Backyard Winery
A quick and easy home satisfaction
Bryan Cannon

Table of Contents

Wine History…………………………………………………….
Getting Started…………………………………………………
Basic Steps……………………………………………………….
Tools Needed…………………………………………………..
Sterilization and Hygiene………………………………..
Ingredients……………………………………………………..
Terms………………………………………………………………
Sources…….…………………………………………………….

Wine History The history of wine spans thousands of years. It is closely intertwined with the history of agriculture, cuisine, and civilization. The history of the vine in America begins, symbolically at least, in the fogs that shroud the medieval Norsemen's explorations. Every American knows the story of Leif Ericsson, and how, in A.D. 1001, he sailed from Greenland to the unknown country to the west. Most experts, however, will agree that Leif— or someone—reached the new land. There, at least according to one saga, while Leif and his men went exploring in one direction, another member of the company, a German named Tyrker, went off by himself and made the discovery of what he called wine-berries—vinber in the original Old Norse, translated into English as "grapes. (Thomas Pinney) Evidence suggest that the earliest known wine production took place in the country of Georgia around 8000BC. Wine was very common in Ancient Greece and Rome, and many of the major wine-producing regions of Western Europe today were established with Phoenician and later Roman plantations. Winery’s technology today has been improved considerably since the time of the Roman Empire.

Tools Needed

* Two gallon plastic bucket with a secure lid * A plastic or wooden spoon (preferly wooden) * A large enamel of wooden pan so the ingredients can be boiled * A mesh sheet for straining * A fermenting vessel with a rubber bung and airlock * A funnel * Storage demijojhn * Mason jars * Plastic hose for siphoning * Hydrometer * Acid-testing kits * A cleaning brush for cleaning equipment * Grape press * Grape crushers
Basic Ingredients * Vinifera red or white grapes * Sulphite crystals * Wines yeast * Granulated Sugars (sucrose) or corn sugar

Sterilization and Hygiene Hygiene is very important when learning how to make homemade wine. Bacteria can infect wine and turn it bad very quickly during any stage of production. If any of the equipment or tools is dirty when making wine, it will be no good. The most common
Infection is the Acetobacter, which will turn the wine into vinegar by a process of acidification. The only good thing is you can use it for cooking when this occurs. Wild yeasts live on fruit and in the air, and they can produce small amounts of alcohol, but they
Also taint the wine and produce unpleasant flavors in your wine. Therefore, it is important
To wash and sterilize all tools, equipment and ingredients.

Methods of Sterilization * Boiling water * Household bleach * Chempro SDP

Terms

This list of terms with their definitions is going to help the most novice of wine makers to know exactly what is being explained when they read a recipe to make their