Juice turns into wine thanks to microorganisms we call yeast. To maintain normal fermentation, it is sometimes necessary to use pre-prepared sourdough. I’ll show you how to make wine starter at home. The proposed recipes are universal and suitable for making wine from apples, pears, grapes, raspberries, raisins and other wine materials.
Of course, it is best to add ready-made wine yeast to the wort, which is sold in specialty stores. But not everyone has such an opportunity, so we will prepare a starter based on wild yeast living on the surface of the fruit. To do this, we need grapes, raspberries, strawberries, white currants (optional) or regular raisins.
Attention! Most wild yeast dies at an alcohol concentration of 14 degrees and above, so it is impossible to get a stronger wine at home without adding pure alcohol (vodka). Bread yeast (dry or pressed) is a little tenacious, but it is not suitable for winemaking.
Raisin wine sourdough recipe
The starter is prepared as follows: pour 150-200 grams of raisins into a bottle, add 50 grams of sugar, pour water at room temperature (300-400 ml). Then close the bottle with a loose cotton plug and put it in a warm place for 3-4 days. Ready sourdough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Raspberry starter (grapes, strawberries)
To prepare 200 grams of unwashed grapes (raspberries, currants, strawberries), crush, pour into a bottle, then add 100 grams of sugar and 200 ml of water. Close the bottle tightly and shake well several times.
After 3-4 days of infusion in a dark place at room temperature, the starter for homemade wine is ready, it remains only to filter it through cheesecloth. Shelf life – up to 10 days, then it turns sour, which can ruin all the juice.
It is desirable that the berries are their own, that is, collected in the country or garden. The fact is that most fruits sold in supermarkets are treated with special substances for long-term storage that kill yeast. As a last resort, I advise you to buy berries for sourdough in the market.
Before cooking, you need to accurately calculate the ratio of added sugar, juice and sourdough. For dessert types, 3% of the total volume of sourdough is usually needed, dry and semi-sweet – 2%.