Contents
For 10 years I have been making homemade grape wine. It always turns out amazing, well, at least I think so.
But over the years of such winemaking, my relatives got tired of it. And by chance, I discovered a completely new recipe for homemade wine, which did not leave indifferent any of my relatives and friends!
Get your pencils and notebooks ready – cherry wine! True, you will have to work hard – all the bones from the berry must first be removed.
Story from my subscriber Ivan.
Why I decided to make alcohol myself
One day one of my good friends called me over. That evening, he offered to try the cherry wine, which he was given as a present. I thought it would be sugary tasteless alcohol, but it was inconvenient to refuse a friend.
So I began to try and was extremely surprised. It turned out to be very tasty and flavorful. I wondered what kind of wine it was. It was a cherry wine Velenosi, Imprime (Velenosi, “Imprime”).
I learned that the cost of such a bottle is about 2 rubles. After that evening, I also decided to try making cherry wine, since buying such a delight is too expensive.
I’ve been scrolling through recipes online. It turned out that finding the right one is quite difficult. After all, there are many options on the network, but it is not always clear which one will be successful. Fortunately, my brother had a book with recipes for wines from the times of the USSR, and he borrowed it for me.
What ingredients are required
I chose the classic recipe for making cherry wine. It didn’t take a lot of ingredients and it turned out to be quite simple.
You will need:
- cherries – 6 kilograms, just make sure they are ripe;
- you need 3 or 4 kilograms of sugar, depending on how sweet the wine you want to get at the exit;
- water – 8 liters.
It is better to use sweet and sour varieties of cherries, for example, Lotovaya or Shpanka.
In addition to the ingredients, it is worth preparing the necessary inventory:
- glass containers of 10 liters;
- gauze;
- polymer tubes;
- medical gloves;
- glass bottles for storing wine.
In addition to glass containers, you can use wooden kegs or enameled containers.
The cooking process
I didn’t wash the cherries, I just looked carefully so that rotten berries didn’t come across. Removed the bones, while it is important to try to save all the juice.
To prepare a light syrup, I mixed 1 kilogram of sugar and 8 liters of water heated to a temperature of 25 degrees. I placed all this in a container, and covered its neck with gauze. Moved to a dark warm place and left for 4 days.
All this time, the future wine should ferment well. Once I noticed this was starting to happen, I stirred the wort every day.
Important! Stir the wort at least 3 times a day.
Active fermentation ended after 30 days. I strained everything through cheesecloth into a glass bottle.
Important! You need to fill the container no more than 75%.
I pulled a medical glove over the neck of the vessel and transferred it to a dark place with a temperature of 20-25 degrees.
Fermentation continued for about 2 months. As soon as it began to fade, I added half a kilo of sugar. After 5 days, he introduced the same amount. I waited 2 days and began to drain the wine so that the sediment (must) remained in the container. For this I use capillary tubes.
This is what young wine looks like
It is at this stage that you can taste the wine, and add sugar if necessary.
A month later, the precipitate stopped falling out. I poured the wine into glass bottles. It is advisable not to use plastic containers for storing wine. Young wine can be drunk after 2 months. But I like to extend the exposure to 4 months, then it becomes more intense.
Wine should be stored in a cold place, but not more than 5 years. I leave the wine in the pantry, where my preparations for the winter live.
It is better to store wine in a cellar or pantry.
What result did I get
The wine came out amazing. I only added 3 kilos of sugar so it wasn’t cloying. The natural unobtrusive acidity of the cherry has been preserved. The strength of the drink was 11-13%.
I would advise not to drink young wine, but to let it stand for a while. So the taste becomes richer. I did not add any additional alcohol for strength and got a very soft wine, but you can experiment and get fortified.
What do you think, is it worth adding alcohol to homemade wine?