Grape wine

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Ingredients


Black/purple Grapes: 1.3 Kgs(I used the grape variety called coronation grapes)
Sugar:  800 gm
Yeast: 15 grams (Active dry instant yeast)
Whole wheat Kernals: 50 grams(Got it from bulk barn/bulk barrel stores)
Water: 2.6 ltrs(purified water -boiled and cooled down to room temperature)
Spices: 3 1-inch cinnamon and 6 cloves

Materials / Tools Required:

Cookie jar/Ceramic jar:
Big enough to hold 1.3 kgs of grapes + 2.6 lts of water + 1.5 kgs of sugar. Should have 20% free space after adding all this. Preferably must have a lid. Best bet is to use the ceramic jar or if you don’t have any ceramic jars, cookie jar would do. Should have a narrow opening because during fermentation, the vessel has to be airtight. So smaller the mouth, easier to seal

Long wooden spoon:
should be long enough to reach the bottom of your wine jar.

The basic ground rule in wine making is keeping things clean and sterile. This to ensure that the brew does not get contaminated with bacteria which may spoil the brew instead of allowing it to ferment. If the brew gets spoiled only thing you can do is to flush it down the drain.

Preparation

  1. Boil the water: Boil the water for at least 3-4 minutes to make it as pure as possible and kill any bacteria or germs in it. After boiling let it cool. The water has to be back to room temperature before you can use it
  2. Sterilize the ceramic Jar: Simply pour boiling water in the jar till the brim and leave it for 5 minutes to sterilize the inner of the jar. Remember, the jar I used was ceramic, so it could stand the heat.
  3. Clean the grapes: Remove the stem of the grapes. Wash at least 3-4 times in water to ensure all the dirt/dust/chemical sediments from fertilizers and insecticides are removed. Drain the water; if possible spread the grapes on a wide tray to allow it to dry off the excess water.
  4. Clean the wheat: Clean the 50 grams of wheat with water, rinse 3-4 times and ensure they are dry again.

Part 1

  1. Put the grapes in the jar
  2. Use the wooden spoon to smash the grapes. The motive is to rupture the grapes NOT to juice them. So need not crush them so hard to juice them out, but ensure each grape is ruptured
  3. Pour in the cooled water
  4. Prepare the yeast: Preparing the yeast is simple. Just follow the instructions in the carton to activate the yeast. Take some lukewarm water (40-50 C), say 100 ml water, add 2 tsp of sugar (you can take some off sugar you have set aside already), and add the 15 gms of yeast into it (usually around 3 tea spoons) and mix them well.
  5. Pour the prepared yeast into the jar
  6. Add the wheat into the jar
  7. Beat the egg white(if being used or you can totally omit it) and add it into the jar
  8. Add HALF the sugar into the jar i.e (400 grams).
  9. Add the spices to the jar
  10. Use the wooden spoon to mix the contents. You need not try to dissolve the sugar. Just a couple of stirs so that the contents are evenly mixed.
  11. Close the jar with its lid and then wrap plastic covers on top of the jar to make the jar 100% air tight.
Daily Duties:
From Day 1 to Day 21, at a set time, you need to carefully open up the jar,preferably during the dusk or later in the night
  1. Use the wooden spoon to stir the contents, just enough that the contents are evenly mixed. Ensure the spoon is 100% clean and dry every time
  2. Close the jar back, make it airtight and put it back in the cool, dark, dry place where it belongs.

Part 2

On 22nd day,

Materials / Tools needed
  1. Large, fine holed filter. The ones usually found in juice shops or you can use a muslin cloth
  2. Disposable Surgical gloves
  3. Somebody to help
Process
  1. Open up the jar
  2. Slowly pour out the contents of the jar into the filter.
  3. The filtered liquid has to be caught with another clean, sterilized vessel
  4. Glove one hand and squeeze out the soggy half-ruptured grapes, the grape skins and seeds through the filter
  5. Finally after emptying the jar, the clear filtered liquid will be caught in the vessel below
  6. Used the gloved hand to scoop put any sediments left out in the ceramic jar
  7. Then pour the contents of the vessel back into the ceramic jar
  8. Then add the second half (remaining) sugar (i.e remaining 400 grams) into the jar and stir lightly
  9. Close the jar, make it air tight as before and put it back into the cool, dry, dark place

Waiting Game

Wait for another 21 days. The good news is that now no more or opening of jar is required. 21 days is the bare minimum. The older the wine gets, the better.

Taste Test!
  1. After a total of 42 days, you can open up the jar and gently take out the clear wine on top and fill it up in a sterilized glass bottle.
  2. Usually, the sediments are in the bottom and the clear wine on top. So its important you don’t shake the container too much and just use a small glass to scoop out the clear wine on top. Alternatively you can use a pipette or a siphon mechanism to do so
  3. You needn’t empty the jar. Just take out the clear wine from the top and close the jar airtight and put it right back.
  4. Keep repeating the process, till the wine lasts! Just ensure the jar is airtight every time you put it back

That’s it, you have officially made wine at home!!!!!



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