Many winemakers are involved in home winemaking, especially gardeners, whose grapes grow in their summer cottage. At the same time, everyone has their own production technology, proven over the years. However, beginners are not familiar with all the subtleties of wine production . What is grape must and what manipulations should be carried out with it to obtain the final result?
Definition
Grape must is a blank for wine, which is obtained by pressing fresh grapes. It is allowed to include extraneous inclusions - seeds, peels, ridges.
Wine is obtained by fermentation of grape must, but there are many subtleties that need to be considered when preparing a homemade drink. By the amount of sugar, wine is divided into such varieties:
- dry - no more than 1% sugar;
- semi-sweet - about 2-3%;
- dessert - 13%;
- liquor - 30% or more.
There is also a classification according to the strength of the drink:
- table wine - 8-11% vol .;
- strong table - 12-14% vol .;
- fortified (often with the addition of alcohol) - 16-20% vol.
Dry wine is considered the most difficult to prepare, as it requires particularly careful supervision. In sweet drinks, sugar acts as a preservative, which prevents the wort from spoiling.
Proper utensils
Experienced winemakers know that the quality of the final product depends not only on the raw materials used, but also on the dishes that were used for cooking. Long-term contact with bare metal can negatively affect the quality of the wine and its taste. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to use metal containers, copper products.
The best option is the following dishes:
- clay;
- enameled;
- wooden;
- glass.
In this case, make sure that the container is clean and dry before use. To date, the most popular container for making grape must is an enameled bucket, in which it is convenient to grind wine material. For fermentation, glass bottles of 10 or 20 liters are traditionally used. Tools for mixing grape mass should be wooden or stainless steel.
Preparing grapes for processing
To obtain high-quality grape must, it is important to carefully consider the choice of grapes. For subsequent processing, only ripe or ripe grapes are suitable. Harvesting should be carried out in dry, clear weather, and grapes should not lie and wait for their fate for a long time after harvesting. A delay of not more than two days is allowed.
Before processing it is important to sort out the grapes, separate from it unripe berries, leaves and other garbage. It is strictly forbidden to wash grapes before use. Washing can wash away the particles of wild yeast that are found on the surface of the skin of the berries. At the same time, fermentation may be insufficient, and the wine will not work.
Making grape must
In order for the fermentation of grape must to proceed normally, the sugar content of the wine material should be about 22-25%, so you should stock up on a wine meter. Sugar must be added after the wine material has roasted for several days with the cake. Then you need to squeeze the juice and gradually add sugar, which must first be diluted in a small amount of juice. Cake can be reused to make chachi.
Periodically check the sugar content of grape must with a wine meter. When preparing sweet and dessert wines, sugar should be added in portions, with an interval of several days, since if you immediately add a large amount, fermentation can slow down noticeably. During fermentation, about 0.57% of alcohol is formed from 1 gram of sugar, so sweet wines will be stronger.
How much sugar to add to grape must? To get a classic table semi-sweet homemade wine, the amount of sugar should be 200 grams per 1 liter of liquid.
Regarding the acidity of the grape must, the optimum amount of acid should be 6-8 g / l. If the acidity is increased, then the wine material should be diluted with water. How much water to add to grape must? The optimal amount of water per 1 liter of juice is not more than 20% of the volume of grape must.
For the fermentation of grape juice with sugar, glass bottles of 10 or 20 liters are used. Filling them is not up to the top, you need to leave room for foam, which will invariably form during the fermentation of juice. On top of the tank you need to install a water seal, which is necessary for air to escape from the tank. As a water seal, an ordinary medical glove can be used. In addition, it should be remembered that in order to ensure perfect fermentation, the juice must be saturated with oxygen. To do this, pour it several times from one container to another.
Wort fermentation
The key to obtaining good wine from grape must is proper fermentation. It is important to responsibly treat the temperature regime. For red wine it is + 20-25 degrees, for white - + 12-18 degrees. At temperatures below +10 degrees, fermentation slows down and then stops altogether, as wild yeast falls into suspended animation. At temperatures above +35 degrees, wild yeast dies from heat. Containers with grape must must be left to ferment in a dark place without drafts, as they can affect the quality of the product.
Active fermentation ends when wild yeast processes all the sugar in the wort. This can be understood by the fact that the period of emission of a large amount of air is over. At the same time, the water in the hydraulic lock will no longer gurgle, the glove will deflate, and sediment will fall to the bottom of the tank. At this time, the grape must must be prepared for the first transfusion.
