Wine is a wonderful drink. It is a deep mix of flavors and aromas, and it takes a certain kind of person to appreciate these in addition to the time and effort put into the wine making process.
Wine is no longer the province of snobby and snooty people who come from old moneyed families though. The new trend is home wine making: people make small batches of wine at home.
Home winemakers are appreciative of wine without the pretentiousness of the traditional wine makers. They like to share wine making instructions and each other's wines, like having a collective wine cellar.
If you want to make wine at home, the best way to start is to ask someone who is already doing it. There are specialty supply stores that deal in the equipment and ingredients for making wine at home.
Often, these are also meeting places for enthusiasts in the surrounding area, so these are good places for picking up information and wine making instructions too.
It would be best to start off with a prepackaged kit; unless you happen to know someone with roots deep in the wine business and they agree to help you.
These packages can range from the very basic to the advanced. If this is your first time, it is recommended that you pick the most affordable package. These kits will have everything you need to make your first home wine.
The equipment is mostly tanks and hoses, nothing too fancy or complicated. Indeed, the winemaking process itself is simple; the complexity happens when you try to achieve particular properties by controlling the many factors.
The beginner packages will also usually include wine making instructions, so do not fret too much. These are common instructions for a 4-week wine kit.
Start off with sterilizing your fermenting tank, usually a 27-liter tank. To do this, you will need some sort of sterilizing powder mix like sodium metabisulphite, which will usually be included in the package.
After cleaning it out, it is time to start making the wine itself. Keep your excitement in check though; you will need to pay attention to some minute details.
Pour the syrup packet into the fermenter and try to get every little bit, then add a little hot water to it. Then start filling it with water, until just below the 23 liter mark. You can use tap water, but using distilled water usually produces a better wine. Stir it vigorously to aerate it, the yeast need this.
Take the temperature of the water; it should be between 20 and thirty degrees Celsius. Add cold or hot water as needed until you get to 23 liters. Add the yeast, but do not stir the mixture. Seal the lid and add an airlock, half-filling it with water.
Try to keep the temperature constant for about a day or two. When the air lock starts bubbling, you know you have done it right. You can then move it to a cooler 18-20 degrees Celsius.
On day 6, clean and sanitize a carboy. Siphon the fermented liquid into it, and add water until you come up to 3 inches from the top. Again, attach the airlock half-filled with water. Leave it in a dark cool place. On around day 20, use your hygrometer to check for alcohol content.
Read your kit's wine making instructions and add any additional ingredients as specified. A specific gravity of .990 to 1.000 is good. If it does not come out like that, leave it for a couple of days and check again. After meeting the required specific gravity, siphon the liquid into the bucket. Try to minimize the amount of sediment at the bottom of the carboy that gets into the bucket. Add any packets as instructed by your kit. Stir for a few minutes to release carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide gives wine a sharp taste and cloudiness. Clean and sanitize your carboy, and siphon the liquid back in. For two days after that shake it 3 or four times a day to make sure as much carbon dioxide is expelled.
On the 28th day, your wine is almost ready for bottling or drinking. Dissolve two Campden tablets in a half-glass of water and add it to the wine. Wait for two more days of standing.
After that, the only real thing left to do is to filter out the sediment and bottle it up. Most 4-week wines taste best after aging for 6 months, but they may be enjoyed right away. These are the basic home wine making instructions.
