Chokeberry wine at home

Chokeberry or chokeberry, as it is also called, grows not only in gardens, but also in plantings and forests. Despite the large quantity and availability, the berry is rarely used, because rowan is astringent and bitter. The big advantage of chokeberry is its usefulness: rowan contains a large amount of vitamin B, ascorbic acid, several metals and minerals that are very necessary for the human body. Compotes And chokeberry jam turn out to be tasteless, so people came up with another way to eat the berries - making wine from rowan berries.

You can learn how to make chokeberry wine at home from this article. Here you will also find several simple recipes for healthy and tasty chokeberry wine.

Features of chokeberry wine

Stages of making wine from tart aronia the same as in the case of grape or some other alcoholic drink. The only significant nuance can be considered the low sugar content in chokeberry, so the fermentation stage of rowan wine takes twice as long: instead of the usual 2-3 days - 5-7.

As you know, for the fermentation of wine from black rowan or some other berry, two components are needed: sugar and wine yeast. Therefore, if a winemaker sees that his black rowan wine does not ferment, he needs to add sugar or use purchased wine fungi.

How to make homemade chokeberry wine not only tasty, but also beautiful and healthy:

1. Chokeberry should be harvested after the first frost. If you neglect this condition, the wine may turn out to be too tart or even bitter. In some cases, the preparation of wine is preceded by freezing rowan in a regular freezer.
2. To make wine from chokeberry, you can use not only garden but also wild crops. In this case, you will need to add more sugar to the wine, since wild berries are more bitter and tart.
3. Another problem with black rowan is that it is difficult to extract juice from its berries. Because of this, winemakers have to pre-blanch the chokeberry or prepare the wort twice using the same pulp (this technology will be discussed in detail below).
4. To make rowan wine with black fruits transparent and had a beautiful ruby ​​hue, it needed to be filtered many times. To do this, the wine is constantly removed from the sediment using a plastic tube or dropper. It is necessary to pour chokeberry wine into clean containers both at the fermentation stage and during the ripening process.
5. You cannot collect rowan after rain, and even more so you cannot wash chokeberries before making wine from them. The fact is that on the peel of rowan there are wine yeast fungi, without which wine fermentation is impossible. There is no need to worry about the purity of the berries; during the winemaking process, all the dirt will precipitate.

A simple recipe for making chokeberry wine at home

Homemade chokeberry wine can be prepared from the usual ingredients (water, berries and sugar) or with the addition of natural starters such as raisins, rose hips, raspberries, citric acid and others.

Often the natural sugar content and wine fungi from chokeberries are enough to start the fermentation process. But, if the winemaker fears for his wine and is afraid of mold appearing on its surface, it is better to use some kind of starter.

So, in this recipe for homemade chokeberry wine, it is suggested to add a handful raisins. So, to make wine you will need the following ingredients:

• ripe chokeberry – 5 kg;
• granulated sugar – 1 kg;
• water – 1 l;
• raisins – 50 g (raisins must be unwashed, otherwise they will not help the fermentation of homemade wine).

The technology for preparing a homemade chokeberry drink consists of important steps:

1. Chokeberry is kneaded with hands so that each berry is crushed.
2. The prepared chokeberry is transferred to a ten-liter container made of glass, plastic or enameled metal. Add half a kilogram of sugar there and stir. It is not recommended to make wine from chokeberry without adding sugar, since its content in the berries themselves is quite low - even if the wine ferments, it will turn out to be very weak (about 5%), so it will not be stored for long.Place a handful of raisins into the rowan and sugar and stir. Cover the container with gauze or natural cloth and place in a warm, dark place for fermentation. Every day for a week, the wort is stirred by hand or with a wooden spatula so that the pulp (large particles of chokeberry) falls down.
   
3. When all the berries rise to the top, and foam begins to form when your hand is immersed in the wort, pre-fermentation must be completed. Now you can separate chokeberry juice. To do this, carefully remove the pulp, squeeze out the juice and put it in another bowl. All chokeberry juice is filtered through a regular colander or large sieve; small fragments will later precipitate and also be removed. Pure juice is poured into a fermentation vessel (bottle), filling no more than half the volume.
4. Add half a kilogram of sugar and a liter of water to the remaining chokeberry pulp, stir and place again in a warm place for fermentation. The wort is stirred daily. After 5-6 days, the juice is filtered again and the pulp is squeezed out.
5. The bottle with the juice that was obtained immediately is closed with a water seal and placed in a warm place (18-26 degrees) for fermentation. When the second portion of chokeberry juice is ready, pour it into a bottle and stir. First remove the foam from the surface of the wine. After mixing, the bottle is again covered with a water seal (a glove with a hole or a special cap for winemaking).
   
6. Fermentation of chokeberry wine will take from 25 to 50 days. The fact that fermentation has ended is indicated by a fallen glove, the absence of air bubbles in the wine, and the appearance of loose sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Now the wine is poured through a straw into a clean container, being careful not to disturb the sediment.Now you can add sugar to chokeberry wine to improve the taste or alcohol for greater strength and long-term storage.
7. The bottle of young wine is covered with a tight lid and lowered into the basement (can be placed in the refrigerator). Here the homemade wine will mature for 3-6 months. During this time, the drink will become tastier and brighter. If sediment appears again, pour the wine through a straw until it becomes clear.
8. Six months later, homemade chokeberry wine is bottled and tasting begins.

How to make wine at home with cinnamon

This simple recipe allows you to get a very aromatic and spicy drink from ordinary chokeberry. Cinnamon makes rowan wine look like an expensive liqueur.

For preparation you will need ingredients in the following proportions:

• • 5 kg chokeberry;
  • 4 kg sugar;

• 0.5 l of vodka;
• 5 g ground cinnamon.

You can make wine in several stages:

1. Sort the chokeberry thoroughly, remove all spoiled, moldy and rotten berries. Mash the chokeberry with your hands or a wooden masher until smooth.
2. Add sugar and cinnamon powder to the resulting puree and mix. Transfer the mixture into a wide-necked container (pan, basin or enamel bucket), cover with a cloth and place in a warm place.
3. You need to stir the wort as often as possible, but at least 2-3 times a day. After 8-9 days, you can remove the pulp and strain the juice.
4. Pour the rowan juice into a fermentation bottle, cover with a water seal and wait until this process is completed (about 40 days). If there is no more foam or bubbles, you can drain the new wine.
5. The wine is filtered, vodka is added to it, stirred and poured into glass bottles.
6. Now bottles of homemade alcohol can be placed in the basement or refrigerator.

Step-by-step recipe for chokeberry wine prepared in a jar

You can brag about the wine made according to this recipe to your friends and relatives: it turns out aromatic and very delicate. The recipe is especially suitable for those who do not have large glass bottles and a spacious basement.

To prepare you will need:

• 700 g rowan;
• 1 kg sugar;
• 100 g raisins;
• 0.5 liters of purified water.

How to prepare wine in a jar:

1. Sort out the chokeberry, mash the berries with your hands and pour into a three-liter jar.
2. Add unwashed raisins, 300 g of sugar and water to the jar. Cover with a lid and use a knife to make a small cut to allow carbon dioxide to escape. Place the jar of wine in a dark and warm place.
3. Every day the jar of chokeberry needs to be shaken to mix the wort.
4. After 7 days, remove the lid, add another 300 g of sugar, stir and set for further fermentation.
5. After another 7 days, repeat the same procedure with sugar.
6. A month later, the remaining 100 g of sugar is poured into the wine and the jar is left until all the chokeberries sink to the bottom and the drink itself becomes clear.
7. Now the chokeberry drink can be strained and poured into beautiful bottles.

Wines prepared according to these recipes can not only be used to treat guests, they are good for treating blood vessels and strengthening the immune system. To make rowan wine tastier and richer, you can combine this berry with raspberries, currants and other wine products.

You can learn more about all the stages of home winemaking from the video:

Recommended Posts

Sea buckthorn tincture: 18 simple recipes

Cherry moonshine: 6 recipes

Homemade plum liqueur

Dogwood wine at home

Lingonberry liqueur

Recipes for tincture of tarragon and moonshine

Pomegranate liqueur: homemade recipes

Pomegranate moonshine tinctures: recipes

Dandelion wine: photos, benefits, taste, reviews