Fruit and Berries in Wine Making

Creating your own wine from fruit or berries is a fascinating and rewarding spare-time activity. You can produce fruit wines of noteworthy flavor, body and character for a fraction of what they would cost you at the bottle shop, and if the fruit is just sitting in your backyard just ready and waiting to be picked--then that is a heck of a bargain. Additionally, by creating your own fruit wine you will be joining the thousands of pleased people who already doing so.

The first step to making fruit and berry wine is working out what kind of wine you would like to make. This could be anything from banana to blackberry. If you have an abundance of a specific fruit in stock then that evidently would be a first candidate. You perhaps prefer a special type of fruit that you cannot wait to taste it as a wine. There is just about no limit as to what you could use to produce your own fruit wines, and that is partly what makes this interest so fun and exciting.

You will need the following ingredients both for the fruit wine creating process and the resulting flavor of the completed product.

Sugar: The amount of sugar used will depend on the type of fruit or berries used.

Pectic Enzyme: it is advisable for all fresh fruit wines. Add it to the fruit juice before fermentation to raise the clarification process. Use 1/8 teaspoon of Pectic Enzyme for every gallon of juice/pulp at the start of fermentation.

Yeast Energizer: is an assortment of nutrients established best for berry, mead, herb and vegetable wines. It will step-up the flavor qualities of these wines and as well allows you to attain higher alcohol levels. Normally 1/2 teaspoon of yeast energizer per gallon of wine is used. Dosage shouldn't go past 1-1/2 teaspoon per each gallon of wine.

Acid Blend: these are the three most common acids found in fruit: citric, malic and tartaric. It is commonly used in fruit wines that are by nature low in acid. Dissolve the necessary amount of Acid Blend directly into the wine prior to the yeast added. Titration readings taken with an Acid Testing Kit should be about .55%-tartaric for a correct fermentation. Readings taken using pH strips should be about 3.8 to 3.4.

Yeast Nutrient: serves the wine yeast in giving rise to a complete and speedy fermentation. It's advisable for use in all fermentations. Add Yeast Nutrient prior to fermentation by stirring directly into the fruit juice until entirely dissolved. Total dosage should not go past 1-1/2 teaspoon per each gallon of wine.

Tannic acid: most winemakers use it with white and rose wines, but can be used in red wines as well. Most fruits are lacking in tannins.

Yeast: special blend of different strains of winemaking yeast from famous locations from around the world. Follow directions given.

FRUIT WINE RECIPES

There are numerous sources for fruit wine formulas and a lot of these are good and sound recipes while others are--simply put-- recipes for failure. Once you have your recipe and ingredients put together it is time to make the wine. Making the wine is deceivingly easy. It is fundamentally a matter of combining all the ingredients together and letting Mother Nature do... what comes natural.

After a few days you will require to take the pulp out of the wine and from time to time you need to siphon the wine off of the sediment that is happening throughout the operation. It is chiefly a matter of waiting. The following two are fruit wine recipes that have been time and time again proved to be worthy of making.

Banana Fruit Wine

Produce: Bananas 15 lbs.

Sugar: 15 lbs

Yeast Nutrient: none

Yeast Energizer: 1 tbsp.

Pectic Enzyme: 1/2 tsp

Acid Blend: 5 tbsp.

Wine Tannin: 1/2 tsp

Yeast: Montrachet

It makes 5 US gallons.

Mulberry Fruit Wine

Produce: Mulberry 25 lbs.

Sugar: 10 lbs.

Yeast Nutrient: 2 tbsp.

Yeast Energizer: none

Pectic Enzyme: 1 tsp.

Acid Blend: 3 tsp.

Wine Tannin: 1 tsp.

Yeas: Montrachet

It makes 5 US gallons.

Fruit and berry wines, like wine made for grapes, provide various antioxidants that assist in the maintenance of good health. However, they must also be drunk in moderation.

fruit and berry wines