Wine Making Articles

At Adventures in Homebrewing it has been our goal to simplify the wine making process by providing informative articles, recipes, directions, and other useful information. Whether you are an experienced wine maker looking for some new ideas or a beginner interested in learning about in-home wine making, you will find what you need at Adventures in Homebrewing.

We have articles covering topics like: topping up, filtering, sampling, corking wine bottles, racking wine, and properly storing & aging your wine. You can also find great recipes from sweet strawberry wine & apple wine to high alcohol wines. With our informative wine making articles you can also learn what it takes to become a winemaker.

Wine Making Articles to Get You Started:

  • How To Start Making Wine: A Clear Guide For The Overwhelmed Beginner - Making your first batch of wine can be an intimidating experience. The article is designed to clear up matters and take the intimidation out of making wine.
  • Home Wine Making Basics - Don't know where to start? This article will guide you through the basic wine making requirements to put you on the fast track to making wine at home.
  • Wine Making With Concentrates Versus Grapes - An insightful overview that highlights the essential differences between making wine from wine grape concentrates as opposed to using fresh grapes.
  • The 7 Easy Steps to Home Wine Making - A simplified overview of the wine making process. It breaks the wine making process down into 7 easy steps that anyone can follow.
  • Wine Making With Grapes - Here's a quick-start guide to making wine from fresh grapes. All the details in a nutshell. Gives great insight as to what's involved and what's needed to process grapes into wine.
  • How to Make Fruit Wine - A great read for anyone interested in making wine from fresh fruits. Tells how much fruit is needs, what other wine making ingredients should be used, and how to make adjustments to improve the wine's flavor.
  • Making Wine From Recipe Kits - If you're wanting to learn what it takes to make wine using grape juice and wine ingredient kits, then this is the perfect read for you. Explains the differences between wine juices and what items you'll need to make them.
  • Five Wine Making Fundamentals To Keep Your Wine Making On Track - Read about the five keys to successful wine making. Fundamentals that will keep the beginning winemaker focused on what matters most.
  • Creating Your Own Wine Making Recipes - Ever wondered why certain ingredients are called for in a wine recipe? Why one recipe can vary so greatly from another? This article covers the in's and out's of a wine recipe, so that you can create your own. It dissects the wine recipe--piece by piece--in plain English.
  • Taking The Mystery Out Of Home Wine Making - An informative article geared for the beginning winemaker. Gives a broad view of the home wine making process so that one can see what's involve in a nutshell.
  • Home Wine Making FAQ - Learn the answers to some of the more frequently asked questions about making wine at home.

The Wine Fermentation Process:

  • Wine Fermentation 101 - A detailed look at the fermentation process. Takes a look at what is actually taking place during a wine fermentation. Also, covers the various stages that a fermentation will go through when making wine.
  • Top Ten Reasons For Fermentation Failure - Listed in order from the most common to the least common reasons. Compiled from years of helping home winemakers and finding answers and solutions to their wine making problems.
  • Why Should I Use Wine Yeast? - A thorough explanation as to why using packaged wine making yeast is so important when making any wine at home, as opposed to relying on a fruit's natural yeast or bread yeast.
  • Using Yeast Starters For Improved Fermentation - Describes what a yeast starter is and how it can improve a wine making fermentation. Also, shows how you can make and use your own wine making yeast starter.
  • A Few Words About Yeast Nutrients - Covers the nutritional needs of a wine fermentation and why nutrition is important. Also, takes a look at the various wine making nutrients available to the home winemaker and when each wine making nutrient should be used.
  • Getting A Handle On Wine Acidity - This article explains how acidity effects a wine and how to control it. Shows how to take acidity readings and how to make adjustments to a wine's acidity level during the wine making process.
  • Racking Your Wines - An overview of the racking process. Explains what racking means and why it is necessary when making wine. Tells you when the best times are to rack your wine and the best way to go about it.
  • Topping Up Your Homemade Wines - Defines what "topping up" means in wine making and why it is important. Details when topping up should be done and what methods can be used to top up a wine in different wine making situations.
  • Malolactic Fermentation: Is It Right For You and Your Wines? - Defines what a malolactic fermentation is exactly. Discusses the pros and cons of malolactic fermentation (MLF); what types of wines should be considered; how to induce MLF and what to do after and MLF is finished.

Wine Clarification:

  • Using Bentonite As A Clarifier - Explains how Bentonite is used in wine making as a clarifier to drag suspended particles to the bottom of a fermentation vessel. Also, gives tips on how to make Bentonite more effective.
  • Using Finings To Improve Your Wine - A complete look at the various fining agents available to the home wine making and how these fining agents can be incorporated in a wine for clarification, stabilization and to alter certain characteristics.
  • Filtering Your Wines - Describes the role wine filters play in the wine making process and the manner in which they should be used. Covers the various styles of wine filters available and how to choose the wine filter that's right for you.
  • Maintaining Temperature Stability In Your Wines - A detailed article about how to cold stabilize and heat stabilize your homemade wines. Explains how doing so improves the wine and how to go about it.

