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So you’re new to the world of wine making? Like to get some tips, hints or instruction? Well, you have come to the right place. I hope you land here BEFORE you make your first batch of wine. If not, maybe I can still help.
The most common mistake I have seen is that beginners try to make too much wine.
After you make a couple of batches, then it’s best to make at least 5 gallons at time if you can. But for the beginner, is it best to make 1 gallon in a glass jar. Why do I say this? Because I have seen many beginners waste a lot of fruit, time and money. Besides homemade wine tasting better, it should be many times cheaper.
A clear glass jar is preferable so you can watch the experiment. Make sure your primary fermenter has a wide top, and your secondary has a narrow top like a bottle top so you can limit the amount of air touching the surface of the wine.
Also, read several different articles on basic wine making, and a couple of different recipes on the wine you would like to make. For the beginner it is best to make red grape wine. Also, it is best to start with a concentrate. After you get some practice on the details of winemaking and wish to crush, press, or smash your own grapes, by all means do so.
If you have collected a lot of fruit for your first experiment, go ahead and freeze it, and only make one gallon to start with. Best to make mistakes with one gallon.
And as all say and should know, you must clean and sterilize everything. I only use campden tablets. If you use the correct concentration, you only have to soak your equipment and/or hands in this for 2 minutes. And please… when you rack, don’t put your mouth on the hose.
GL ALL
Damage Inc.
For questions, E-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with the subject title:”beginner winemaker.”
Great post. One question - what do you mean by a concentrate?
a frozen grape concentrate like welch’s. 100% grape juice.
i have also had luck with the store brand.
oh. That never crossed my mind :-)
Cool web site, I know it takes a lot of hard work to make one and then to attract visitors, good job!
I have about an acre of land that was wasting away (fully of blackberry bushes), last year we bulldozed that and I planed just horse grass to replace the blackberries and let it rest over winter, soil quality if perfect, in the 70s it used to be a strawberry farm, There were a few black berry plants here and there, but for the most part they are all gone. I am in Snohomish, WA and the field is wide open, all the sun hits it when it is out and there is trees protecting it from winds from all sides and it is a little bit down grade, lots of fresh water there too.
I really like late harvest wine, not much of a red wine drinker (don’t want to make any, because I don’t like it), and I seriously want to grow my own grapes and hops (I started hops already for beer and learned how to brew as well)…
So I will be doing research of grape types for this region and all soon, will hit up your Forum, thanks!
Coool, upss I said that already.
Ray
Blackberry mixed with grape makes good wine also.