HOME BREWING

[stuhan]

8 minutes ago, Faraday said:

The Raspberry's at 990 also. It tastes great & smells like alcoholic raspberry juice.

How's the Lime wine?

Any more wine making coming up?

Lime finished at 1.010 maybe to acid or temp problem,still 16.5% and in the bottles clearing as i will re-bottle again when it clears. Been a bit busy with family, my father in law died from lung cancer recently and mother in law is battling bone cancer + getting vaccine jab, only had time for a few forum comments which i must admit to being a bit off with some,just my mood at the moment,tough times at the mo, be back soon with some recipes soon

[stuhan]

 

Traditional Mead

Yeast : Lalvin - K1-V1116

Ingredients:

1 gallon of spring water 3 pounds of honey 1 package of yeast Lalvin D47 Yeast energizer (1 teaspoon) Yeast nutrient (1 teaspoon)

Target Values:

Starting Sugar: 1.1 SG

EndSugar Sugar: 0.995 SG

Instructions:

Clover honey works very well but you can use almost any type of unprocessed honey and the amount of honey you use will determine the sweetness of the mead. If you want to make a dry mead you would use 2 pounds of honey and if you want to make a sweet mead you would use about 3.8 pounds of honey. For simplicity sake we are using 3 pounds of honey which will make us a medium to sweet mead. Put about 1/3 to 1/2 gallon of spring water into your 1 gallon glass carboy(jug) and then add your three pounds of honey, 1 teaspoon of energizer and 1 teaspoon of nutrient. Put the stopper on the bottle and stir the mead mix gently. Heat two cups of spring water to between 104 and 109 degrees Fahrenheit. This is warm and not hot. If this water gets too hot you will kill the yeast. Then when the temp of the water is right pour it in your mixing bowl then pour 1/2 of a package of yeast into the water. Do not stir it yet. Just pour it in and wait 15 minutes. When the 15 minutes is up give it a gentle stir then pour it right into your jug of honey water. Now add more spring water to the jug until it is full. The starting gravity should be around 1.092. Fill and fit the airlock on the jug. Now set the jug aside in a cool and dark place and check on it every day or two. Within a day the airlock should start bubbling and in a few days it should be bubbling briskly. After around 2 to 3 weeks the bubbling will slow down to less than one bubble every five seconds and there should be a thick sediment on the bottom. This sediment is dead yeast husks and totally normal. But you should get the mead off of that sediment to prevent off flavors. Siphon the liquid into a new jug that has been sterilized and leave all the junk behind. Put the airlock on your new jug and set it in a cool dry and dark place for another 5 to six months when it should be ready to drink.

 

[stuhan]

 

Country Wines

Variety : Blackberry

Yeast : Lalvin - ICV-D47

Ingredients:

To Make 1 gallon: 4 pounds of Blackberries ( you can use either fresh or frozen) 7 pints of Water 2 1/4 pounds of Sugar 1/2 tsp Acid Blend 1/2 tsp of Pectic Enzyme 1 tsp Nutrient 1 Crushed Campden Tablet 1 pkg Wine yeast

Instructions:

Starting Specific Gravity (S.G.) - 1.090 - 1.095 Wash and drain your berries. If you have picked your berries or are using fresh blackberries make sure that you have picked out the stems, leaves and anything else that isn't your berries. Make sure that you are using fully ripe berries that do not have any mold on them. Place your blackberries into a nylon straining bag and mash your berries. Or use your fruit press if you have one. Strain your juice into your Primary Fermenter. Make sure that all of the pulp stays inside of your nylon straining bag. Tie the top and place it inside the fermenter. Add all of the other ingredients except for the Wine Yeast. Stir it all together and put the lid on your Primary Fermenter. After 24 hours add your yeast and stir. Put the cover back on the Primary Fermenter. Stir your wine daily and squeeze the bag of blackberries to push the juice out. Check the hydrometer reading daily until your S.G. reaches 1.030. This will take about 5 days or so. Take your bag of blackberry pulp out of your fermenter and squeeze it until all of the juice is out... or at least as much as you can get. Siphon your wine off of the sediment (the goop that has settled to the bottom of your fermenter) into your Secondary Fermenter which is going to be your glass carboy. this is called "racking your wine". Attach your airlock. Your fermenting is done when your S.G. reaches 1.000. This will take about 3 weeks. Rack your wine again (siphon your wine off of the sediment from your glass carboy into another glass carboy). Reattach your airlock. In about 2 months rack your wine again. You will do this 3 or 4 times... until your wine is clear. The professional wine makers will usually rack their wine 3 or 4 times... so I don't question their ways... I just follow...

