Content
In the classic version of making wine, the pulp is usually squeezed out and thrown away as waste. But lovers of low-alcohol wine can re-prepare a drink from the cake. Moreover, such wine can be prepared from any fruits and berries. These can be apples, currants, grapes, and more. Further, in the article we will see the technology of making secondary wine. It is not much different from the classic recipe, but it has some important nuances.
Features of secondary wine
Coloring substances and elements responsible for the taste of wine are found mainly in the juice. For this reason, secondary wine cannot be as bright, rich and aromatic as the first. Some make wine again, and then distill it into moonshine.
After the juice is separated from the pulp, a small amount of sugar remains in it, about 1 to 5%. Extractive substances also remain in the skin and pulp. This prompted Burgundy Petiot (French winemaker) to ponder how the remaining raw materials could be used. He took up the preparation of secondary wine from grapes, but in the same way you can prepare a drink from other fruits.
The method consists in replacing the squeezed juice with sugar syrup. The sugar concentration in it should be 20%. They take almost equal or equal amounts of cake and syrup, and then infuse the mixture, like ordinary wine. Thus, you can get a good drink with a strength of 10 or 12 degrees.
Back in France, they began to make a "picket". This is the same drink made from cake with a strength of 1 to 3%. In this case, the cake is not strongly squeezed out. Only dark and sweet grapes are suitable for its preparation. This squeezed pulp is poured with plain water and left for further fermentation. In our area, this is not always convenient, since most of them squeeze the juice with a special juicer or press. In addition, most of the grapes and apples used to make wine have a sour taste.
Selection of raw materials for wine
Most often, for the preparation of secondary wine, cake from dark grapes is used. It is usually grown in warm regions of the country. The popular Isabella variety is not suitable for making petio. It is too sour, especially the skin, from which the future drink is prepared. If you take apple extracts or grape pulp from light varieties for wine production, then the drink will turn out to be almost transparent and will not have a pronounced taste.
So that a small amount of trace elements and tannins remains in the squeezed pulp, you should not squeeze the raw material too much. Leave some juice for a nice shade. You need to put the cake on fermentation on the very first day, or better immediately. Otherwise, oxidation of the pulp or acetic acidification may occur. It is also important not to overdo it so as not to crush the bones. Then the drink will taste bitter.
Homemade pomace wine
To make wine, you can use not only ordinary sugar, but also fructose with dextrose (another name for glucose). It is important to consider that fructose is 70 percent sweeter than regular beet sugar, and glucose is 30 percent less sweet.
So, we need the following ingredients:
- from 6 to 7 liters of freshly squeezed pulp;
- 5 liters of cold water;
- kilogram of granulated sugar.
In the classic French version, the amount of cake should be equal to the amount of sugar syrup. But since grapes in Russia are not so sweet and extractive, it is recommended to use 20 or 40% more cake. It is also very important to thoroughly wash all containers used for preparation. They must be sterilized in boiling water or over steam.
Wine making technology
- The first step is to dissolve sugar in water, or rather, not all sugar, but only 800 grams.
- The cake is transferred to a prepared bottle. Pour everything with the resulting syrup and mix. It is not necessary to fill the container to the brim. About 20% of the bottle is left empty.
- Next, you need to make a water seal. A common rubber glove is also used, in which a hole is made. The hole shouldn't be too big. You can pierce one of your fingers with a regular fine needle. This method is as effective as a tube cap.
- Then the container is transferred to a dark place. The air temperature in it should not fall below +18 ° C and rise above +28 ° C. It is advisable to open the water seal for a few minutes every 12 hours. At this time, you can stir the contents with a clean wooden stick so that the floating pulp falls to the bottom.
- After 24 hours, foam will appear on the surface of the wine and a slight hiss can be heard. This is the correct reaction, which indicates a successful start of fermentation. If fermentation has not started, it is necessary to add special wine yeast to the mixture.
- After 2 weeks, the pulp should be colorless. This means it's time to strain the wine and squeeze the pulp thoroughly. The remaining 200 grams of sugar are added to the resulting juice and everything is poured into a clean container.
- In general, the wine should ferment for up to 50 days. It is possible to understand that the wine is completely ready by its external signs. If no bubbles emerge for 2 days or the glove deflates, then the drink has stopped fermenting. At this time, a layer of sediment should form at the bottom of the wine bottle.
- Now you can drain the wine from the bottle. This is done with a straw. The bottle is placed on a small hill and a tube is lowered inside, the other end of which should be placed in a clean container of a suitable size. Now you can taste the drink and add sugar or alcohol to it if you wish.
- Further, secondary wine is poured into clean glass bottles and taken to a dark cool room for further storage. You can put young wine in the refrigerator if there is no suitable room. The more the drink is stored, the more the taste will be revealed. It is recommended to use this wine only after 3 months of aging. Better yet, if the drink will stand in a suitable place for six months.
Conclusion
This is how you can easily make a good wine from waste at home. Experienced winemakers don't just throw away anything. The pulp remaining during squeezing can ferment again if you do everything according to the instructions. This process is very similar to the usual preparation of wine, only it does not use juice, but sugar syrup. The taste and aroma of the drink, of course, is not the same as that of the first wine, but still, it is better than nothing.
