My Best Drink Preparations

[impish]

Are concoctions of crushed fruit of various types, combined with only 3 other ingredients: water, sugar, and yeast. They start life looking like this:



Then, the CRUSHER:



Next, the big 5 gallon bucket (food-grade, of course!)



From the bucket 7 days later, the stuff goes into big glass carboys, sealed off from the air by airlocks:


There to remain until it's time to "rack off" delicious Cranberry Wine, to hopefully be bottled quickly enough to ensure dispersion to all who have laid prior claim to some........

impish

 

[Morning Glory]

Nice that you make it so simple. Do you use a special type of yeast?

 

[rascal]

Is this too simple??? Looks simple. What would be the alcohol % please.

Russ

 

[impish]

Nice that you make it so simple. Do you use a special type of yeast?

@morning glory
It is indeed fairly simple. A few rules applying mainly to cleanliness must be adhered to, but other than that, the process is pretty easy. Compared to commercially-prepared wines and beers, home-made is the "real-thing". FDA allows, for example, something like 51 different additives in brewing beer, mostly chemical-like in nature. Home-made means, for wine, 4 ingredients only: water, yeast sugar, and fruit.

EDIT: Wine yeast is used, but what makes it different from bread yeast, I truly do not know.

 

[impish]

Is this too simple??? Looks simple. What would be the alcohol % please.

Russ

@rascal
The alcohol content depends on several things: amount of sugar used, type of yeast, and whether the fermentation is allowed to go to "completion", that being when either all the available sugar has been converted to alcohol by the yeast, or the yeast dies off while some sugar still remains, dying being actually alcohol poisoning........

I estimate most of my concoctions are about 15% alcohol. Those commercial wines such as Sherry, Port, Muscatel, and the like, having 20% alky actually have had alcohol artificially added, as no yeast known presently can exist above 15% or so.

 

[Morning Glory]

I estimate most of my concoctions are about 15% alcohol.

That is a good percentage. I'm talking as a drinker not a wine maker!

Wine yeast is used, but what makes it different from bread yeast, I truly do not know.

I don't know either - I will have to research.

 

[Morning Glory]

Slightly conflicting information.

This:

Wine yeast in particular is bred to obtain higher alcohol levels than baking yeast. On average, bread yeast will get you 9 or 10%. Anything higher than that is possible, but the baking yeast will have to struggle considerably. Wine yeast are bred to thrive very well with the set of nutrients fruits naturally provide. Baking yeast, on the other hand, prefers the balance of nutrients found in grains or bread doughs.

And this:

You do not need to use specialized wine yeast when making wine at home. Even if your recipe calls for wine yeast, you can easily substitute bread yeast without having an adverse effect on the final product. This is because wine and bread yeast are actually similar strains of yeast. When preparing wine using bread yeast in lieu of wine yeast, it is important to remember that, although the yeasts are similar, certain steps must be taken to ensure that proper fermentation occurs.

https://blog.eckraus.com/is-wine-yeast-and-baking-yeast-the-same
https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-activate-bread-yeast-for-making-wine/

 

[MrsDangermouse]

I think whilst you probably could use bread yeast for winemaking, you probably won't get the best end product. Like most things, using the right tools for the job usually makes things easier and delivers the best results.

There are various different strains of yeast used for winemaking - each one with slightly different characteristics which can influence the taste and final alcohol content of your wine. For example, if you want to make sparkling wine or a fortified wine then you need to use a type of yeast that has more resistance to alcohol. When it comes to fruit wines, again using the right strain of yeast can deliver better results. This is the table I use to select which one to use: https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/vintners-harvest-wine-yeast-brochure.35965/