Saturday, 12 May 2012

Should I Filter My Home Made Wine?


Yes. It is quite common for most commercial wineries to filter their wine after the fermentation process and before bottling. Some people think that this will remove some of the flavoring components but it has been tried and tested by the wine manufacturers for decades if not hundreds of years.

The filtering process will aid in removing the extra gasses that the yeast produces and will remove the yeast itself.

If you are unsure of how to filter your own wine then you can always look fore more information about wine filtering online.

Some wine kits will come with a wine filtering equipment and everything that you will need to filter your home made wine but if your kit did not come with one then you can go to your local wine making store to purchase on or you could simply purchase one online.

Tuesday, 1 May 2012

What is a carboy?

A carboy is the secondary fermentation chamber in the wine making process.

It is usually made out of glass and looks a lot like a large bottle from a water cooler.
You are going to want to attach an air lock to the carboy during the secondary fermentation process because it will keep the bacteria that is present in the air from entering the container and ruining the brew.

Monday, 30 April 2012

What is an airlock?

An air lock is a piece of wine making equipment that keeps air from entering your fermentation container while letting the carbon dioxide that yeast produces to escape. Some people also refer to this device as a fermentation lock. It will keep any harmful bacteria from infecting your wine and ruining your batch.

You can make your own air lock at home. It is similar to a water bong in nature and is really cheap to make if you have the right materials lying around the house or shop.

I am planning on making a tutorial at winemaking-equipment.com if you are interested

Saturday, 28 April 2012

Will removing the airlock interfere with fermentation?

No, it will not interfere with the process of fermentation at all.

If you take a sample of your wine, make sure that your wine thief is properly sterilized. That is what will mess up the fermentation process by introducing harmful bacteria into your brew.

Friday, 27 April 2012

What can I do with left over corks?

The simple answer is: Anything that you can think of.

It all depends on your own creativity. If you are not that much of a creative person and need to be inspired to do something crafty then here is a list of some neat things that you can do with your left over corks.

1. Make a cork board.

2. Place them in a large vase near your wine cabinet.

3. Make a cork gun. Like a potato gun but for corks.

4. Make a floor mat.

5. Make a floating pool chair.

6. Cat toys.

7. I'm out of ideas, but here is a link to some awesome ones with pictures.
http://www.drvino.com/2009/05/18/cork-dork-ten-cool-things-leftover-wine-corks/

Thursday, 26 April 2012

What are the laws in Canada about home made wine?

The Canadian legal system is a jumbled mass of legal jargon and red tape. Luckily enough, the laws are quite simple and clear about making and distributing your home made wine.

1. You can make all the wine at home that you want. You can not make liquor though.

2. You can share your wine all that you want as long as you do not charge any thing for it.

3. You are allowed to provide home made wine for family related events like weddings as long as you are related to the host of the party.


These are pretty simple and straight forward so if you need to know more about the subject of Canadian home made wine laws then you can just ask a question on here or dig through piles of government web pages and PDF documents like I did.

Also, these laws apply to home made beer as well. Happy Brewing.

How Do I Test The Gravity Of My Wine?

Testing the gravity or specific gravity of your wine is done with a hydrometer. The hydrometer is a simple tool that tells you what the specific gravity of your wine is compared to water. You can easily make your own home made hydrometer if you don't want to go out and buy one from a store.

For the past few thousand years people have been making wine with out the aid of such tools so worrying about the gravity of your wine is not that important if you are just starting to make your own wine at home.

The best way to test the gravity of wine is to take a sample out and put your hydrometer in that. This way you are going to be able to see the measurement a lot easier that you would if you just put the meter into the main container.