White Wine Recipe
Here is a simple wine recipe if you have Green Grapes
What you need to make 1 Gallon (6 Bottles) of White Wine.
Ingredients:
20lb Grapes (washed)
Some Sugar
Campden tablets
1 tsp Pectolase
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
White Wine Yeast
Fermentation Stopper
Finings
Equipment: (We have a fruit wine starter kit if needed for £25)
Brewing Bucket
Demi-John with Air-Lock
Siphon
Muslin
Steriliser
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Bottles & Corks
The Basics
Put the grapes in the bucket and squish them, being careful not to crush the pips.
Use a potato masher to squish them slightly to help release all of their lovely juice. If you don't have one, get in there with your hands or feet ;)
Take a sample of the juice and test this with the hydrometer. This will tell you your potential alcohol that the grape juice will reach.
As we want to get it to around 12%, you may need to add more sugar. Use the hydrometer reading and a simple calculation to determine how much sugar you need to add. To raise the ABV by 1%, you will need to add 17 grams of sugar per litre of juice.
Add the sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved.
Add 1 crushed Campden Tablet, this will kill off any natural yeasts.
Put the lid on the bucket and leave for 24 hours.
Using the muslin bag, strain into another clean, sterilised bucket to remove most of the grapes, skins & pulp.
Stir in the pectolase, yeast and yeast nutrient into the grape juice.
Put the lid on loosely and put it somewhere warm (approx 20°C) for 7 days
After 7 days, siphon the liquid into a demi-john to the top of the shoulder. Fit a bung and airlock (1/4 filled with steriliser water) and put it back in your warm place (approx 20°C) to allow for the fermentation to complete.
Leave for 2 weeks.
Take a sample of the wine and with your hydrometer, check the specific gravity. It should now be below 1.000 and ideally around 0.995. This means all the sugars have been eaten by the yeast.
If it has not reached this level yet, put the airlock back in and put back in your warm cupboard for 1 more week. Then test again.
Once the fermentation has completed and no more air bubbles are passing through the airlock, rack (siphon) the wine off the sediment into a clean, sterilised demi-john, being careful not to disturb the sediment a the bottom.
Add the fermentation stopper to the wine (as per the instructions on the packet) and replace the airlock.
Swirl the wine around in the demi-john.
You will notice lots of bubbles and gas being released. This is trapped CO2. This needs to be removed to aid the clearing process.
Swirl the wine around in the demi-john 3 more times, swirling for 30 seconds and then leaving to settle for 5 minutes.
Put the demi-john somewhere cool and where it won’t be disturbed for 2 days (preferably below 18°C) to allow the Fermentation Stopper to kill any remaining yeast.
After 2 days, add the Finings (as per the instructions on the packet), then put the demi-john somewhere cool and where it won’t be disturbed for 2 weeks (preferably below 18°C) to allow the wine to clear.
Once clear, take the final hydrometer reading. This will tell you the proof of your finished wine.
Bottle and ideally leave for 6 months for its full flavour potential to be reached, but it is also great for drinking after just a month.
Happy brewing.
Home brewed wine can be Very strong, so remember to drink responsibly.