Fruit Wine

Fruit Wine Recipe

1. You will need 3 to 5 pounds of fruit per gallon of wine (except for citrus)

• Wash the fruit, pit or de-stem and crush or cut into small pieces into the primary fermenting vessel.
• Add one gallon of sugar water (4 ½ cups sugar dissolved in a gallon of water will give 22 brix) and stir. Ladle enough juice to fill the Hydrometer tube with the hydrometer inserted then spin the hydrometer to eliminate any air bubbles and then take a reading of the brix (the balling scale). The target is 22 brix.
• Adjust to 22 brix by adding ¼ cup sugar for each 1¼ brix required per gallon tested Example; 2 gallons tested at 18 brix (22 brix minus 18 brix equals 4 brix) 4 brix divided by 1.25 brix equals 3.2 (¼ cups of sugar) multiplied by the 2 gallons equals 6.4 (¼ cups of sugar) multiply this by .25 and equals 1.6 cups of sugar. Add the remaining gallons of sugar water and the additional sugar from above to make up the five gallons and stir until mixed thoroughly.

2. Check acid level and adjust to .50/.70 grams using an acid blend. Example; 1 teaspoon of acid blend will increase acidity by .15 per gallon of must or wine.

• Add ¼ teaspoon of potassium metabisulfite. This will give the juice 40-50 ppm of sulfite to aid in killing any wild yeast and bacteria that can be harmful to the wine.
• Add yeast nutrient. This will help the yeast give a full fermentation (follow the instructions on the nutrient that you are using).
• Add pectic enzyme. This helps break the fruit down during the fermentation process(follow the instructions on the pectic enzyme that you are using).
• Stir the juice and cover, let stand for 12-24 hours.

3. Prepare the yeast by using ¼ cup of luke warm water and ½ teaspoon of sugar dissolved add the package of wine yeast and stir let stand for 15-20 minutes until it gets a foam on top and the pour on top of the juice and cover. DO NOT STIR FOR A MINIMUM OF 12 HOURS

• You will need to stir the juice at least 2 times a day. Morning and evening. However if you can stir it up to 4 times a day it would be better. Morning, noon, evening and night. Make sure that the cap (fruit) is mixed back into the juice when stirring. Always put the cover back on the fermenter after stirring.
• After the third day of stirring you will need to start checking the brix using a hydrometer before stirring preferable in the morning. When the brix drops to 5-7 it is time to remove the juice and place it into the secondary fermenter (carboy).

4. Do not stir before removing juice.

• Remove the fruit on top of the juice (cap) and place into another vessel such as a large bowl.
• Remove the remaining juice by straining through a straining bag or several layers of cheesecloth and put into the secondary fermenter (5 gallon carboy) if you need more juice then gently squeeze the fruit that you removed through the bag or cloth. If you still need more juice then you can add a sugar water dissolve ¼ cup of sugar in 1 quart of water.
• Leave 3-4 inches of air space in the carboy for foaming purposes. Put the air lock in place and let set until there are no bubbles escaping this should take 2-3 weeks.

5. Now add 2 teaspoons of potassium sorbate in order to kill the yeast and insure that the wine will not restart when you do the adjusting later.

• You can add a clearing agent such as sparkaloid or bentonite to aid in clearing the wine. Let stand until there is a compact layer of sediment in the bottom of the carboy this will take 1-2 weeks.
• Siphon into another 5 gallon carboy being careful not to get any of the sediment. Now is the time to filter if you wish.

6. Remove (1) 750 ml bottle of wine and adjust to your personal taste (the basic ingredients that you would use for adjustment is acid blend, sugar and tannin).

• Adjust the bottle of wine by adding 1 tablespoon of sugar and tasting until you find the level that you like.
• Now adjust the carboy by adding sugar. For example if you liked the wine with 2 tablespoons of sugar, then you will need to add 2 x 24 bottles = 48 teaspoons or 3 cups of sugar
• Add the bottle of wine that you removed for adjusting back to the carboy and top off with distilled water
• Add 1/8 teaspoon potassium metabisulfite.
• Now the wine is ready to bottle (you will need (25) 750ml bottles).
• Clean and sterilize the bottles.
• Fill the bottle leaving 2 ½ inches air space from the top this will allow ¼ to ¾ inches of space under the cork.
• Cork the bottle. Note; Soak the cork in a sterilizer for 1-15 minutes depending on if you are using a hand corker or a floor corker.
• Let stand upright for a day before lying down after corking.
• Chill a bottle and invite a friend over for a tasting and comments.