapot. If using powdered tannin I tend to mix mine with the dry sugar, otherwise it clumps and takes ages to dissolve.

Pour your juices into the DJ or PET.

Add your sugar syrup, glycerine and tea then add some cold water but DO NOT FILL. You want it topped up to about 4 to 4.5 litres.

Put your (well washed) hand over the neck of the jar and give it a damned good shake to mix everything up and to get some air into the must.

Check the temperature. If it’s around 25°C (give or take a bit), add your yeast, nutrient and pectolase. Cover and shake it again.

If you’ve got a hydrometer you may wish to take an OG or Original Gravity reading, although that’s not a lot of use unless you’ve calibrated your jar beforehand and know what volume you’ve got.

For now, that’s all there is to it, pop on the bung/lid and airlock, let those yeasties get to work and have fun watching or timing the bubbles.

Your jar should be placed somewhere out of direct sunlight, ideally with a fairly stable room temperature in the region of 17-20°C. I still get the occasional one where the yeasties try to escape out of the trap, so it’s always a good idea to stand it on a tray or large plant pot saucer, especially if it’s on a carpeted floor.

Fermentation will usually take 2-4 weeks, mostly according to temperature.





Topping Up

For the first few days the fermentation can be quite vigorous. Initially, any fruit pulp will be carried to the top and form a layer like a primordial ooze. After a couple of days that crust will settle back into the wine to be replaced by a head of white bubbles and pulp will probably start rising and falling like a lava lamp

After a few days the lava lamp effect will gradually subside and by about day 5 it should be safe to top up the jar to the base of the neck using cooled, boiled water. I generally do this in two stages over two days.

Eventually, the bubbling will slow right down and stop, and here’s where you have to start to learn one of the hardest, but one of the most important lessons in winemaking - patience. Don’t try to rush it, leave it for another week. Here comes the science:

Yeast turns sugar into alcohol plus carbon dioxide, but in between it makes other chemicals called aldehydes. If you try to rush it you will get an alcoholic drink which will get you plastered but might upset your guts and leave you with a headache. Give it a bit more time and the yeasties will finish clearing away those aldehydes and you should end up with a wine which you can be proud to share with your family and friends.

Given that little bit more time a sediment will start to form and compact, and when it comes to the next stage (racking) you won’t lose so much wine. If you are using a PET (plastic bottle) it will probably have grooves running around it, and sediment will settle on the ridges on the inside. Once a day, give the bottle a quarter turn to dislodge that sediment.

(few weeks later)
So you think fermentation has finished, airlock activity has stopped (or you may be getting one bloop every couple of minutes), it has had an extra few days and where you had an inch or more of fluffy sediment it has now settled down and formed a more solid deposit, in fact the wine seems to have started to clear slightly.


If you have a hydrometer you should check the reading. I use a large syringe or a turkey baster to take a sample. Everything which comes into contact with your wine should be sterilised / disinfected.

Your yeasties have finished their job and you have a sediment which is composed of spent fruit pulp and dead yeast, which is no good for your wine if you leave it for any length of time. Some of your yeasties will just have switched off and, if you don’t want a dry wine and would like to sweeten it up a little, they will wake up and show a renewed interest in that extra sugar, so I’m afraid it’s time to bump them off.
Campden tablets guard against infection and oxidation, and you should use one per gallon whenever you rack your wine. Crush it to a powder between two teaspoons. This will now also stun any remaining yeasties. There will always be a few stubborn individuals who don’t know when they’ve had enough, just lurking in the shadows in case anyone should throw a bit more sugar their way, one teaspoon of Potassium Sorbate will be enough to stop this happening.

So rack your wine into your second bottle/demijohn trying your best to leave the sediment behind once this is done your wine is ready but could do with storing for better flavours to mature.


Thats how easy it is and you will be suprised at the quality of the wine for the price and most of all now with the knowledge of how to do it you can change the flavours like mango & peach for instance just replace the grape juice and orange juice though I tend to use grape juice as the base and then use other additive flavours, I've even heard of people usung the same method to brew vimto wine with the cordial stuff (fizzy pop fails because of the additives) one of my favourites has to be banana wine and maybe cranberry too




NOTE if you never had pectalose do not worry your wine will still produce but it may not clear properly.
I find you only need it with orange based wines

Try to use juices that are 100% juice and also not from concentrate same for vegetable juice if that's your choice

reply to post by RAY1990


Won't the preservatives in the juice kill the yeast? I'd get all natural juices if possible,

And not use a bare hand to mix things, really.. most likely ok also, but saves possibly a contaminated brew.

