Weekly Roundup: Wine Edition

Wine week has come to an end here at +Make Your Own! We had great fun and learned a few things along the way!

So let's round up this week's most popular wine posts from Facebook.

First, check out our blog entry on brewing Rosé Blend wine right here in the store! Learn about how making wine can be easy and fun!

Are you new to wine making? We have all the equipment you need to get started!

5 Gallon Wine Maker's Kit

 

6 Gallon Wine Maker's Kit

 

1 Gallon Wine Maker's Kit

 

We also have wine concentrate kits as well as Walker's Wine Juice here at the store to get you started! A variety of wine making books grace our shelves as well!

 

 

Learn How to Make Wine

 

How to Make Wine

 

Making Wine from Grapes

 

Wine Making Recipes & Techniques

 

10 Country Wine Recipes

 

Using a Hydrometer

 

Cooking with Wine

 

Wine Jelly

 

Summer Fruit with Wine

 

100 Recipes Using Leftover Red Wine

 

We hope you enjoyed wine week with us! Do you have any recipes for making wine or for cooking with wine? Share them with us - we love trying new things!

 

Each week we send out a newsletter that is chock full of goodies! Have you signed up yet? If not, head over here to sign up! By signing up, you'll get to enjoy special discounts, recipes, and fun offers that we only offer to our newsletter subscribers!

 

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest so you don't miss anything! Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week!

 

 



 

 

 

Rose Blend Wine: Brewing it Our Way

Walkers Rose Blend Red Wine

About Walkers Juice
Walkers hot-pressed red grapes, assures each wine maker that they are getting highest quality wine. Walkers standardizes most of their juice at 21 percent sugar, unless the juice has a naturally higher content.  If you want to know the acid content or pH level they are listed on each container.

We started a Walkers Rose Blend Red Wine in the store! 

Did you know you can start this juice right in the food grade carboy it comes in? Walkers juice comes with everything you need to get the started, all you add is the yeast nutrient and the yeast. Some people just sprinkle the yeast on the juice but we re-hydrated our yeast to give it a jump start. (Walkers recommends this too!) We activated the yeast by adding slightly warmed water to the dry yeast and gave it a few minutes to start. While waiting for the yeast to re-hydrate we sprinkled the yeast nutrient into our juice.  We added this to replenish any of the nutrients that maybe naturally deficient in our juice.  It is not necessary to feed our yeast but we want to give it the best 'working' condition possible! 

As you can see our initial stage was quite violent.  Just look closely at the picture, you can see the gas escaping through the liquid. This can continue for 7 to 14 days but as time goes on, the explosions will be come less frequent and less aggressive. We will be keeping an eye on the bubbler and adding more water if the level drops.  This can be due to the aggressive stage or from simple evaporation.  

Now we just sit back, watch and wait for the next step.  This will be about 3 to 6 months when we will rack, stabilize and finally bottle our wine.  

Would you prefer to use a glass carboy? Many people do.  We carry them in several sizes, plus all the other things you may need like the rubber bung and bubbler.  Yes, it really is that easy to make wine!  Stop in and let us show you how!

Let's Make Fruit Wine Part 4

Welcome back! We are about to dive into the world of finishing your bottle of wine. If you are just joining us you may want to head back to Part 1 of our series on making your own fruit wine!

Shrink Caps

I know...you're looking at the great wine you just produced and that plain bottle just isn’t doing all your hard work any justice.  What can we do about it?

Let’s get creative and finish it off properly!  First, let’s hide that cork with a beautiful shrink wrap. They are very easy to use and add the perfect finishing touch.  All you need are the shrink caps (foil covers), a shrink cap tool, your wine and boiling water.  Really, that's it!

We have gorgeous gold shrink caps at Make Your Own!

Now let’s get started.  Bring a 1 quart pot of water to a boil.  You don’t want or need a hard boil; just a steady rolling boil is good.  Place your cap on top of your bottle and hold it in place using your shrink cap tool. Quickly dip the top of the bottle in the water and pull it out. (If you don’t have a good grip on the cap it will not shrink in a smooth manner.) Dry your bottle and you’re done!

Another alternative to the boiling water method is to use a hair dryer or a heat gun. This method will also shrink your caps, but it takes only seconds with a direct heat source. Place your shrink cap over your bottle top and hit it with the heat source from the top down until the cap has shrunk down. This method can take a bit of practice.

Labeling Your Wine Bottles

Was that the Merlot or the Cab?  Red is red, so how will you tell them apart?  You could do a taste test but you may not get the one you wanted, so let’s make labels.  It’s not hard, really!  You need a label making program or templates, labels, and a computer with a printer.  There is a great website that lets you make free labels: freelabelmaker.com and Avery.com has the labels.  You can also get the labels at any office supply store.  What you are looking for are 3 ½ x 5 shipping labels. They come 4 to a sheet and have the adhesive already on them.  Avery.com has 2 of them listed, item numbers – 5168 and 8168. 

Once you have your labels, go to the label maker website and pick your wine label design.  A .pdf file will open with the design in it.  Simply add the text you want.  You only fill out the first label; it will automatically add the text to all the labels for you.  Just print, peel and stick them to your wine bottles.  Now your wine bottle is perfect and it has a professional look that fits your homebrewed wine!  And the best part is – You make it your own!

