Homemade fruit and fruit wines are great drinks to taste. Each hostess has several crown recipes for preparing a variety of wines, tinctures and liquors with which you can treat dear guests. Unlike alcoholic drinks from grapes, homemade wine from watermelon is not so often prepared by the hostesses. And this, according to many, is unfair. Watermelon is more than suitable fruit for making wines, or rather a berry, because it contains a large amount of sugar and a lot of useful substances. In addition, there is a lot of liquid in it, which means that for the preparation of the drink, you can use its juice in its pure form.
What wines can be made from watermelon?
In most cases, amateur winemakers prepare strong or light table wines. However, the watermelon has a special fresh flavor, which will perfectly decorate with liquor or a sweet dessert option. Wine from watermelon can be diversified by adding your favorite spices. But you need to be careful with this, because the weak aroma of the berry can be interrupted by too intense a smell of spices. You can give a special highlight to watermelon wine by adding juice from other fruits and berries: cherries, cherries, raspberries or melons. Another option that will appeal to those who like unusual drinks is sparkling wine from watermelon.
What can affect the taste and aroma of watermelon wine?
When making wine from watermelon at home, it is important not to forget that several factors can affect its taste.
- Firstly, sweet, fully ripened watermelon fruits are considered suitable for winemaking. They contain the maximum amount of sugars, and the aroma becomes the most intense.
- Secondly, it is important to use whole, smooth fruits without various wormholes, cracks and frostbite. In this case, you can be sure that the pulp lacks a variety of microorganisms that can affect the fermentation process and the taste of wine in the future.
- Thirdly, despite the high water content of watermelon juice, you should not evaporate it, because of this it acquires a specific, not quite pleasant aftertaste and smell.
- And finally, before starting an experiment with home winemaking, it is important to learn at least in general terms how to make wine from watermelon.
5 secrets to getting the best taste from watermelon wine
Making wine from watermelon involves the same steps as preparing similar drinks from other fruits and berries: getting juice or pulp, then wort, settling and ripening. At each stage, it is necessary to observe conditions, the violation of which can lead to the fact that the wine will turn out to be tasteless and without a peculiar watermelon aroma. So, we will consider the main subtleties of how to make wine from watermelon in accordance with all the rules.
- Peeling watermelon and separating the pulp. At this stage, it is important to completely separate the flesh from the crust, excluding the ingress of white parts that, when fermented, can give the wine bitterness. Grains caught in the pulp and not removed from it, when pressing and squeezing the juice can also significantly change the taste of the finished drink.
- It is advisable to squeeze the cleaned pulp as quickly as possible, since it is easily oxidized by air. The leavened pulp has lower taste and less intense aroma.
- If the must prepared according to all the rules refuses to ferment, or the fermentation is very weak, you can add one drop of ammonia per 50 liters of liquid.
- When pure juice is fermented, a weak table wine is obtained. For lovers of stronger drinks, a piece of advice is useful: add a little tartaric or tannic acid to the fermented watermelon mass.
- The most delicious wine from watermelon reviews are among those that ripened for about a year. That is why in order to obtain the most vivid taste and aroma, the drink must ripen after the end of fermentation and filtration.
Wine from watermelon: a recipe for cooking
To prepare 8 liters of table watermelon wine you will need:
- 10 liters of fresh watermelon juice;
- 650 g of granulated sugar;
- 2.5 g of tartaric acid;
- 10 g of tannic acid.
All ingredients must be combined and stirred until sugar is completely dissolved, then place the mixture in a tightly sealed container, which is put in a dark cool (but not cold) place. Literally, during the first two days, violent fermentation begins, the appearance of which can be determined by the hissing inside the tank. Opening the wine during the ongoing process is not worth it, as this may delay its readiness.
After the end of the hiss, you can open the container with the finished drink and, having filtered it, pour it into clean bottles. Young watermelon wine is transparent, has a light pink color and the smell of watermelon pulp. One-year ripening in a dark cool place makes the drink more saturated and tastes good. In this case, its color may acquire shades of orange or brown.
Watermelon Dessert Wines
How to make wine out of watermelon that will be sweet? To prepare a drink that belongs to dessert, you need to slightly change the recipe, which is mentioned above. For every 10 liters of juice you need to add 3 kg of sugar, 32 g of tartaric and 20 g of tannic acid. They can be replaced with 15 g of wine yeast. The cooking process is identical. After fermentation, you can add another 0.5 kg of sugar to the finished watermelon wine.
For the preparation of watermelon liqueur for every 10 liters of juice, 12 kg of sugar will be required. Half of the latter must be mixed with wort before fermentation begins, and the remainder is closer to its end. To better mix sugar with a drink, it is better to prepare syrup by dissolving it in hot water in a ratio of 2: 1. Wine yeast will require about 20 g for every 10 liters of the prepared beverage. They can be replaced with 40 g of tartaric and 15 g of tannic acid.
Watermelon Wine Snacks
Watermelon wine has a very delicate taste and aromatic notes, so the snacks that are served to it must meet certain requirements. The drink is perfectly complemented by fruit and berry mixes, mild cheeses and fruit cakes, as well as pastries with creamy fruit cream. Watermelon wine can be served in glasses that are filled with fruits and berries. This form of serving the drink will replace any other dessert.
Wine from watermelon does not go well with fatty and fried dishes, meat, fish, seafood. You should carefully consider the choice of cheese: with blue mold, hard spicy varieties will “clog” the taste of wine.