Learn how to make wines & spirits so incredibly flavorsome& delightful that no-one could resist a second glass - right from the comfort of your own home!
GETTING STARTED
At one time or another you must have sent away for something. A "do it
yourself kit," of some sort. Something that gave you instructions on how
to make, build, or create something. Something that you seen, was
important to you, so, you sent away for it, and just had to do it for
yourself. That's what this electronic book is about. "Making Wine In
Your Home" is an ebook, an instructional on how to make wine. Made
simple, with easy-to-understand instructions, on how to get the job done.
It requires very little money, and very little effort. It does require a bit of
time, but this is due to the fermenting process. When you get right down
to it, everything that’s worth doing requires time.
The supplies required for making wine, will be the biggest obstacle. I
have discovered that most kitchens have enough utensils to more than
"get the job done”.
I should say that making wine is one of the most satisfying things that
you will ever achieve. Simply because its really simple, and because time
does all the grunt work for you!
THE BASICS
The simple methods described here are designed for beginners who do
not know where to begin and for those with some experience who
frequently run into difficulties and disappointments.
The making of top-quality wines is absurdly simple, yet not quite so
simple that we can be careless about it. Too many people are still
following Granny's fruit mixtures to ferment of their own accord, leaving
bottles of fermenting wines corked loosely (the three main causes of
ruined wines), while others are still preparing their fruits and other
ingredients in a manner which nine times out of ten produces cloudy, acid
wines that more often than not find their way down the drain.
If your previous attempts have not been up to expectations there is a
reason. This will be found with in these pages as well as the essential, yet
simple, information that ensures success in making what is, surely, the
finest home product on Earth.
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I repeatedly make it clear that I am an advocate of simplicity. There are
many highly complicated scientific and chemical aspects underlying
amateur wine-making. A few home operators begin to dabble in these, so
that, to them, wine-making becomes a grueling test of knowledge and
skill. Expensive laboratory equipment becomes necessary as does some
experience in laboratory techniques and from then on all pleasures are
lost in a worrying maze of technicalities. And all for no reason at all,
because their wines are no better than those turned out by the simple
methods and recipes here. However, so that readers understand the reason
for wines being spoiled, I have included a few chemical details so that the
very beginner not only knows what to do and how to do it, but also why
he is doing it in one particular way. Success is thus assured.
Nevertheless, he will need no knowledge of chemistry and no more in the
way of utensils than is already available in most homes.
USING UTENSILS
For making wines with the recipes and ingredients here all one needs is a
gallon-size glass bottle, an unchipped enamel saucepan and a polythene
pail. Make certain to use polythene as some plastics are not suitable. Do
not use aluminum or copper vessels and do not use an enamel vessel not
ordinarily intended for cooking purposes as these often contain lead in the
glaze, and this could render wines poisonous.
Fermentation will not be carried out in an open vessel such as a crock or
polythene pail in all these recipes unless you want it to; it is best to
ferment the liquors in a gallon-size glass bottle-this point will be covered
again later on. A polythene pail is necessary for only a few of the recipes
and may be disregarded for the time being.
THE ART OF FERMENTATION
This is the process by which the liquors we prepare are turned into wine,
and we have nothing to do with it. All we do when making wine is to
prepare a liquid containing substances that will give a pleasant flavour to
what will eventually become a finished wine. The yeast we add turns the
liquid into wine for us.
Ordinarily, baker’s yeast and white granulated sugar are used
by the average home wine maker. However, over the past few years
wine-making has taken such a hold that suppliers of equipment and
ingredients offer a wide range of yeasts specially imported from the wine-
producing areas of France, Italy and Germany. These yeasts make the
finest wines because they are true wine yeasts whereas bakers’ yeast in
only bread yeast and should not be expected to make good wine-
though of course it does, but not to be compared with the results
following the use of wine yeasts.
Wine yeast is capable of producing eighteen per cent of alcohol by
volume (32 proof), against the fourteen per cent of bakers’ yeast.
More and more people are using these wine yeasts together with invert
sugar instead of household sugar.
Now let us understand what happens when we add yeast to a prepared
liquor containing sugar.
Yeast is obtainable in the form of a compressed cake, dried tablet, pellet
or in power form as a liquid culture, and all are inactive (dormant) at the
time of purchase.
When making our wines fermentation is seen as a slight frothing during
the early stages and this soon settles down to a gentle ferment that may
last as long as six months. But if warmth is given-as we shall see later
on-fermentation should be over and done with in half that time.
All the time fermentation is going on; that is, all the time the yeast
continues to reproduce itself, the amount of alcohol in the wine increases.
But it cannot go on for ever because when what we call the maximum
alcohol tolerance of the yeast is reached, the alcohol formed kills the
yeast. It will be seen then that from the tiny amount of yeast we add at
the start masses of new yeast is made and all this helps to make alcohol
until the last surviving generation of the original yeast is finally destroyed
by the alcohol it and all the other generations put together have formed
since we
began. When this happens, fermentation ceases and no more alcohol is
made. Thus the old tale that the longer wine is kept the stronger it
becomes is proven a fallacy-or old wives' tale.
As already mentioned, bakers’ yeast can make up to fourteen per cent of
alcohol by volume, while wine yeast makes from fifteen per cent to
eighteen per cent by volume.
