Making Homemade Wine and Beer View RSS

How To Make Wine With Fruit 11 Jun 2012 4:28 PM (12 years ago)

Pruning Grapes The Correct Way 4 Dec 2011 2:25 AM (13 years ago)

7 Popular Beer Adjuncts 20 Aug 2011 5:52 AM (13 years ago)

1. Fruit and vegetables
2. Grain
3. Herbs and spices
4. Additional sugar
5. Bacteria
6. Coffee and tea
7. Chocolate

Source: Adjuncts - The role and variety of beer adjuncts.

Homebrewers Association | News: 2011 Zymurgy Best Beers in America 12 Jul 2011 4:29 PM (13 years ago)

Beer Reviews #6 - Corona 1 Jun 2011 1:15 AM (13 years ago)

WARNING: This video contains language and beer snobbery that my be offensive to some viewers.


The responses to this review are pretty wild. You can read them here.






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Tips for Successful Backyard Grape Growing 9 May 2011 4:46 AM (13 years ago)

By Jim Bruce


Growing grapes in the backyard or garden can be a rewarding experience. It can also be quite a failure if not done properly. Grapevines are perennial plants and will grow for years to come. There are a few things to consider before you just jump in and start planting your grapevines. Otherwise, mistakes made at planting will haunt you in the future.


Grapes need lots of sunshine. One of the biggest mistakes that the home gardener makes when growing grapes is to plant them in the shade under a tree or where they get shaded by houses most of the day. If you watch wild grapevines grow, you will notice they make all efforts to climb trees and shrubs to get into the daylight. Without proper sunlight, proper ripeness cannot be obtained. Be sure the spot you choose has good sun most of the day.


A second mistake that many home gardeners make is to not take into account the grape variety's growth habit and vigor. These two factors come into play when planting the grapevine and deciding on how to trellis the vine.


Vigorous varieties need lots of space. You can find out how vigorous a variety is by consulting your local nursery where you bought your vines. Vigorous varieties need eight feet between vines when planting. Less vigorous varieties can be planted closer at six feet between vines. Very low vigor vines can be planted as close as four feet.


Growth habit determines the trellis type and how the grapevine will be trained and pruned. Grape varieties with a large portion of their ancestry coming from wild American species tend to droop. These are like the wild vines that grow to the top of small trees and shrubs then cascade downward during the summer. The gardener will find that it is best to mimic this natural growth.


Vines of this type will be trained to a high wire about six feet off the ground. The grapevines are pruned to two to four long canes each year. As the shoots grow each year from the canes left at pruning time, they will grow outward from each side and soon start drooping towards the ground, forming a curtain of leaves by the end of the growing season.


Many varieties have the European grape, V.vinifera, in their ancestry. The European grape varieties tend to have a more upright growth. These grape varieties need a more extensive trellis system. At least four wires are needed to contain them. The first wire is approximately three feet off the ground with the two additional wires at eight inch intervals above the bottom wire. The vines are trained to a trunk that extends to the bottom wire.


Two to four canes are pruned and tied to the bottom wire on each side of the trunk. As the shoots grow during the spring and summer they are tied straight up to the wires above. Once the shoots have reached approximately 16 inches above the top wire, they are cut off at the tips. This "hedging" prevents further growth and shading of the vine below.


Grapes need a good water supply when they are actively growing in the spring and summer. They should be watered at least once a week in areas of little rain. More often under droughty conditions. This watering shoud be continued until the berries begin to turn color. After coloring, watering is not needed and will in fact slow the ripening process. Once the leaves have fallen in the fall, one last large watering should be undertaken before the ground freezes to get the vines through the winter.


Perhaps the biggest mistake I see with home gardeners growing grapes is neglecting pruning the vines each year. This is a must! Without pruning the grapevine becomes an overgrown tangled mess. The grapevines overbear and the berries don't ripen properly. Disease sets in as the vine is over shaded and doesn't recieve drying winds. The vines will weaken over time and eventually die before their time.


Pruning removes 90-95% of the previous year's growth. It keeps the vines in balance and aids in controlling the crop and ripening the fruit. Pruning the grapevine is an art, not a science. Information on grapevine pruning can be obtained through your local Ag Extension agent. They have agricultural bulletins that detail the pruning process. You can also find comments at: http://www.ristcanyonvineyards.com/grapevine_pruning_and_training.html


Growing grapevines can be a nice hobby that will provide you and your family with fresh fruit or grapes to make wine with. Table grape varieties and wine varieties are distinct. Make sure you are planting the proper varieties for the wanted purpose. Home gardeners should also make sure that the varieties they are planting are adapted to their local climate. Some varieties cannot take cold winters, while others can tolerate freezing temperatures down to -25-30F.


