Make & produce berry wine yourself

berry wines from grapes, raspberries, currants or other berries are quite easy to produce. It is important that the fruit is ripe and healthy.

Muddy and rotten fruits must not be used under any circumstances.

Any gardener can now make their own wine from a few pounds of berries. The main work is done by tiny little ones yeast fungi, which are in principle present on every fruit. Our task is to correctly handle the course of fermentation and to fill the finished wine into bottles on time.

In addition to the berries, the ingredients for the homemade berry wine are water, lactic acid, sugar, pure yeast, yeast nutrient salt, potassium pyrosulfite and antigel required. Antigel is an anti-gelling agent that ensures that the pressed fruit remains liquid and does not turn into jelly.

Steps using the example of black currants

The berries are picked, washed and destalked. For one liter of juice you need almost 1.5 kilograms of berries. The fruit is heated together with water, at least to 50 degrees. Then you add the antigel and let everything rest for 12 hours. After this time, the mash is created, a fruit pulp that is the basis of the berry wine. The mash is pressed through a linen bag or a trub bag. The resulting juice is mixed with sugar and potassium pyrosulfite. Add the pure cultured yeast and the nutrient salt. This juice goes into the fermentation vessel. The fermentation lock is put on and the vessel sealed airtight. Fermentation is best done at room temperature. You should keep an eye on the fermentation lock so that it does not dry out and air gets into the wine.

You can tell that the fermentation of the berry wine is complete when no more gas bubbles form. The fermenter should be moved to a cooler location. The yeast and turbid substances can settle there.

Once that is done, the berry wine is poured into another vessel. The last turbid substances settle and the wine separates from the dregs. You have to repeat the process (racking) until the wine is clear. If the wine remains cloudy or other wine defects appear, it must be assumed that mistakes were made during wine production, so-called wine defects.

wine bugs

The most well-known wine fault is the so-called brown fracture, a brownish discoloration of the wine and a slight sherry taste. Otherwise the wine can be bitter or cloudy. However, there are countermeasures for almost all wine faults.

quantities

• 4 kilograms of fruit
• Add 5 liters of water
• Add 20 ml antigel
• plus 3 kilograms of sugar
• 1 gram of potassium pyrosulfite
• 1 bottle of pure yeast
• 4 grams of yeast nutrient salt

Frozen Fruits

If you don't have a garden and therefore can't use fresh fruit, you should try frozen berries. You can get them in supermarkets all year round. It should be noted that some berries have more flavor than others. Raspberries have a dominant flavor. Strawberries quickly lose their aroma.

Frozen fruit wine is a great summer wine, very refreshing, especially when drunk well chilled. In order to emphasize the fruitiness, a mash fermentation should be carried out.

Learn more about making wine yourself