Q&A for How to Make Watermelon Wine

Go to a local shop that sells winemaking supplies, or visit an online winemaking supplies store.

Watermelon wine is quite a sweet drink. If you are worried about your diabetes, consult a doctor who knows you specific health restrictions. If in doubt, opt for a different beverage.

Without chemicals? Certainly. Use organic grapes. As for the sugar, some form of it is essential for the wine-making process: sugar is what the yeast has to metabolize to make the wine alcoholic.

Although I have no direct evidence of this, I would say yes. Lycopene is the main cause of watermelon's deep red color, so the color remaining the same seems to suggest that it does in fact remain. Beyond this, terpenes in general (a class of chemicals to which lycopene belongs) are quite stable.

You could use brown sugar, but it would produce a different flavor. You probably want as little flavor from the sugar as possible.

Acid blend is a granulated blend of the three most commonly found fruit acids -- citric acid, malic acid, and tartaric acid. It is added directly to a wine or must to raise its acidity level when necessary. The acidity of a wine is the tart or sharp taste.

Yes, though you're still going to have to sterilize the juice and will have to strain it to remove the pulp.

Yes, you can use lemon juice instead of the citrus blend. You may just have to adjust the proportions slightly.

No, the yeast and acid blend are necessary in preparing the wine.

It will not harm the yeast, however it will require the addition of crushed campden tablets for sterilization. You must wait until the campden has had time to dissolve before adding the yeast. Also, the yeast needs to be cooled to an acceptable temperature range if cooked so as not to harm the yeast. So add the crushed tablets as called for in the recipe and allow them to work for 24 hours after you prepare the juice and add the nutrients.

It depends on the amount of sugar added and the type of yeast added to the mixture, but usually somewhere between 8-14%.

Turbo yeast can give you 14% alcohol content in two days and 20% in four. It can be bought on eBay for £5.00 (about $6.50 US).

Proper wine/champagne/beer yeast is sold in packets/foil bags/bottles in liquid or dry granular forms. These packages usually contain the proper amount of yeast for about 5 gallons of finished beverage. Use only yeast sold for the product you are making, i.e.wine, champagne, mead, ale, lager, etc. Never try to use baker's yeast or brewer's yeast for making fermented beverages. Brewer's yeast is collected as a by-product from fermenting beers, and sold for its nutritional benefits, not as a source of living yeast to ferment with. Baker's yeast is for making bread and cakes rise only.

No. The initial fermentation would take about two weeks. However, good things take time, and it won't taste good if it isn't properly racked and aged.

Yes. One packet treats up to five gallons of wine. If you are thinking you can use one fifth of a packet, it may work, but it might also stall the fermentation or stop it too early.

No. Sulfites are preservative compounds used to sterilize the wines and the bottles containing them. Acid blend is composed of citric, malic, and tartaric acid.

Yes, there is a wide variety of food-safe sanitizers available at any home brew store.

No. Yeast requires sugar to ferment. It converts the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which is what causes the bubble in the fermentation lock. The amount of sugar in the original juice mix and the style of yeast used for fermentation will affect how much sugar is left in the wine after fermentation is complete. Champagne yeast tends to ferment out most of the sugar and so there will be very little left in the wine (which is why champagnes are a dry wine, typically).

It's called 'Acid Blend' and is a mixture of citric, malic, and tartaric acid in crystallized form.