Varieties that have American grape species in their ancestry can tolerate colder winters. Make sure you consult with your nurseryman to fit the variety you are planting to your conditions. The variety you choose must also be able to ripen in your climate. I see too many home gardeners planting varieties that take up to 170 days or more to ripen in areas that have only 150 days or less in their growing seasons.


If you are thinking of growing grapevines in your backyard or garden, be sure to consider the above factors before you start planting. Choose your grape varieties based upon what you plan to use them for, how they are adapted to the local growing conditions, and plan the trellis according to the variety's growth habit. I wish you all the luck in your endeavor.


Jim Bruce has been growing grapes since the mid-seventies under a range of growing conditions. His Rist Canyon Vineyards is a research project to aid others in growing grapes. More information can be found at http://www.ristcanyonvineyards.com


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Building a Grape Trellis. 3 Mar 2011 3:55 PM (14 years ago)

How To Keg Home Brewed Beer With The Coors Light Home Draft System 2 Feb 2011 8:15 PM (14 years ago)

The Art of Winemaking 3 Jan 2011 2:59 PM (14 years ago)

Inside look at a winery in Fraser, Colorado. Informational Segment.




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Krausening Home Brewed Beer 3 Nov 2010 1:57 AM (14 years ago)

In a brewery, krausening would be done with fresh wort taken from the most recent batch made. For the homebrewer, Krausening is most often done with a small amount of wort made from dry malt extract. Alternately you can use a fresh batch of wort or keep some wort in a sterile container in the refrigerator from your last batch.


A key question is how much wort to use for proper carbonation? A good rule of thumb is that you should add enough wort to raise the gravity of the beer three points. For simplicty you can try the following formula from the Home Brewing Wiki:


Quarts_of_wort = (12 x Gallons_of_beer) / ((Specific_gravity_wort – 1.0) * 1000)


For example, if the krausening addition of wort (also called gyle) has a specific gravity of 1.060, and we’re krausening 5 gallons of beer, the result would be (12 x 5)/((1.060-1)*1000) which works out to exactly one quart of wort we add at bottling.


Read the whole article: Krausening Home Brewed Beer | Home Brewing Beer Blog by BeerSmith

Green Tea and Ginger Wine 3 Oct 2010 3:09 AM (14 years ago)

Photo by: Kanko

Home Brewing At Its Best: Save Money and Still Have Alcohol 3 Sep 2010 12:45 AM (14 years ago)

Home Brewing At Its Best: Save Money and Still Have Alcohol


With the prices of nearly everything increasing, you may be looking for ways to save some money. If you like to drink beer every night or throw parties every Friday and/or Saturday night, you know it can get costly to buy your alcohol. Why not save money by doing some home brewing? You don’t have to limit yourself to just alcoholic beverages like beer and wine. If you want, you can make non-alcoholic drinks as well such as cider.


Home brewing is as it states… it’s nothing more than a small-scale fermentation alcohol-making process for your own consumption (although you can make additional beverages for parties). Home brewing may be considered a hobby now but it’s got a history… one that includes an era of illegal activity. If you want to save money and have patience, creativity and like it when things are clean, then you can turn this hobby into a rewarding experience that ensures you admiration from both family and friends.


From The Past To The Present – How Home Brewing Changed Through The Times


Home brewing alcohol drinks is certainly not a new conception. It, in fact, is over 7,000 years old; it began with the Egyptians, Chinese and Mesopotamians. Their brewing beer and wine formulas and procedures were passed on to the Greeks and onto the Romans. It wasn’t until the Sumerian civilization that these brewing methods were written down. When the Sumerians prayed, they would have to sing the recipe to honor the goddess of beer for giving them the best beer. After all, very few Sumerians could read and write.


Bear in mind that whole civilizations came and went and the laws of those remaining civilizations changed. When the Pilgrims first came to North America, landing at Plymouth Rock, they made the decision to include a brewery so they can replenish their beer supply when it got low.


When the Industrial Revolution took off (in the 1700s), beer, wines and other alcoholic beverages were mass produced. However, home brewers could use the hydrometers and thermometers to continue making the product; yet with more precision and reliability. French microbiologist Louis Pasteur discovered and shared his thoughts on the fermentation process while brewing. His thought yielded a whole new way people could brew, which gave their beers and wines some complexities.


The Prohibition Era – How Home Brewers Got Their Alcohol


There have been many dark points in United States history including two World Wars, the Vietnam War, September 11, Civil War, slavery, assassinations, the Great Depression, etc. In 1920, the U.S. had another dark point and it was called Prohibition, which outlawed any and all home brewing activities. Although it was outlawed, lots of people did not obey and continued to make their alcoholic beverages. Some people believe that the law did nothing more but encourage people to make them.


