Hello,

I have been told that a refractometer works real nice to check the alcohol content in the must and also at the end is this true?

Gary
_____

Dear Gary,

A refractometer will not test the alcohol level. It will only test the sugar level of the must or wine at any given time. This is no different than what a hydrometer can do.

By comparing two sugar level readings, one taken before fermentation and the other after, you can determine how much alcohol was made by the yeast. Yeast consume sugar and turn it into CO2 gas and alcohol. If you know how much sugar was consumed by the yeast, then you can determine how much alcohol the yeast made.

What makes the refractometer extremely useful is that you can take accurate sugar readings with very small samples, just a couple of drops. This makes it ideal for checking the ripeness of the grapes while out in the vineyard. It also is handy when you need to take a quick reading during pressings or before and after fermentation.

On the other hand the hydrometer needs enough sample for it to float. This could take as much as 4 or 5 ounces of wine or must. A hydrometer jar is also needed to hold the sample. So as you can see more time and effort is involved to take a reading with a hydrometer.

Best Wishes,
Customer Service at E. C. Kraus

Hello Wine People,

I would like to know what to do about the following situation: I like to make wine and I make Muscadine and when it is finished the wine has a bitter taste. Can you tell me what I am doing wrong and if there is something I can do to smooth it out.

Thanks
Lena
_____

Dear Lena,

The first thing that needs to be realized is that Muscadine grapes are not necessarily ideal for making wine. Each berry has a huge amount of skin and pulp which can contribute to making the wine harsh. Some consideration needs to be given to this fact.

But beyond this bitterness can be caused in any wine by the following:

1. Leaving the pulp in the fermentation too long. You may want to consider leaving the pulp in the fermentation for maybe one or two days, instead of 5 to 7 days like many recipes will instruct you to do. When the pulp is left in the must too long excessive amounts of bitter tannins can be leached into the must.

2. Crushing-up the pulp too much. Over processing the pulp will also allow too much bitterness to be released from the skins. Using things like blenders and food processors is a no-no. You only want to burst the skins so that the yeast can get to the inner part of the fruit during the fermentation. Doing anything more than this is not necessary and harmful to the wine's flavor.

3. Using too much fruit. Unlike making wine from actual wine grapes where all the liquid comes from the grapes, Muscadines need to be cut with water because of its high level of acidity. A muscadine wine recipe will typically call for only 20 to 30 pounds of grapes to make five gallons of wine. This represents around 25% of the finished product's total liquid. If you are using more than 30 pounds than that may be what is causing this issue. Try cutting back to using only 20 pounds of Muscadines.

Also, realize that all wines are bitter to some degree when they are first done fermenting, and this is probably what you are tasting. A significant amount of this bitterness will age out of a wine when given enough time. You may also want to consider using a fining agent such as our Speedy Bentonite. This will help to remove the bitterness from the wine more quickly.

Hope this helps you out.

Best Wishes,
Customer Service at E. C. Kraus

E. C. Kraus has put together three different winemaking articles to help out the absolute beginner. If this sounds like you, you may want to take a look. Each article gives a different slant on how to get started based on whatever you have in mind, whether it be making wine from your own garden fruits, fresh grapes or from packaged grape juices.

"Making Wine With Fruits"

"Making Wine With Grapes"

"Making Wine With Concentrates"

Each article also has links built-in to direct you to more detailed information on specific subjects that might be of further to interest you. Also realize that we have an expansive listing of winemaking articles you can sift through at your own leisure.

It looks like this is going a to be a good year for peaches. A refreshing bit of news considering how Mother Nature squashed last year's crop in many parts of the U.S.

Last year's bitter, late freezes destroyed peach buds dead in their tracks leaving many home winemakers to scurry for what they could find. This year appears to be the opposite. With the peach trees getting a rest last year combined with the more moderate temperatures we've been having this year, a bumper crop seems to be on the horizon.

With that being said, I'd thought it would be nice to post a peach wine recipe on the blog. This recipe is simple enough that even a first-time winemaker can make it. The recipe is for making 5 gallons. To get started prepare the peaches by peeling them; then remove the pits; and then coarsely chopping them up.

PEACH WINE
13 lbs. Fresh Peaches
10 lbs. Cane Sugar
Water as need to make 5 gallons
1 Tablespoons Yeast Energizer
1 Teaspoon Pectic Enzyme
2-1/2 Tablespoons Acid Blend
1 Teaspoon Wine Tannin
5 Campden Tablets (Add 24 hours before the yeast)
1 Packet Wine Yeast (Lalvin EC-1118 recommended)
5 Campden Tablets (Add right before bottling)

If you've never made wine before . . .
You can find specific procedures for making wine on our website. Take a look at the article, "7 Easy Steps To Making Wine". It explains all the steps you need to make the wine--from beginning to end.

If you do not have any equipment or ingredients of any kind, then a simple solution would be to get our starter kit for making wine from fresh fruits. We call it the "Your Fruit" Necessities Box. Just as the name implies, it has all the necessities for making wine with "your fruit", including each of the ingredients listed in the peach wine recipe above.

The amount of yeast you use when making a batch of wine has no baring on the amount of alcohol you will end up with. Whether you add one, two, or even three packs of yeast, you still end up with the same amount of alcohol.

You do need to have a sufficient amount of yeast to get the job done, but this can be accomplish by adding a single packet.

The amount of alcohol you end up with is

controlled by the amount of sugars that are available to the yeast, not by the yeast itself. The sugars are consumed by the yeast, and as a result, the yeast excrete alcohol as a byproduct. The more sugars the yeast consume the more alcohol they will make.

There are limits as to how much sugar the yeast can handle before the alcohol starts to paralyze their activity. If you add too much sugar you can easily end up with a disgustingly sweet wine. For this reason never plan on making more than 13 percent by volume. This is the upper limits of what wine yeast can consistently produce. The article, "Making High Alcohol Wine", goes into more detail on this subject. If you are interested in making higher alcohol wines this would be the place to start.