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The production of homemade alcoholic beverages is popular, since at home an experienced person can prepare a drink both in taste and in quality that is much higher than store counterparts. Wine is made from various berries, fruits, including cloudberries. Homemade cloudberry wine has a special taste and unique properties.
How to make cloudberry wine
In order for cloudberry wine to turn out to be truly tasty and healthy, first of all, you need to choose the right ingredients and prepare them for the process of making wine. First, you need to sort out the berries. It is undesirable to use diseased berries for wine. In this case, the integrity of the berry is not important. Crumpled cloudberries are also suitable for wine. It is imperative that it be of maximum ripeness. Otherwise, the wine will be too sour and not enjoyable. Only ripe fruits will be able to provide a sufficient fermentation process and give the drink a characteristic aroma.
Often experts and experienced winemakers advise not to wash cloudberries, as there is natural yeast on the peel. They will help ensure the proper level of fermentation.
Wine can be prepared with or without yeast. It all depends on the personal preferences of the winemaker and the recipe chosen.
For insisting, you must select either glass or wooden dishes. Among other things, it should be understood that the process of making wine takes more than one day. Full maturation can take up to a year or more. It all depends on the desired result.
Traditional recipe for cloudberry wine
To make wine, you need the following ingredients:
- ripe cloudberries - 5 kg;
- 3 liters of water, preferably purified;
- 1 kg of sugar, better than white.
This recipe does not involve the use of yeast, and therefore the cloudberries do not need to be washed. The cooking algorithm is simple:
- Mash the cloudberries in any way until smooth.
- Put the resulting mass in an enamel container. The neck should be wide.
- Add water and 300 g sugar.
- Cover with gauze and send to a dark room.
- Stir every 12 hours. In this case, it is necessary to drown the thick masses that float to the surface. If the fermentation process has begun, this should be clear already in the first 24 hours by its characteristic signs: the appearance of foam, hissing, a sour smell.
- After 3 days, strain and squeeze. Any remaining wort can be discarded.
- Pour the resulting juice into a bowl with a narrow neck, in which the fermentation process itself will take place. Do not fill the container to the top.
- Add 300 g sugar and stir with a wooden spatula.
- Put a water seal on the neck or put on a glove with a pierced finger.
- Place the container with wine in a dark room with a temperature of at least 18 ° C.
- After another 6 days, add the remaining sugar.
- Wait for the end of fermentation, usually 40 days is enough.
- After the process is over, it is necessary to drain the wine into the container in which it will be stored.
- Seal the container tightly, preferably with a wooden stopper.
- Transfer to a cellar or other dark place to preserve and mature.
- After six months, you can pour into bottles and close. During this time, it is necessary to regularly filter it through a tube and thus get rid of excess sediment.
If it is necessary to add strength, then this is done at the stage of draining the young wine. To do this, you need to add either alcohol or sugar. In the case of sugar, you need to put on the glove again and let the wine be fermented.
Homemade cloudberry wine with wine yeast
Often the fermentation process is not activated on its own. Therefore, a recipe using yeast is considered reliable in this case.
The ingredients are as follows:
- wine yeast - according to the instructions;
- cloudberries - 3 kg;
- water - 2 l;
- sugar - 1.5 kg.
The algorithm for making wine in this case is simple:
- Sort the berries, wash and crush with a wooden rolling pin until smooth.
- Then squeeze the cake and discard.
- Pour in water, add sugar and yeast.
- Pour into a fermentation container, put on a glove and put in a dark place for 1 month.
- After a month, separate the young wine from the sediment and bottle.
- For 14 days, place the bottles in a dark place to ripen the wine.
- Withstand the wine, ridding it of sediment for six months.
A properly prepared drink has a unique aroma and taste that is popular with wine connoisseurs.
Rules for storing cloudberry wine
Keeping wine at home is easy. There are 4 basic rules to follow:
- Constant temperature mode... The wine does not like temperature changes. At high values, the beverage starts to age. This spoils the taste and freshness of the drink. At too low values, the wine becomes cloudy. Homemade wine is kept at a temperature of 10–12 ° C. Strong wine - 14-16 ° C.
- Humidity... The optimum humidity for storing the drink ranges from 65-80%.
- Lighting... No wonder expensive wines are kept in dark bottles. Light reduces the shelf life and quality of the beverage.
- Horizontal position... It is advisable to store bottles horizontally in special racks. You should not shake and turn the bottle unnecessarily so that the drink does not darken.
Subject to all storage rules, the drink will retain its taste, aroma and will give pleasure in consumption for true connoisseurs of wine drinks. If the bottle lies motionless at the correct temperature and does not open, then it can be stored for as long as you like.
Conclusion
Cloudberry wine has not only a unique taste, but also useful properties. If you make it with a strength of 8–12 °, then the output will be a wonderful drink for yourself and your guests. It can be prepared using both natural yeast and classic wine yeast. The fermentation and preparation process does not differ from the classic grape wine. Therefore, the drink is available to both experienced winemakers and beginners.