Since people were not able to purchase alcohol in public, they choose to discretely make their own. Two homemade answers to skirting around the law came about. First, there is moonshine, which was alcohol distilled by the moonlight. Second, there was bathtub gun.


Grape Growers and Prohibition


Although people were hiding their alcohol-making habits, grape growers saw an increase in demand, which meant they needed to increase their land space to grow more grapes. These farmers ended up acquiring 700 percent more land to meet the demands. When they sent orders to their customers, they usually came with warning labels, letting them know how to make alcoholic drinks in their advertising without coming out and directly saying.


13 years after it was first passed, the Prohibition Act was repealed but there was a catch. The document that repealed the act did not legalize home brewing of beer; it would stay this way until 46 years later when then-President Jimmy Carter signed a bill into law on February 1. Although there is no federal home brewing restriction, individual states could pass whatever laws they want against it. Today, just three states ban the practice:


- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Mississippi


Home Brewing Equipment Must-Haves


Are you ready to make your home brews? Does the idea appeal to you to try your hand at making your own beer? If so, then you need to know the home brewing equipment you need. If you want to try and make your own brew, then you can purchase kits that contain the liquid malt extract and no-boil wort.


So what do you need?


1 - You need a plastic carboy, large glass or food-grade bucket. You want something that will tightly seal.
2 - You’ll need a fermentation lock to place at the top; this will allow the carbon dioxide gas in the fermentation process to escape.
3 - You’ll need hydrometers and thermometers so that the ingredients and the process is consistent, which lessen the chance for errors in the brewing process.
4 - You’ll want another carboy if you plan on enhancing the flavor of your beer, wine, etc. With a second carboy you further age your beverage, giving it its final taste.
5 – You’re also going to need some capped or corked bottles once the fermentation process is complete. These will also help in the aging process of your beverage. Now, if you don’t want a bottle capper for your locking mechanism then you can buy flip-top bottles with rubber stoppers.


How To Do Home Brewing – It’s Easier Than It Sounds


When you start home brewing, you have to understand that this is not an overnight process; it’s going to take several weeks of your attention to get done and get done right. The first step you need to take is to make sure everything you’ll be using is free of bacteria, microbes, dirt and more. Unclean tools, bottles, containers and surfaces can make for ruined alcoholic drinks.


Don’t forget the primary ingredient in your recipe, which is wort. You can find it in kits or by cooking and boiling dried or liquid malt extracts. You’re also going to need bittering hops and flavoring hops. Bittering hops needs to be added at the beginning while flavoring hops needs to be added near the ending of the process. This will also depend on what beer style you’re going for.


The actual fun of the process is the experimentation, as you can come up with a wide range of beverages.


After you’ve created the wort, you’ll need to add it to your sterilized food-grade plastic bucket or carboy with water and yeast to begin the first fermentation process. This part of the process can take nearly two weeks, sometimes longer. If you’re doing a second fermentation, you’ll need another clean bucket. Be sure you leave behind some sediment in the first fermentation process.


Once your beverages have fermented, your beer will have to be primed and bottled. Priming is what creates the carbonation in the beer you drink. It’s done by adding tiny amounts of sugar into the bottles or beer before you cap them. If you want this carbonation in your beer, you’ll need to leave the bottles alone an additional four weeks… at least. After you’ve done this, put them in ice or in the refrigerator and then serve them.


The Benefits To Home Brewing As Opposed To Buying Alcoholic Drinks


All persons want to be praised for a job well done and this holds true when it comes to home brewing products. Home brewers are often dedicated to their work and put in long hours to ensure they get a quality batch of beer or whatever concoction they want to have.


Besides getting praise, there are other reasons to make your own batch of beer brew. If you’re the type of person who enjoys saving the environment, you can do so by making your own beer. You don’t use near as many packaging materials and you don’t need to do much transporting of your brew. On top of that, you use those jugs and bottles again and again..


Remember that the price for nearly everything is increasing; this includes liquor. If you want to save money, this is the way to do so without giving up your pleasure of alcohol. The ingredients for your homemade brew can cost anywhere from $25 to $45 per a five-gallon batch. Keep in mind that a five-gallon batch is equal to 24, 12-ounce bottles per case. Initially, the equipment can cost you $80 but in time, it’ll pay for itself.


It’s not that difficult to make your own batch of beer. You can make some today and before you know it, you can sit back in your American Heritage collection furniture and enjoy what you made with family and friends. If you want to, you can always store the extras in your Home Styles bar wine cabinet until you’re ready to drink it. With a little creativity and time, you can have the best beer you’ve ever tasted… made right in your own home.


