Can some kind of WINE be made at home

cityMONK

Is it possible to make any kind of wine from grapes or other fruits at home. what could be process like.

livinhimalayas

In the mountains (specially where Nepalis live) they make a very nice rice wine at home - Chchang! Great when cold!

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alouise

If they can make vodka from potato peelings, the sky is the limit on alcoholic beverages that can be made by fermenting fruits, vegetables or grains.

Nick-H

In UK lots of people make wine at home, from all kinds of different fruits. I've never done it, but I've sampled various results, from absolutely delicious to throat stripper.

It takes time, patience, and a modicum of equipment...

Haylo

Yes, at one time virtually every British country householder made their own wines, and in the 70s and 80s it enjoyed a renewed popularity in the UK, with every town having its own brew shop selling supplies. Back when I wasn't travelling so much, I had time to make excellent wines at home, both from grape and other fruits and I even wrote a book on the technicalities of the subject for a college science report writing project.

As Nick says, to get consistent results it does require certain ingredients such as specialist yeasts, and equipment such as airlocks to prevent airborne infections entering the fermenting wine, hydrometers to calculate sugar addition and eventual alcohol strength, and cork floggers to get the corks into the bottle necks. The Hop Shop carries a good range of equipment, which will give you an idea.

As Nick also points out, it also takes patience - not only in the sterilizing of equipment and during the fermentation / clearing process, but also the patience to wait often years before brews become drinkable. I once had to stash away a damson wine for around five years before it matured, but when it was ready, it was definitely well worth the wait.

One problem in many parts of India would be keeping the maturing wines cool enough, you'd need a pretty deep cellar I think!

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angangang

Haylo is right. To do it right - and to produce something that tastes good - you need specialty juice and certain yeasts. Sanitation is key too.

If you want to give it a quick and dirty try: Take 2-4 liters of grape juice in a sanitized container (not just clean). Make sure you have several inches of space between the juice and the top of the container. Put in about 1 Tablespoon of bread yeast. Cover with some sort of breathable cloth which you can attach to the top of the container with a rubber band or something. Do NOT put any type of lid on the container which will not allow CO2 to escape because your container will blow up. This is dangerous when it happens and an absolute first class mess to clean up. Trust me, I know. Place in a cool, dark place.

Within 24-48 hours, fermentation should start. Foam will appear on the top of the juice. (Sugar + yeast ---> CO2 (which bubbles off) + alcohol + other stuff). Fermentation should last 2-5 days, but it is hard to tell with random bread yeast. Once the foam is gone, have yourself a drink and let us know how it tastes. I hear those bread yeasts leave the juice tasting "yeasty."

Apple juice or cider works well too. That gives you hard cider or "apple jack."

Let me know if you need more detail.

Nick-H

I lived in a house in Richmond, Surrey (UK) that was divided up into rooms. We had a big garden jungle, and a couple of people in the house decided to sort it out. One thing they did was to prune and train properly the vine growing on the back wall. The following summer they made wine with the results; it was delicious

Haylo

Bread yeast has a very low alcohol tolerance, it will produce a small amount of alcohol, and can be tried for brewing beer, but it can't be used for wine.

When the must reaches 2% or maybe 3% alcohol, the brewers yeast will die, and the fermentation will stop, leaving a very weak and still sweet must.

If you really want to try the "quick and dirty" way, it's better to not use sterile fruit and so rely on the wild yeasts that will be on the fruit - though many batches of wine will have to be destroyed because many of those wild yeasts are unsuitable, and other yeasts and bacteria on the fruit can ruin the wine.

These wild yeasts and bacteria would normally be killed off during the preparation process, prior to adding only suitable wine making yeasts. Wine yeasts are available in the UK at least, dried in small sachets, in various types depending on the desired characteristics of the finished wine.

palerider

It's a big thing in my area, a few people 'round here are going back to brewing and winemaking. Nettle beer, wheat beer, peach wine, etc.

Pity I don't drink, but it smells lovely.

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gw5458

The same applies when making cider from apple juice - traditionally done using the wild yeasts on the fruit. If the wrong bacteria get a foothold you may end up with vinegar rather than alcohol. It's amazing that so much turns out OK in the end! There is also an odd beer-making technique in Belgium called lambic fermentation which uses the random yeasts which build up in the dust of the breweries over decades. This drifts around in the air and with luck lands in the fermenting tanks. It tends to produce a distinctive sharp acidic taste which I quite enjoy but is very peculiar.

rsk11584

I think this is the most simplest way of making Wine or Alcohol

Ingredients:

Rotten / Over Ripened Bananas, Organges, Grapes
Jaggery, molasses, sugarcane,
Battery Cells, Old Discarded Batteries (for extra charge )

Put all the above in some pot and brew it,, keep adding ingredients as required,, andthe final outcome will make you tan tana tan..

livinhimalayas

Rsk, that sounds like a sure shot recipe getting you straight to heaven!!

machadinha

A web search on "winemaking" (try also +wine +making) yields more results than you might possibly wish for. Even just the first Google page of results looks quite promising (and does currently, indeed, include that Hop Shop mentioned above).

Friends of mine used to do it (just for their own good fun), and I don't think the process is very difficult as such; the patience alluded to may well be just the patience to keep experimenting until you come up with a decent result though, which may then still turn out to be variable. Oh, and while some above have mentioned the appealing odors of the end result (if all goes well), that doesn't necessarily refer to the stench of the pulp you'll be dealing with in the meantime.

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palerider

We made Watermelon Grappa when we were kiddies. A couple of watermelons, smashed up, sprinkled with sugar, and some alcohol poured over the top.
Wait a few weeks, and you get neat watermelon Grappa. Also good for removing duco from Motorcycles.

cityMONK

Thanks for the process, I have few queries.

1. Bread yeasts are dry yeast I hope.

2. Cool dark place is how cool, Delhi is very humid and hot in
July to sept. and December to Feb. is very dry and cold. Should
The atmosphere is dry or humid for good results.

3. Any risk of accidental poisonings in process.

4. And is stench bearable in home atmosphere.

5. Juice should be container juice like Tropicana e.t.c or
Crushed fresh from fruits.


regards,