If you're too busy to make proper wine, why not try a refreshing batch of winofiends best general population pruno!

By most accounts, pruno isn't something a normal human would want to drink, so potent that two gallons is said to be "a virtual liquor store," enough to get a dozen people mindblowingly wasted. And while it tastes so putrid that even hardened prisoners gulp it down while holding their noses, they'll go to incredible lengths to make it, whipping up batches from frosting, yams, raisins and damn near everything.

Make Your Own Pruno and may God have Mercy on your Soul.

Interesting write up, but I have some questions.
What is the purpose of the glycerol? The only thing I can think of is that it acts as a non-sugar sweetener since the sugars will be catabolized.

Also, what is the purpose of adding tea? My guess is that it's used as a weak anti-oxidizing agent or a "to-taste" thing, but there could be something else to it.

Any insight? Fermentation is fascinating as a soon to be biochemist.

reply to post by MeesterB


The tea is for tanning helps with the colour well that's what I was always taught and the glycerol makes for a rounder smoother feel when drinking the wine you could make it without both ingredients just as easy but the finish is not as good

reply to post by winofiend


I forgot to add that, when buying the juices try to go for one's that are not from concentrate, orange and apple are the most readily available but a little looking around you will find plenty of other flavours you could use

Never heard of pruno lol sounds nasty, I've heard of prisoners making hooch as they called it it is a strong wine that blinds you for a few hours sometimes

Very nice and useful explanation. Your way of explanation is beautiful. Good ... keep it up.



Sanjeev Kapoor Recipes

reply to post by foodrecipes10


thanks for the compliment

I have been thinking about putting some of my favourite wine recipes on here it's suprising how good homemade wine can be, banana being one of my favourites

also thanks for that link I might make some of the tomato soup sounds nice and fits the time of the year well,I love indian food too just never cooked that much lots of recipes to dig into

I know this is an old thread but I have been making my own wine for a long while. I have never made it out of commercial fruit juices tho. I hear the frozen canned Welch's one is supposed to be good if anyone can verify?. I have a banana wine going on to a year old. Same for plum, pomegranate, and dragon fruit. Yuck I know. Anyhow I have been making my own hot messes for a while now. So my question is, have any of ya's been making Skeeter Pee by chance? Skeeter Pee sounds weird but it is delicious. Plus it makes you laugh all the time. And so simple to make and it does not have to be aged. It's better than that hard lemonade garbage too!

reply to post by RAY1990


Oh banana wine NICE one! You will like it. It's so sweet for the first year. You have been warned! But you definitely can taste the banana!

I used Jack kellers recipe but our bananas are considerably sweeter from here too. But yea, it would be a sweetie no matter what. LOVE IT

reply to post by Hollie


Do you have a recipe for the Banana wine? I've been meaning to make one for a while, I only hear good things about it apparently it ages lovely
Also whats skeeter pee? doesn't sound to clever but if you have the recipe for it i'll give it a go also.

I haven't done much brewing this year but I do have some more recipes to put on here one recipe that is absolutely lovely, it's a strawberry wine and I have some stored away for summer but I can't help but keep drinking it... It just tastes too good young or aged.

I'll try to put the recipes on here tonight when I get back in.

reply to post by Hollie


I'm going to give that Pruno a go Winofiend wish me luck, if it's too harsh I can always sneak it out at barbacues and parties once everyone has already had a few

Also I tested brewing a wine using a juice with preservatives, it was the same method as above using a apple and pineapple mix and it worked fine although it had a bitter finish after a few glasses it has a really smooth taste and feel to the wine, I'll knock another up using natural fruit juice to see if there is any difference and report my findings hear

Also I have heard and seen wine recipes for cordial fruit drinks such as Vimto... apparantly all you need to do is boil the preservatives away, never tried it before but I have heard it works ok and tastes not too bad either.

Originally posted by RAY1990
reply to post by Hollie

 

Do you have a recipe for the Banana wine?

