How do I make wine? Can I grow my own grapes easily? Please discuss the process.?

Answer 1

You don't need grapes to make wine. In fact growing grapes and maintaining the vines takes a lot of time and hassle - you might just as well save yourself the trouble and buy wine from the store.

I used to make wine out of all sorts of other ingredients, including:-
* Honey
* Canned Gooseberries
* Canned Strawberries
* Apricots
* Rhubarb
* Red Cherries
* Oak Leaves (yes, oak leaves - it makes a wine that has a rich taste a bit like sherry)

In fact just about anything can be used to flavour wine. Canned fruit is good because it's sterilised during the canning process so you're less likely to get unwanted bugs growing in your wine during fermentation.

The only other ingredients you need are yeast and sugar although most people add a few other bits to encourage a good fermentation eg. vitamin B and citric acid (lemon juice).

The exact amounts you need varies depending on how sugary your main ingredient is to start with and how sweet you want the finished product. Recipes are available or you can do it by trial and error!

In terms of equipment you will need a large fermentation vat and some glass demijons and fermentation traps. And of, course some bottles and corks for storing the finished product!

Check out these sites for more information:-
http://www.homewinemaking.co.uk/
http://www.joyofwine.net/
http://www.thewinepages.org.uk/

Answer 2

Growing grapes is pretty easy.

To make wine, you just smash up the grapes. Some people add sugar and yeast, but sugar and yeast are usually present on and in the grapes. If you add sugar and yeast it won't hurt anything--might make the wine sweeter than what you wanted if you like dry wine.

Next you seal it in a container so it is deprived of oxygen. The yeast in this oxygen-free environment undergo anaerobic respiration which produces alcohol and CO2. You have to have a way for the CO2 to escape or you could blow-up your container. I've found a balloon over a vent works well. It lets the CO2 to escape(blowing up the balloon without letting oxygen in. Once it's stopped "working" take off the balloon, seal the container and let it age as much or as little as you like.

Answer 3

making wine is actually pretty easy- but can require a bit of an investment for all of the equipment. There are many good websites out there to walk you through the proces. do a web search on wine making and get some books on wine making. Don't grow your own grapes- its too much of a pain to do it that way- also, for your first batch try a fruit like peaches or pears- they are a little easier to work with. Good luck and have fun.

Answer 4

Well, I don't know how to actually make wine, but back when my brother was in 8th grade, his friend had grapes in his lunch the first day! He forgot about the grapes and left them there all year! They were squashed by books and backpacks and stuff into juice! At the end of the year they tasted it and it was wine! Even the teacher said it was!

Answer 5

Wine can be made from any fruit. 5 gals fruit juice add 5lbs. sugar and if ya add a cup or so of raisins,they provide the needed yeast or you can add a tablespoon of brewers yeast. an airlock is the best way to go. the wine will start to bubble after a day or so. when the bubbles are coming at the rate of one ever 5 minutes it's time to bottle. BUT i just put mine in a mason jar and seal it. Put it in a cool dark place where ya won't get hit by flying glass in case ya bottled it too soon.

Answer 6

My grandpa lived in Madison til he passed away, & I remember he had a huge garden. Most of the backyard. He grew alot of concord grapes in there. They were out in the open, but the yard was lined with big trees on the south & west sides. He just had them growing on what I remember to be pieces of tall fencing. Had tons of grapes every year, made alot of juice & jelly.

Answer 7

Grapes, 5 gal water jug w/cork, Apx 4 foot og surgical hose, tray, water, sugar.
Stuff smushed grapes, water, sugar in 5 gal jug. Drill a hole in the cork and stuff hose in cork on the jug. run hose ito a bucket or tray with water. The water in the tray will bubble as the grapes ferment. When it stops bubbling (apx 2 weeks) its ready

Answer 8

i found a way to make wine within a week or somthing like that unless my science teacher was lieing. u take ARTIFICIAL remember artificial sweetener to it ferments faster and get grape juice and some yeast, i think it works its cheap might as well try it.