Welcome to the exciting hobby of home winemaking! Whether you're a beginner just starting your first batch, or if you’re more experienced but looking to refine your skills, this guide will help you navigate the winemaking process when making wine from ready-to-go kits like those from RJS Craft Winemaking or Winexpert.
The following instructions will closely parallel the detailed steps provided in your winemaking kit, with a particular focus on why you are performing the actual step. The winemaking kit producers have optimized their “paint-by-the-numbers” approach to winemaking instructions, but they do not tell you why you do things. It’s helpful to understanding the purpose behind each step. As you gain knowledge, you'll also gain confidence, and ultimately you’ll have more fun and make better wine, which is the point, after all.
Below is a general outline of the winemaking process, along with explanations of why each step is important. The winemaking kit producers typically organize the process around the following three principle steps:
- Fermentation
- Stabilizing and Clearing
- Bottling
Remember to refer to the specific instructions included with your wine kit for precise details.
Step 1 – Fermenting the Wine
Typical Equipment Used:
- Primary Fermenter – this can be a plastic food-grade bucket and lid or a carboy and rubber bung. Make sure your fermenter is at least 7 gallons (25 liters), because you will be filling it to the 6 gallon (23 liter) volume.
- Wine Thief – a handy tool for drawing a sample of must or wine for checking specific gravity.
- Test Cylinder – the handy location for your must or juice sample where you float your hydrometer.
- Long Handled Spoon – you will need this to thoroughly mix the juice concentrate in the water. If you do not mix the concentrate completely, then your original gravity hydrometer reading will definitely be wrong.
- Airlock – it’s always best to affix and airlock to your bucket or carboy.
- Hydrometer – a common winemaker’s tool that measures the must or wine’s density, which ultimately can be used to determine the wine’s alcohol content and to determine if fermentation has completed.
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Clean and sanitize the following equipment: primary fermenter (bucket and lid, or carboy and rubber bung), airlock, long-handled spoon, hydrometer, wine thief and test cylinder.
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Prepare the bentonite. Bentonite is used for wine clarification. To learn more about bentonite, click here. Add the pack of bentonite to 1 cup (approximately 250 ml) hot or boiling water. Stir constantly to create a slurry without clumps. Set aside until Step 3. The wine kit instructions often say to pour the bentonite powder directly into the primary fermenter with some pre-measured amount of water. You can do this instead, but it becomes very difficult to fully mix the bentonite and prevent clumping.
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Add 4 quarts (4 liters) of room temperature water (68-77˚F /20-25˚C) to the Primary Fermenter. With constant stirring, slowly add the bentonite slurry from the previous step. Stir until completely dispersed.
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Pour the juice concentrate bag into the water / bentonite mixture in the primary fermenter.
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We want to get every last precious drop of juice from the bag. Thus, fill the bag with some warm water, shake, and pour this juicy water mixture into the primary fermenter.
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To the primary fermenter, add room temperature water (68-77˚F /20-25˚C) up to the 6 gallon (23 liter) volume mark. Stir vigorously. This is important for two reasons. First, vigorous stirring introduces some oxygen, which the yeast will utilize during its reproductive reparative cycle. Second, the juice concentrate is more difficult to fully dissolve than most people realize. If you do not get all of the juice concentrate evenly dissolved in the water, then your original specific gravity reading will be wrong. This is the number one reason why beginner winemakers do not measure the original specific gravity suggested by the wine kit manufacturer.
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If your wine kit contains any other additives, like oak chips, oak powder, oak tea, raisins, grape skins, or elderflowers, add it now according to the specific instructions supplied by the winemaking kit’s manufacturer.
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Make sure the temperature of the juice in the primary fermenter is between (68-77˚F /20-25˚C). The yeast appreciates a nice room temperature to get started. If the temperature is too cool, the yeast might not start, or it may take a long time to start. If the temperature is too cool and the yeast does not start, this doesn’t mean the yeast is dead. In this case, the yeast is just dormant, so you would need to move the primary fermenter to a place of proper temperature.
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Take a hydrometer reading. Use the wine thief to fill the test cylinder. Gently float the hydrometer and record the specific gravity (S.G.). As stated earlier, if your original specific gravity ready is vastly different from the suggested reading, this is almost always caused by not having thoroughly mixed the juice concentrate and water. This is not a problem. All of the sugars are present in the must, and the yeast will consume them and produce a wine of the exact same alcohol as if you had measured the recommended specific gravity. This is a measurement error only. The yeast will still do its job just fine.
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Place the primary fermenter in a warm (65-72˚F /18-22˚C) area.
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Add the yeast. Simply sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the juice. Do not stir the yeast in. It will hydrate slowly and safely on its own.
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Close your primary fermenter. Place the lid on the bucket or the rubber bung on the carboy. Always use an airlock to allow the CO2 gas produced during fermentation to safely escape the fermenter without building up dangerous pressure. Be sure to fill your airlock with water to the prescribed fill line.
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If your wine kit included any type of grape skins (including dried), then for maximum color and flavor extraction, stir every two days. You can stir once a day if you would like.
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Wine kit manufacturers sometimes recommend checking the specific gravity daily. This is unnecessary, but you can do it if you would like. When the specific gravity drops below 0.998, then proceed to Step 2 (stabilizing and clearing the wine). The fermentation may take approximately 14 days, but it could happen sooner or later, and neither is a problem as long as the specific gravity drops below 0.998, which means that the yeast has consumed all of the remaining sugar and has now stopped.
