Easy Homemade Wine

Dear Kraus,

I have a batch of peach wine and a batch of pear wine in 5 gallon glass jugs ready to bottle.  Both need to be sweetened at bottling time to bring out more of the fruit flavor.  Please explain to this rookie exactly how you sweeten the wine as you bottle it.  Do you add the sugar/water solutions to each bottle or do you add to the 5 gallon glass jugs, stir, and then bottle??  Same question on how to add the chemicals to prevent re-fermentation and oxidation.  And, is plain sugar OK...

Hi:

Today is day 8 and I just transferred my wine from the plastic fermenter to a glass carboy like the homemade wine instructions say to do. I do not see the wine brewing at all. Shouldn't the wine still be fermenting? Do I have a problem?

Please help!
Robert
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Hello Robert.

I am going to assume that you are making your wine from a wine ingredient kit such as our European Select or KenRidge Classic since you mentioned "day 8" much like their directions would.

How fast your fermentation goes can...

Hello Kraus:

Last fall I acquired some good wine grapes.. red and white not enough of either for 5 gals.. thought I could make a blush, so I added them together.. it turned a reddish color but cloudy. So I added your Speedy Bentonite three weeks later i have clear whiskey color,  what happened?

Thanks Art
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Hello Art,

It sounds like your homemade wine has oxidized from excessive air exposure. Just like when an apple starts to turn brown after being bitten into, a wine can turn brown when it is...

Dear Kraus,

Has anyone used STEVIA to sweeten the wine before bottling? It might take more than expected but I would like to try it.

I am Diabetic and adding sugar to sweeten the wine just adds problems, so I don’t drink my wine, which my wife is okay with… because she can drink it without problem.  

Could there be problem using this sweetener after fermentation?

Thanks in advance.
Bob W.
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Hello Bob,

There is nothing wrong with using stevia to sweeten a wine at bottling time. I have not used it...

Hello Kraus,

I have been making wine from top end ($200+) wine kits and really getting into it.

I was wondering if I should continue with wine kits or jump into creating wine from fresh grapes. I guess my questions is: What will produce a better red wine, a high end wine kit or quality fresh grapes?

Best Regards,
Dominick S.
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Hello Dominick,

This is really a great question, and one that I'm sure is on the minds of many individuals who use these homemade wine kits, so I'll cut right to the...

One of the most commonly used ingredients in home wine making are Campden Tablets. You will find them in almost any of the wine making recipes you will use; talked about in almost any of the wine making books you will read; and called into action by just about any of the homemade wine instructions you will follow.

What Do Campden Tablets Do?
The original reason these tablets were used in wine making was to keep the wine from spoiling after it had been bottled. By adding these tablets at bottling...

Hi Kraus,

What kind of alcohol tester other the vinometer can I buy to measure the alcohol of my finished homemade wine?

Thanks Joshua
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Dear Joshua,

Of all the wine making products that exist, the vinometer is the only one that home winemakers can practically use to test the final alcohol level of a finished wine. It is somewhat accurate when testing a dry wine, but if your wine has any residual sugars, the reading will be thrown way off.

Most wineries rely on a refractometer and/or a gr...

Hello E.C. Kraus,

I recently purchased your County Fair concord juice. I am planning to use 4 cans to make 5 gallons. I noticed the can shows 5 tsps of acid blend for 4 cans, but your wine recipe page online shows to use 1 tbsp [3 tsps] with 40# of fresh concord grapes and none in 80# version of the recipe.
 
Why is there a difference? I don’t want the wine to have a “bite” it can have with too much acid.  What do you suggest?

Thanks Kelly
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Dear Kelly,
 
I can certainly understand your...

Hi EC,

How long can finished wine be stored in gallon glass jugs?

Gabe
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Dear Gabe,

There is nothing unique to homemade grape wine that makes it spoil any faster or keep any better than commercially made wines. As long as the homemade grape wine is treated properly, it will keep just as long and as good as wines stored in glass jugs that you purchase at the store.

What does treated properly actually mean?

1. It means your wine must be dosed with sulfites, and 
2. Your glass jugs must be...

[This is the conclusion of a two part blog post. See the previous entry for the beginning of this post.]

The Alcohol Level Needs To Kept In Balance.
In general, the fuller the flavor of a wine, the higher the alcohol level must be to keep it in balance. Wines that do not have enough alcohol as compared to their flavor intensity, will taste harsher. The astringent characters of the wine will be highlighted in the wine's final flavor profile.

To help put this into better perspective, lighter white...

[This is part I of a 2 parts]

Hello,

Your blueberry wine recipe on your website states you need 13lbs of blueberries for making 5 gals. Will using 20lbs of blueberries add more color and flavor to the finished wine?

Thank-you
Gary C.
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Yes, adding more fruit to any wine recipe is going to intensify the flavor and add more color. But before you go taking this bit of information and run with it, here are some considerations that you may want to think over first.

Do You Really Want More...