Article Author Tidbit


Former bar/restaurant owner and HomeBarReviews.com publisher Tom Holmes became highly interested in the home brewing process when he received a wine-making kit from his six children as Christmas present a few years ago. Since then, he kept his eyes and ears open for anything regarding the newest fashions in bar designs and anything related to wine and beer brewing.


Today, he not only shares information regarding beer and wine making, but he’s also keen on sharing information about home bar furniture and tools. You can check out his website HomeBarReviews.com for all in home bars to see what would look best for your home today.

How To Grow Your Own Ingredients To Make Your Own Beer 25 May 2010 3:12 AM (14 years ago)

By Graham Williams


There are two main beer-making ingredients that you can grow. Both hops and barley can be grown at home if you want.


Hops are known by the scientific name humulus. It is commonly referred to as hops vines, however the term vine is misleading. The hops plant is actually a bine plant. These plants use stiff stems with hairs to aid in climbing. They will wrap themselves around something in a clockwise fashion to grow. They grow very quickly, growing from 20cm to 50cm per week during peak growth periods.


Hops are perennial plants and are most commonly grown in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are rather easy to grow and can be grown indoors or out. Hops are susceptible to certain types of insects, so caution needs to be taken to prevent insect infestation. Hops flower during summer and the flower seedpod is the actual hops. These can be picked after the seed is formed, usually in August. The hops are then air-dried for several days at which time they are ready for use.


Barley is another main ingredient in beer. Barley is a grain, commonly grown throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It is grown as a major cereal food as well as for animal feed. There are several types of barley. Each type has a different protein and enzyme content and therefore produces different styles of beer. High protein barley is used to produce malt beer. Two-row barley is used in traditional English style ales. Six-row barley is used primarily in lager beer. Four-row barley is not suitable for use in brewing.


It takes a lot of room to produce barley and it cannot be grown well indoors as it needs quite a tall space. Unless you have a large field, you may not be able to grow your own barley. Picking and husking barley can be a tedious process.


While growing your own ingredients for beer can be rewarding and economical, unless you have the time and the space you may want to leave the growing of hops or barley to others.


Graham Williams is the owner of http://www.gw-ebooks.com this site is full of books that are about hobbies such as Brewing your own beer, Camping, Bird watching, Beekeeping. While your there don't forget to sign up to my newsletter and you will receive monthly discounts in any new book that is added each month you can visit my site here http://www.gw-ebooks.com


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http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Grow-Your-Own-Ingredients-To-Make-Your-Own-Beer&id=795954
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Basic Tips For The Home Grape Growing Gardener 11 May 2010 3:37 AM (14 years ago)

By Matt Granger


One of the things that I always found to be beautiful when I was young was to see a trellis covered with clusters of grapes hanging from the vines. Not only did the vines have a function but they brought beauty as well. I always found backyard grape growing to be fun even as a child and I would like to share with you some of my experiences.


Grape growing is actually something that is not too hard to do. For thousands of years people have been growing grapes and perfecting the art of pruning and caring for them. Now there are many modern twists to make it even easier. We don't have to haul water from a creek that is a mile away and we don't have to keep the soil nice with a hoe in the bright summer sun.


The art of grape growing is one that should be showed to our younger generation so that they realize that not all produce has to come from a grocery store. They can grow them right in their own backyard and be overjoyed when they see the first clusters begin to form on the vines. So often the younger generations have no idea where things really come from and grape growing would be a wonderful way to show them.


When you decide that grape growing is something that you want to do, all you will need is some soil that has been fertilized and some patience. I say patience because these vines will need love and attention for a few months before you are able to reap the fruits of your labor, pardon the pun. Gardening of any type takes patience and grape growing is no exception.


To achieve the best soil possible for grape growing you will of course need to fertilize the soil. There are many types of fertilizer available from organic to a chemical fertilizer, all able to help you achieve a beautiful grape vine.


Organic fertilizers such as manure are great because they have been around since time began and have been able to still keep this world green. Seems to me that most of the chemical fertilizers can't say that about themselves. But there are many people who would rather not spread manure as they think it's gross and so if you are one of those people, the store bought fertilizers might be for you. They will achieve the same goal, just with a different ingredient.


If possible, try to fertilize the soil before you go planting. I know that many, like myself, are terrible at planning ahead. So if you are one that didn't plan ahead, then you are always able to spread fertilizer once the vine roots have been placed in the ground.


The last thing to remember about grape growing is that these grapes do need to be watered. On average a grape vine needs to get an inch of rain a week to grow properly. When you are going through a dry spell you will of course need to water the plant yourself. If you fertilize appropriately and water when needed, you should get some super growth on your vine the first year. Growth on the vine the first year is very important for the future of your plants.


So remember, with grape growing you mainly need some patience, water and a little manure and you'll be set.