Transfusion and further fermentation
It is necessary to transfer the fermented wort so as to prevent the ingress of sediment from one container to another. This is done in the following way: a container with wine is placed on a hill, for example a table, while the new container should be lower level. Then the liquid is drained using a rubber tube. At the same time, it is important not to touch the sediment, since further fermentation with the sediment can give a bitterness to the drink, and therefore it will not be so pleasant to drink it.
After transfusion, grape must can be called young wine. It has a slightly cloudy tint, so it must be insisted that it goes through the “silent fermentation” phase. This will lighten the drink. It will also have to undergo several more transfusions, as in the process of "quiet fermentation" wine sediment will accumulate. After several cycles of transfusion, the young wine is ready to drink.
Wine ripening
The final step in home winemaking is the aging of the wine. It takes from 40 to 150 days. In this case, fermentation and death of the yeast occurs, the remaining sugar is finally processed into alcohol. This stage is very important, since it is during the ripening period that the wine acquires a “character” - it clarifies, acid and astringency disappear, a unique bouquet appears and the taste is saturated.
Storage conditions are also important at this stage, otherwise the grape must in wine runs the risk of turning into vinegar. It is considered optimal storage of containers in the cellar, at a temperature of +15 degrees. Ready wine under good storage conditions can be stored for years without losing its taste.
Fermentation stop
Many beginners in home winemaking may encounter such a problem - grape must does not wander, although the stage of active fermentation has not yet passed. What is wrong with him?
- Fermentation did not begin immediately after pressing the grapes. The fact is that the fermentation process depends on the amount of wild yeast that is on the surface of the berries. If their number is relatively small, then fermentation may begin later. Do not start to panic, you should wait 5 days. If after this time the fermentation did not begin, then factory wine yeast should be added to the must.
- Insufficient sealing of containers with grape must. This problem is faced by many beginners in winemaking. In this case, the fermentation process remains invisible, as the air passes by the hydraulic lock. In this case, air from the environment can also get inside the container, due to which the wort will begin to sour. This is not acceptable for a quality product. To avoid this, it is necessary to additionally seal the joints of the hydraulic lock, for example, to cover with plasticine.
- Thick wort. Most often this is typical for berry wine, as it turns out too much cake. However, when using grape varieties with small berries, this problem can also occur. In this case, you just need to dilute the wine material with water, not more than 15% of the total volume of the wort.
Any problems arising in the process of making wine are solved, it is important to notice them in a timely manner.
Wort Concentrate
Sometimes for the production of wine is used concentrated grape must. What it is? A wort concentrate is a product from grape juice, which contains up to 67% solids. It is obtained industrially using vacuum wort technology.
At the same time, the characteristics of the wine material also change - the color becomes richer, acquires amber shades, the taste is filled with caramel tones, the chemical composition of the product changes.
Concentration method
For the preparation of grape must concentrate, special equipment is required, which not every winery possesses. About the concentration of the wort at home and can not be discussed.
Under production conditions, wine material is immersed in a container under vacuum and heated to a minimum boiling point of 55-70 degrees. In this case, evaporation of the liquid and thickening of the product occurs. Caramelization of sugars, which are naturally found in grape juice, should be avoided, as this will significantly impair the properties of the wine material.
Wine "fast"
There is also a way to make wine, where the role of grape must is played by grape juice from the store. This option is quite risky, since there is a chance to get a low-quality product. It all depends on the naturalness of the acquired grape juice.
Cooking method:
- For a quick wine you will need the following ingredients: - grape juice - 3 l, raisins - 50 g, sugar - 50 g, water - 250 ml.
- First you need to make raisin leaven. To do this, dissolve the sugar in warm water and place raisins there, then wait for the fermentation to begin.
- Then the sourdough is filtered and poured into grape juice to produce wort.
- Wine material should be placed in a dark, warm place to provide conditions for fermentation.
- After 10 days, it is recommended to taste the wort and add sugar if necessary. Most often this is not required, since the store juice contains a fairly large amount of sweetness.
- Juice in containers is left in a dark place for fermentation for 3-4 weeks.
- When a precipitate appears, the liquid is poured into a new container, and 50 g of vodka is added to it to stop fermentation.
- After all the manipulations done, the wine drink is considered ready to drink.
Of course, the taste of such a “wine” cannot be compared with a drink made from grapes using technology, but it is quite acceptable for urban residents who want to somehow join in the winemaking.
Conclusion
Grape must is the basis for any wine. The whole production depends on its quality, as well as the taste and properties of the finished product. You should be careful about grape selection and its preparation for processing into must.
It may seem to many that the preparation of homemade wine is too complicated, but it does not require many physical and material costs. But after going through the entire cooking procedure, a novice winemaker will have reason for pride, as well as a certain amount of high-quality home-made alcohol.