A couple of questions about wine-making

[Uberloitenment]

1) What is the minimum amount of time you should allow unfermented fruit to ferment into wine? I have tried googling and get so many answers from a month to 8 months. What I really want to know is - is one month realistic?

2) My main question is this - Is there any general correlation between the type of fruit used and the length of fermentation e.g. does blackberry take longer than apple etc..

Any help gratefully received because, as you can probably guess, I know naff all about this subject :/

[TonyV]

most home made wines are good - you just need to get the juice / flavour from the fruit you are using

Fermentation depends on how much sugar you use - until the yeast is killed by the alcohol - and how strong you want the wine to be.

[merciasounds]

http://www.amazon.co....Hobbies/dp/047067895X

may I sugest this book?

[Uberloitenment]

Good idea Merciasounds, except I was hoping to get the answers without spending any money :/

Thank you for your answer TonyV

[Old_Geezer]

I must take up winemaking again. Miss it. But yes, in my experience go with a known recipe and get a bit knowledgable before going for the "shove it all in, how long do I leave that" type attempts. Walk before you run.

[ethandron]

fully intended to make wine with our bumper harvest of grapes last year. bought all the necessary equipment and then never got round to it. i just crushed all the grapes to get the juice out of them, drank some which was absolutely delish, and have about 3 pints sitting in the freezer.
your post has reminded me about it uber, maybe i'll have a go this year..

[paddywak]

The fermentatation time really depends on how strong you want your wine to be and if you like it sweet or dry. You need a hydrometer, which usually come with a chart giving the strength and sweetness for a given SG, (some are colour coded) check the SG of your wine priodically and when it reaches the strength and sweetness desired add a couple of crushed campden tablets to kill the yeast and stop fermantation, let it stand and settle for a few days then rack off, filter and bottle, some wines are better for a while in the bottle but most can be drunk almost immediatley.Usually have to make two batches one stopped at medium for the Boss, and one I leave to ferment out for myself as I prefer a dry wine. You can also use your hydrometer to calculate the strength of your wine. Take the SG after you've mixed all the ingredients and keep it some where safe. when you have finished fermenting take it again. Subtract one from the other and devide by 7.36 this will give you the % alcohol by volume multiply this figure by 1.75 which will give you the proof of the drink. Dont ask me where the constants come from I got them from my Berry's wine making book which is available from any decent winemakers site and is excellant for beginners

[society]

This may interest you - http://tinyurl.com/6ffrd7p

[Uberloitenment]

Thank you everyone for your answers