How To Make Wine From Kits

Transcript

Brewstore Brewing Guides How to Make wine from kits www.brewstore.co.uk How to make wine from kits Stage One: Primary fermentation The process can be summarised into these steps:  Clean & sterilise equipment  Add grape concentrate to the fermenter, add water, stir  Test temperature, take a hydrometer reading and then pitch the yeast  Seal fermenter with bung and airlock and leave to ferment First, get all of your equipment unpacked and read the instructions in the your ingredient kit, check and see if you need any additional sugar (Young’s Definitive, Wine Buddy, Magnum kits do need added sugar), if so we recommend the use of brewing sugar (dextrose) or plain white granulated sugar. Start by sanitising your equipment by soaking it in a solution of equipment steriliser (Sod. Met / VWP / Chemipro). Dissolve an appropriate amount of the steriliser in warm water and soak/spray/dip all of your equipment and rinse with plenty of cold water. Read the instructions in your kit - boxed kits have instructions inside, cans often have instructions under the lids or on the reverse of the label (as for Definitive’s wine kits). Check you have all the sachets mentioned in your kit. If you have an unmarked fermenter such as a demijohn, it is a good idea to measure 4.5 litres of water into it and mark the outside to this level. Carefully pour the contents of the bag or tin of grape concentrate into your fermenter. To open the bag, insert a blunt instrument to ease off the cap. Rinse out the bag/tin with warm water and add this to your fermenter. If your kit comes with Bentonite add this now as per your kit instructions, likewise for oak chips, elderberries or elderflowers your kit will specify when and how these are to be added. Add cool water to bring contents of the primary fermenter ( ie.a demijohn or fermenting bin with a lid which has a bung and airlock) up to the total volume specified in your kit (generally 4.5 or 23 litres). Check that the temperature of this solution is between 18-25°C. Too hot and it will kill the yeast. If the juice is too warm, cover fermenter and leave to stand until correct temperature is achieved. Take a Hydrometer Reading: If you are using a narrow necked fermenter such a demijohn, draw off a sample of the juice using a straw or wine thief and place the juice in the plastic trial jar, otherwise place your hydrometer directly into your wine if it is in an open fermenting bin. A hydrometer tells you the specific gravity (SG) or density of a liquid in respect to water. Water has a specific gravity of 1.000. The hydrometer will float in liquid. Put it in the grape juice and read the number which is level with the surface of the liquid. Prior to fermentation, your grape juice is full of sugar and is therefore denser and the hydrometer will read around 1.075-1.095. Make a note of this reading as you will need it in conjunction with the final gravity reading to calculate the alcohol by volume. Brewstore Brewing Guides How to make wine from kits Copyright 2013 Brewstore Brewing Guides How to Make wine from kits www.brewstore.co.uk After taking a hydrometer reading open the sachet of yeast provided with your kit and sprinkle on top of the wine. Carefully half fill the airlock with clean water, replace the red cap and insert bung and airlock to the lid of the fermenter, seal the lid on to make sure no gas escapes from anywhere other than through the airlock. Leave the fermenter in a warm spot with a constant temperature (20-25°C) for the recommended time as specified by your kit. Fermentation should start within 24-48 hours and will be detected by the bubbling activity of the airlock. As the yeast becomes active it will multiply and start to eat the sugars in the juice, alcohol and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) will be produced as the products of fermentation. The CO2 comes out of the airlock so you will see bubbling in the airlock as the wine ferments. At the start of fermentation this bubbling will be quite violent but as more and more sugar is consumed the bubbling will slow down and eventually stop. For fast fermenting kits such as Cellar 7, Cantina, Australia Blend, Magnum and Wine Buddy, fermentation is complete at this stage (ie -after primary fermentation). Check fermentation is complete by taking two hydrometer readings 24 hours apart, and if they are the same progress to Stage 3. For traditional wine kits such as Cal. Connoisseurs, Beaverdale, Definitive’s, Kenridge follow your kits instructions and our advice below on secondary fermentation. Stage 2: Secondary Fermentation The process can be summarised into these steps:  Clean & sterilise a second fermenting bin, siphon, hydrometer.  