Almost all owners of country or garden plots make wine from grapes at home, as well as from berries and fruits. The most popular, of course, is grape, but berry and fruit are not inferior to it if prepared correctly. The finished wine retains the bouquet of taste and aroma of the berries and fruits used, reminiscent of a sunny, bright, warm summer and golden autumn.
Features, benefits and harms of berry wines
Homemade berry wines are distinguished by the fact that they can be prepared not only from one type of fruit, but also from a mixture of several representatives of these crops. The finished product compares favorably with store-bought alcoholic beverages.
At home, the best berry and grape wines are made, which are mainly prepared from garden crops grown on a personal plot or summer cottage, and sometimes purchased at the market. In any case, the drink is prepared from natural raw materials, without chemical additives or dyes.
To prepare wine, select ripe fruits that are not damaged by rot. Along with garden crops, excellent drinks are made from wild berries such as strawberries, blueberries and others.
Homemade wines in small quantities are good for health. For example, raspberry wine will help with colds, blackcurrant wine will strengthen the walls of blood vessels, cherry wine contains the women's health vitamin.
Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages can be harmful to health, and also if the technology for its preparation is violated.
How to select raw materials
To obtain an aromatic, pleasant-tasting wine, you need to choose the right variety of fresh berries.
- To make an ideal dessert wine, rowan berries, currants, and strawberries are used to make it.
- Dry wine is made from sour varieties of berries, for example, gooseberries.
- For blended wine, assorted berries are selected.
Also, the selected berries should not be green, rotten or dry.
How to make assorted wine from berries at home
Winemakers most often make wine from grapes, but they also use strawberries, raspberries, currants and other garden and forest berries. From a large number of existing recipes, you can choose the one that is more suitable for preparation from a certain type of berry.
Simple recipe
To make wine according to this recipe, you can use garden or forest berries.
Components:
- 3 kilograms of grapes;
- 300 grams of sugar.
To make wine, mash the unwashed berries with your hands, put them in a large container, add sugar, and stir. Place the future wine in a warm place, covered with a lid or gauze.
During the week, the juice and pulp must be mixed daily.
After seven days, squeeze out the wort, pour 2 cups of sugar into the wine product for 2 liters of liquid. Pour the juice into a bottle, put a medical glove on the neck, after pricking several fingers with a needle. The contents should not occupy the entire volume of the vessel. Three quarters, or even half a jar, is enough so that the carbon dioxide formed has time to escape and the resulting foam does not come out.
With a glove, the bottle lasts three weeks. Then the wine is poured into a glass container without disturbing the sediment. Cover with a lid and store in the basement.
Without yeast
Making wine without yeast follows the same principle as in a simple recipe. If it was decided to make wine from different berries, for example, currants, blackberries, strawberries, then for better fermentation it is necessary to add a handful of unwashed raisins. Wine made from grapes does not require additional yeast.
From frozen berries
A step-by-step recipe will help novice winemakers make an aromatic drink.
Required products:
- 200 grams of raisins;
- 2 kilograms of sugar;
- 3 kilograms of various frozen berries;
- 2 liters of water.
Before using the berries, they must be defrosted on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Afterwards, mash the fruits with a pestle until a paste forms. Pour sugar into the berry mass and heat on the stove until the crystals dissolve.
Place the cooled mixture in a glass container. For active fermentation, add raisins. After three weeks, pour the wine into a clean bottle without touching the pulp. Let the drink sit for several days. If desired, add 0.5 glasses of alcohol to increase the strength.
Fortified wine
There is no special technology for making fortified wine. The peculiarity is the addition of alcohol to the finished drink.
Required components:
- 4 kilograms of berries;
- 2 kilograms of sugar;
- 4 liters of water;
- 2 tablespoons of vodka per 500 milliliters of wine.
Mash the berries into a paste, transfer to a suitable container, add sugar, and add water. In one container, the liquid should be below six centimeters from the edge. Place the workpiece in a warm place, installing a water seal on top.
After twenty days, separate the wine from the pulp, mix with 250 grams of sugar, pour into a clean bottle, and install a water seal. After two weeks, carefully drain the wine without disturbing the sediment, add vodka, and stir. Pour the drink into a glass container, close it tightly, and put it in the basement for further storage.
Is it possible to make wine drinks from fermented berries?
Berries that have fermented but not become moldy are suitable for making wine. The product can be fresh, in the form of jam or canned compote. The cooking technique does not differ from that where freshly picked berries are used as raw materials.
Useful tips from winemakers
Before you start making wine for the first time, you should listen to the advice of winemakers.
- One of the main nuances in making wine is the correct choice of the main ingredient.Since the degrees in the drink directly depend on the amount of sugar, which during the fermentation process is divided into alcohol and carbon dioxide, berries must be selected from sweet varieties.
- To prevent the drink from spoiling, there should be no rotten, green berries in the future wort.
- Fruits must be processed unwashed, as wild yeast is present on their surface. Homemade wine does not use additional yeast.
- During fermentation, you need to monitor the temperature in the room; it should not fall below 20 and exceed 25 degrees.
To obtain high-quality wine, it is necessary to carry out a clarification procedure. The finished drink is poured into jars, closed with a lid, and taken to the basement. After a month, a sediment consisting of particles of wine material and yeast will appear at the bottom of the container. The wine must be poured through cheesecloth into a clean, dry bottle, trying to prevent sediment from entering.
Drink storage rules
Homemade wine, like any other alcoholic drink, cannot be stored in plastic containers, as over time the container begins to release harmful substances that change the aroma and taste of the wine. It is better to give preference to glass bottles and jars that will be closed with nylon or glass lids with a seal.
The ideal place for storage is the basement, where the temperature is kept within six degrees, where the sun's rays do not penetrate. The shelf life of wine at home reaches three years.