Up Next: Making your own Gourmet Hot Sauce

Let's Make Fruit Wine Part 3

Welcome Back! If you are just joining us you may want to head back to Part 1 of our series on making fruit wine!

So what are you going to do when your wine has fermented out?  Bottle it of course! 

You will need some empty bottles and have a few options available.  You can:

v   Save and re-use any wine bottles you have at home. These will need to have the labels removed.  Some labels will come off easier than others. They can be soaked in warm soapy water, and then scraped off with a new razor blade. Most times letting them soak for 24 hours in soapy water will make the labels easy to remove. Sometimes additional products are needed like Goo Gone.

v    Come visit us for ready to use, re-usable bottles.  These bottles have been cleaned and labels have been removed for you.

v   Come visit us for brand new bottles.

Now that you have your bottles, you need to make sure they are clean and sterilized.  I run my bottles through the dishwasher. If there is something in the bottle that has not come out, a bottle brush with stiff bristles on the end should help to remove the remaining sediment. After they have cooled they need to be santizied.  Dissolve 1 tablespoon of potassium metabisulfite in 1 gallon of warm water and dump into your sink filling by the gallon until it is at least half full. Dip bottles into the santizing solution and let drip dry upside down.  If you don’t want to sanitize in the sink you can use the 5 gallon primary fermentation bucket. You will also need to sterilize your siphon, tubing and EZflo bottle filler using the same solution.

Now onto bottling, place your siphon hose with the EZflo bottle filler in your bottle and the siphon in your carboy.  Begin to siphon.  Keep an eye on your bottle and when the bottle is full, pull up your bottle filler.  This will stop the flow of wine.  Sometimes, when the bottle filler is removed I find that there is more space than I like in my bottle so I touch the tip of the bottle filler to the side of the bottle (which releases a small amount of wine) and bring the level of wine in the bottle up.  Continue filling all your bottles until your carboy is empty. 

Let’s talk corkers! 

There are two options; first is a hand held corker.  You really need two people to use this, if you don’t want to risk knocking your bottle over.  One person will hold the bottle while the second person puts the cork into the corker, holds it over the bottle opening and pulls the arms down. This forces the cork into the bottle.

The second option is a floor corker.  This is what I use and it is great!  This can be done by one person.  You simply put the bottle on the corker’s pedestal, drop a cork in the opening on the corker and pull the arm down.  This forces the cork into your bottle.  You can also adjust the depth of the cork, if you need too.

Up Next: Part 4 - Shrink Wrap Tops & Labels

Let's Make Fruit Wine Part 2

Welcome Back!! If you are just joining us you may want to head back to Part 1 of our series on making fruit wine!

Now, onto Part 2 of Let's Make Fruit Wine!

After about a week, remove the mesh bag with your pineapple mix and let it drain into your bucket.  I don't squeeze my bag because I don't want the extra sediment in my juice.  Check your PA to make sure it is below 3 to 4 percent, if not then let it continue for another week. 

When it is ready, rack your juice into a 1 gallon glass container, add your bung and airlock.  Remember to clean and sterilize all your equipment before you use it.  You should rack your wine about 3 times in six months.  Let it go until it ferments out and is clear. 

I'll let you know when I taste test it, if I am going to sweeten it or not before bottling.  Once bottled you should let it set for 6 to 12 months.  I plan on opening my first bottle in early spring!  What a great way to welcome in the new season!

Have fun!

Up Next: Part 3 - Bottling Your Wine

Let's Make Fruit Wine

I’ve been making wine for years but was intrigued by making fresh fruit wine.  My first batch was a Blueberry Watermelon wine.  This time I’m trying Pineapple. 

I used our 5 gallon bucket for the primary fermentation, Wine Makers Jump Start kit  and our mesh straining bag.

I used 2 fresh pineapples that were about 2 lbs each. To get started you will also need:
3 ½ quarts water
2 lbs sugar
2 Campden tablets

Add the sugar and water to a stock pot and boil.  While waiting, clean the bucket and lid and sterilize them.  I used Potassium Metabisulfite but you can also use B-Brite.  Place your mesh bag into your clean and sterilized bucket. I cut the top and bottom off my pineapple, and then trimmed down the sides taking off most of the skin.  I found that using my blender and making a chunky mix was easier than using a potato masher to try and crush the fruit. Pour the chunky mixture into the mesh bag in the bucket along with a one crushed Campden tablet.  All the extra juice I had from cutting the pineapple was also added.

Add the water to the pineapple in the bucket and as long as it is cooled you can add:

½ teaspoon acid blend
¼ teaspoon tannin
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 Campden tablet 

Put the lid on the bucket but remember to vent it.  If you have a large vent, cover that with cheese cloth to keep the fruit flies out.  After about 12 hours add 1/2 teaspoon Pectic Enzyme and 24 hours after that add the yeast.  Everyday I gently swirled the bucket to mix it.

I am going to taste test the Blueberry Watermelon this fall and try making apple wine!  The batches of fruit wine I have been making are 1 gallon each.  We have a 1 gallon kit here.

To be continued next week...