How to Make Quick Homemade Wine

A glass of wine at sunset

Fine wines are made with freshly-picked grapes that are pressed by hand and aged in massive old oak casks. Some wines age for years before they are considered mature enough to drink. Making a quick wine at home may not yield the same delicate beverage as a $25 bottle of wine, but with a few common household ingredients you should be able to make a perfectly drinkable simple fruit wine in just over a month.

Things You'll Need

• Sugar
• Large pot
• Cold water
• Stove
• Package of dry yeast
• One gallon jug (glass is better)
• Can of thawed concentrated frozen juice
• Long wooden spoon
• Pin
• Large balloon
• Rubber band
• Strainer
• Coffee filters
• Wine storage containers

Instructions

1. Mix 3-½ qts. of cold water with 4 cups of sugar in the large pot. Boil until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let it cool.

2. Pour the sugar mixture into the jug and add one 1/4-oz. package of yeast. Add one 12-oz. can of thawed concentrated juice. Any kind of juice is fine except for citrus. Stir the mixture with the wooden spoon or by gently agitating the jug to dissolve the yeast as much as possible.

3. Top off the jug with more cold water.

4. Wash and rinse a large balloon and prick it once with a pin. Stretch it over the top of the jug and secure it by wrapping the rubber band around the top of the jug over the balloon.

5. Put the jug in a cool, dark place. The balloon will begin expanding as the sugars turn into alcohol and create carbon dioxide gas. The pinprick in the balloon will allow the gas to escape while keeping air from coming into the jug.

6. Wait five to six weeks until the balloon completely deflates and falls limp. This indicates that fermentation is complete and the wine is ready to drink.

7. Line a strainer with a coffee filter and strain the wine. Replace the filters as they become full. The sludgy material at the bottom of the jug will make the wine taste bad if not strained.

8. Bottle your wine into whatever storage containers you want to use, or drink it right away. If you don't drink it, store it in the fridge.

References

• Homemade Wine