To get the maximum alcohol and to get fermentation over without undue
waste of time we must keep the fermenting wine warm. The ideal
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temperature at which to keep a 'must' is between 65 degrees F. and 70
degrees F. However, few can manage this, but if fermenting wines are
kept warm throughout fermentation time, this will do. Most people use
an airing cupboard for this and it works well. Others use all sorts of
ingenious devices and these are described under he heading 'Aids to
Fermentation'. Do not be tempted to keep a 'must'hot during fermentation;
during the warmer weather almost any warm spot in the kitchen will do,
but during cold weather and especially during very cold nights it is
always best if a little added warmth can be given.
When a ferment is allowed to become cold the yeast ceases to work. This
means that at some time later, if the weather turns warm, fermentation
begins again. If the wine has been bottled in the belief that fermentation
has ceased for good, the result is a popping under the stairs and corks
flying in all directions and the loss of valuable wine.
FERMENTATION AIDES
Most beginners will be content to keep their fermenting wines warm in an
airing cupboard or near the boiler in the kitchen. Others will want to
know how they can make a special fermenting cupboard.
If only two or three jars of wine are fermenting at one time, a small
cupboard with a small electric heater installed will be ideal.
Alternatively, an electric light bulb hanging in a cupboard and the jars
grouped round this will serve the purpose just as well, especially if the
cupboard is just large enough to accommodate the jars and not so big that
a lot of warmth is lost. I know of people who group several jars round a
small safety paraffin lamp, but this would only be satisfactory when the
wine is under a fermentation lock otherwise the wine might become
tainted by fumes.
Other aids to satisfactory fermentation are good nutrients. Yeast nutrients,
as they are called, are carefully balanced yeast foods which assist the
yeast to reproduce and therefore make the largest possible amount of
alcohol. Sufficient nutrient speeds fermentation so much that, once you
have used a good one, you will always do so. I know from my vast
experience that warmth, a good yeast and good nutrient will together
make wines ten times better than any old yeast, no nutrient and a warm
atmosphere one day and a chilly one the next. We want the best; very
well, let us take just that little extra care and spend those few extra
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coppers which will make such an immense difference to the finished
product.
Suppliers of special ingredients offer a variety of nutrients are
accompanied by directions how to prepare. In most cases it is just a
matter of mixing the nutrient with some of the prepared liquor and then
adding it to the brew with the yeast.
Now, a word about 'invert' sugar. Most of you will be content to use
household sugar and it is household sugar that I include in the recipes.
However, I have proved beyond doubt that invert sugar gives better
results. this is also obtainable from the same fires.
A summary of the foregoing is this: the inexperienced wine maker who
uses bakers' yeast, no nutrient, household sugar and who allows the wine
to ferment anywhere cannot possibly expect the results which can be
achieved by following my advice. By doing so anyone, including
beginner who do not have to endure years of apprenticeship, with the aid
of a fermentation lock, by keeping the wine warm during the whole
of the fermenting period, using the appropriate wine yeast, invert sugar
and nutrient will obtain wines with a strength, clarity, flavour and
bouquet of which they will be justly proud.
When bakers' yeast is used it is crumbled into the prepared liquor. When
wine yeast is used the directions supplied by the dealer must be followed.
This involves starting what is called a 'nucleus ferment'. A half-pint mild
bottle will do for this. About a quarter-pint of water and a teaspoonful of
sugar are boiled together for a minute and then allowed to cool. This is
then put into the milk bottle-sterilized as directed later on- and the yeast
then added in whatever form it is obtained.
The neck of the bottle is then plugged with cotton wool and put into a
warm place. Within a few days-usually three-this little lot is fermenting
merrily ready for adding to a batch of wine that you will be waiting to
make.
If you prepare the liquor for wine-making and then add the wine yeast it
will take three or four days to begin to ferment. Better therefore to get the
nucleus fermenting ready to add to the liquor when you have prepared it
so that the whole lot is quickly in a state of vigorous fermentation.
It is most important that the yeast is not added to hot because a
temperature well below boiling will destroy the yeast. Let the little drop
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of sugar-water cool well before adding the yeast and later let the prepared
liquor cool well before adding the nucleus or 'starter bottle' as we call it.
In the recipes I shall refer to adding the yeast as 'adding the nucleus' on
the assumption that you will have taken my advice and will be using wine
yeasts prepared as directed, but if you must use bakers' yeast merely
crumble this into the liquor at the time you would add the nucleus.
It will be seen in the recipes that all the sugar is not used at once, this is
because yeast ferments much better if the sugar is fed to it in stages. Too
much sugar at the outset might cause the yeast to stop fermenting at
around ten percent of alcohol. Inexperienced operators might think
fermentation has finished naturally and put their wine in a cool place to
clear- which, of course it would do. But it would be an over-sweet wine
likely to start fermenting again at any time.
For a simple re-statement; having prepared the liquor as the recipes
advise, the yeast or nucleus is added together with the nutrient and the
wine put in a warm place until all fermentation has ceased.
In some of the recipes (chiefly those calling for flavoring to be added at a
late stage of production), directions read: 'leave until fermentation has
nearly ceased'. This is rather a broad term to beginners, but where
fermentation locks are in use they will know when this stage is reached
because the water will remain pushed up to one side of the lock and a
bubble just manages to push through every two or three minutes.
Where fermentation locks are not in use, but where clear-glass jars are
being used, beginners will be able to see the bubbles of gas rising. All
the time there is quite a mass of them rising steadily, fermentation is quite
vigorous. But when there is only the faintest trace of a line of bubbles
round the perimeter of the wine and where only a few bubbles are seen
rising slowly to the surface they may say, for all intents and purposes,
that fermentation has nearly ceased-though it may go on for several more
weeks.
THE CLEARING PROCESS
With the recipes and methods described here there is no need to use
isinglass or any other aids to clarifying. These wines clear themselves
usually before fermentation has ceased. Indeed, it is usual to have a
brilliantly clear wine a month before fermentation has ceased. If one or
two lots of wine appear to be slow to clear, do not worry, a week or two
after fermentation has finally stopped clarifying will take place very
quickly. It is important to bear in mind that a clear wine usually has a
little deposit to throw, so that it is always best to leave the wine for at
least a month after it has become crystal clear in order that the last of the
impurities an perhaps some unseen yeast cloud has time to settle out. If
this is not done, a slight sediment might form in the bottles and when you
begin to pour the wine into a glass the sediment is churned up so that it
clouds the wine. Such a happening is not a calamity as the cloud will
settle again, probably overnight, but it means putting the bottle away.
It is best when all fermentation has ceased, to siphon the clear wine (if
not yet crystal clear) into another jar leaving the deposit behind. Then
when the wine is finally crystal clear it should be siphoned into bottles.
This racking, as we call it, helps to get the slight cloudiness to settle out
quickly.
NATURAL ENEMIES
The enemies of successful wine-making are wild yeasts and acetic
bacteria. The acetic bacteria which converts alcohol into acetic acid
thereby turning wine to vinegar is ever present in the air.
Similarly, the yeasts and spores of fungi which turn wine insipid and flat
or turn it sour are also in the air. When using fresh fruit and other
ingredients from the garden or from shops these bacteria and yeasts and
fungi are already on them, but they are easily destroyed so that they do no
harm. The ingredients we shall be using will be supplied in sealed
containers so that they will not already be contaminated by the causes of
spoilage-as we call them.
However, the water we use might contain harmful bacteria that can spoil
the wine or possibly wild yeast which can cause what we call
'undesirable' ferments. These ferments give 'off' flavors to put it politely-
otherwise sour flavors as we refer to sourness in milk-not acid flavors.
Anyway, the methods described here ensure the destruction of all harmful
yeasts and bacteria at the outset so they need not worry you.
Now, if wild yeasts and bacteria are in the air they must be on corks,
inside bottles and jars; indeed, they are on everything we use. But they
are easily destroyed so that success is assured.
It is not generally known that the molds on cheese, half-empty pots of
meat paste and jam are often yeasts growing there, and it is this kind of
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yeast floating about in the air that ruins our wines if we allow it to settle.
To defeat this souring yeast we must keep our fermenting wines and
finished wines covered closely. Treatment of finished wines is covered
under the heading 'storing'. Covering fermenting wines in jars is very
simple, but most important.
As soon as the prepared yeast has been added to the prepared liquid the
top of the jar should be covered with a piece of polythene. This should be
pressed down all around by hand and strong string tied tightly around.
This will keep airborne diseases away from the wine because the gas
generated during fermentation will find an outlet for itself and keep up a
constant outgoing stream, thus preventing the diseases air contains from
gaining access. Far better than this polythene covering is a
FERMENTATION LOCK.
The whole idea of fitting a fermentation lock is to prevent air and
airborne diseases reaching the wine. Firstly, the lock is fitted to a drilled
cork and the cork then fitted to the jar. Water is then poured into the level
shown. The gas formed during fermentation pushes through the water in
the form of bubbles, but air-borne diseases are kept out. Better than water
in the lock is a little of the sterilizing solution described latter, or a
crushed and dissolved Campden tablet. This is best because if as
sometimes happens a vacuum forms in the jar the air drawn in is purified
by the sterilizing solution. When a vacuum forms inside the jar the lock
works in reverse for a while and this often happens when warm wine is
put into a jar and the lock fitted at once. But don't worry if this happens,
because as soon as gas has been generated the lock will begin working
properly.
Another advantage of having a fermentation lock in use is that it indicates
when the fermentation has ceased.
All the time the bubbles are passing through, and all the time the water in
the lock remains pushed up to one side, it means that there is pressure in
the jar and that this pressure is gas being formed by the act of
fermentation. When the fermentation ceases for good, the water returns to
normal. During the early stages of fermentation, bubbles are running
through the water at a rate of one a second or even faster than this. But as
fermentation slows down they become far less frequent. Later on, the
water remains pushed to one side and it may take five or even ten minutes
for sufficient gas to make one bubble. During the very last stages of
fermentation, it may take a week for one bubble to push through. Clearly,
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then, all the time the water remains pushed up to one side the wine should
be left, as it is safe to say that fermentation is still going on.
When the water returns to normal, give the jar a vigorous twist and the
chances are that you will get fermentation on the go again for a day or
two longer. If the whole idea in using locks is to keep airborne diseases
from contaminating the wine we must ensure that the bung and lock are
airtight. If they are not, the gas leaking will prevent air reaching the wine
during the early stages, but as it slows down the outgoing stream of gas
through the leakage holes would not be strong enough for this so that
airborne diseases could easily reach the wine.
Having fitted the lock to the bung and jar, run a little sealing wax round
where the bungs enter the far and where the lock enters the bung. This
precaution may not be necessary, but is is better to be on the safe side.
When fermentation has ceased the lock and bung are removed in one
piece and a new bung inserted. The wine is then put away to clear-as
mentioned before.
NOTE: I have advised sealing wax above, but candle wax does just as
well.
Where fermentation is carried on in a polythene pail or similar fermenting
vessel during the early stages of production, the top of the vessel should
be pulled down all around and then secured with thin strong string or a
tightly fitting elastic band. The gas generated during this early vigorous
ferment will find an outlet for itself and keep up a constant outgoing
stream so that airborne diseases cannot gain access.
STERILIZATION
As mentioned, wild yeast and bacteria are likely to be inside bottles, jars
and on corks, etc. Therefore, if we are to prevent them damaging our
wines they must be destroyed. Bitter than boiling bottles, etc., in a pail of
water or baking them in an oven is to use a sterilizing solution that does
the job in a batter of seconds. This may be made up as follows:
Get 2 ozs. of sodium metabosulpite (or potassium metabisulphite), there
being two forms. Nearly fill a half-gallon bottle with warm water and
then add the crystals (or powder) and revolve the far until all is dissolved.
Try to use a glass stoppered jar or bottle for this.
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To sterilize bottles and jars with this, pour a pint into the first bottle and
shake it up so that all the inside is wetted. Then pour it into the next bottle
and so on and then back to the bulk again. Having treated the bottles, it is
best to rinse them out with boiled water that has cooled well. This will
rid the bottles of the rather pungent odor of the sterilizing solution. But
don't worry id a slight whiff remains in the bottles, because it will do no
harm. Having rinsed the bottles, let them drain for a minute or two and
they are now ready for use.
Corks. More wine has been ruined through using unsterilized corks than
through any other cause. The crevices of corks teem with all sorts of
harmful bacteria and spoilage yeasts. The best way to sterilize them is to
put them in a small basin with something heavy on top to keep them
submerged-a heavy cup will do-and then cover with the sterilizing
solution. Leave this for about ten minutes and during the time you are
bottling a batch of wine. As each cork is required, take it, dip it in boiled
water and then wipe it dry with a cloth dipped in the sterilizing solution-
which, incidentally, is known as sulphur dioxide or sulphite solution.
The drying of corks is necessary to prevent the weight of the wine
pushing our the corks when the bottles are put away on their sides.
SIPHON, BOTTLING & HOW TO STORE
It is almost impossible to pour clear wine from one bottle to another
without stirring up the lees (deposit) - the best method is to siphon the
clear wine at bottling time.
First, put the bottle or jar of wine on a table and the empty bottles on a
box or stool on the floor. Then, using a yard and a half of surgical rubber
or plastic tubing, siphoning is quite a simple operation. Put one end of
the tubing in the full jar (or the first of the full bottles) and suck the other
end until the wine comes. As soon as this happens, pinch the tube at your
lips and, while holding on tightly, put this end in the first empty bottle
and let the wine flow. As the empty bottle nearly fills, slowly press the
tube between finger and thumb in order to cur off the flow slowly rather
than with a jerk. Sudden stoppage often stirs up the deposit. When the
bottle has filled to the shoulders pinch the tube at the neck of the bottle
being filled and put this end into the next bottle and let the wine flow
again.
As the level in the full jar falls, lower the tube into the wine. But be
careful not to lower so far that the deposit begins to be sucked into the
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tubing. A good way of avoiding this is to ask a chemist to let you have
fifteen inches of quarter-inch tubing and get him to bend the last inch of
one end upwards. Then fit the straight end to the rubber tubing you have.
At siphoning time, insert the glass tube to the bottom of the full jar of
wine. The bend in the tube will rest on the bottom of the jar, but the
opening of the end bent upwards will remain above the lees.
Now let me give the impatient wine-maker a warning. I know how nice it
is to build up a stock and build it quickly, but don't be in such a hurry that
you put wines away that are not yet perfectly clear. This results in
disappointment upon opening if, as often happens, you decide to try a
bottle of the oldest and the best you have for some special friend and find
that you have stirred up a deposit and clouded what you imagined to be a
perfectly clear wine. A reliable test to decide whether a wine is perfectly
clear or not-and one I always carry out before bottling for storage
purposes-is to hold a high-powered torch against the bottle. If there is no
suggestion of a beam passing through a hase, then the wine is as clear as
you will get it; but if there is a slight beam of light, leave the wine to clear
perfectly. You will soon get used to this little test and be saved from what
might be a most embarrassing position.
Finally, when the clear wine has been bottled and the corks have been
rammed home they should be sliced off level with the rim of the bottles.
Sealing wax should then be run over the whole surface and the bottles
stored on their sides.
Sealing and storing in this fashion is important because it allows for the
wine to keep the cork moist and so prevent shrinkage. Shrinkage would
cause cracking in the sealing wax with the result that tiny air holes would
appear through which wild yeast and bacteria can attack the wine.
In the ordinary way a well-made wine-that is one made with good yeast
and nutrient-is strong enough in alcohol to preserve itself. A goodly
percentage of alcohol acts as its own preservative and that of the wine
itself. But poorly made wines are low in alcohol and can be spoiled in the
bottles if air reaches them. Our wine, made by the recipes and directions
here, will contain enough alcohol to destroy any wild yeast or bacteria
that might reach it owing to shrinkage of corks. Nevertheless, it is still
important that air is not allowed to reach the wine, because if it did so for
prolonged periods the quality would deteriorate, the flavor suffer and
much of the bouquet be lost.
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Experienced wine makers, myself included, use the new plastic seals
which when fitted to a bottle of wine shrink tightly, effecting a perfect
airtight seal. I expect you have come across these often enough on bottles
of cordial. The T'Noirot extracts described in later chapters are fitted with
these. When these capsules (as they are called) are used the bottles may
be stored upright. Storing bottles horizontally often presents a problem
for some people, but friends of mine with a small cupboard to spare have
lined it with orange boxes. In each partition they have fitted soft-drink
cardboard crates so that each orange box holds twenty-four bottles on
their sides. Having heard that wines must be stored at a temperature
which should remain constant throughout the year, people are going to all
sorts of trouble and thinking up all sorts of ingenious devices to achieve
that end. Opinion is divided as to the ideal temperature in which to store
wines-probably because wines, like human beings, prefer what suits them
individually. The temperature suitable for one wine is not necessarily best
for another.
Rapid changes of temperature are certainly best avoided, so if you can
store your wines on a stone floor or in a cupboard which has a stone floor,
so much the better. If you cannot do this, store your wines where you can
and don't worry.
MATURING
I am afraid I always have to suppress a grin when people ask me how
long a wine needs to mature because I know that all they really want to
know is how soon they can drink it. It is surprising the number of people
who simply will not believe that wines improve with age. They set about
making wines possessed of urgency which should not exist and an
impatience that is hard to believe. They really believe that wine can be
made, matured and drunk in six or seven weeks. With luck, you might get
fermentation over and done with and your wines clear and bottled in that
time, and truly they are drinkable even so young, but-and it is an
enormous 'but'-wine tasted at that tender age cannot be compared with the
same wine tasted a year later. It is impossible to describe the changes
that take place, but take place they do. Chemical changes are taking
place constantly, so that one batch of wine does not taste the same when
sampled at intervals of six weeks.
I know full well that you will be itching to get your teeth into these wines
and I cannot blame you for that – I'm the same myself, always anxious to
sample the latest batch to be bottled off. And it is a waste of time for me
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to tell you to keep it at least a year before drinking because I know you'll
never manage it; especially after you had a taste of it when siphoning it
into bottles.
But please do this for your own sake. At bottling time, put say two
bottles in the attic or some place where they cannot be reached easily-
send them to me if you like. Seriously, those two bottles of each lot made
will soon amount up to a nice little stock. The remaining four bottles from
each gallon may be used as required.
The whole secret of building up a stock is to make several lots at the
same time and when a jar is emptied at bottling time, start again with
another lot. In this way you will always have a few gallons fermenting,
several dozen bottles for use as required and a dozen or so slowly
growing into a nice reserve. Then, when the first two bottles put away are
a year or two old you may sample them. These will have become such
magnificent wines in that time that your lesson will have been well and
truly learned and the vow taken that hence forth half of all that is bottled
is going to the attic. I hope it does, and I hope even more that you will be
able to keep some of it for five years at least. For at five years it is better
than age four and at three years old it is better than age two. I have
proved all this to myself and have a few bottles of wine that I made over
fifteen years ago.
BRIEF, BUT IMPORTANT
FERMENTATION LOCKS: There is no substitute for the fermentation
lock, although many people use a balloon stretched over the jar instead of
a fermentation lock, and provided this is a tight fit, it will certainly
protect the wine. But this cannot give any indication as to when
fermentation has ceased. The Balloon is fitted over the neck and, as gas
escapes into it, slight inflation takes place and as pressure grows the gas
forced out round the neck of the jar. Another substitute for the lock is a
three-inch piece of quarter-inch bore glass tubing stuffed with cotton
wool and fitted in the same way as the lock. But, as with a balloon this
can give no indication as to when fermentation has ceased.
YEAST-AND ADDING IT
It will be seen in the recipes that I give 'yeast' without mentioning any
kind. This is because some of you will be using bakers' yeast and others
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one of the many varieties of wine yeast. In the directions which
accompany the recipes the time to add the yeast is clearly stated. If
bakers' yeast is used, use half an ounce and crumble this into the jar at the
time advised. Experienced wine makers and those using wine yeasts for
the first time will have their little nucleus ferments ready and these will
be added at the time advised in the directions given with each recipe.
SUGAR WATER (Syrup)
In the recipes and directions it will be seen that the sugar and water are
added to the mixtures as a syrup. Make sure the sugar has dissolved
before the water comes to the boil. And so that mistakes do not occur,
label the jar so that you know how much sugar has to be added at each
stage. There is no need to be exact when adding 'one third' or whatever
the direction happens to be, but it is a good plan to have the total amount
of sugar to be used at the outset put aside; in this way, when all has been
added you will know there is no more to go in and you will not be left
wondering if you have used as much as you should have done.
GALLON JARS
Someone is sure to ask before they begin: How can I get a gallon of
water, the flavoring, and all that sugar into a one-gallon jar? The fact is
that, in the way we shall be doing it, it is quite a simple mater. Gallon jars
hold half a pint more than a gallon when full, and because we shall be
adding the sugar in stages, most of each lot of sugar will be used up
before the next is added. Before the last lot of sugar and water is added,
the wine is transferred to another jar and the deposit thrown away. This
will leave space for the last lot of syrup to be added. If, through some
misfortune, this is not quite the case, put the little remaining syrup in a
freshly sterilized screw-stoppered bottle and screw down tightly. This
will keep it save for the few days necessary for fermentation to reduce the
liquor in the jar and so make room for that little drop of left-over.
If at the time called for in the recipes you do not have a second jar in
which to put the fermenting wine (at the time given for disposing of the
deposit) you may pour the wine into any suitable SAUCEPANS
If it happens that your saucepans are not quite large enough to hold the
sugar and five pints of water that is to be boiled at the first stage of
making the wine, boil the sugar in a quart of water and the remaining
three pints of water in another saucepan then mix.
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FRESH FRUIT WINES
There is no need for me to mention the enormous popularity this branch
of home wine-making enjoys, or that countless thousands of people all
over the world embark with tremendous enthusiasm each summer upon
turning wild fruits and surplus garden fruits into wines fit to grace the
tables of a banqueting hall. Just let me say that, no matter how advanced
methods become and how easily obtainable special ingredients for wine
making are, there will always be in the hearts of everyone a place for the
true country wines, for they have that indefinable 'something' which sets
them apart from all others, a uniqueness that cannot be found in any other
wine either commercial or home produced.
The methods I use myself are described here, and although they are the
simplest and the surest ever evolved, it is necessary to point out the
complications that arise if these methods are not used.
Years ago-and, I am very sorry to say, even today-many thousands of
unfortunate home wine makers are following methods which advocate:
'crush the fruit, add the water and leave to ferment'. Other methods advise
boiling the fruits. In both cases disappointment is almost a certainty, and
the reason for this is easy enough to understand.
The gray-white bloom that forms on grapes and other fruits is yeast put
there by nature and it may be said that the first wine known to early man
was the result of this yeast fermenting fruits crushed for a purpose other
than wine-making. In the ordinary way, this yeast might well make good
wine if allowed to ferment alone. Unfortunately with this yeast comes
what we term 'undesirable' yeast (wild yeast), and several kinds of
bacteria-each of which can ruin our wines. They bring about what we call
'undesirable' ferments that usually take place at the same time as the
ferment we want to take place so that instead of a wine of quality the
result is one tasting of flat beer or cloudy evil-smelling liquid fit only for
disposal. Another bacterium, known as the vinegar bacterium, will turn
wines into vinegar.
Since there is nothing we can do when any of these calamities has
occurred, they must be prevented from happening.
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Clearly, we must destroy all these enemies before beginning. The
simplest method is of course-at first thought anyway-is to boil the fruits.
But here rises another problem. All fruits contain pectin, a glutinous
substance which causes jams to 'set'. Boiling fruit releases pectin. This
pectin holds itself and minute solids in suspension. Giving the wine a
cloudiness that is impossible to clarify or even filter out. We may put the
crushed fruit through a jelly-bag to remove every particle of pectin-
bearing fruit and then boil the juice only, but this is a messy, tedious job
that takes hours and eliminates all the pleasure from wine-making.
Obviously, what we need is a method which will destroy the wild yeast
and bacteria on the fruits (as boiling does) without actually boiling, and,
indeed, without heating our fruits at all because it needs very little heat to
bring out the pectin.
Our method, known as the 'sulphiting' method, does just this and
produces full-bodied, crystal-clear wines easily and quickly without fuss
or bother. All that is necessary to achieve this are tablets costing just
pennies. Campden fruit-preserving tablets are available in bottles of
twenty from most chemist. In the ordinary way-and provided the fruit is
not too heavily affected with wild yeast and bacteria-one tablet will
destroy the undesirable element contained in one gallon of crushed bruit
pulp, but we cannot be sure of this. Now, two tablets will surely do this,
but being a comparatively heavy dose this might also destroy the yeast we
shall be adding so that the ferment we desire does not take place. My
method takes care of both these risks, not only destroying the wild yeast
and bacteria on the fruits, but also allowing the yeast we add to ferment
alone and unhindered to produce wines of clarity and quality the like of
which cannot be produced by any other method. By adding one Campden
tablet to a good deal less than one gallon of fruit pulp ('must') this will
represent a rough equivalent to two tablets per gallon. But before we add
our yeasts we shall have increased the amount of liquid or pulp to nearly
twice the amount, consequently reducing the amount of sterilizing
solution to half or the equivalent of one Campden tablet per gallon. In
this way we achieve our overall aim.
Each Campden fruit-preserving tablet contains four grains of sodium
metabisulphite; therefore, any readers finding Campden tablets in short
supply may ask their chemist for four grains of sodium metabisluphite (or
potassium metabisulphite-there being two forms), and use this. But
because a chemist would find a single order of four grains rather trivial, it
would be best to ask for say, six or ten packets each containing four
grains. If you are making two-gallon lots of wine the amount to use
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would be eight grains. Do not be tempted to buy by the ounce and
measure out a grain as this is impossible unless you have the appropriate
scales.
Just in case you happen to be one of those people who, even in these
enlightened days, abhors the use of chemicals, let me assure you that
sulphur dioxide (the solution which results when Campden tablets are
dissolved) is quite harmless to humans when used in the proportions
recommended. Indeed, as many as eight tablets (thirty two grains) may be
used with safety, but such heavy dosing would prevent a 'must'
fermenting.
The sulphiting method is used by the trade, so we shall be following a
method well tried and proved.
Heaven knows how many hundreds of gallons of wines I have made by
this method and all with the same unfailing success.
Method 1 makes wines of the heaver type; their flavors are more
pronounced and their color more full than those produced by method 2.
Those wishing for lighter wines more suitable for serving with meals
should use method 2. The main difference in the two methods is that we
ferment the fruit pulp itself in method 1, and the juice only in method 2. It
will be appreciated that when fermenting the pulp we must as a matter of
course get far more from our fruits. But we do not want too much in a
light wine otherwise the subtle difference between a heavier wine and the
popular lighter wines is lost.
The short pulp ferment of method 1 ensures that we get all the flavour
and desirable chemical matter from our fruits in the right proportion.
The best method to use for each type of fruit is given with each recipe. It
should be taken into account that varied amounts of fruit and sugar with
the use of proper method produce distinctly different types of wine.
METHOD 1
Crush the fruit by hand in a polythene pail and pour on one quart of
boiled water that has cooled. Mix well. Crush one campden tablet and
dissolve the power in about half an egg cupful of warm water and mix
this with the fruit pulp.
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Leave the mixture for one or two hours. A little bleaching will take place
but this is nothing to worry about. After this, take one-third of the sugar
to be used (or approximately one-third) and boil this for one minute in
three pints of water.
Allow this syrup to cool and then stir into the pulp. Then add the yeast (or
nucleus) and ferment for seven days. After seven days, strain the pulp
through fine muslin or other similar material and wring out as dry as you
can. Put the strained wine into a gallon jar and throw the pulp away. Then
boil another one-third of the sugar in one pint of water for one minute and
when this has cooled add it to the rest. Plug the neck of the jar with cotton
wool or fit a fermentation lock and continue to ferment in a warm place
for a further ten days.
At this stage, if you have not a spare jar, pour the wine into a polythene
pail leaving as much of the deposit in the jar as you can. Clean out the
jar, sterilize it and return the wine to this. The remaining one-third of the
sugar may now be boiled for one minute in the remaining pint of water.
When this has cooled, add it to the rest. Refit the lock or plug the neck of
the jar with fresh cotton wool. After this, the wine should be left in a
warm place until all fermentation has ceased.
NOTE: If there is not quite enough space for all of this last lot of syrup,
put the remainder in a sterilized screw-top bottle and store for a few days
in a cool place. This may be added when fermentation has reduced the
level of the liquid in the jar. If you have to do this, don't forget to refit the
lock.
METHOD 2
Crush the fruit in a polythene pail and add one quart of boiled water that
has cooled. Mix well. Crush one Campden tablet and dissolve the powder
in about half an egg cupful of warm water and mix this with the fruit
pulp. Leave the mixture in a cool place for twenty-four hours, stirring
twice during that time. Strain through fine muslin or other similar
material and squeeze gently but not too hard. Discard the fruit pulp.
Then boil one-third of the sugar in half a gallon of water for one minute
and allow to cool. Mix this with the juice and return the lot to the
polythene pail. Then add the yeast (or nucleus), and ferment for ten days.
After this, pour the top wine into a gallon jar leaving as much of the
deposit behind as you can. Boil another one-third of the sugar in half a
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pint of water for one minute and when it is cool add it to the rest. Plug the
neck of the jar with cotton wool or fit a fermentation lock and ferment in
a warm place for fourteen days.
After this, boil the remaining sugar in the remaining half-pint of water for
one minute and when cool add it to the rest. refit the lock or plug the
neck of the jar with fresh cotton wool and leave in a warm place until all
fermentation has ceased. The recipes are designed to make one gallon of
wine, it two gallons are being made at once twice the amount of each
ingredient must be used (including Campden tablets) and the sugar and
water added in double quantities. This principle applies where three or
four gallons are being made and it is easy enough to work out. Just to be
sure that mistakes do not occur when adding the syrup-sugar and water-
stick a label on the jar and note on this the amount added. Readers will be
quick to appreciate that certain fruits are more suitable than others for
making certain types of wine. Clearly, it would be as hopeless to try to
make port from rhubarb as it would be to try to grow potatoes on a pear
tree, and I think it is in this respect that many people go astray; they make
wines from the cheapest and most readily available fruits (naturally
enough) but they do not give the slightest thought to what the result will
be or whether they will like it or not. Before you begin decide on the
type of wine you are most likely to prefer and then use the fruit and the
method which will make this type of wine. Elderberries make an
excellent port-style wine and many variations, each with the basic port
style underlying them, so that from this lowly wild fruit we may obtain
not only a full-bodied port-style wine, but also a Burgundy style, a claret
and others according to the whim of the operator.
Blackberries make similar wines, as do certain varieties of plumbs,
damsons and black currants. The juice from lighter-colored fruit such as
raspberries, loganberries, red and white currants and others make
excellent table wines. But there is no need to cover this aspect fully here
because every recipe is preceded by the name of the type or style of wine
that can be expected from each recipe. I say 'expected' because to
guarantee that the wine will be identical to the one expected would be
unwise, but only because the amounts of sugar and acid present in the
fruits vary from season to season-indeed, they vary with the type of tree,
soil, situation and with the sort of summer we have had while the fruits
have been growing. A hot summer produces fruits containing more sugar
and less acid than a wet sunless summer, when the effect is the reverse.
In each recipe appears the name of the best yeast to use and this is best
added as a nucleus as already described. If you must 'use bakers' yeast or
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a dried yeast, merely sprinkle it over the surface of the 'must' at the time
given in the method you are using.
A final word. Make sure all fruits are ripe. This is far more important than
most people imagine. Half-ripe fruits or those with green patches on them
should be discarded as it needs only one or two of these to give a gallon
of wine an acid bite. Fully ripe fruit is essential if we hope to make the
best wine.
When we have decided that our garden fruits are ripe enough or those you
have your eye on in the hedgerows, leave them for another three or four
days before gathering.
RECIPES 1 - 32 (BERRY WINES)
1. BLACKBERRY WINE (Port Style):
4lb. blackberries, 4lb. sugar (or 5lb. invert), 7pts.
water, port yeast, nutrient.
Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.
2. BLACKBERRY AND ELDERBERRY WINE (Port Style):
2 1/2lb. elderberries, 2 1/2lb. blackberries, 7pts. water,
3 1/2lb. sugar (or 4lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient.
Use method 1. Ferment the pulp after crushing and mixing
together.
3. BLACKBERRY WINE (Burgundy Style):
4-5lb. blackberries, 3 3/8lb. sugar (or 4lb. invert),
burgundy yeast, nutrient, 7pts water.
Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.
4. BLACKBERRY WINE (Beaujolais Style):
This recipe was passed on to me by a friend. It won 1st
prize among 600 entries on the occasion of the 2nd
National Conference and Show for Amateur Wine-Makers at
Bournemouth. Unfortunately it wasn't my original recipe,
or I could have won that prize!
4 1/2lb. blackberries, 2 1/2lb. sugar (or 3lb. 2oz.
invert), burgundy yeast, nutrient, 7pts. water.
Method 1 was used. The wine was, of course, dry.
5. BLACKBERRY WINE (Light Table Wine):
3lb. blackberries, 3lb. sugar (3 3/4lb. invert), 7pts.
water, burgundy yeast, nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the diluted juice.
6. BLACKCURRANT WINE (Port Style):
4lb. blackcurrants, 1lb. raisins, 3lb. sugar (or 3 3/4lb.
invert), port yeast, nutrient.
Use method 1. Ferment the pulp with the raisins.
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7. BLACKCURRANT WINE (Port Style):
4lb. blackcurrants, 7pts. water, 3 1/2lb. sugar (or 4lb.
invert), port yeast, nutrient.
Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.
8. BLACKCURRANT CLARET:
3lb. blackcurrants, 2 1/2lb. sugar (or 3lb. invert), 7pts.
water, all purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the diluted juice.
9. BLACKCURRANT WINE (A Light, Sweet Wine):
3 3/4lb. blackcurrants, 3 1/2lb. sugar (or 4lb. invert),
7pts. water, al-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the diluted juice.
10. CHERRY WINE (A Delightful Sweet Wine):
8lb. black cherries, 7pts. water, 3 1/2lb. sugar (or 4lb.
invert), all-purpose wine yeast or Bordeaux yeast,
nutrient.
Use method 1 Weight with stones and ferment the pulp.
11. CHERRY WINE (A Light Dry Wine):
8lb. black cherries, 7pts. water, 2 1/2lb. sugar (or 3
1/4lb. invert), sherry yeast is best, otherwise
all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.
12. REDCURRANT WINE (Light Table Wine):
3lb. redcurrants, 7pts. water, 3lb. sugar, (or 3 3/4lb.
invert), all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.
13. REDCURRANT WINE (A Light Medium-Sweet Wine):
4lb. redcurrants, 7pts. water, 3 1/2lb. sugar (or 4lb.
invert), all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.
14. DAMSON WINE (Port Style):
8lb. damsons, 7pts. water, 4lb. sugar, (or 5lb. invert),
port yeast, nutrient.
Use method 1. Weight with the stones and ferment the
pulp.
15. DAMSON WINE:
Suitable for making into Damson Gin-See 'Recent
Experiments'.
5lb. damsons, 7pts. water, 3lb. sugar (or 3 3/4lb.
invert), all-purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Use method 1. Weight with the stones. Ferment the pulp.
16. DAMSON AND ELDERBERRY WINE (Port Style):
3lb. damsons, 1 1/2lb. elderberries, 3 1/2lb. sugar (or
4lb. invert), port yeast, nutrient, 7pts. water.
Use method 1. Ferment the pulp.
17. DAMSON AND DRIED PRUNE WINE (Burgundy Style):
Prunes should be soaked overnight, the water discarded
and the prunes added in the crushed state to the crushed
damson.
4lb. damsons, 2lb. dried prunes, 7pts. water, 3lb. sugar,
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Use method 1. Ferment the crushed pulp.
(or RASBERRY invert),(Light,burgundy yeast, nutrient.
4lb. raspberries, 2 1/2lb. sugar, (or 3lb. 2oz. invert),
7pts. water, sherry yeast or all-purpose wine yeast,
nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.
19. RASBERRY WINE (Sweet Dessert):
4lb. raspberries, 1lb. raisins, 7pts. water, 3 1/2lb.
sugar, (or 4lb. invert), all-purpose wine yeast and
nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice but with
the chopped raisins for the first seven days.
20. ELDERBERRY WINE (Port Style):
4lb. elderberries, 7pts. water, 4lb. sugar (or 5lb.
invert), port yeast, nutrient.
Use method 1. Ferment the crushed pulp.
21. ELDERBERRY WINE (Medium Dry):
3 1/2lb. elderberries, 3lb. sugar (or 3 3/4lb. invert),
7pts water, sherry yeast or all-purpose wine yeast,
nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.
22. ELDERBERRY CLARET (Dry, of course):
3lb. elderberries, 2 1/2lb. sugar (or 3lb. invert), 7pts.
water, sherry yeast or all purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Use method 2. Ferment the strained diluted juice.
23. PLUM WINE (Burgundy Style):
8lb. plums, any fully ripe variety is suitable, 7pts.
water, 3lb. sugar (or 3 3/4lb. invert), burgundy yeast,
nutrient.
Use method 1. Weight with the stones and ferment the
crushed pulp.
24. PLUM WINE (Port Style):
Dark red, fully ripe fruits must be used. 10lb. plums,
7pts. water, 3 1/2lb. sugar (or 4lb. invert), port yeast,
nutrient.
Weight with the stones. Use method 1. Ferment the crushed
pulp.
25. RHUBARB WINE:
This wine is best made on the dry side and used as an
appetizer. If you try to make it sweet, it would have to
be rather too sweet. Four pounds of sugar will make it a
medium sweet wine, but even this will not reduce the
acidity which gives this wine its character which,
unfortunately, is causing it to lose its popularity. It
is possible to remove the acid by using precipitated
chalk, but this is hardly for beginners and a practice
which, in any case, alters the whole flavour of the
resulting wine.
5lb. rhubarb, 3lb. sugar (or 3 3/4lb. invert), 7pts.
water, sherry yeast or all purpose wine yeast, nutrient.
Crush the rhubarb with a rolling pin, starting in the
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