There are many nuances when making homemade wine. Starting from the technology itself and ending with the fact that in the end the alcohol does not taste as good as we would like. Very often the drink has to be sweetened additionally. How to sweeten ready-made homemade grape wine so that it does not turn out sour.
What wine is considered sweet?
There are several varieties of wine depending on the sugar content. The drink can be dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet.You can determine which type it belongs to by its sugar content. Sweet wines contain at least 45 g/l of sugar.
Cooking features
Homemade wine can be made from any variety of grapes. You can even mix varieties together or add additional berries and fruits. The bunches are harvested at the end of September or at the beginning of October, when frost hits. Frozen grapes have a higher sugar content. The main thing is that the weather is dry and sunny during collection.
After the bunches have been collected, they are sorted and the moldy fruits are thrown away. Then they immediately begin cooking. The main thing is not to wash the raw materials used before starting the process. The skins of grapes, fruits and berries contain wild yeast, which is responsible for the fermentation process.
The containers in which the drink will ferment must be perfectly clean. You can use wooden barrels or large glass bottles.
Rules for selecting ingredients
To prepare alcohol, you can use any fruits and berries of any variety. Varieties can even be combined. Thanks to this, you can get unusual tastes of the drink.
You can use overripe fruits, but not unripe ones. When using unripe fruits, fermentation will not occur as actively.
In addition to fruits and berries, you will need sugar, water, and raisins for cooking. In some cases, it is necessary to use wine yeast if fermentation does not start for a long time.
Classic dessert wine recipe
You only need two ingredients to prepare.
What ingredients will be needed:
- grapes of any variety (or other berries);
- granulated sugar.
How to cook at home:
- In order for the fermentation process to take place, the berries are not washed.
- Place the bunches in a large enamel cup, crush them with your hands or a masher to release a lot of juice.
- Then the container should be covered with gauze and put in a warm, dark room for 4-5 days. The mixture should be stirred twice a day with a wooden spatula.
- After the grapes begin to rise, the juice is squeezed out through cheesecloth. Pour it into jars and add granulated sugar to make the wine sweeter.
- After some time, the liquid should become lighter and bubbles should stop appearing; you can carefully strain the drink and seal it with a stopper. The main thing is that the yeast does not get into clean bottles.
- Place the bottles in a cool place for about 1 month. During this month, the drink must be poured into clean bottles three times to separate it from the sediment.
When the wine is ready, it is recommended to store it in a cool place, for example, in a refrigerator, or you can put the bottles in the cellar.
How to sweeten the finished drink if it turns out sour?
Quite often, if the proportions have not been calculated correctly, the drink turns out sour and additional sugar has to be added to it. In order to make sweet wine, you need to add an additional sweetener at one of the stages of its preparation. It is best to do this when the wine stops fermenting and the stage of separating the drink from the sediment begins. You can taste it, and if it turns out sour, sweeten it. Mix well and leave to brew for a few more weeks.
How to sweeten dry wine
If the drink turns out to be very sour, the question immediately arises of how to make it sweeter and more pleasant to taste. The drink may turn out too sour not only due to poor proportions, but also due to the characteristics of the grape variety used.If you use a variety with a low sugar content, then the drink will not turn out sweet.
Some people believe that if you leave the drink to steep longer, it will acquire a sweet taste over time. But it can only become more transparent or lighter, but it still will not acquire sweetness. In this case, you will have to resort to additional measures.
You can add sugar already at the stage when the alcohol is completely ready and you plan to bottle the drink. Then it needs to be mixed thoroughly and left for a few more weeks. This way the wine will be quite sweet, but not very strong.
It should be borne in mind that dry wine should taste sour. This is within the normal range, so you shouldn’t add as much sugar as possible to make the drink sweet. This will only ruin it.
