Using Concentrates to make wine at home
For the novice wine maker using concentrates, such as those found in Wine Making Kits are a much easier way to make great wines. Concentrates are prepared by manufacturers who know what they are doing, and they will provide complete instructions, which will help you eliminate a lot of the hard work, and the guess work when it comes to measuring and preapring the ingredients for your wine.
Starting to make a batch of wine using concentrate is easy. Just pour the concentrate into the contaqiner you are using for the fermentation process, then add the correct amount of water as specified by the manufacturer. After that just add the yeast, plus any of the other ingredients in your recipe. Once you have the mixture, it’s just a matter of filtering or siphoning off the sediment occasionally as required by the recipe, and then once this process is complete you will need to bottle the wine. So easy really!
Using concentrates also means that you do not need to obtain, or grow your own grapes. That part of the process is already done for you, without any effort. You can also get a wide range of concentrates, from all over the world. Fancy making a French or Italian wine, well with concentrates you can.
Making Wine the traditional way (with grapes!)
If you are not satisfied with using concentrate, you can always use the time honored method, starting out with real grapes. Below is a summary of the steps required if you decide you really do want to deal with grapes,
Firstly it takes a lot of grapes to make only a little wine. To make about 6 gallons of wine, you will need 80 to 100 pounds of grapes, that’s a lot of grapes to deal with. After fermentation is finished, and you have removed all the pulp, you will be left with approximately 6 gallons of wine from your 100 pounds of grapes. With grapes, no water is added.
If you are going to use grapes, you must consider the handling of that many grapes. Before fermenting the stems must be removed, and the the grapes must be crushed. ALl amnner of things can be used to crush the grapes, from your hands, to your feet, or anything else that will result in the grapes being crushed. Should you be crushing a lot of grapes, and crushing them regularly, then you should consider buying a dedicated grape crusher.
Once the grapes have been crushed, you will need to filter and press the pulp, to mkae sure you get all the grape juice out of the grapes. The pulp of course must be removed from the wine before fermentation.
If you do make your wine from grapes there are all sorts of variables that have to be delt with. You will need knowledge of a wide range of remedies, for a wide range of things that can change when using grapes. When using concentrates these variables are eliminated as these variables have been accounted for by the manufacturer of the concentrate you are using.
What are some of these variables when using grapes you ask, well below afre just a few of the major ones you will need to deal with when using grapes to make your wine.
Acidity Level
Acidity level can vary widely. If your acid level is too high, the wine will be sour or sharp, while if the acid level is too low, your wine will be very flat and lifeless. To measure the acid levels of the wine you will need a acid test kit, which will tell you if you need to blend more water or acid blend with your wine to correct the acidity levels.
Pressure during pressing
The final charactrer of your wine can be altered significantly according to the amount of pressure used during the pressing process.
Sugar Levels
You will need to get up close and personal with your hydrometer. The initial level of sugar in the grapes is what will determine the final alcohol level of your wine. Your hydrometer testing will determine the sugar level, and then you will need to add additional sugar, or dilute your wine with water to adjust the final alcohol levels.
Pulp during fermentation
The length of time that the pulp remains during fermentation will greatly affect your wine. Leaving the pulp in longer means more color and grape character. The normal amount of time the pulp is left in during fermentation can be anywhere ffrom on to seven or eight days,
Concentrate vs Grapes
For purest and experienced winemakers, making a wine using grapes can offer great satisfaction, however for the beginning winemaker, or a winemaker who does not have the space to deal with the grapes, concentrates as found in Wine Making Kits offer a great way to make wine of excellent quality.
For more information about home wine making you can visit our Wine Making Supplies shop where you will find a number of resources, including wine making books to make you home winemaking experience easier.