Matt Granger has been growing grapes for over 30 years and is an expert in backyard grape growing and grapevine farming. For a bundle of free tips and advice on how to grow grapes, visit his personal grape growing website here: www.grapegrowingsecrets.com


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Sanitation in the Home Brewery 27 Apr 2010 1:24 AM (14 years ago)

By HomeBrewing.com Staff


The most frustrating aspect of home brewing is when a batch goes bad. The only way to improve your chances of avoiding this depressing situation is to maintain the highest degree of sanitation in your home brewery as is possible. There are also some other pitfalls of the modern age that require a closer look, and some basic tools that will give you the best chances of fighting bacterial infestations, vinegar cultures, and rogue yeasts in your home brew.


One factor often overlooked when cleaning and sanitizing home brew set-ups is that of the water used. Tap water in modern cities is sometimes good, sometimes terrible. It is wise to do some research and find out how your city water rates when analyzed for bacteria, harmful chemicals, and heavy metals. The quality of water used in making beer has a very strong connection with the quality of the finished product. But how to deal with it?


Read more: Homebrewing.com

3 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Growing Grapes 13 Apr 2010 3:28 AM (14 years ago)

By Matt Granger

Growing Grapes is one the few overlooked yet most promising and exciting outdoor hobbies one can become involved in. It is fun, challenging, and best of all rewarding in the sense that once you have a fully grown grape farm or grape garden, you will enjoy the benefits of having fresh wine grapes to eat at your convenience. Plus, since growing grapes is an outdoor hobby, it will force you to get out of the lazy chair and out into the open and truly become one with nature.

Growing Grapes while appealing to most because of the delicious home grown wine grapes can be quite challenging at times. There are a few common mistakes that many new grape growers commit. I would like to cover them briefly with you now.

Growing Grapes Common Mistake #1:
One of the most common grape growing mistake new grape gardeners commit involves purchasing already grown grapevines and planting them in their garden. Here is the problem that lies with this situation. Your local nursery will buy grapevines in bulk for a low price and will put them on sale. They will look all nice and pretty at the nursery since they just brought them in. However, what you the customer doesn't know is that these grapevines have come from different parts of the country, places where in fact the grapevines were growing really healthy and strong.

You see, climate and atmosphere plays a key role in successful grape growing. When growing grapes in different parts of the country, you can expect totally different results with your grapevines. Different in climate alone will affect the types of disease your grapevines might get plagued with or when they will fruit better, if at all. Therefore, do not be fooled by what is being sold to you at the nursery. It is best to verse yourself on how to grow grapes from an expert and understand how the climate in your area will affect your vines.

Growing Grapes Common Mistake #2:
The second most common mistake committed when growing grapes is the eagerness for spraying.
I understand it is frustrating to see a few insects on your vines and can become quite irresistible to hold back from spraying your grapevines clean. Well, don't go too trigger happy. There are plenty of other procedures that you can use to keep your grapevines under pest control. Spraying should only be used when it is truly needed because you can risk killing off everything else in the area that normally would've controlled those pesky pests.

Growing Grapes Common Mistake #3:
Finally we come to the third most common mistake of growing grapes. This one involves planting grapevines without learning how to train grapevines first. That's like buying a car without knowing how to drive. Grapevines require proper training and pruning in order for them to grow successfully and most rookie grape gardeners just do not understand that growing grapes takes more than just planting a few grapevine seeds and watering them everyday.

Growing grapes can start from a fun hobby to ultimately becoming a full time career. However, it takes some skill and knowledge to fully succeed in growing grapes. Otherwise you will probably commit some of the costly, rookie mistakes covered above.

Visit this link to begin learning the skills necessary for growing grapes . Matt Granger has been growing grapes for over 30 years and is an expert in backyard grape growing and grapevine farming. Visit his personal grape growing website here: http://www.grapegrowingsecrets.com

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Beer Review #5 -Guinness Extra Stout 23 Feb 2010 2:10 AM (15 years ago)

A great choice for your St. Patrick's Day. Guinness Extra Stout was reviewed by elharlock and he gave it a 5 out of 5. Personally, I would have to agree with him since I enjoy a pint or two of this flavorful brew. Enjoy the video review.



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Planting A Grape Vine 9 Feb 2010 2:17 AM (15 years ago)

By Danie Wium

You have prepared your site; you have decided what variety to grow; now it is time to plant your grape vine! Well, unfortunately, this is where many home grape growers terribly fail!

Planting a grape vine is not hard, if fact, it is one of the easiest fruits to get started, but there are a few key things to remember when planting your grape vine.

