When you think of wine making, grapes come to mind. But, not so fast. Other fruits can equally be used to make wine. In the past few years, home wine making has seen a huge increase in popularity and people are making wine with grapes and with other fruits.
The good thing is that making wine from other fruits is the same process as making wine from grapes. There is only a slight difference on the things you lay emphasis on. For example you would have to make adjustments in the sugar content and acid levels when working with other fruits. Since you can make wine from grapes effortlessly, going one or two more extra steps is not a big deal for most wine makers. Those who have made wine from other fruits than grape say it is worth the effort.
The big question is which fruits can you use? The answer is basically any fruit. The popular ones for making wine includes peaches, watermelons, plums, strawberries, blackberries, pears, grapefruits, persimmons, gooseberries, boysenberries and much more. Just like any new experience it would take some practice to fully figure out the best approach to get the wine just the way you like it.
The initial step in making wine from other fruits starts with the same basic principles used when using grapes. You must evaluate the fruit. And always remember that the wine produced is only as good as the fruit it was made from. The take home message here is to pay close attention to the fruit you are using.
When picking your fruits, avoid fruits with excessive number of bruises and or molds. Always make sure that the fruits you use are ripe. Unripe fruits tend to produce wine that is lacking in character. As you already know, before crushing, wash the fruit thoroughly.
Depending on how you like your wine, you might need to dilute the fruit with some water to get the best wine out of it. This is because certain types of fruits are naturally already too strong and would need to be diluted. Others may have an acidity level that is too high which would result in the wine having a very sharp taste. Example of a fruit that would not require any dilution is apple. Actually you can use pure apple juice, as is, without any worries. However, fruits like gooseberries and blueberries must be diluted. They have very high acidity and when used undiluted to make wine, produce wine with that sharp taste.
There is no single right formula on the amount of fruit to use for wine making. However, the amount of fruit you use depends on the outcome you are looking for. If you want to produce wine that is light and crisp, then you should use less fruit, while the opposite applies if you are looking at producing a sweeter and heavier wine such as a dessert wine.
To adjust the sugar level in the fruit you are using for your wine making, a hydrometer comes in handy. A hydrometer is a tool familiar to any winemaker and it is used to determine the level of sugar in the juice, and how much alcohol you could get from those levels. It comes as a tube of glass with a floating weight on one end. You place the tube into the juice and read off the sugar level by how high or low the hydrometer floats in the juice. There is a meter on the hydrometer that will indicate the alcohol potential.
Another thing you would need to monitor is the acidity of the juice. Different juices have different acid level. There are two ways in which you can check the acid levels. One is to use a litmus paper or PH testing strip, while the other method is the use of a titration kit. Using a litmus paper is a very fast and cheap way, but, it is not very accurate. The titration method is a much better way to check acidity and taste, and the results pretty accurate. If for any reason you need to adjust the acidity level, you could use either of three different fruit acids. They are malic acid, citric and tartaric acid, and could be purchased as a blend known as the acid blend.
Alex Amitlar is a Wine Making Enthusiast and author. He lives in Long Island and spends his time teaching others how to set up there on amazing vineyards in their backyard and how to make wine from their own grapes. His latest book, "Growing Grapes and Wine Making: A Beginners Guide," is available at [http://www.mygrapesmywine.com]
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