Bottling and Aging Wine:

  • Corking Your Wine Bottles - A complete look at the wine bottling process. Explains how to choose the right wine bottle corker and corks. Gives insight into cork preparation and how to actually cork a wine bottle.
  • An Overview Of Wine Bottling - Gives some insight on choosing the best wine bottles, wine corks and corker for bottling your wines. Also, talks about bottle decoration such as bottle labels and Heat Shrink Capsules.
  • A Quick Way To Sanitize Wine Bottles - A quick article about how Bottle Trees and Sulphatizers can save you a lot of time when preparing your wine bottles for bottling when making wine at home.
  • Wine Bottle Storage And Temperature - A brief look at the role temperature plays during wine bottle storage. Runs through the temperatures and why temperature fluctuation can be detrimental to the shelf-life of a wine.
  • Using Oak Chips to Age Your Wine - A brief article on how to incorporate oak chips into the aging of your homemade wines. Talks about how to prepare the oak chips and when to add them during the wine making process.
  • Adding Oak To Your Homemade Wines - A thorough look at how home winemakers can go about adding oak character to their wines. Also, talks about how oak effects a wine and when it is appropriate to use oak aging.
  • Maintaining Temperature Stability In Your Wines - A detailed article about how to cold stabilize and heat stabilize your homemade wines. Explains how doing so improves the wine and how to go about it.
  • Blending to Improve Home Made Wines - Discusses how to use blending as a means of improving the bulk homemade wines you have in stock. Covers how to select two wines for blending and then shows the best way to blend them together.

Various Wine Types:

  • Home Wine Making with Strawberries - Shows how to make strawberry wines from light, roses to heavy, country style. Gives you all the info you need to make a strawberry wine any way you want.
  • Making Apple Wine - Gives some good ideas for using apples to make wine. Discusses apple selection, apple juices, the type of equipment you will need and a apple wine recipe with clear instructions.
  • How To Make Applejack - An interesting article that shows how to take apple wine and turn it into something called Applejack through a freezing process known as "fractional crystallization." Very interesting article.
  • Making Wine With Honey (Mead) - A well rounded article about making Mead or honey wines of various types. Goes over the different meads one can make and then gives several mead recipes and directions for making them.
  • Making High Alcohol Wines - Shows the best way to increase the alcohol level of a wine by feeding sugar to the must during fermentation. Also, explains how to keep the wine's flavor in balance when increasing the alcohol level.
  • Making Sweet Wines - This article gives some valuable ideas on how to go about making a sweet wines. Shows how to make a wine with the exact sweetness you want. Also, explains how to avoid the pit-fall that some home winemakers fall into.

About Wine Making Supplies & Equipment:

  • Getting to Know Your Hydrometer - A primer on hydrometer usage in home wine making. Shows how the hydrometer can help to track the progress of a fermentation and determine the alcohol level of a homemade wine.
  • Hydrometer Scales And What They Mean - Covers in detail the different scales found on wine making hydrometers and shows what each one is used for throughout the wine making process.
  • Air-Lock Basics - A quick look at the wine making air-lock and the role it plays in the wine making process. Explains what the wine making air-lock does and when it should be used during the fermentation.
  • Using A Wine Press: The How's, When's & Why's - Spells out what part the wine press real plays for the home winemaker. Goes over the different types of presses; how and when to use them. Also, covers what types of wines can benefit from the use of a wine press.
  • A Few Words About Yeast Nutrients - Covers the nutritional needs of a wine fermentation and explains why nutrition is important. Also, takes a look at the various nutrients available to the home winemaker.
  • The Many Uses Of Sodium Bisulfite - A look at the various uses of Sodium Bisulfite in the wine making process. Shows how Sodium Bisulfite can be used to sanitize wine making equipment or how it is used to sterilize fresh wine making juices.
  • Using Finings To Improve Your Wine - A complete look at the various fining agents available to the home wine making and how these fining agents can be incorporated in a wine for clarification, stabilization and to alter certain characteristics.
  • Using Oak Chips to Age Your Wine - A brief article on how to incorporate oak chips into the aging of your wines. Talks about how to prepare the oak chips and when to add them to your wine.

Miscellaneous Wine Making Topics:

  • How Much Alcohol Do You Really Want? - An interesting spin on the production of high alcohol wine. Details how high alcohol levels can effect a wine in negative ways and how to avoid these effects.
  • Controlling Oxidation In Your Homemade Wines - Explains what oxidation means in wine making. Show how it effects a wine, and what one can do to reduce these effects in their wines.
  • Taking Good Notes When Making Wine - Learn why taking notes while making wine can give you a big advantage. This article lists what pieces of information are most important and how to set up your own wine making log.
  • There's Vinegar In My Wine! - A detailed look at the subtle role vinegar plays in the character and complexities of a wine. Also goes into what vinegar is; how it is produced and how to manage it to your advantage when making wine.
  • Sample Your Wine As You Go - A run-through of the different flavors that come and go in your must throughout the wine making process. Explains how experiencing these different flavor can give you more insight into the complexities of various wines.
  • How To Stop A Fermentation - A look at the various ways home winemakers might go about attempting to stop a fermentation to preserve its sweetness and why these methods seldom work.

Wine Making References:

  • Home Wine Making Glossary - Don't know what it means. Just use our Winemaker's Glossary to figure it out. Not only does the Winemaker's Glossary give definitions, but also links to other relating information.

Home Wine Making Product Instruction: