| Home Wine Making Recipes - Basic Steps for | | | | your clean 5 gallon buckets |
| Making Your First Batch | | | | 6. While you are letting the mixture cool boil |
| Of course, getting fruit to ferment and making | | | | seven and a half cups of sugar in water |
| some kind of alcohol, is not difficult. It is a natural | | | | 7. Add sugar and water to grape pulp mixture |
| process that can happen with or without our help. | | | | 8. Add a single package of yeast. (You may use |
| There are homemade wine recipes that promise | | | | regular baker's yeast with home wine making |
| quick results. What they don't mention is that | | | | recipes, but I recommend using wine making |
| they can be pretty much undrinkable. However, | | | | yeast) |
| with not much more effort at all, a truly delicious | | | | 9. Close the bucket and attach airlock stopper. |
| wine can be made at home. Here are the basic | | | | This begins first fermentation. |
| tools for a very easy homemade wine recipe | | | | 10. Every day, stir the mixture gently, but |
| using grapes: | | | | thoroughly |
| - 2 very clean 5 gallon plastic buckets | | | | 11. When fermentation is complete (bubbling |
| - Enough grapes to give you 32 oz. of juice when | | | | stops) pour mixture through a cheesecloth filter |
| squeezed | | | | into your second 5 gallon bucket. Dispose of the |
| - Large piece of cheesecloth | | | | pulp in the filter cloth |
| - Potato masher | | | | 12. Close container with lid and airlock |
| - Airlock stopper. (This is a cap that allows the | | | | 13. Every couple of weeks, transfer and filter |
| carbon dioxide to escape during the bubbling | | | | wine through a coffee filter, to your other cleaned |
| fermentation, but it does not let air into your wine | | | | container |
| as it is fermenting) | | | | 14. After the 5th week you may bottle and cork |
| - Wine bottles and corks | | | | your wine |
| Our First in a Series of Wine Making Recipes | | | | From Good Wine Making Recipes to Great |
| | | | Homemade Wine |
| 1. Boil approximately one and a half gallons of | | | | Home wine making recipes share many of the |
| filtered water | | | | same basic steps, no matter what fruit you are |
| 2. Turn off heat and add enough grapes so the | | | | using. The steps I have outlined above will make a |
| water level is just above the grapes | | | | tasty little wine, but there are some special wine |
| 3. Let the grapes sit until the grape skins begin to | | | | making tips to go with our wine recipes that will |
| split | | | | take them from good wines to great wines. |
| 4. With a potato masher, press the grapes while | | | | In my next article I will talk about some special |
| they are still in the water | | | | advice for fruit wine making. |
| 5. Pour the grape pulp and water into the first of | | | | |