- Wine
- Start
- Temp: N/A°F
- Sg: 1.092
- Est. ABV: 12%
- End (Cook)
- Temp: N/A°F
- Sg: 1.02
- Est. ABV: 9.45%
This is my first attempt at making wine, or any type of alcohol. I used the instructions from FoodNService for making wine in an Instant Pot.
For the juice I used house brand grape juice from Jewel, since it was on sale (2 for 5 I think).
For the yeast I used half a packet of Red Star Premier Rouge red wine yeast. This type of yeast needs to be activated by letting it sit in some warm water for 20 minutes.
Everything else went pretty much as described in the article. Added a cup of sugar to the juice, added the (activated) yeast, and let it cook for 48 hours. I had started this early on a Saturday. I should have started it late Friday, since the wine finished cooking early Monday and I wasn’t able to transfer the cooked juice until I had gotten back from work.
At the end of the cooking phase I took a hydrometer reading to calculate the ABV. I was somewhat disappointed by the low measured ABV, but I think the ABV will continue to rise as the yeast continues to work. The low reading at this point could be due to a number of factors including,
- Using less than the intended amount of yeast (it’s hard to measure out half a packet when it’s your first time)
- Not starting the yeast properly (I didn’t have a good thermometer at this time)
- Poor measurement on my part (again, I wasn’t taking temps and it’s my first time)
Transferring the juice back to the bottle went… ok. Having a funnel helped, but I was not prepared for the amount of foaming that would happen. After cleaning up the spillage I taped the cap down as described in the article. However the when I took a look at it a day later it appeared the some had bubbled over, leaked, and there was a dry crust on the cap. About a week later I replaced the taped down cap with perforated balloon technique I saw on The Modern Rouge when they made mead.
Update (2018-4-11): Over a week later and bubbles are still rising from the bottom, indicating that fermentation is still going. I measured the specific gravity at 1.010. That puts the ABV at ~10.75% now.