Step 2 – Stabilizing and Clearing the Wine
NOTE: You should only proceed with Step 2 if your wine has a measured specific gravity of 0.998 or lower. If this specific gravity is not yet achieved, then wait a few more days (or longer) until fermentation has finished and you have achieved the target specific gravity. This is important, because you do not want to begin clearing the wine (dropping out the yeast) until the yeast has finished fermenting all of the sugars. If you begin stabilizing and clearing too soon, then you will end up with a sweet wine. Worse, the bottled sweetened wine might begin re-fermenting, and then you blow out corks or blow up bottles.
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Clean and sanitize the following equipment: siphon assembly (usually an auto siphon and hose), glass or plastic carboy (6 gallons / 23 liters), airlock, rubber bung, and long-handled spoon.
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If your fermenter contained grape skins of any type, remove the straining bag. Squeeze any remaining wine back into the fermenter. After, it’s okay to discard the bag.
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Siphon wine into carboy. Try not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the primary fermenter. This is primarily spent yeast, and the purpose of siphoning is to slowly and gently transfer the young wine to a small vessel like the 6 gallon carboy where it can age anaerobically and clear. After siphoning the wine to the 6 gallon carboy, you can discard what’s remains in the primary fermenter, including the sediment, oak, raisins or elderflower infusion bag if your kit included it.
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De-gas the wine. Beginning winemakers are surprised to learn that young wine is slightly carbonated after fermentation. The wine must be de-gassed to properly clear the wine. To de-gas the wine, use a long-handled spoon and stir the wine vigorously for approximately 5 minutes. Some winemakers use a drill-mounted stirring device. Insufficient stirring will keep too much CO2 dissolved in the wine, which will prevent the wine from properly clearing. For more information about wine degassing, click here.
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Add the stabilizing compounds. Your wine kit likely includes packets of potassium sulphite and potassium sorbate. Add both packs into the wine and mix gently with a long-handled spoon. Be sure to stir for one minute.
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Some wine kits contain a finishing blend, which is either a sweetener or a flavor. If your kit has a finishing blend, add it to the wine.
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Wine kits typically include two packs of clarifying compounds, also known as finings. These include kieselsol (hydrated silica) and chitosan (mollusk shell extracted gelatin). First, add the package of kieselsol. Stir gently with a long handled spoon for 30 seconds, and then wait 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes wait, add the package of chitosan and stir gently for 30 seconds. It is important not to reverse the order of kieselsol and chitosan.
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Top off the wine. Topping off is the practice of removing the airspace in the carboy by filling it with more wine. This protects the wine against unnecessary oxidation while the wine clears and matures. You may use a similar commercial or homemade wine for this purpose. Fill the carboy until you leave about one inch below the rubber stopper. Some kit manufacturers recommend topping off with water. Don’t use water. This only dilutes your precious wine. Also, don’t think this is cheating, because professional wineries also top off their wine (it is cheating if you have 1 gallon of wine in your carboy and you top off with 5 gallons, but come on!). Also, don’t think that this adds to the cost of your wine. You would have drunk that bottle of wine you used for topping off – just not today.
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Attach Airlock & Rubber Bung. Let wine rest until day approximately day 42 in a cooler area (59-66˚F/15-19˚C), if possible.
Step 3 – Bottling the Wine
According to the wine kit manufacturers, this is approximately day 42, but it could be longer. Generally, there is no problem waiting longer. Of course, you should be aware that there is no particular advantage to waiting significantly longer. In substitution for oak barrel aging, most wine matures more rapidly (meaning it’s ready to drink) once bottled. Remember, only wine that is crystal clear is ready for bottling. If the wine is still cloudy, then wait for the wine to clear. This could be measured in days or weeks. Some winemakers filter their wine at this point, but proper filtration requires additional and expensive equipment.
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Clean and sanitize the following equipment: primary fermenter (either bucket or carboy), siphon assembly, and wine bottles. 6 gallons of wine (23 liters) typically requires 30 750ml bottles.
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Siphon the clear wine into the sanitized primary fermenter. Be careful not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the carboy. Why do we siphon the wine back into the primary fermenter? It’s never a good idea to bottle the wine directly from the current carboy, because if you disturb the sediment, then you end up filling bottles with cloudy wine. Yes, the cloudy wine will eventually drop clear in the bottles, but then you have bottles with unwanted sediment.
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Transfer the wine into wine bottles. Most winemakers like to use a handy device called a bottle filler, which is a valve at the end of a stem which makes it easy to controllably fill bottles without making a mess. When filling bottles, leave about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the cork to the top of the wine.
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Use a corker to cork the bottles. Wine corks are too big to press in by hand.
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Stand the wine bottles upright for 1 day. This allows the cork to properly expand and seal. If you lay the bottles down immediately, they might leak. For long term storage, it’s best to lay the wine bottles on their side, which prevents the corks from drying out and leaking.
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For long term storage, it’s best to keep your wine in a cooler environment (between 50-59˚F /10-15˚C) out of direct light. The wine kit manufacturers often suggest that your wine is now ready to drink. Try a bottle and decide what you think. Most winemakers find that allowing the wine to age for a few months helps to mellow the wine and develop the flavors.