Take a hydrometer reading  Rack the wine – i.e. siphon into another fermenter and back into the primary, to get rid of any sediment  Seal fermenter with bung and airlock and leave to ferment After 5-7 days use your hydrometer to check the specific gravity, against your kits advice. Generally it should read 1.010 or less at this stage. The lower the fermentation temperature the longer it will take to reach this stage of the process. If your specific gravity is not at or below this level, wait and test the gravity each day until it has dropped to 1.010 before proceeding to the next stage. Clean and sanitize your secondary fermenting bin, and the siphon kit. Place the secondary fermenter below the original fermenter to allow for siphoning. Try not to disturb any sediment layer. If you do disturb the sediment let it settle out again before siphoning. Siphon your wine into the second bin, and clean out your primary fermenter before returning the wine to the primary and resealing the lid with bung, airlock. Leave in a warm area (20-25°C) for a further 12 days, or whatever timescale your kit specifies. You may not see further activity on the airlock during this time as the fermentation will be very slow during these 12 days as most of the sugar has been consumed. If you do not have a secondary bin, you can leave your wine in the primary until the fermentation is complete. Brewstore Brewing Guides How to make wine from kits Copyright 2013 Brewstore Brewing Guides How to Make wine from kits www.brewstore.co.uk Stage 3: Degassing The process can be summarised into these steps:  Clean & sterilise your big spoon  Add potassium metabisulphite (fermentation stopper)  Stir 6-8 times over 2 days to completely degass wine At this stage all fermentation should be complete. Do not execute the next steps until the fermentation is complete and the specific gravity is as recommended by your kit (but generally 0.996 or less) and no yeast activity (i.e. bubbling) is observed. Allow extra time if necessary. In the next step the wine will be degassed of its carbon dioxide. This is an important stage in the wine making process as residual CO2 in the wine will prevent effective clarification using the fining agent. Sprinkle the contents of the potassium metabisulphite (fermentation stopper) into the wine and mix thoroughly. To degass wine in a fermenting bin stir the wine for one minute with a sterilized plastic spoon, stir the wine like this several times (6-8) over the next two days, refitting the lid after each time. To degass wine in a demijohn remove the airlock and hold a clean thumb over the hole in the bung and tilting the demijohn but supporting it on a solid surface covered with a cloth, shake the demijohn then release your thumb to release the gas. Stage 4: Stabilising and Clarification The process can be summarised into these steps:  Dissolve the potassium sorbate (preservative) and add to the wine and stir thoroughly  If sweetening your wine, do this as per instructions on the kit now  Add finings agent to wine and stir thoroughly  Leave wine somewhere where it won’t be disturbed for up to 6 days before bottling At this stage the wine should be completely degassed otherwise the fining agent will be ineffective. Dissolve the potassium sorbate in the appropriate amount of water suggested in your kit instructions and add to wine, mixing thoroughly. Add the contents of the fining agent sachet (chitosan/isinglass) to the wine and stir thoroughly. Position the wine on a table so that no further movement is required prior to bottling. Re-fit the bung and airlock and leave the wine undisturbed for up to 14 days to clear. If you are a vegan you can avoid the use of isinglass/chitosan by leaving the wine to clear naturally which may take up to a few months to completely clear without being disturbed. Brewstore Brewing Guides How to make wine from kits Copyright 2013 Brewstore Brewing Guides How to Make wine from kits www.brewstore.co.uk Stage 5: Bottling The process can be summarised into these steps:  Clean and sterilise the correct number of wine bottles or wine dispenser box for the volume of wine produced  Position the bottles below the fermenter for siphoning  Siphon the wine into the bottles and insert the corks using a corker, apply labels and shrink tops if using  Leave bottles upright for 3 days before storing on their sides in a cold, dark place If the wine has not cleared yet, leave for a few more days up to a week before bottling. Do not bottle cloudy wine as it will not clear in the bottle. Clean and sanitise the correct number of wine bottles/boxes needed for the volume of wine produced and place the bottles below the level of the fermenter for siphoning. Siphon the clear wine using the siphon tube in to your bottles, leaving any sediment in the fermenter behind. Leave around 2.5-3.5cm (two finger widths) head space between the cork and wine and use a wine corker to insert the wine corks using the instructions provided. If you are using shrink tops put these onto the bottle top after corking and take a hairdryer and point downwards onto the shrink top, (or you can do this over the steam from the kettle, but be careful not to burn yourself), the shrink top will shrink to fit the bottle top. Leave the bottles upright for 3 days before laying them on their sides to allow the corks to expand and provide a good seal against the atmosphere and stop oxidation. You can re-use screw top wine bottles, as long as you drink the wine within three months from bottling. Store bottles in a cool, dark place with a relatively constant temperature. The wine will be ready to drink in a couple of weeks but will continue to improve if allowed to mature for a few months. If you need further help or advise with your wine kit, you can contact us on: [email protected] It will help if you can tell us which wine kit you are making, and give us a brief history of what you’ve done to it so far. Brewstore Brewing Guides How to make wine from kits Copyright 2013