In a stroke of ungentlemanly conduct, I stole the idea that trenchfoot had been speaking of for weeks by starting my own mead, my first non-kit wine. Simple: no need for a bucket, boil it all up and add yeast. This beast is going to be strong as.
Using cartons, bottles or tins of fruit juice is probably the easier way to make wine. With the variety on offer these days, you can make some really interesting wines with very little effort. There is no need for straining, mashing, peeling etc!
Some recommend boiling the juice first it if contains preservatives or additives. I’m not sure what this is meant to achieve, but I did make an Orange juice wine onee without boiling it and it was proper minging. It is also advisable to add some grape juice concentrate to add body or “vinosity” to the wine. (Alternative you could add 250g of chopped raisins).
Here is a basic recipe for making 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of wine from the equivalent amount of fruit juice…
Equipment:
Ingredients:
Put the fruit juice, grape concentrate and sugar into the demijohn and stir/shake until dissolved. The sugar content can be adjusted depending on how drt or sweet you want your wine to be. Test with a hydrometer for more accuracy.
Add the other ingredients, stir and then fit the bung and airlock. Leave to ferment for about 3-4 weeks until bubbling stops. You can check for a hydrometer reading close to 1.000 to make sure the fermentation has stopped.
Clear and rack as necessary, then bottle. Leave for about 3 months before drinking.
Making wine from tinned fruit is a easy way to make some interesting wines – especially as it is so easy to buy a wide variety of tinned fruit in supermarkets these days.
This is a basic method that you can use to make 1 gallon (4.5l) of wine from a couple of standard sized (approx 550g) tins of fruit. (You actually use just 1 tin and adjust the sugar accordingly, but I find better tastes a produced using two).
Equipment needed:
Ingredients:
Strain the syrup off the fruit (but keep it for later!), put the fruit in your bucket and mash it well. Then add the chopped raisins – this will increase the body or “vinosity” of the wine which can be a bit watery otherwise.
Dissolves half the sugar in 3 litres of boiling water, add it to the bucket and leave to cool. Then add the syrup, pectin-destroying enzyme, tannin, yeast, yeat nutrient, and the crushed campden tablet. (If the pH is greater that 4 you will also need to add some citric acid or lemon juice).
Cover and leave to ferment for four days, stirring daily. (To cover, I use florist cellaphane tied round with string).
Strain through the sieve into the demijohn. Dissolve the rest of the sugar in 0.5 litres of boiling water and at to the must. Top up with water to the gallon mark if necessary.
Fit bung and airlock and leave in a warm place until fermentation finished (about 3-4 weeks). You can test with a hydrometer that the specific gravity is close to 1.000.
Clear and rack as necessary and them bottle. Leave for at least three months before drinking it.