BANANA WINE (2) [Heavy Bodied]

3-1/2 lb. bananas
1 lb. chopped golden raisins
2 lb. granulated sugar
1-1/4 tsp. acid blend
1 tsp. pectic enzyme
1/4 tsp. grape tannin
1 gallon water
wine yeast and nutrient

Slice bananas into thin discs, leaving skins on fruit. Put into grain-bag, tie top, and place in 6 pints water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove grain-bag to bowl to catch drippings while pouring liquor over sugar in primary fermentation vessel and stirring well to dissolve sugar. Add acid blend, pectic enzyme and tannin, stirring again. When grain-bag cools, squeeze to extract as much liquid as possible and add liquid and drippings to liquor, discarding pulp. When liquor cools to 70 degrees fahrenheit, add yeast and nutrient. Cover and set in warm place for seven days, stirring daily. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and move to cooler place, leaving undisturbed for two months. Siphon off sediment, add chopped raisins, and add water to bring to one gallon. Ferment another four months. Rack and allow to clear. Rack again and bottle. May taste after six months, but matures at two years. [Adapted from passed-on recipe, source unknown

winemaking.jackkeller.net...

I haven't done much brewing this year but I do have some more recipes to put on here

one recipe that is absolutely lovely, it's a strawberry wine and I have some stored away for summer but I can't help but keep drinking it... It just tastes too good young or aged.

I know what you mean. I have not made strawberry mainly because I cannot grow strawberries. They are really expensive in the store. I will take that recipe from you tho! Sometimes them frozen strawberries go on sale.

This is what it looks like. It clears up on it's own when you move it to the secondary. As gross as it looks, it smells so good.


The banana is the yellow carboy. It isn't clear here yet but I would say it cleared up about 2 weeks in the secondary. I have only racked twice so far. I got one more racking and cannot wait for this batch.

that is just incredible,, would definitely try it.

reply to post by Hollie


Hi
Thanks for the recipe that looks very similar to the banana wine that got me into brewing, so I'll be keeping my eye out for some cheap bananas and get one started.

As for the strawberry wine, I cannot find my recipe book but it did go something like this for 1 gallon.

3 or 4 pounds of strawberries
red grape concentrate
500g of sugar
yeast
pectolase
nutrient

Method

I remember freezing the strawberries and then using the sugar to draw out the juices as they defrosted, I then strained the juices and pressed the last of the mush for maximum juice content ( I ended up with about 1 1/3 litres of strawberry juice)

Add grape juice concentrate then pectolase and nutrient.

I can't remember how I got the temperature of the mix up to add the yeast but I'm sure you will work something out

When finished it was a lovely 10 1/2 percent wine. I don't think the stuff matured much because it was too tasty

I'll try to find my recipe book because it's more exact than my poor memory and I also have a few more good recipes such as a cranberry rose that can be done using carton juices.

reply to post by sachieauckland


Hi

It's suprisingly simple to brew wine, easier than any other type of alcohol you can brew at home

If it's your first time brewing it might be advisable to start with one of the kits as it's very hard to get them wrong, when I first started brewing I really struggled with gravity readings and using the hydrometer properly the kits helped me with understanding that stuff and getting the chemistry right when it came to making my own from scratch

You can find the kits in many supermarkets and stores these days, let me know if you need a hand finding any or any other advice and I'll do my best to help.

Bump for being awesome! I might have a try at that.

a reply to: RAY1990

I'd like to find out
how to make wine from grapes naturally and my work buddy recommended Awsomic Wine Maker, has anyone tried it? (winemaker.awsomic.com)?

a reply to: marianvaru

Sounds like it would be a good guide thanks for posting

I've always used the tinned or bottled grape juices and concentrates when using grapes in a wine, all you'd have to do is press grapes.

The key is finding the sugar content of the grapes.

So say your making a gallon (5 litres) of wine. You want the wine to be 10% and know that you need 700 grams of sugar to accomplish that.

Out of 1.5 kg of grapes you got 2 liters of grape juice with a sugar content of 280 grams. So you know all you require is 420 grams of sugar.

It's always easier to follow a guide but in general I'd say sugar content is the biggest hurdle you'll face with brewing from scratch. Again I'd say use a guide or a kit first and then you can learn all the basics of brewing and knowledge of the equipment used etc. You'd feel much more comfortable about making a wine from scratch then.