Contents
Sometimes winemakers have to work not with fruits, but with ready-made juice. We will consider a detailed method for making wine from juice in this material. Having studied the theory and practice of this algorithm, you can develop your own recipe for any raw material.
Theoretical part
When working with juice, the stage of maceration is skipped – the interaction of the must (juice) with the pulp – the pulp and skin of the fruit, in which the substances responsible for aroma, taste and color pass into the juice. And if this is not important for white grapes, then wine made from red grape juice and most varieties of apples loses a little in taste and aroma, and can turn out paler, which is why it is preferable to work with fruits.
Juice selection
You can make homemade wine from any juice: freshly squeezed, canned, store-bought and even concentrate. In addition to apple and grape, cherry, plum, blackberry, raspberry, currant, etc. are suitable.
Due to the presence of a sufficient amount of solids and a good ratio of acidity and sugar content, it is optimal to use fresh grape or apple juice. In the case of canned, you need to know or measure the amount of added sugar. Due to preservatives in the composition and chemical additives, store juice often ferments poorly and the wine is not of the best quality. The concentrate must first be diluted to a sugar content of 18-25%, more on this later.
The purer the juice (minimum pulp), the better. From many varieties of plums and pears, as well as overripe apples, a thick juice is obtained, containing a lot of pectin. It is possible to work with such raw materials, but it is more difficult, since clarification of wine will take much more time and will not always give the expected result – the transparency of the drink.
Before adding yeast, the juice can be defended for a day, for this it must be hermetically sealed, left in the cold, and then drained from the sediment.
Which yeast to use
For making wine, only store-bought (cultivated) wine and “wild” (live on the surface of the fruit) yeast are suitable. Separately, a few days before working with juice, you can make a starter from raisins or fresh berries. “Wild” yeast remains only in freshly squeezed juice, and even then not always, therefore, if possible, it is advisable to play it safe with store ones. In the case of canned, pasteurized, store-bought juice or concentrate, starter or culture strains are required.
The choice of store-bought wine yeast is quite wide, the general rule is that any red juice, for example, cherry, is best fermented on yeast for red grape varieties, and white juices, for example, apple or pear, on strains for white wines. However, the rule is not strict, so any cultured ones will be preferable to sourdough and “wild” yeast.
All other types of yeast: dry and pressed bakery, alcohol and beer yeast are not suitable, otherwise, instead of wine, you will get a dredge with a characteristic alcohol smell.
How much sugar to add
1% of fermented sugar gives approximately 0,6% alcohol, while the maximum possible strength of the wine (without fixing) is 12-16% vol. Most wine yeasts are active up to 12% ABV and then fall asleep. Withstand 14-16% vol. only some cultured yeast strains can.
To get dry wine from juice, the sugar content in it should be 18-20%, and if alcohol-resistant wine yeast is used, 22-25%. The sugar content of apple juice is 6-15%, grape juice is 9-25% (sometimes more than 30%). Such a wide variation in the range of values does not make it possible to offer a recipe with a single amount of ingredients for each case. If possible, you need to measure the sugar content in the juice with a special device – a saccharometer or wine meter. Another option is to act by eye, focusing on the sweetness and acidity of the taste, but this method is not as accurate.
Too high a concentration of sugar is a preservative that slows down or stops the yeast altogether. For stable fermentation, it is desirable to add sugar in parts, dividing the total amount into 3 equal portions. The first part is brought together with yeast, the second – after 5-7 days, the third – after 9-14 days from the date of installation of the water seal.
The sugar left after fermentation makes the wine sweet. It is correct to make dry wine first, and after fermentation, sweeten it to taste, it is also possible during aging (ripening).
Even after fermentation, you can increase the strength of the wine by fixing it with vodka or pure alcohol (it is preferable to use alcohol or fruit distillate). Fortified wine is better stored, but tougher in taste. The amount of alcohol can be changed at your discretion, usually it is 2-10% of the volume of the resulting wine.
Proper Acidity
The acidic environment promotes fermentation and shapes the taste of the drink. The optimal acidity of the wort before fermentation is 2,8-4 pH, for measurement there is a special device – a pH meter. In the absence of it, they are guided by taste – the juice should be slightly sour (and at the same time sweet), but not pinch the tongue and not reduce the cheekbones.
The addition of sugar and water reduces acidity; citric acid can be used to increase it at home.
Ingredients:
- fruit juice – 10 l;
- sugar – up to 120 g / l of juice, plus for sweetness;
- water – up to 250 ml / l of juice (only in some cases);
- yeast or sourdough – for 12 liters of wort;
- citric acid – up to 7 g / l of juice (only in some cases).
The yield of finished wine is approximately 70% of the initial amount of must; for different fruits and even varieties, this value may deviate by 5-8% in any direction.
Juice wine recipe (practical part)
1. Determine the type of juice: fresh, canned, pasteurized, store-bought or concentrate. You can try to ferment fresh on “wild” yeast, in all other cases, stock up on wine yeast or make a starter a few days before working with raw materials.
If the fresh juice is cloudy, you can stand it for a day: close it tightly (otherwise it will turn sour) and leave it in the refrigerator or cellar, then drain it from the sediment.
