wine-making enjoys
Posted on October 8th, 2007There 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.
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.
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.
You will need a large saucepan able to hold 5 pints of water, a fermenting bin, a couple of demijohns (fermenting jars), one kilo of sugar, wine yeast, yeast nutrient, 2 teaspoons of citric acid, two teaspoons of tea for tannin, and of course, the dried flower, seeds, roots or leaves from our recipies.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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