 

[stuhan]

 

How To Make Barley Wine

Homemade Wine Recipe

 

INGREDIENTS: BARLEY WINE

http://www.wine-making-guides.com/images/wine/wine_barley.jpg1 lb / 450 grams barley
1 lb / 450 grams raisins
1 lb / 450 grams potatoes
4 lbs / 1,800 grams sugar
1 lemon
1 orange
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Wine yeast
7 pints of hot water (boiled)
 

METHOD - WHAT TO DO

Wash and boil all of the barley for around 30 minutes. Strain and transfer liquor to winemaking fermentation bucket, adding sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar and add the raisins (chopped), the potatoes (chopped), the ground ginger, and the juice of the lemon and orange. Allow the mixture to cool to just above room temperature and stir in activated wine yeast.

Stir twice a day for around two weeks and then transfer the barley wine 'must' into a sterilised demijohn, fitting an airlock. Rack once fermentation has stopped, after approximately two to three months. Rack twice more and bottle when the barley wine is 12 months old and has cleared. Allow barley wine to stand for a minimum of six months.

 

 

[Faraday]

Thanks for those Stu, some more for my ever growing list of wines to make.

When fermentation has finished, do you add a Campden tablet the wine?

 

[stuhan]

11 hours ago, Faraday said:

Thanks for those Stu, some more for my ever growing list of wines to make.

When fermentation has finished, do you add a Campden tablet the wine?

No i never use campden tablets  before or after preparing my wines/beers, they can leave an off taste, some swear by them some donn't use them they are optional.

[stuhan]

 

How To Tell If Your Wine Yeast Is Working

First, it’s important to understand that it can take a wine yeast up to 36 hours to start showing signs of fermentation. On average, it takes a yeast about 8 hours, so if it hasn’t been this long, you may need to wait.
How long a fermentation actually takes to begin depends on a whole host of factors: temperature being the most critical. You want the wine must to be between 70° and 75°F. for a timely fermentation. 
You will notice the first signs of fermentation activity as little patches of fine bubbles on the surface of the wine must. These patches will eventually grow into a thin layer of fine bubbles across the entire surface. You are likely to notice this before you will see any activity in the air-lock.
Here are a couple of issues I would like to bring up briefly that are indirectly related to your question but may bring some light to it:
 
Yeast Preparation
The directions on a typical packet of wine yeast will state to put the wine yeast in water that is at such-and-such temperature for so-many minutes before adding to the wine must. It is perfectly fine to follow these directions, but only if you actually follow them. This means using a thermometer to track temperature and a watch to track time. Following such directions in a haphazardly way will lead to the destruction of the wine yeast and a fermentation that has no chance of starting.
If you are not willing to monitor the process precisely, you are much better off just sprinkling the yeast on to of the wine must. The must will start fermenting, but it may take a little more time to get going.
 
Using The Air-Lock
 In spite of what many wine making instructions may say, we do not recommend using an air-lock during the first few days of a fermentation (primary fermentation).
Yeast needs air to successfully multiply into a larger colony. By using an air-lock, the air is being kept away from the yeast. For this reason, we recommend that you do not use an air-lock during the primary fermentation. Instead, take the lid off and cover the fermenter with a thin cloth towel or something similar.
If you are concerned about leaving a fermentation exposed to the elements, rest assured that as long as you have an active fermentation starting up as scheduled, your wine must will be safe from any airborne contaminants. The positive flow of CO2 gas from the fermentation will help protect against this.
 
Another Wine Making Tip…
One thing I like to do is put the air-lock on the fermenter for just the first few hours – just long enough to determine that the yeast is going to start. Once I see the first signs of fermentation, I then take the lid and air-lock off and cover with a thin cloth towel. This give the wine protection when it is most vulnerable and oxygen when the wine yeast most need it.
Happy Wine Making,

———————————–
Sorry about the  large format.

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by stuhan

[stuhan]

If your wine is not foaming during fermentation

 

The fact that there is no foaming during the fermentation could be an indication that you have an issue. 

But it is much, much more likely that you do not have anything to worry about. The amount of foam does vary from one fermentation to the next, regardless of the amount of activity that is actually going on through the air-lock. In all likelihood you are simply being fooled by the foam – or lack of it.

There are several factors that can cause this variation in foaming during the fermentation. 

• The Fruit You Are Using: Proteins and other gelatinous materials that are in the fruit are the main components that cause a fermentation to foam. You have strawberries and peaches at the high end of the protein spectrum and apples and cranberries at the low end. This mean you can expect the foaming to vary based on the fruit you are fermenting.

• The Wine Yeast You Are Using: Some wine yeast can create a bit of foam. Red Star’s ‘Premier Classique’ is one of them. Then there are wine yeast that don’t foam much at all. Red Star’s ‘Cote des Blancs’ would be and example of this. These wine yeast have been bred to produce very little foam so as to not cause clean-up problems in a winery situation.

To really know how things are going with your wine’s fermentation you really should not depend on the amount of foam you see. As you can start to see, it really doesn’t mean that much. You need to rely on a wine hydrometer. By taking hydrometer readings during the wine’s fermentation, you can track how fast or how slow your wine is fermenting.

If you take a couple of hydrometer readings a couple of days apart and there is no change, then you know your wine is not fermenting. If the hydrometer readings are different, then you know you have progress and you don’t need to be concerned.

Just because there is no foaming during the fermentation doesn’t mean you have a problem. It is the wine hydrometer that has the final say as to what’s going on, so take your hydrometer readings, and don’t be fooled-by-the-foam.

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by stuhan

[stuhan]

 CRANBERRY WINE

INGREDIENTS: CRANBERRY WINE

2 lbs / 900 grams cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 lb / 450 grams raisins
3 lbs / 1,350 grams granulated sugar (about 6 3/4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 1/4 teaspoon acid blend
Wine yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient / energiser
1 campden tablet
8 pints / 1 gallon cooled, boiled water
 

METHOD - WHAT TO DO

Wash and roughly chop cranberries to allow the juice to leave the fruit. Transfer crushed / chopped cranberries to clean winemaking fermentation container and add all of the other ingredients, except for the wine yeast. After allowing the cranberry wine mixture to stand for around 12 hours, add the activated wine yeast. Stir each morning and evening for five days. Stain and squeeze the solids, transferring the cranberry wine mixture into a demijohn, complete with winemaking airlock.

Rack after around one month, when the fermentation process will have slowed dramatically. Rack once more after three months, and then two more times until the cranberry wine is clear and approximately 12 months old. Bottle the cranberry wine and if possible, leave to stand for over 12 months.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by stuhan
edit

[stuhan]

 

How To Make Ginger Wine

Homemade Wine Recipe

 

INGREDIENTS: GINGER WINE

4 tablespoons dried ginger (do not use powdered ginger)
2 lb / 8 oz raisins
2 oranges
2 lemons
3 1/2 lbs / 1,600 grams sugar
Wine yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient / energiser
8 pints / 1 gallon of water
1 campden tablet
 

METHOD - WHAT TO DO

Add ginger to a saucepan of boiling water and allow to simmer. Also add the orange (peeled and sliced), together with lemon zest and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Strain ginger wine mixture and transfer to winemaking fermentation bucket. Keep the original strained solids and boil once more in more water to ensure that maximum flavour has been extracted, again simmering for another 15 minutes.

Transfer to fermentation bucket, adding all of the other ingredients, including lemon juice and remaining boiling water, although do not add the wine yeast at this stage. Allow to cool and stand for at least 12 hours. Finally, add the activated wine yeast to the ginger wine mixture and stir each morning and evening, for five days. Strain carefully and transfer ginger wine 'must' into a clear winemaking demijohn, with airlock. Ferment for six weeks, and then rack. Continue racking up to three more times at regular intervals until the wine is around 12 months old, clear and completely stable. Drink ginger wine after waiting one year, or longer.

 

 

[stuhan]

POMEGRANATE WINE

6 pomegranates
1 lb / 450 grams raisins
2 lbs / 900 grams granulated sugar
2 teaspoon acid blend
1 teaspoon pectic enzyme
Wine yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient / energiser
1 campden tablet
8 pints / 1 gallon water
 

METHOD - WHAT TO DO

Cut pomegranates into half and remove all of the fruity seeds. Be sure not to include any of the pomegranate's pith or skin, as this can cause the wine to taste bitter. Crush the pomegranate seeds well and add to winemaking fermentation container. Pour on boiling water, together with all of the additional pomegranate wine ingredients, except for the wine yeast. Mix thoroughly and allow the pomegranate wine mixture to stand for several hours, until room temperature.

Add the activated wine yeast to the pomegranate wine mixture and stir two or three times each day, for around five days in total. Stain the fermenting pomegranate wine 'must' into a clear demijohn and fit airlock. Rack the wine for the first time at one month, and then again at roughly four months and seven months. Bottle the pomegranate wine at one year old and if possible, allow the wine to stand for up to one year.

[stuhan]

 

How To Make Orange and Banana Wine

Homemade Wine Recipe

 

INGREDIENTS: ORANGE AND BANANA WINE

10 oranges
1 lb / 450 grams bananas (including skins)
1/2 lb / 225 grams raisins
1/2 pint strong black tea
3 lb / 1,350 grams sugar
Water up to 1 gallon
Yeast nutrient
Wine yeast
 

METHOD - WHAT TO DO

Squeeze the juice from the peeled oranges and place with the remainder of the fruit, minus the pith, together with the chopped bananas and raisins, in a fermentation bucket. Add the sugar and pour in three quarters of the water, almost boiling, stirring vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Place the orange peel and a quart of water in a saucepan and simmer to 30 minutes. Add to the fermentation bucket and when cool add the pectin enzyme, strong tea, yeast nutrient and wine yeast and leave to ferment for seven days. Strain through a fine sieve and put into a demijohn and fit an airlock to seal the jar.

Store in a warm place and allow the fermentation to work. When fermentation has ceased, rack the wine into a clean jar and place in a cooler environment and leave. When the wine is clear and stable siphon into bottles.

 

 

[Faraday]

Thanks Stu...

[stuhan]

Last one for today,

WATERMELON WINE

 

4 pints watermelon juice  (As many as it takes depends on size)
1/8 teaspoon tannin (or cup of black tea)
2 lbs / 900 grams granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons acid blend
Wine yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient / energiser
4 pints / 1/2 gallon cool, boiled water
1 campden tablet (Always optional)

METHOD - WHAT TO DO

Chop the red flesh from the watermelon into cubes and squeeze out the juice through a straining bag, sieve or electric juicer. Pour watermelon juice into fermentation bucket and add all ingredients apart from the wine yeast, stirring well. Allow to stand for around 12 hours and then add the wine yeast.

Stir daily for five days and transfer fermenting mixture into a sterilised winemaking demijohn, with an airlock. Rack after one month, and then twice more at three month intervals. Bottle watermelon wine at one year old and although the wine is fairly drinkable, it improves if left to stand for at least 12 months.

 

[Convert54]

13 hours ago, stuhan said:

How To Make Ginger Wine

Homemade Wine Recipe

 

INGREDIENTS: GINGER WINE

4 tablespoons dried ginger (do not use powdered ginger)
2 lb / 8 oz raisins
2 oranges
2 lemons
3 1/2 lbs / 1,600 grams sugar
Wine yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient / energiser
8 pints / 1 gallon of water
1 campden tablet
 

METHOD - WHAT TO DO

Add ginger to a saucepan of boiling water and allow to simmer. Also add the orange (peeled and sliced), together with lemon zest and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Strain ginger wine mixture and transfer to winemaking fermentation bucket. Keep the original strained solids and boil once more in more water to ensure that maximum flavour has been extracted, again simmering for another 15 minutes.

Transfer to fermentation bucket, adding all of the other ingredients, including lemon juice and remaining boiling water, although do not add the wine yeast at this stage. Allow to cool and stand for at least 12 hours. Finally, add the activated wine yeast to the ginger wine mixture and stir each morning and evening, for five days. Strain carefully and transfer ginger wine 'must' into a clear winemaking demijohn, with airlock. Ferment for six weeks, and then rack. Continue racking up to three more times at regular intervals until the wine is around 12 months old, clear and completely stable. Drink ginger wine after waiting one year, or longer.

This one I am making now. Not this recipe  but near same. Ginger is mix fresh ginger  and powder ginger.

Not wine but my friend who gave me start bug says is beer.  will be with bubbles if I do right.

Two or three weeks hope  can taste. Very fast while I make plan for fruits wine.

[Faraday]

10 minutes ago, RanongCat said:

Very fast while I make plan for fruits wine.

What fruit wine would you like to make?

Stu & I could guide you through the whole process of making it.

In my experience, frozen fruit such as Raspberry is a good fruit to start with.

 

[Faraday]

Lamyai wine - made this about three months ago, ready to drink now & it's lovely.

 

 

[stuhan]

On 8/30/2021 at 9:41 PM, Faraday said:

Lamyai wine - made this about three months ago, ready to drink now & it's lovely.

Longan  the other name, i have some in the freezer at the mo for trying later.

Looks tasty

[stuhan]

1 minute ago, stuhan said:

Longan  the other name, i have some in the freezer at the mo for trying later.

Looks tasty

My star gooseberry trees are now bearing fruit, also our passion fruit vines are going to have a bumper crop this year, i will make wines with both.

[Faraday]

Just made Watermelon wine.

Got 2.5 L of juice from two medium size melons, added 4 L of water & 1 kg sugar.

Brix 22. OG 1085

 

 

[Marble-eye]

10 minutes ago, Faraday said:

Just made Watermelon wine.

Got 2.5 L of juice from two medium size melons, added 4 L of water & 1 kg sugar.

Brix 22. OG 1085

How did you extract the juice Faraday, did you mush them like you would mashed potatoes?

[Faraday]

3 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

How did you extract the juice Faraday, did you mush them like you would mashed potatoes?

I, or rather my wife, put the pieces in a cotton bag & scrunched them up.

The kitchen was filled with delicious watermelon smell.

[WilliamG]

On 8/16/2021 at 6:58 PM, Faraday said:

In what way is the other one, not Red, but Black, different?

(written like that to minimise jokes)

I was considering get some Absolut vodka & soaking Blueberries in it - bit like Sloe Gin.

Thanks for the suggestion @Marble-eye

Kulov is cheaper and just as good if doing what you are.

[stuhan]

51 minutes ago, Faraday said:

Just made Watermelon wine.

Got 2.5 L of juice from two medium size melons, added 4 L of water & 1 kg sugar.

Brix 22. OG 1085

Made 4G last year was very nice, amazed me i thought it would be red or pinkish, but came out straw colored.

[stuhan]

 

Cherries & blackberries

Wine

2 gallon recipe

 

ingredients

1kg of sultanas.

600g packet of frozen cherries.

600g packet of frozen blackberries.

1.5kg of sugar.

Wine yeast

Water.

 

Method: wash the sultanas with some boiling water then put them in a pan with water and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 min then mash them with a potato masher then add to the fermenting bin then make some sugar syrup with all the sugar then add to the FB with the frozen cherries and blackberries press the soft fruit with the potato masher then leave to cool then add the wine yeast compound stir and cover then leave in a warm place to ferment for a week to 10 days you must stir 2 times a day then strain the fruit pulp with a fine muslin bag then wash the pulp with some cold tap water then strain and press the pulp to get all the fruit sugars out of the pulp then divide all the liquid in to the DJs top up to the neck with cold tap water then fit the airlocks and leave to fully ferment out when fermenting as fully stopped rack and mature for at least 6 to 12 months.