Wine making at home is a popular hobby that has many enthusiasts. Home wine making offers the brewer the chance to experiment with different fruits, vegetables and flowers along with the many varieties of grapes available. The home wine maker is allowed by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to manufacture up to 200 gallons of wine a year for a household with two adults. An individual is limited to 100 gallons a year.
Visit Your Local Brew Shop
Most larger cities have a brew shop that specializes in equipment for home wine and beer makers. The shop will carry yeast for your wine, kits to make it in and in some stores, various concentrates to make specialty wines. If you are lucky enough to have a brew shop in your town, it is truly one-stop shopping for the home wine maker.
Make Your Own Equipment
Making simple wine is not a complicated process. Very little equipment is needed. For small amounts of wine--i.e., one to two gallons--a 12-quart stainless steel stockpot with lid can serve as a brewing vessel. Or you can use a plastic or glass carboy or food-grade bucket with a lid. You will also need a long-handled stainless steel spoon, approximately four feet of food-grade plastic tubing, a quart jar and a sheet of cheesecloth large enough to cover the opening of your brewing vessel. A long piece of string to tie the cheesecloth in place will keep the cloth from blowing off the vessel. Once the wine has fermented, you will need plastic or glass bottles with screw-on caps to age and store the wine. Clean soda bottles work well for this.
Make the Wine
A very simple wine can be made using four cans of frozen 100 percent grape juice concentrate. This can be white or Concord grape juice. Thaw the frozen concentrate and pour into your brewing vessel. In another pan, dissolve two pounds of sugar into 1/2 gallon of water. If you do this over low heat, the sugar will dissolve faster. Pour this sugar water into the brewing vessel. Stir the concentrate and sugar water to mix. In a small bowl, mix together one package of wine yeast and 3 tbsp. sugar. Pour warm water over the mixture and stir. Let the yeast mixture "proof" by allowing the level in the bowl to rise. You will see the yeast beginning to work on the surface of the mixture. Pour this into the vessel and stir.
Brew the Wine
Place one end of the food-grade tubing into the wine mixture, keeping the end approximately one to two inches off the bottom of the vessel. Place the other end of the tubing into a quart-size jar half full of water. Cover the top of the vessel with cheesecloth. Hold the cheesecloth in place with the lid of the vessel placed on the pot or bucket slightly askew, or use string to tie the cheesecloth in place.
Fermenting and Bottling
The wine will take approximately three to four weeks to brew. As it brews, the water in the jar will bubble occasionally. When the bubbling stops, the wine is done. Use the tubing to siphon the wine into bottles. Cap and store in a cool, dark place. The wine is ready to drink or can be aged for up to two months in the selected storage area.
Tags: brewing vessel, cheesecloth place, home wine, brew shop, grape juice, have brew
