Part 5. Calculation of composition and preparation of wort
At Lesson No. 4 we have already dwelt in detail on the issue of calculating the composition of the wort. Let us briefly recall the main points.
So, the must of fruit wine consists of fruit juice, water and sugar dissolved in them.
The percentage of juice and water in the wort varies depending on the acidity of the juice.
The minimum required amount of dissolved sugar in the wort should be 20%. With this content, all available sugar will ferment into alcohol during fermentation and we will get the so-called — dry wine.
If you carefully look at Table 3 shown in Lesson No. 3, then you can see that the acidity of the fruits and berries from which we are going to make wine, in most cases exceeds the required (0.7%) by about 3-6, or even more times. And indeed it is. From experience I can say that to make wine from black currants, its juice must be diluted with water about 5 times.
How can we determine how much juice we need and how much water for a specific bottle volume?
It's quite simple. First, we decide in which bottle we will make the wine. Let's say in a 10-liter. We divide the volume of our bottle by the number by how many times the acidity of our fruits exceeds the required one. Let's say it exceeds, as in our example with black currant — 5 times.
Divide 10 liters by 5 and get 2 liters. This means that a 10-liter bottle should contain 2 liters of juice, and the remaining 8 liters should be water with sugar dissolved in it.
To obtain 2 liters of juice we need approximately 3.6 kg of berries.
We know that the minimum required amount of dissolved sugar in the wort should be 20%. This is the amount of sugar that, through fermentation, can turn into alcohol. The rest of the sugar will be used to add sweetness to the wine. In this case, we have to neglect the presence of native sugar in berries - since there is already little of it (5-13%), and we also diluted it 5 times.
But, as practice shows, this amount (20%) of sugar in the wort is not enough to make the wine tasty. My attempts to make good dry homemade wine usually ended with adding sugar after tasting. Therefore, my advice to you is to safely take 4 kg of sugar for 10 liters of wort. In terms of percentage content, this will be 24%, which corresponds to the category of semi-sweet wines.
So, 24% for a 10-liter bottle is 2.4 liters.
In order to get 2.4 liters of dissolved sugar, we need to dilute 4.0 kg of sugar.
Thus, we have prepared a wort consisting of 2 liters of juice and 8 liters of water with 4.0 kg of sugar dissolved in them, that is, there will actually be only 5.6 liters of pure water and 2.4 liters of dissolved sugar.
I would like to note that the prepared wort will be cloudy in appearance, and it will become clear wine only after fermentation is complete.
In practice, the procedure for preparing wort is somewhat different from that given. If we can pour juice and water into the bottle at once, then sugar is not added to the wort all at once, but in parts.
The fact is that a significant amount of sugar in the wort at the initial stage makes it difficult for yeast fungi to work and can completely stop the reaction.
This can be compared to a fire: if we put a lot of wood at once and try to light it, then the fire is unlikely to burn and will most likely go out. First, you need to light a small amount of wood chips and branches and give them the opportunity to flare up, and then maintain the combustion, not allowing it to go out either from a lack or an excess of firewood.
It’s the same with wine. By gradually adding sugar to the wort, we “feed” the yeast fungi, — We support the fermentation reaction.
I would like to emphasize that you cannot add sugar to the wort by simply pouring it into the bottle - it will remain at the bottom, not participating in the reaction.
Each portion of sugar that needs to be added to the wort must be thoroughly dissolved in it. To do this, you need to pour part of the wort from the bottle, dissolve the required amount of sugar in it and pour the wort back into the bottle.
This is done quite simply. Pour the required amount of granulated sugar into the pan, for example 0.5 kg, and using a rubber hose, pour the wort from the bottle into the same pan, about 2 liters. Mix the mixture thoroughly until there are no grains of sugar left in it, and pour it back into the bottle.
Be sure to close the bottle with a stopper with a “water seal.”
Your questions and comments: