Making your own wine is a great hobby that can also result in some very good, high quality wine. The process is easy and the ingredients are readily available. There are several ways you can make your own wine, but they all have common steps and processes.
Tannin and Yeast
In order to make your own wine you need to first get some tannin and yeast. Tannins and yeast will be used during the fermentation process, which is where the magic happens. There are two containers that you will need to collect your ingredients; a 1 gallon glass jug for fermenting, and a 5 gallon bucket for mixing the ingredients.
The first step is to add 3 pounds of sugar to your 5 gallon bucket. You can use any type of sugar you want; white or brown sugar will do just fine. Following the addition of the sugar, add one teaspoon of acid blend per gallon of wine being made (1 tsp for every 4 cups). Yeast nutrient (1/2 tsp per gallon) should be added next, followed by pectic enzyme (1/4 tsp per gallon). Now it is time to move on to mixing together the tannin and yeast.
Adding Tannin and Yeast
To make your own wine,
The process of making your own wine is not a difficult one. The great thing about it is that you will make a wine just for you and the people you love. You can make it sweet or dry, red or white, or even a combination of some of them, according to your taste.
Wine is nothing but a fermented juice from fruits like grapes, apples, pears and several more. The production process involves crushing the fruits to extract the juice from them, mixing them with water and adding sugar to start fermentation.
Tying It All Together
Once you have chosen the fruit juice and water mixture, you need to decide if you want to use fresh yeast or use dried yeast which needs to be activated first using warm water. Add following ingredients in order: Yeast, Campden tablet (optional), Pectic enzyme (optional), Wine acid mix (optional), Fruit concentrate (optional), Wine tannin powder (optional) and finally Sugar (optional).
Put all the content in a sterile air tight bottle and shake it well for about 2 minutes. Wrap the bottle in towels and set aside for 3-10 days depending on how strong you want the alcohol concentration in your wine.
Maintaining the proper temperature throughout the fermentation process is essential to producing a great wine. At a minimum, you will need a thermometer to measure the temperature of your must, and an adjustable thermostat to control it.
TIP: To save money, consider getting an all-in-one appliance that includes both a heater and a cooler. This will allow you to properly control fermentation temperatures while keeping your operating costs down.
Some wine kits are available with all the equipment needed for fermentation included in their kit. If you have purchased one of these kits, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer.
If you have purchased a kit that does not include a fermentation lock, head to your local home brew or wine making store or online retailer and purchase one. You can also purchase additional thermometers to monitor other areas of your wine kit such as sugar levels in the must or specific gravity readings.*
Star Anise,The star anise is a spice that goes great in all kinds of recipes. It is one of the most important spices in Chinese cuisine. Star anise has a strong licorice-like taste and fragrance. It can be used whole or ground into powder form. If you want to make your own wine or maybe even some homemade wine extracts, then star anise is one of the main ingredients you will need to include in your recipe.
First you must pick the best star anise for making wine. You want to find star anise that does not have any cracks or holes in the pieces. Also, you want to make sure that it has a nice even color and a strong aroma. You should store it in a cool and dry location away from direct sunlight.”
If the yeast is not added, then no carbon dioxide will be created during fermentation. The wine will be flat. It may still ferment, but it will take much longer. You can add the yeast at any time after six hours of fermentation has occurred. Adding it sooner will help to get the fermentation process started more quickly, while adding it later on may allow you to achieve a slightly drier flavor.
Recipes for starter solutions are available online and in many books on winemaking. They are also available from winemaking suppliers. Most home winemakers use either bread yeast or a wine yeast that is popular with home winemakers because it is easy to use and reliable. Some people prefer to make their own starter solution from scratch, using a mixture of simple household ingredients such as flour and water or honey and water, although this is not necessary if you have purchased a commercial recipe or kit.
The most important thing to remember when preparing your starter solution is that it should be no warmer than 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) when added to the must (the wine). If it is too hot, you risk killing your yeast — an expensive mistake!
“The flavor should be mellow, yet the anise must be present. The wine will age very well and can be drunk after only six months. You can drink it after one year, but it will be at its peak of perfection in five or six years.”
This is how I ended my first blog post about making wine . There’s a lot more to making wine than what I described here, but perhaps that’s enough to get started.
Taste your wine as you go along, and if it’s not what you’re looking for, change something and taste again. Maybe you want an amber color? Add some caramel coloring. Do you want less sugar? Use less sugar water when you add the yeast. Do you want a sweeter taste? Add more sugar water. Do you want a more potent kick? Leave your wine longer before bottling.
How do you decide how long to leave it? Here are some rough guides:
– Drinkable: 6 months (but tastes best after 1 year)
– Good: 1 year
– Very good: 2 years
– Excellent: 3 years (but can last much longer)
The star anise plant is native to China and Vietnam. The plant bears an eight-pointed fruit capsule which contains eight seeds, hence the name “star anise.” It is also known as badian, or badiana.
It is used in the production of liquors, liqueurs and wines. In fact, a wine flavored with star anise has its own name: star anise wine.
History of the Star Anise
Star anise appears to be native to China where it has been cultivated for over 2,000 years. Chinese herbalists have used it for medicinal purposes for just as long. It has been used by many cultures for a variety of purposes such as flavoring food, use in incense, religious ceremonies and medicine.
The Japanese have grown it as a decorative plant since 905 A.D. They like to plant it alongside plum trees because the flowers resemble the early blooming of the plum blossoms.
The Japanese call this plant shikimi and use it to flavor their foods, especially fish and soups. They also use it in their favorite drink: sake (a rice wine). Its flavor adds a refreshing citrus flavor to the drink while its aroma adds depth and complexity to the sake’s bouquet.
