DIY Custom Wine Cellar

Making your own wine at home is not a difficult process. As your love and appreciation of wine has grown, likely you have wondered if you could ever take up diy wine making as a hobby. Well the good news is yes you can, very easily. There are of course some basic instructions to follow to make basic wine in your own home. It’s up to you how much work you put into your wine making, the more work you put in, the more you will get out of your homemade wine.

Guide to Home Wine Making

The first basic step to take when making wine at home is to figure out what kind of juice you want to make your wine out of. Wine can be made from grape juice and also other kinds of fruit juices. Even flowers and herbs can be used to make wine! So decide which direction you want to take your diy wine making. Get a hold of the juice you want, in the quantity that you want, and put it in the container you will be making the wine in.

Next you need to buy yourself a hydrometer. A hydrometer measures specific gravity. Specific gravity, when it pertains to wine, has to do with the weight of your juice mixture in relation to the weight of the water. You adjust the specific gravity by adding sugar to the mix. You want a ratio of 1.1 at least. Trial and error will help you determine small variances and the results.

Next you want to make sure all the unwanted bacteria is removed from your juice. Sulfites or campden tablets do the trick for you. Make sure you don’t use too much as it will alter the end taste of your wine. Usually about 4 crushed tablets in five gallons will take care of the bacteria. After adding the sulfites, mix the juice well, then cover with a towel and let the mixture sit for 24 hours.

Next you need to add the yeast to begin the fermentation process. When making wine at home, it is just fine to use regular grocery store yeast. This yeast will only yield a wine that is 10 or 11 percent alcohol. There are more specialized yeasts specifically for wine making that have a tolerance of around 15% so if possible, get a hold of some real wine makers yeast.

Now you wait. Wait 10 or so days for the fermentation process to take place in full. After the initial 10 days of fermentation, remove the wine from the container you were using and put it in a new clean and sterile container. Be sure not to transfer the sediment that may have formed with the wine. A siphon is the best way to do this job. You will want to seal this new container so that it is airtight. Let the wine sit for another month or so in order for the CO2 to escape.

After the wine has sat in the new container (you can get fancy and use an oak container if you’ve got one) the wine is ready to bottle. Be sure to sample it first to see if your first batch of DIY wine is bottle worthy. Who knows, maybe you will have created a masterpiece that is worth of aging in your wine cellar! Even if your homemade wine is not a masterpiece, you can be proud of your accomplishment and share it with family and friends. Keep learning, buy a guide, and one day you may be making wine that makes critics weep. (out of joy of course!)