How to Make Wine from Scratch

The average cost of mid-range wine is about $10 to $70, depending on the brand. If you are serious about spending less on wine, you can always make your own at home. Making your own wine is surprisingly easy as long as you have all the right equipment. In today’s post, we are giving you a step-by-step guide to making wine from scratch:

You will need:

2 cans of grape juice concentrate (no artificial colors or preservatives)
2 cups of sugar
1 packet champagne yeast
1 gallon reverse osmosis water

Directions

Step 1: Sterilizing Your Utensils

You want to make sure all your containers and utensils are germ-free so sanitize your equipment by sticking them in your dishwasher and exposing them to high heat at about 183 °F. If you do not have an automatic dishwasher, boil the glass and steel equipment in water for 3 minutes to kill off bacteria. For plastic containers, just wash them with dishwashing liquid, rinse well, and air dry.

Step 2: Mixing the Ingredients

Once all utensils and containers are clean and sanitized, you can start mixing the ingredients. Boil the water to 144 °F (use a thermometer), and keep it at this temp for 22 minutes. Add the juice concentrate (room temp juice) to the dry jug. You can use a funnel to avoid spills. While the water is hot, dissolve the sugar into it and stir while pouring.

Step 3: Activating the Yeast

After mixing the ingredients, you can proceed with the activation of the yeast. Do this by dissolving a teaspoon of sugar to a ¼ cup of lukewarm water in a clean bowl. Add the yeast, stir it in and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes or until the mixture turns frothy.

Once the boiled water starts cooling down, pour it into the gallon jug that contains the juice concentrate. Make sure the boiled water is cool enough that it is no longer steaming and the pot barely radiates heat before pouring it into the jug.

Next, dissolve the sugar water to the jug by stirring it with a sterile utensil or by capping the jug and shaking vigorously. Stir in the yeast. Remove the cap of the bottle and replace it with a  fermentation-friendly cap so CO2 does not escape.

If you don’t have a fermentation-friendly cap, you can use an airlock in the mouth of the jug or place a balloon over the mouth of the jar and secure it with a rubber band. Essentially, you want the mouth of the jar to be as secure as possible so CO2 does not escape and ruin the fermentation process.

Step 4: Fermenting the Wine

Once the mixture is secure and airlocked in the wine jug, keep it in dark space, away from sunlight. If the mixture does not generate bubbles, it is a sign that the mixture is not fermenting well. If this happens, you’ll have to repeat the whole process from the start. If the mixture generates bubbles, leave the jug in a dark place for 10 to 14 days. At this point, the liquid goes from cloudy to clear. After 14 days, transfer the liquid to a smaller bottle, leaving the sediments on the bottom of the first bottle. Your wine is now ready to drink!