There's a learning curve to making your own wine, but finding the right homemade wine recipe can help in the process. Whether you want to make fruit wine, dandelion wine, or wine from your favorite grape, these recipes combined with an understanding of the winemaking process can help. Before you get started, make sure you have all of the essential winemaking supplies.
Easy and Fast Homemade Wine Recipe From Juice
You can make homemade wine from virtually any juice you purchase - from grape juice to apple juice. Make sure you're using 100% juice with at least 20g of sugar per serving, not a sugar-water type juice, and don't use a juice that contains any preservatives. This wine still will take time to ferment, but it doesn't require a ton of your time or much equipment.
Ingredients
- ½ gallon bottle of 100% fruit juice
- 1 packet of winemaking yeast
- ½ teaspoon yeast nutrient
Instructions
- Heat ½ cup of the juice to 105° to 110°F. Leave the rest of the juice in the bottle.
- Add the yeast to the warm juice and allow it to sit for five minutes so it bubbles.
- Pour the yeast and juice solution back into the juice bottle and add the yeast nutrient. Stir gently.
- Either pour into a one-gallon carboy or keep in the original container. Fit with a fermentation lock. Allow to rest in a warm spot (70°F) until fermentation stops - about 2 to 3 weeks. The bubbles will stop when fermentation is complete.
- Filter into a sterilized 1 gallon carboy, siphoning off any solids and sediment. Fit with a fermentation lock, and allow to rest for another 2 to 3 weeks, until fermentation stops.
- Siphon into a sterilized container leaving behind any sediment and either label and seal, or bottle in a wine bottle and seal. A large mason jar will work here, as well. You can drink this right away or age it for another 2 to 3 months before consuming. This will keep for about a year.
Fruit Wine Recipes
You can also make fruit wines following a simple recipe. This fruit wine recipe shows you how to make wine from berries or other soft fruits with step-by-step instructions.
Homemade Grape Wine Recipe
You can make grape wines from a winemaking kit, which is the easiest way to make them. However, if you'd like to truly try your hand at a homemade wine from grapes, then you can follow this recipe. This recipe allows you to make one gallon of dry wine from fresh grapes. Use only freshly sanitized equipment.
Ingredients
- 18 pounds of grapes
- 1 campden tablet
- 1 package winemaking yeast
- 1 pint warm water (105°F to 110°F)
- Pinch of sugar
Instructions
- Put your grapes in a large mesh bag. In a sanitized bucket or container, use a potato masher to mash your grapes.
- Crush the campden tablet and sprinkle over the bag. Cover the container with two layers of cheesecloth and allow to sit for one to two hours in a warm spot (70° to 75°F).
- Measure the temperature of the crushed grapes - it should be between 70°F and 75°F.
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add the sugar. Allow it to activate for 10 minutes.
- Pour the yeast mixture over the bag of grapes and mix. Cover with cheesecloth and store in a warm spot. Ferment for 2 to 3 weeks, stirring daily, until fermentation has stopped (it stops bubbling), squeeze any juice from the nylon bag into the bucket and discard the grape solids. Cover with cheese cloth and rest for 24 hours.
- Siphon into a clean one-gallon carboy, discarding any sediment. Top off with cold water. Airlock. Sit for 10 days.
- Siphon into a clean carboy. Seal and rest for 6 months.
- Siphon and filter into a clean carboy to prepare for bottling.
- Bottle, cork, and seal. Store in a cool, dry location. The wine will be ready in six months.
How to Make Homemade Wine Without Yeast
You can make homemade wine without added yeast by cultivating wild yeasts that are present in the skins of the grapes. Since yeast and sugar must be present for fermentation to occur, it is not possible to make entirely yeastless wine. However natural yeasts will settle as sediment during racking and filtering after fermentation is complete.
Ingredients
- 18 pounds of grapes
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- In a large, sanitized, nonreactive container, crush the grapes with a potato masher.
- Stir in the honey.
- Cover the container with two layers of cheesecloth and place in a warm location (70°F to 75°F).
- Over the first week, stir five times per day, recovering after each stir.
- Fermentation begins when bubbles begin to form in the mixture, usually after a day or two.
- When the bubbling stops, pour through a filter into a one gallon carboy, leaving the grape solids and any sediment behind. Top off with water.
- Airlock. Rest in a warm location, releasing the airlock to release carbon dioxide at least once a day. Rest there until fermentation ends (bubbles disappear) - two to three weeks.
- Siphon into a clean carboy to prepare for bottling, discarding any sediment.
- Bottle and cork. Allow to age in the bottle for a minimum of six months.
Wine Making Recipes
There are plenty of wine making recipes to try. With the above recipes, you can make wine from grapes and many fruits. So give a batch of homemade wine a try, and if you enjoy it, you can adjust the process as you go to meet your own individual tastes.