1. The planting hole

In the early days, before research proofed this method wrong, planting grape vines, by adding fertilizer and all kinds of stuff into the planting hole, was a well-known practice? Research showed, that a grape vine sprouts from energy within the vine itself, and do not actually use any fertilizer until the vine reach about 2 to 3 inch shoot length. By adding fertilizer directly into the planting hole, or directly on the roots of the vines could damage (scourge) the roots.

With knowledge/information you gained from soil samples, you should fertilize and correct all mineral shortages BEFORE you prepare your vineyard site and then plant your grape vine. This will mix all the fertilizer with the soil and will not damage the roots of your grape vine.

Make a large enough hole to accommodate all the roots from the cutting and do not cut or remove any roots - the more roots, the better the chance of successfully planting your grape vine.

2. Preparing the new vine before planting

Before planting your grape vine, you should plunge the complete vine into a bucket of water for at least six hours. Under no circumstances, let the roots of the vine dry out - this is very important! If you are planting a few hundred vines, cover the vines not planted yet with a damp gunny bag or something similar.

3. Watering the vine

Before you plant the grape vine, you should thoroughly water the planting hole and ensure that the water deeply penetrates the sidewall of the planting hole.

Constantly add water to the planting hole while filling the hole with water to ensure that no air pockets forms near the roots of the vines. Water your grape vine once a week for at least a month after planting the grape vine.

Following these simple rules when planting a grape vine, will guarantee a much higher success rate.

For even more grape growing tips, you can visit My Grape Vine and if you would like to become a member of The Grape Coaching Program, where you will learn how to grow grapes by means of video and mp3's, visit The Grape Coaching Program - get your 10 day FREE training right now!

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30 Day Wine 23 Jan 2010 2:26 AM (15 years ago)

A quick and easy recipe for making a batch of wine that you can enjoy during the summer months.

* 24 oz Welch's frozen concentrated grape juice, thawed
* 3 cups sugar
* water to make up one gallon
* 1/2 tsp dry yeast
* 1 1-gallon glass jug.


Mix all ingredients together well with water filling jug to about an inch below the shoulders. Cover with a clean rag secured with rubber band. Keep in a dark place about 70 degrees. About 2 weeks later replace rag with a good thick piece of plastic wrap. After 30 days from starting date, siphon wine off from sediment in bottom and drink. For a good old "Mad Dog 20/20" type wine, add a pint of cheap blackberry brandy to the mix before drinking.



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Wine Making Kits for Homemade Wines 9 Jan 2010 3:09 AM (15 years ago)

by Rio Regio

Wine making and fermenting your own homemade wine takes a lot of time and effort. It doesn't necessarily equate to being a complicated process, the procedure is actually very simple but the whole wine making process will require an extended period of toiling.Most people would define wine as an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grape juice. It is a popular definition because grapes are the usual base fruit or juice used in making wines, but according to some wine connoisseurs , Wines are basically any alcoholic drink produced from any non-toxic fruit juice (Strawberry wine, Pear Wine, Apple Wine, etc.)

Wine making consists of very simple steps that any person with the right equipment could do. As long as you have the basic wine making kit, you could produce wine whenever you desire.

Making homemade wines if, done properly, could produce good quality wines that may taste just as good as any commercially available wines. And since you are the one making your own drink, you could experiment on the acid levels, alcohol levels and the sweetness of the beverage that would suit your taste.

If you're planning to produce your own homemade wine, you will need a few equipment necessary for the fermentation of the juice. The list of equipments consists of the following:

1. A primary (primary fermentation vessel) which most of the time comes in the form of a plastic bucket or pail. This is where you will mix your concoction together with your ingredients.
2. A sieve or a mesh bag or a nylon straining bag where you will put your chopped, crushed or sliced fruits during flavor and aroma extraction.
3. Sterile cloth that will cover your bucket during the primary. This will prevent contaminants and bacteria from getting in to your concoction and at the same time, it will allow the unwanted vapors from your mixture to escape.
4. A siphon hose which you will use when you are going to transfer the wine from the primary to the secondary fermentation vessel. You will also use this when you are going to rack your wine.
5. A secondary fermentation vessel, most of time, Carboys are used as secondaries because it is easy to airlock and it is more resistant to scratching.
6. Air locks which is vital for the anaerobic fermentation process that the mixture must go through to produce wine.
7. Bottles which will be used for aging the wine.
8. Corks to secure the wine inside the bottles.
9. Hydrometer, which is one of the most important equipments you will need because this will measure the specific gravity of the wine.

The listed items is actually the basic wine making kit. Some of the tools you will need that were included on the list could be replaced by or substituted by common household items. Just remember that the substitutes you will use are sanitized and sterile.

Using tools that haven't been properly sanitized may cause spoilage in the wine you are making.