Pasteurized and canned juices add a “boiled” flavor to the wine, which is also called compote. From store juices it is generally impossible to predict what will happen.
2. Measure or roughly calculate the sugar content and acidity of the juice. In the absence of special devices, take the sugar content as average for fruits, for example, for apple juice – 10%, grape – 15%, if the juice is sweet. If the juice is sour, navigate along the lower limit of sugar content: 6% for apple and 9% for grape. Approximate values for other fruits and berries can be found in the table.
Too sour juice stings the tongue and reduces the cheekbones (needs to be diluted with water), and excessively sweet juice is cloying (citric acid needs to be added). Water should only be added as a last resort, as this reduces the concentration of solids and the wine turns out to be “watery”.
3. Based on certain parameters, calculate the amount of sugar to be applied. To do this, subtract the initial sugar content from the maximum sugar content of juice for dry wine (usually 20%).
For example, in apple juice with a sugar content of 12%, you need to add 8% sugar, which is equivalent to 80 g / l. To get the size of one serving, divide the resulting value by 3. In our case, we get 26,6 (80 / 3). To simplify the calculations, round off the value by adding 30 g / l for the first time, and in the next two portions – 25 g / l each.
4. With the help of water or citric acid, bring the acidity of the juice to the range of 2,8-4 pH. It should be borne in mind that the lower the reading on the device (to strive for one), the more acidic the juice. At the same time, the more sugar you need to add, the closer to the border of the acidic range the juice should be, because sugar itself reduces acidity.
If there is no pH meter, you can roughly navigate by the table of acidity of fruits and berries. In this case, the optimal acidity of the must before fermentation is 7-10 g of acids per 1 liter.
5. Add the first portion of sugar to the juice. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the wort into a fermentation tank. Leave at least 15-20% free space by volume to accommodate the remaining sugar, as well as room for foam and carbon dioxide released during fermentation.
6. Dilute wine yeast according to the instructions on the bag. Add starter or yeast to must. Mix. Leave the container open for 2-3 hours. Air access will promote the reproduction of yeast.
7. Close the fermentation tank with a water seal. If there is no water seal, you can use a clean medical glove by puncturing one of the fingers with a needle. Securely and tightly fasten the glove to the neck.
8. Transfer the wort to a dark room or cover with a thick cloth with a stable temperature of 18-28 °C. Leave until the end of fermentation.
9. After 5-7 days, add a second portion of sugar. To do this, open the water seal, pour into a separate container half as much wort as the amount of added sugar. For example, 300 g of sugar requires 150 ml of juice. Dilute the sugar in the juice, then pour the resulting syrup back into the fermentation tank and close the water seal again.
10. After another 5-7 days, repeat the procedure described in the previous step, adding the remaining sugar (third serving).
Depending on the yeast and the temperature, the juice wine usually ferments for 35-50 days. The end of the process is indicated by the absence of bubbles from the water seal, clarification of the wort and a layer of loose sediment at the bottom. If the amount of sugar is calculated correctly, then the wine will be dry (not sweet or minimally sweet).
If, after 45 days, the wine continues to ferment, it should be removed from the sediment and allowed to ferment under a water seal at the same temperature. Long stay on the lees can cause bitterness.
11. Drain the fermented young wine into another container, without touching the sediment at the bottom. Additionally, it can be clarified with bentonite or other methods.
The drink will be sharp with notes of brew, it takes aging to improve. Sweeten the wine with sugar to taste. For semi-sweet and semi-dry wines, add 3-8%, for sweet and dessert wines – 9-15%.
If desired, you can increase the strength with alcohol, vodka or purified double-distilled fruit moonshine (optimal). Fortified wines keep better and last longer, but are harder on the palate. Increasing the strength above 16-18% is not advisable, since fruit liqueur will be obtained instead of wine.
The required volume of a fixing drink can be calculated using the formula:
V = volume of wine * (strength required – available strength) / (strong drink strength – required strength).
12. Pour the wine into a glass container for aging. It is advisable to fill to the top so that there is no contact with oxygen. If the wine has been sweetened, for the first 7-10 days, keep it under a water seal in case of repeated fermentation, which can make the drink carbonated and even break a tightly closed container.
13. Transfer the wine from the juice for aging to a dark cool place with a temperature of +2-16 °C – a refrigerator or a cellar. Leave for at least 4 months (preferably 6-8) for maturation, which will improve the taste.
14. Periodically, as sediment appears at the bottom with a layer of 1-2 cm, filter the wine by pouring. Cooking is considered complete when the sediment does not appear for several months (or is released in small quantities).
Color and transparency depend on the content of pectin in the juice and the type of raw material. In some cases, it will not be possible to achieve complete transparency even after clarification with bentonite and long exposure.
15. The finished wine can be bottled for storage and tightly closed. The shelf life depends on the raw material and strength. Usually, wines without sulfur preservation or other methods cannot be aged for more than 3 years (necessarily in a cellar or refrigerator). Often the most delicious is homemade wine aged 12-15 months. Fortress – 9-12% vol.
