The Home Winemaking Page

Recipes

To give you an easy start in winemaking I've included some beginner's recipes below. The ingredients have been kept simple, they are cheap and don't require pulp fermentation when using clear juice. It's almost impossible to screw up, as long as you keep things clean. Read the Procedures and More info chapter before you start.
I've added a couple of more advanced recipes too.
For these recipes, you should also read the Sugar and alcohol and the Acids chapter before you start.
For other recipes, check the Links chapter.

Beginner's recipes

Advanced recipes

Beginner's recipes

Apple juice wine (5 L.)

Ingredients:
This wine is really cheap and easy to make. Took me about 3 months from fermentation start 'till bottling. Clears very well on its own. When using self-extracted juice, add some pectic enzyme, or it may get hazy. When crystal clear, it is ready to be bottled. Tastes poretty good for such an easy wine to make.

Grape juice wine (5 L.)

Ingredients:
When using white grape juice, you will get a white wine, with red juice a rose (pink) wine.
Calculate the starting amount of sugar, add the rest later when the fermentation slows down, in batches of 100 g.
As this is a grape wine, it will taste quite "winy", it will be slightly sweet.

Orange juice wine (5 L.)

Ingredients:
If you want to try something completely different, try this orange wine.
This recipe will give you a white wine, as the yellow stuff will settle down eventually. Be sure not to let the must stand on the sediment too long to avoid off-flavours, it starts to form soon after fermentation start.
Calculate the starting amount of sugar, add the rest later when fermentation slows down, in batches of 100 g.
May have trouble clearing on its own, I used some bentonite to get it clear.
It's a cheap wine to make. Tastes strange but nice.

Advanced recipes

Blackberry wine (10 L.)

Ingredients:
Make a yeast starter 2 days in advance. Crush berries and chop up raisins, put into primary fermenting vessel. Add water, crushed sulphite tablet and pectic enzyme and let it rest for 24 hours. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring the SG up to 1080, add the rest of the sugar later. When the yeast starter has started fermenting, add it to the must. After 3 days, remove the solids, and a few days later, when fermentation has really slowed down, rack to the secondary. Wait untill sediment has accumulated, and rack untill clear and stable (no signs of fermentation whatsoever). Then bottle. Nice wine, can be sweetened.

Elderberry wine (10 L.)

Ingredients:
Make a yeast starter 2 days in advance. Put berries in a kettle and boil for 15 minutes. Crush berries and chop up raisins, put into primary fermenting vessel. Add water, crushed sulphite tablet and pectic enzyme and let it rest for 24 hours. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring the SG up to 1080, add the rest of the sugar later. When the yeast starter has started fermenting, add it to the must. After 3 days, remove the solids, and a few days later, when fermentation has really slowed down, rack to the secondary. Wait untill sediment has accumulated, and rack untill clear and stable (no signs of fermentation whatsoever). Then bottle. This is a table wine.

Elderberry port (10 L.)

Ingredients:
Boil the berries with the raisins for 15 minutes. Crush the berries, preferably with a pulp cutter. When cool, add the water, pectic enzyme and campden tablet and let it stand for 24 hours. Bring the SG up to 1080, add the yeast nutriens and the yeast(starter). After 5 days, strain and transfer to secondary. When the fermentation slows down (sg<1000) add sugar up to SG=1040. We are trying to reach about 14 to 15% alcohol, as we will not add liquor, which is the commercial way. Now ferment to dryness. Wait untill the wine is stable. This can take a long while. Wait another month, add 1 level teaspoon sorbate, and bring the SG up to 1020 (about 550 g sugar). Bottle and age.

Grape wine (10 L.)

Ingredients:
Make a yeast starter 2 days in advance, preferably with some of the grape juice. Destem the grapes and crush them, put into primary fermenting vessel. Add 2 crushed sulphite tablets and pectic enzyme and let it rest for 24 hours. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring the SG up to 1090. When the yeast starter has started fermenting, add it to the must. After 5 days, strain to remove the solids, and transfer to secondary. Wait untill sediment has accumulated, and rack untill clear and stable (no signs of fermentation whatsoever). Then bottle. The simplest wine, and often the best.

Other recipe resources can be found in the Links chapter.

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