How to make red wine from a wine kit at home.
Steps & Tips:
Purchase wine kit. I got a red wine kit from RJS craft winemaking. It is a blend of Cabernet, Syrah and Zinfandel.
Fermentation process:
Prepare required equipment: thief, test cylinder, hydrometer, long handled spoon, airlock, 6 gallons fermenter.
Clean and sanitize all equipment. I am using Five Star PBW solution for cleaning and Star San for sanitizing. After equipment is sanitized, don’t rinse it. Don’t be afraid of the foam when sanitizing ( always sanitize anything that touches the wine )
Follow instructions of your wine kit by adding water ( I used tap water ), concentrate, provided chemicals and wood chips in order described in the kit manual. If you want to add more smokey flavor to your final product you can buy additional oak chips and place them inside the fermenter.
Record gravity in your fermenter using hydrometer, I recorded 1.100
Place the primary fermenter in the warm ( 65-72°F ) raised place. Temperature in my home is changing, it gets quite cold at night. To maintain consistent temperature I recommend using a home brew heating belt pad with an adjustable thermostat. It will allow you to maintain a consistent temperature of your fermenter at all times.
Sprinkle dry yeast provided with the kit on the juice, don't stir for 48 hours.
Place lid with airlock ( must be half filled with water ) and rubber bung on the primary fermenter.
After 2 days you should start seeing the signs of fermentation. Now you can lightly stir the liquid with a sanitized long handled spoon. Anything touching wine needs to be sanitized before use. Wait for about 14 days, and check for specific gravity using a hydrometer, it should be 0.998 or lower. You might need to let it sit for a few extra days to reach this specific gravity.
Stabilizing & Cleaning:
Prepare required equipment: siphon assembly, 6 gallon carboy, long handled spoon, airlock and rubber stopper.
Clean and sanitize all equipment very well.
Siphon the wine to glass carboy and follow instructions in your wine kit by adding stabilizers and cleaners.
Attach rubber stopper and airlock half field with water and set it in a cool area for about 30 days.
Bottling:
When wine is crystal clear, it is ready for bottling. If it is cloudy, wait for an additional few days for the wine to clear. You need to obtain empty wine bottles and buy wine corks.
You can buy new bottles or use recycled bottles as I did for this batch. Remove wine labels by soaking bottles in the hot water, add dish soap and 1 cup of white vinegar. After 30 min, labels could be easily removed. Alternatively, a hair dryer could be used to remove labels.
Clean and sanitize required equipment: shiphone assembly and bottles. Set bottles on the drying rack to dry.
Siphon wine into the wine bottles, be careful not to disturb the sediment on the bottom of the carboy. Leave ½ inch between the top of the wine and bottom of the cork.
Insert corks using a corker. I am using a Portuguese Floor Corker. This is a great investment, I highly recommend it, it works a lot better than a hand corker.
Now you can get creative and print your own wine label. I have used a free version of canva.com to design my own label. You need to order wine labels of desired size and PVC heat shrink tubes to personalize your bottles.
Keep bottles upright for 1 day then store wine bottles on the side.
Let fine mature for at least 1.5 months in the bottle before drinking for the best taste.
Enjoy your wine!
