Home winemaking guide by Duane Piert
Equipment
30 litre primary fermenter
30 litre secondary carboy fermenter
Funnel
5 Litre measuring jug
Long handle mixing spoon
Long handle wire bottlebrush
2 meters of racking hose
Hydrometer
Alcometer
Wine thief
Airlocks and grommets or bungs
Pill crusher or coffee and spice grinder
Diary
Thermometer
Measuring jug
Syringe
Bottling tube
Wine glass
Measuring cylinder for hydrometer.
Bottles
Corks
Ingredients
Disinfectant – food grade
Sterilizer – sodium metabisulphite
Grape Juice
Chitosan (clarifying solution)
Potassium Metabisulphite - Campdem Tablets
Yeast Nutrient Salts
Bentonite - finings
Potassium Sorbate - stabilizer
Sugar
Sanitization
Always sanitise with disinfectant first then sterilizer in that order.
Use sodium metabisulphite to sanitise.
The Primary Fermenter
Colour the upside of the tap piece with black marker to show where the tap is and allow you to know if the tap is on or off.
Mark in texter every 5 litres and litre increments on the outside of your fermenter as they should be marked so they are easy to see.
When you’re not using your fermenters, after you’ve washed them out, store them with moisture absorbent product inside to stop mould growth.
Grape Juice
When emptying the grape juice container into the primary fermenter wash out the grape juice container with ½ a litre of hot water to get all the must out into the primary fermenter.
Always break down any must so that no solid mass is put into the fermenter by defrosting, boiling or watering down.
Always buy one or two litres of grapes juice and all the ingredients separately before and instead of a 12-15 litre wine kit to make a little wine first so you get to know what you are doing.
For a fruitier wine add more grape juice concentrate to stabilised wine before bottling.
To fortify, (increase alcohol content); add Brandy to stabilised wine before bottling.
Additives
Use the stirring spoon/wand to scrape out additive packets.
Always buy ingredients in as big a bulk as possible (probably 100gram packets) to save money and so you never run out when u might have a stuck fermentation.
The Yeast
Always rehydrate yeast in a little bit of water for a few minutes before adding to must.
The Secondary fermenter
Using carboys always have a large funnel on hand for faster filling when sanitizing.
Racking
Keep the racking hose in the freezer when not in use to stop any bacteria or microbes growing and spoiling your hose.
Bottling
About 15 minutes before bottling soak corks in sanitizing solution.
Label your creation bottles with what and when created.
Always use a funnel when bottling.
When bottling, lean bottle on side so wine does not froth up bottleneck and funnel.
Housekeeping
Always keep a diary of your creations with starting S.G. reading as well as any changes in S.G. or colour, odour, volume, etc.
Procedure
Sanitise all equipment. Warm ½ cup of water and add bentonite then stir to make solution. Add Bentonite solution to fermenter. Add grape juice to fermenter and stir. Add water, and/or sugar; to dilute must. Stir. Add cambdem tablets to sterilise. Stir then wait 24 hours. Add yeast and yeast nutrient. Stir. Take a hydrometer reading. Close lid with airlock and leave for 5-7 days. Siphon into secondary fermenter. Take a hydrometer reading. In ½ cup of water add stabilizer (potassium metabisulphite and/or sorbate) and add to must then stir. Add clarifying solution finings part A to must. Wait 1 hour. Add clarifying solution finings part B to must. Wait 14 days for must to clear. Siphon must into primary fermenter leave behind lees. Add extra potassium metabisulphite to prevent oxidation. Bottle the wine and seal with a good quality cork.
