The Making of Wine
by Kelly Bishop (C.A. West Kingdom)

Equipment:
e  1  one gallon (3.75 – 4 L) glass jug, ie an old juice or wine jug which hasn't been used to store kerosene or vinegar etc. 
e  1 rubber band 
e  2 4x4 inch sq. of heavy kitchen plastic wrap
e  1 medium sized food grade funnel, plastic or metal 
e  A long stick or rod for stirring (you can whittle down a wood spoon, but a long chopstick works just fine).

Later (in about 2 months), you'll need another gallon jug, and a 3-4 ft. length of clear plastic tubing from an aquarium or winemaking supply shop.

Ingredients:
e  1 12 oz. can frozen fruit juice (any brand) 
e  1 6 oz. can frozen lemonade or the juice of two lemons, strained (don't use bottled lemon juice, ugh) 
e  1 lb. of sugar (two cups) or 1 1/2 lb. mild honey (extra ½ cup of sugar if using lemons instead of lemonade).
e  1 gallon of water, boiled and cooled while covered 
e  1 packet of wine yeast (Champagne or Montrechet) 
e  1/2 tsp pectic enzyme (optional but recommended) 
e  5 camden tablets to sterilise jugs (optional but recommended) 

 Procedure:

Boil most of the water in a stainless steel or enamel pot and let it cool, covered.  Boil the sugar or honey with one quart of the water and let it cool, stir to dissolve the sugar.  Take the juice out of the freezer to defrost.

Sanitise the one gallon jug by boiling it in a large pot of water for 10-15 minutes, OR wash it and clean it with a bottle brush, rinse, then swoosh it out with the Campden solution, OR using “Milton” solution (ask a friend with a baby for some), OR use a mix of unscented bleach and water (6 ml to 3.8L water), soaking for twenty minutes.  The last two suggestions may leave a chlorine smell and may affect the taste of the wine, if you are worried about this, rinse with boiling water.  Cleanliness in winemaking is not quite as essential as it is in beer making, but it is still very important.

 When the sugar water is still a bit warm, pour it into the jug using a funnel which as been sterilised. Add the thawed apple juice, and the strained lemonade or lemon juice. Then add the plain, cool water up to where the neck of the jug starts to slant upward. Add the pectic enzyme if you are using it. Stir with your sterilized stirring rod. Put the piece of plastic over the top and secure it with the rubber band. Store in a dark spot.  24 hours later, remove the rubber band and tap the packet of wine yeast into the jug. Replace the plastic with a new piece, and put the rubber band back on snugly.

Put the whole thing in a warm (24 °C), preferably dark place for one month to ferment. The temp. should be in the range of about 15 - 27 °C.  After the first day, you should see a bit of froth (“must”) at the top of the liquid, this means the yeast is happily eating the sugar and making alcohol. It will be fairly active for the first couple of weeks, then it will settle down.

After a few weeks, you will notice a sediment at the bottom of the jug, and nearly clear wine above. You need to rack the wine, or separate the good stuff from the dead yeast and sediment. To do this, sanitize another jug and the tubing. I strongly recommend that you use the sulphite solution rather than boiling for the tubing.  Boil another cup or so of water.

 Place the jug of wine on a table, moving it carefully so as not to disturb the sediment. Put the empty jug directly below on the floor. Remove the plastic again, and carefully insert one end of the tubing down into the wine to a few inches above the sediment and hold it there with one hand, or have a friend hold it.  Squat down above the empty jug and suck gently on the end of the tube.  Be sure to rinse your mouth out before you do this. (Some people swish out with vodka!). The wine should start flowing up out of the high jug into the tube, heading for the lower point of gravity, which just happens to be the end of the tube which is between your lips. Quickly remove it from your lips and insert into the empty jug and let the wine flow inside. Try to avoid vigorous splashing.  If you have to stop for a second, just pinch the tube firmly.  Keep the tube in the liquid of the high jug or else the flow will stop. Continue to siphon until just before the sediment begins to enter the tube. Remove the tube from both jugs.

Top up the wine by adding the boiled water to it until the mixture reaches the bottom of the neck, replace the old plastic with new, and add the rubber band. Don't fill the jar all the way up to the top. You need room for the gases. If you taste the wine it will probably taste pretty raw, but don't worry, time will make it taste great!

At the end of about two months (or sooner if the weather is warm) you should check the wine again. You can tell if the wine has finished fermenting (has eaten all the available sugar) by gently tapping the jug to see if any little bubbles rise to the top. If they do, it's still fermenting. Be patient. There will be more sediment on the bottom of the jug, but not a whole lot. Later on you can acquire a hydrometer enabling you to be more scientific about the fermentation process.

When at last the wine is finished fermenting and fairly clear, (1-3 months) you can do several things; you can rack the wine again and drink it, it won't be too bad:  you can rack it and leave it in the jug for another six months and then drink it, it will be lots better:  or, you can bottle it after the final racking. Champagne yeast gives a nice firm sediment and it's easy to rack. Your wine has only about 7-9% alcohol and won't keep for more than about a year.

Good luck and have fun!

 Notes:

Plastic wrap vs airlocks: Later on in your winemaking career I would encourage you to use a proper rubber bung and air lock instead of the rubber band and plastic (to keep the air out and let the gas out of the bottle), but this is your first gallon, and this method should be okay.

Wine Yeast: Wine yeast costs about a dollar a packet. Don't use bread yeast or beer yeast. They don't come out quite right, although they will work in a pinch. Wine yeast is best because it doesn't make 'off' flavors, and it tolerates higher alcohol content. One packet makes one to five gallons of wine.

Pectic Enzyme: The pectin naturally present in fruit is nice for making jelly but not for making wine. It can create a harmless, but less than aesthetic haze. Pectic enzyme eats the pectin, helping the wine to clear as it ferments. If the idea of the pectic enzyme is too complicated or weird to you, leave it out for right now, but really, this is not a big deal.

Campden Tablets: These are Sodium metabisulphite. If you are sensitive to sulphites, use another sterilizing method. Many wine-makers use them to sterilize the juices in the wine as well, but we don't need to worry about that so much in this case.

Supply shops: The wine yeast, pectic enzyme, and Campden tablets can be purchased at your local wine supply or brewing supply shop, as well as the rubber bung and air lock and any number of other interesting gadgets. There are also several mail order places online.

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