The Wrath of
Grapes!
Home brewing is one of those hobbies that sounds great
when you hear it. “You mean I can make wine at home? Or beer?! No
way!” It tastes even better than
it sounds when you get to try some. I got my first taste of some wicked home
brewed wine from my friend David (<<<) at a little get together on a cold night at Phara’s
(great outside venue here in Austin btw). With
his help I started another somewhat expensive hobby. And I say that
because there are some start-up costs
associated with a basic wine brewing set up but they aren’t too bad.
What hurts is when it just don’t quite
work out the way you thought it would.
Fortunately, my first adventure into home brew was a try at a batch of
mead with local honey and it has been the best batch thus far. I’ve
made a few batches of mead and an attempt at a peach melomel. Now
that I’m tired of drinking sweet wines I wanted to try a go with
grapes! And as fate would have it I found a benefactor! (Thanks Uncle
Rob for buying
the kit!)
Here's the skinny on how this works. First, you need the basics. And I got mine from Austin Home Brew.
This includes all the equipment you need for primary and secondary
fermentation, corks, a corking machine but unfortunately, no cork soaker. Since I had all that stuff all I needed now to make grape wine was the grapes! Since I didn't have this, the grapes or the girls to step on 'em I went with a kit. 
If you're interested, here's a quick step by step:1) Sanitize your workspace. I used good ol' bleach for the countertop and then put down a strip of paper towels-which might defeat the purpose but it sure does make me feel like its a clean space. Then you have to sanitize your equipment with something much less toxic like potassium metabisulfite solution. Sanitary equipment is key to a good batch of brew. Fruit flies are the worst enemy.
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2) The other very important part of wine other than the grapes and yeast is the water. City water has chlorine, smells and tastes bad. Unless you like the taste of your water, don't use it. I got several gallons of RO water from the health food store. Add 1gallon of water (sun warmed if possible) and dissolve the packet of bentonite clay in it.
Let's speed this up!
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| 4) Pour in the water |
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| 3) Pour in the wine. |
-Watch out for grape splashes! The fermentor cover can help if you have a 3rd hand.
-Make a 6G mark on the inside of the fermentor first!
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| 5) Take hydrometer reading |
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| 6) Add the oak and yeast. |
-A hydrometer reading is how you track alcohol potential and production. This thing floats higher w/more sugars in the solution.
-Make sure the solution is at 72-75*F before adding the yeast.
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| 7) Stir like hell! |
Gently mix up the oak and yeast and then stir it until you gets bubbles. At this point you want to really oxygenate the solution. I have used an aquarium air stone hooked up to a pump in the past and that works really well too. I've read from the pros that if you skip this step you won't get a very vigorous fermentation and the yeast may peter out too early. This old mixer works great and is easy to sanitize.
Once you get it stirred up you can put on the cover and stare at the bubbles for the next few days! Once this is finished we'll get to rack it into the secondary fermentor/carboy and let it mellow.
Back with this is a week or so!
