Goan Pao Talks: ANISEED INFUSED WHITE GRAPE WINE

Wine can be made of any fruits. I am making white wine today and I'm going to try Aniseed
floret to flavor it differently.
If you wish, You can make red wine too using black or red grapes, using the exact same steps below. Just replace Aniseed floret with Cinnamon sticks instead... Or just, omit both 😁 incase you wish to have a clear-cut fruity wine.

INGREDIENTS:

1kg Green Grapes

3ltr Boiled & cooled water

1kg sugar

1 Aniseed floret

1 cup Wheat grains

25gms Yeast

EQUIPMENT:

Wooden ladle

Cheese cloth

Rubber balloon / strong thread

5ltr Food-grade container

Strainer / Colander

Carboy to contain 4ltr Wine(approx)

METHOD:

Since it's my low cost organic grape wine, I choose to buy the loose & 'leftover' grapes from my regular fruit vendor. To be honest, their leftovers aren't bad grapes at all! I would feed my son the same on any none deprived day. I just make sure I remove all twigs, damaged grapes and wash them in a colander under warm running water. Leave them to strain water & dry out as much as can. To eat earliest.

Don't use any disinfectant in the making of wine. Just super hot water to wash the already clean fermentation containers/Carboys/Ceramic jars, wooden spatula, strainer/colander and all other equipment that comes in contact to wine. DO NOT USE metal containers as the juices will react to metal.

Wine making shouldn't be exposed to external elements like dirt, bacteria or sediments whose unwanted flavors might get into your wine during fermentation.

If you are using instant yeast from sachets, just activate yeast as read on Pack and keep ready aside.
Crush the pulp out of the grapes (puncturing skins in the case of black grapes). Put grape pulp & skins into fermentation container, add half the said quantity of sugar(save other half for later), Wheat, Aniseed floret(lightly roasted to disinfect. cooled), cooled boiled water, and activated yeast. Stir until sugar is well dissolved. THIS mixture can now be referred to as 'MUST'.

I cover my container with a cheese cloth and tightly tie it around the opening with a rubber band so that insects or dust do not have it's way in but oxygen does. The container is kept in a airy dark place.
Sunlight is enemy of Wine. It'll obstruct the work of yeast and effect(lighten) the wine's colour in the case of Red wine.

1st day of fermentation

Anyway, keep your Must Container raised away from the coolness of your floor. I keep 2 wooden blocks under my container just to keep it away from my cold apartment flooring. Fermentation needs warmth of about 45C to start up. A cold environment will delay process.

Always keep 3/4th of the 1st fermentation container empty. Allowing yeast enough space to perform it's task. And by room I mean you need to understand the next...

Yeast consumes sugar and multiplies itself when oxygen in plenty is available. In the process of breaking down sugar, carbondioxide and Alcohol are released by yeast as biproducts. The bubbling and froth this intial stage creates, needs space/ area to rise, or else it'll spill out of your tightly filled container. This also depends on the kind of yeast used. I often borrow yeast from my local "Poder". I therefore suggest you leave about 3/4th of your 1st fermentation jar empty.

Froth on 1st day fermentation

Now, old school in winemaking has it that your 1st fermentation container has to be tightly sealed(airlocked) for first 21days. No stirring, no shaking, no touching! They still made gr8 wine!

Truth is, in this case, yeast rises consuming all sugar and all leftover oxygen from a sealed (airlocked) container, Makes alcohol, Carbondioxide formed in excess in-turn kills the surviving yeast. Thus ending the life cycle AND all activity of yeasts by the time it's 21 days. Whether your yeast was able to produce enough alcohol during it's sealed time goes un-checked. This process however works too. I infact think that the old school did so to keep insects and others contaminants away from spoiling fermentation process. And their wine was probably meant to be biased to alcoholic levels.

Instead, i gently stir my Must everyday, same time, with a sterile & dry wooden spatula I give a hot water bath to clean before every use. Cheese Cloth tightly tied back again. I check a drop of the must for lessening sugar levels comparing to the first day's sweetness. This way I get to know if there's enough alcohol produced. If not, I add a tablespoon more 'feed'(Sugar) to the hungry yeast. "go make me more strong wine my babies"😂 I also get to check if my 1st fermentation can be strained for it's 2nd fermentation even b4 it reaches it's 21day mark. How? By observing that all/most Must settles about an inch thick to the bottom of my container and there is no sign of yeast activity any longer & I am pleased enough with the alcohol produced.

15th day of 1st Fermentation

Tip: when yeast is highly active, Must forms a layer on surface. There's froth, there's milky trails within the must.. But when yeast is least active, Must settles down to the bottom. Like in this picture of '15th day of 1st Fermentation'.

I had been checking my Wine for sweetness and am pretty happy with the alcohol produced. It's time for 2nd Fermentation... "sorry my babies but it's time to die"😈.

Use a sterile strainer to separate Must fragments from your 1st Fermentation into a new carboy/ container preferably one with a narrow opening. If you are unhappy with the sweetness of your strained wine, you may add some sugar now from the portion we had saved previously.

I've tried to siphon my wine without disturbing the Must with a drip chord I purchased at a pharmacy. Don't worry if your wine looks cloudy/milky from straining it through a sieve during transitioning to 2nd Fermentation just yet. It will clear out.

10th day of 2nd Fermentation

During 2nd Fermentation you need to cut out oxygen supply to your wine... For the kill! Therefore, Airlock your Carboy/ Bottle. I sealed mine with a rubber balloon tightly tied by a rubber band. And then I poked a few holes into the balloon with a pin. This lets gases leave the bottle and minimizes oxygen from entering the bottle. Leave it untouched in a dark place for another 21days. This'll kill any active yeast. Check out a picture of my used-to-be milky wine of 2nd fermentation on it's 10th day. Notice the sediments at bottom. This wine is yet to make it through the 21day mark for clarity. I shall post the next picture as I achieve it.
I've siphoned the clear wine out into a serving bottle and stored.. or drink away.