Q&A for How to Make Homemade Wine

This depends upon the type of yeast you use, how much sugar is in your wine and other factors, like temperature. Most wine takes two to four weeks to fully ferment, but is usually aged afterward.

If there are no off-putting smells or tastes, then go for it. Homebrewers have often aged their product for many years, with good results.

You can buy one at a wine making supply shop, online, or make one your self. Airlocks are nothing fancy and can be made from common household items by following one of the many tutorials that are available online.

Yes. You can dilute wine with water. It depends on individual tastes. People have been diluting wine with water for many, many years.

Use wine and champagne yeast, which you can purchase at a wine making supply store or purchase from eBay, there are lots of supplies on there.

The article gives a liquid ratio of 2TBS of yeast to 1 gallon of juice.

If the wine has a sulfur smell (rotten eggs) there are three things possible that went wrong: 1) The kit you are using is bad; 2) There is too much fumaric acid in the juice, causing the fermentation to take a bad turn; or 3) The batch is contaminated (e.g., you didn't properly sterilize the primary or secondary) or bad bacteria made its way into the fermentation.

Yes, but it will not taste very good or have a very high percentage of alcohol.

Filling your fermenter to high will cause it to foam over during fermentation. Leave 3 or 4 inches of empty space at the top of the container.

Do you mean the wine stored has a cloudy (yellow) look to it (e.g., won't clear?). If so, there is a secret way of clearing your wine. Go through the normal clearing agents, commonly Kiesolsol & Chitosan (usually sold as a pack at any wine maker store). After clearing, immediately take the demijohns into somewhere cool (10 degrees, such as a basement stone floor). Leave it there for 2 weeks. That should clear it. If not, repeat the clarifying step again as some particles may be stubbornly suspended in the wine.

I haven't done it myself, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Be careful not to over-blend the fruit though.

Your must should not have mold -- if it does, it's contaminated. You might be seeing a yeast pancake, which is different and will settle on the bottom.

Without knowing whether you are in the primary or secondary stage, here is the best practice. Usually with primary fermentation with pulp, grapes, etc, it takes 14 days to complete fermentation. You can crush the pulp around day 7 with very clean hands (although it is recommended that you use a sanitized spoon to crush the fruit against the side of the primary). Never have any fruit in secondary fermentation, as it can ruin the wine. Wood chips (oak for example) are okay.

No, orange juice has acid, which kills the yeast. You can use any other type of fruit, as long as it does not have citric acid.

Yes. Honey works in wine making.

It can be because it is usually still fermenting well on the second fermentation. Temperature has a lot to do with the level of fermentation and whether you see the airlock active.

Properly and cleanly made, treated, and bottled wine CAN last for decades, but not always. Generally speaking, homemade wine is best kept for 6 months to a year, and the occasional heavy fruit wine can be kept up to 5 years.

No. Vinegar IS made from wine, but wine allowed to spoil or a mother of vinegar is added to promote the process. Adding fruit will only change the flavor of your wine.

Lemon juice contains citric acid, which kills the yeast, so I wouldn't recommend it.

You could, and you should, if you want your ABV to be more than a few percent. Generally, you want two cups of sugar per half-gallon of liquid.

Bacteria can turn wine into vinegar, but if this happens, don't throw it away. It makes a great marinade for meat and poultry. For example, use it to marinate chicken with fresh herbs and spices.

The yeast is what causes the wine to become alcoholic through the process of fermentation.

Yes, as long as they are food-grade plastic, like the ones restaurants get mayonnaise and sour cream in.

Taste it using a wine thief. It will taste sour. The conditions that are suitable for the growth of yeast are also the same conditions suitable for the growth of bacteria. Bacteria are airborne as well as coating all surfaces.

Your wine will stop bubbling and creating gas that causes it to fizz. You can check this by affixing a balloon to your vessel and seeing that it doesn't inflate at all.

It is very hard to totally stop fermentation. Most wine makers suggest letting the wine ferment to dry and then adding sweetener before bottling or drinking.

Less sugar/honey = drier wine. However, be careful you add enough sugar to make it alcoholic enough.

Bacteria that eat the alcohol in wine produce vinegar (acetic acid) as a byproduct. All of the flavors are still there, but now the alcohol is replaced with a strong acidic taste.

Most will clear on their own over time. There are also several clearing products on the market, but I would recommend Bentonite as a natural clearing agent. You can find it easily online.

Check for preservatives. If it has them, no. If not, yes.