Of course, there are other tools and equipments as well that you could use to ferment your own homemade wine. But some of those are already for advanced wine makers. As a beginner, the list should suffice until you have become a true fanatic of homemade wine making.

There are additional ingredients or additives as well that you will require when making your homemade wine. These ingredients may not be bought from regular convenient stores and may be difficult to find. If there is a Wine Maker store near your place, then you are in luck, otherwise, these essential ingredients will be difficult to obtain.

These additives required in wine making are:

1. Sulfites, the most common sulfite used is the Campden Tablet
2. Acid Blend or Citric Acid
3. Tannin
4. Pectic Enzyme
5. Potassium Sorbate
6. Yeast Nutrient
7. Sugar
8. Yeast
9. Wine Finings

All of these ingredients are essential to wine making. If one of these is absent or missing during your wine making process, it is likely that the fermentation will produce a bad batch of wine or the fermentation will not be successful at all.

Be sure that before you start making your wine, you have the complete ingredients along with your complete tools.

Now that we have listed the complete basic wine making kit you will need to ferment your alcoholic beverage, we are going to give you a simple step by step instruction on how to turn your fruit juice into wine.

1. Fruit preparation - from the moment you pick out and choose the fruit you will be using as your base fruit, it is already part of the wine making process. This also entails the chopping, slicing and crushing of the fruit which will be put in the straining bag or sieve in the primary.

2. Pour water in the primary where the bag is. Whether to use cold or hot water will depend on the specific instructions of that specific recipe you are making.

3. Adding the Ingredients - All additives that were listed, except the wine yeast and the yeast nutrients will be added in the concoction. These should be mixed until all the ingredients have dissolved.

4. Cover the primary with the sterile cloth and leave for at least 24 hours depending on recommended specific gravity required as specified in the recipe.

5. Transferring to the secondary - When you have reached the recommended specific gravity, you will now have to transfer the must into the secondary, add the yeast and yeast nutrients, stir then cover with air lock.

6. Racking - When the wine have reached a specific gravity as indicated in the wine making recipe you have, you will need to transfer the wine to another secondary vessel. You are to leave the lees or the sediments found at the bottom of the Carboy. These lees are dead yeast cells. Prolonged exposure to it may cause the wine to taste bad.

7. Rack again - After a recommended period, you may check your wine's clarity. If the wine is already clear and has no more sediments at the bottom of the vessel, you may proceed to the next step. Otherwise, you will have to rack again and again until the wine becomes clear and free of lees.

8. Bottling - once the wine is already clear, this is will indicate that the fermentation process is over. You may now transfer the wine in smaller bottles.

9. Aging - this step will require a really long time. It may take six months to a year before the wine is aged enough to have that good taste. The recipe or wine book you are following should have a recommended period of time for the aging process. Once it has aged long enough, you may now taste your wine to see if it still needs to age longer.

10. Enjoying - At this point, your wine have already aged long enough and already tastes like expensive wine. It is now time to enjoy your home made wine.

The listed steps are the general steps in fermenting homemade wine using wine making kits. If you will notice, it was mentioned repeatedly that some procedures will depend on the recipe you are following. This is because the amount of time, additive or ingredients required may vary from one fruit to another or from one variety of fruit to another.

Each fruit and each variety of fruit will have its own characteristics and its own level of acidity, sweetness and the like which may affect the variation of needed additives.

Now, if you find these steps complicated, you may want to start with fermenting fruit juices i wine kits. There are Wine kits available now that sells concentrated juice together with pre-measured ingredients to add and an easy to follow recipe or instructions to homemade wine making.

These wine kits are expensive and don't come with the wine making equipment but if you really want to learn, this may be the simplest and easiest way to learn since everything is already laid out for you. Just so you'd get the feel of fermenting wine. But if you really want to experience first hand what it's like to make wine from choosing the fruit to enjoying the beverage, then you better start looking for fully ripe fruits now.

If you are wondering what kind of fruits you could ferment and turn into wine, and what flavors wine kits offer, we suggest that you visit the blog site, Wine Making Kits. It has additional information of the process of making homemade wine and some information on the available kits in the market.

About the Author

A budding writer that is harnessing his skills by composing articles on various unrelated materials with varying difficulty, popularity and theme.

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Beer Review #4 - Brooklynn Chocolate Stout 21 Dec 2009 3:17 AM (15 years ago)

You need to know that this review was recorded after we finished our "Sex Xbox or Beer" skit. We had a few beers and probably should have saved this review for another night. But, does anyone really care?

This beer is from Brooklyn Brewery New York. It is worth noting that the ABV is a whopping 10.6% Potent!

