How to Make Homemade Wine Kits

Homemade wine can be a challenging and also rewarding feat. It alerts winemakers of the intricacies of fermenting grapes. The supplies that compose a homemade wine kit are not too sophisticated; the most complex equipment is either the hydrometer or titration kit that can be easily acquired through wine supply stores or restaurant supply stores.

Things You'll Need

• Cheesecloth
• Nylon straining bag
• Pail with lid (2 to 4 gallons)
• Hydrometer
• Thermometer
• Titration kit
• Clear, flexible tubing (2 inches in diameter)
• Two one-gallon glass jugs
• Fermentation lock and bung
• Wine bottles
• Corks
• Hand corker

Instructions

Supplies

1. Know the supplies. Most of the supplies for making a homemade wine kits can be purchased online or in a local wine supply shop. The nylon straining bag is a very fine net, almost a mesh made of nylon, that is used to filter the sediment from the grapes. A cheesecloth is similar to a nylon straining bag except it is cloth material and thinner. The titration kit measures the acidity of the wine and can be adjusted with tartaric acid, which comes in a powder form. A hydrometer measures the sugar level of wines. The fermentation lock and bung are used to close the lid to the jar after syphoning wine away from sediment. This process is called "racking the wine". The clear tubing is used to syphon the wine from one jug to another.

2. Gather the materials. Materials such as the nylon straining bag, titration kit, and hydrometer easy to find at a wine or brewing supply shop. They will rarely be available at the local grocery store. Items such as the clear tubing can be bought at a hardware store. Clear jugs can be bought at the local department store that sells cookware or restaurant supply stores. The plastic pail with lid can be bought at a restaurant supply store or hardware store. The ones at the hardware store will be ordinary pails not, food grade. Wine bottles can be recycled or empty ones can be bought at local wine supply stores as well.

3. Sanitize the equipment before and after each usage. Pay particular attention to the hydrometer, titration kit, and thermometer.

References

• WineMaker