Self Sufficient in Morden.. chickens and vegetables in a small space

Over the last few months or so, I’ve been playing around with winemaking and just started a batch of ‘hard’ cider. We have a prolific vine running along the fence, so that’s mainly what prompted me to try it. That, and the idea that I could make my own alcohol, mostly for free, is something that basically blew my mind… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay £4 for a bottle of ‘cheap’ wine ever again.

Like most things I try, it’s become a bit of an obsession and I’ve gone all out for winemaking. Many people would be content with making their first batch as a test. I now have in various stages of fermenting, racking, bottling, and being drunk: 5l Elderflower from a pack; 5l White wine from the grapes on the fence; 5l Quince wine from the parents fruit; 5l of mixed apple/blackberry; and 5l of generic Chardonnay from Young’s set. My Christmas present was a huge 30 litre brewing bucket, and keg for secondary fermentation of beer and cider. More on that another time though.

Here’s what I’ve learnt so far.

It’s actually quite easy:

After reading around the topic, I had it in my head that making wine was quite a monumental task requiring vast amounts of precise scientific measuring devices, tables to look up starting “gravities” or conversions for the amount of sugar needed, PH levels, a notebook full of records… whatever!

The basic process of fermenting something is incredibly easy, and even easier when you actually know what the stuff they give you in the starter sets is. I wrote a separate post on what comes with a winemaking starter kit which you might want to read first if you’re thinking of giving it a go. You could get by without a starter set, but it’s just easier to get everything you need all at once.

So – How to make Wine:

1. Clean everything with steriliser
2. Get some juice (sometimes called a ‘must’), by either squishing, juicing, or diluting concentrate. Or just buy regular juice…
3. Kill any existing bacteria with 1 crushed up Campden tablet per gallon/5l of juice, and leave that for a day or so.
4. For every 5l, mix in teaspoon of yeast and test nutrient, and a teaspoon of pectic enzyme if you using something like grapes. Add about 500g of sugar, and test using a hygrometer to get a rough final alcohol content. I tend to just them as strong as possible (15% cider? Yes please)
5. Leave that in a sealed container, and stir a few times every day for a few days. This will ferment vigorously leaving a lot of scum on the top, and if you take the lid off you’ll be able to smell a distinctive ‘fizzy’ smell.
6. Transfer to a bottle or container with an airlock on it. Leave to ferment for however long required – this is now a slow fermentation that could take months, or just a few weeks.
7. If need be, “rack” the wine occasionally – this just means siphoning off what you have into another fresh container leaving the horrible bits at the bottom.
8. When you think it’s done (I don’t know – taste it?), crush up a Campden tablet to kill of any remaining yeast before bottling. This is crucial – if you don’t do this, your bottles may explode as the yeast continues to ferment. You may wish to adjust the taste too at this point.
9. After about 48 hours, bottle it. Leave to mature.

That’s it. I hope you can see, it’s actually quite an easy basic process. Of course, the difficultly lies in the details – such as what to do if the juice won’t clear (try some ‘finings’), or how to deal with a foul taste. Making things fizzy can be trouble too – it needs to either forcibly carbonated (with gas), or bottled with a little sugar and champagne yeast. I’ve yet to try either, but you can be sure I’ll report back when I do.