Winter Spiced Ale Recipe 7 Dec 2009 3:14 AM (15 years ago)

6.6 lbs Dark malt extract
3 lbs dry dark malt extract
2 lbs wildflower honey
1/2 lb choc malt
1/2 lb black malt
1/2 lb Munich malt
1/2 lb flaked barley
1/2 lb malto dextrin
7 cloves
3 oranges
3 sticks of cinnamon
2 whole nutmegs
2 oz grated ginger
1/3 cup molasses
2oz cascade hops (whole leaf)
1oz Galena hops

Mash all the grains for 30 min

Boil the malt extract, honey, molasses and the galena hops for 30 minutes

Add 1oz cascade hops along with all the herbs and oranges to the boil for another 25 minutes, adding the remaining 1oz cascade hops during the last 10 minutes of the boil, for aromatics.

Cool the wort down, strained the oranges and hops and everything before dumping into the primary fermenter.

Pitch yeast.

Adapted from a recipe found on foodandwineblog.com

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Cinnamon Wine 16 Nov 2009 3:16 AM (15 years ago)

Photo by: view from 5'2"

* 12 six-inch cinnamon sticks
* 3 lbs granulated sugar
* 7-1/2 pts water
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* 1/8 tsp tannin
* 3 tsp acid blend
* 1 crushed Campden tablet
* Champagne wine yeast

Put cinnamon sticks and one quart water in a pot with a tight-fitting lid.

Beer Reviews #3 - Saranac Pumpkin Ale 2 Nov 2009 3:12 AM (15 years ago)

All the taste of pumpkin pie in liquid form
Written: Sep 14 '08 (Updated Oct 25 '08)

Product Rating: Product Rating: 4.0
Pros: authentic, organic, strong seasonal flavor; fairly smooth; not too heavy in body

Cons: Might be a little too strong overall for lightweights; could be seen as gimmicky

The Bottom Line: This doesn't taste any worse or better than a bigger-named pumpkin beer, so why not opt for the underdog?
Read full review


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Beer Making Tips - The Affordable to Great Beer 19 Oct 2009 2:59 AM (15 years ago)

Beer Making Tips-The Affordable to Great Beer

By Shannon Brown

Brew low cost beer. The amount of time you spend on brewing beer makes the small difference in cost between "just OK" ingredients and top quality ingredients a minor point. Either way, the cost of brewing a 5 gallon batch is much cheaper than buying a couple of cases of beer in the store.

Beer is made of cheap ingredients, so it doesn't hurt to buy the best. Surprisingly, the cheapest way to brew beer gives you the best results: all grain brewing is the cheapest way to brew when grain is bought in bulk.

You do need a grain mill and a mash tun, so there is a small investment in equipment needed. But you should be able to brew excellent quality beer for less than $2 per gallon, and you could brew a mild ale for as little as $1 per gallon, or less than 10 cents per bottle (one gallon is about 10-1/2 12oz bottles). Most of my pilsners are about $1.50 a gallon brews.

Other ways to reduce the cost of your beer are by growing your own hops and reusing yeast from the fermenter. Easy to do, and it means that I don't have to buy yeast more than once every half year or so. The hops should last e through most of the winter brews. So all you need is grain, which is about $0.70 per pound in a bulk purchase (much of the cost is in shipping).

Beer Brewing Equipment Basic, simple, cheap equipment that gets the job done. Sometimes it adds to the challenge. But through the mystique of brewing and remember that illiterate alewives brewed for centuries using tried and true recipes and procedures before the dawn of kegerators, ph meters or hydrometers.

Beer Keg Brewing. After using bottles for years, you can jump to the corny keg (Cornelius keg). This is an important step because it makes brewing so much easier. You can still bottle, but just a few bottles per batch, and use a corny keg to fill the bottles. You can use corny kegs as secondary fermenting vessels. You can try out method where you leave the beer in the primary for about two weeks until it clears nicely, and then upi carefully siphon it over to a corny, avoiding transferring any trub.

Bulk Purchase of Grain and Hops.I purchased about 300lbs of grain and 5lbs of hops from North Country Malt. I have two bags of pilsner, two of Munich, one of pale ale and one carapils. This should cover my base malt needs for a year. I can make my house favorite recipes (pilsner, altbier, pale ale) with the ingredients I have on stock. I hope to work through this supply in about a year, which is the shelf life. I will also order specialty malts and hops as special recipes require.

Beer Drinking Philosophy. Beer is good food. Beer is healthy when used in moderation. Beer is a great beverage.

Shannon Brown is the owner of wemakebeer.com. This site caters to home brewers around the world and has numerous links and resources. You can visit the site at:
http://www.wemakebeer.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shannon_Brown
http://EzineArticles.com/?Beer-Making-Tips-The-Affordable-to-Great-Beer&id=117041

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