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Tim's brewing shop: The Brown Owl Brew Shop

Enough evidence survived between 1000 BC to 700 BC that we can determine that there were about 5 red and 5 white wines in the world, but there didn’t seem to be much standardization in the blends.

Around 700 BC record keeping and the desire to create more wines give us a picture of the wines that came into existence.

• 500 BC – Riesling, Gamay, Pinot Noir


• 1 AD – Semillion


• 1100 AD – Syrah


• 1350 AD – Gewurztraminer, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre, Cabernet Franc, Grenache


• 1500 AD – Chardonnay


• After 1680 there was an explosion of wine making and most other wine varieties came into existence at this point. There are short lived varieties being made all the time that may only exist for that one year.


• Around 2000 there was another explosion in wine making and a number of other wine varieties were developed. This was in part caused by a better understanding of wine climates and micro climates that allow grapes to be grown in areas that had not seen them before.

• Alcohol levels were usually between 5-10%. Today’s wines are between 5 and 20%.


• Clarity probably did not exist. They usually drank the wine in under 18 months, often even 6 months, so it did not have time to clear. Most wines would have been cloudy, hazy and might even still have had active yeast.


• Fermenting was usually stopped after 5-20 days, which contributed to the lower alcohol content. There were only a couple of specific brewing yeasts available at that time. Sometimes the yeast was a beer yeast, other times it was the yeast that grew naturally on the grapes, and often it was reused from must of a previous brew. The yeast used and the time allowed for fermentation and ageing was dependent on what it was to be used for: Wine for the high table was of better quality than homemade or tavern wine.


• The Nose (smell) of the drink would have had, in many cases, the smell of yeast, as well as all of the spices and grape.


• The Flavor would have tasted of yeast, grape, and spices. In many cases they would not have been well balanced because that comes with ageing.

However, if you don’t pick until after the first frost, you’ll get ice wine grapes. When a ripe grape has frozen on the vine, the water freezes leaving a concentration of the sugars and solids in the grape. This produces a sweet, crisp dessert wine. But the grapes must be harvested and processed while they are still frozen, making this a risky venture.

Fermentation Method #1: Discard the grape solids and use packaged yeast to start the grape juice fermentation

• This requires the minimum amount of work.


• You just have to keep an eye on things to make sure everything starts.

• This is involved and a little slower. It takes about 4 days for the wine to hit about 2%.


• Wine started using this method will finish with better flavor.


• DO NOT WASH the grapes before crushing them; that will wash away the yeast you want to use.


• You’ll add your packaged yeast after about 1 week, and let the fermentation finish with that yeast.

If you have a fruit juicer or crusher than crushing is simple.

• If you plan to start your wine with its own yeast:
• Do NOT wash the grapes and do NOT discard the solids.


• If the solids are ground into small bits, you’ll need to put them in a nylon bag to keep the bits from becoming a massive floating cloud in your finished wine.

• I hand crush the grapes


• Then mash them down them down in a 5-10 gallon vat


• If you plan to start your wine with its own yeast:


• Do NOT wash the grapes and you are set to go


• If not, strain the juice from the solids

Then get your fermentation started:

Fermentation Method #1 (Start with packaged yeast)

• Place the juice in a carboy; add packaged yeast and an airlock.

• Cover the vat of solids and juice, and add an air lock.


• After about 1 week, strain the juice


• Place the juice in a carboy; add packaged yeast and an airlock.

• How sweet does it taste?


• Is it tart?


• Is there a bite?


• How are the tannins?


• What is the flavor like?

• Based on the sweetness of the grape juice, determine how much sugar and what type(s) of sugar you’ll need to add to get the finished wine you want.


• And then, if it is tart and/or has a bite do you want to add tartaric acid or malic acid.


• Are the tannins good or do you need to add some.


• Is the flavor good or do you need to add things to up the flavors.

• White sugar – Is the simplest to add. But it does leave a taste of metal or of chemical. So it’s suggested you don’t use that unless you really need to.


• Tornado sugar – Is a less processed sugar, much like Brown sugar, but with less of a molasses taste. It will add a hint of molasses to your wine; will that work well with your grapes?


• Corn syrup – It provides an almost neutral sweet flavor. Some people can identify corn syrup in the finished drink as an extra silkiness. Use the variety that does not have vanilla added.


• Malic Acid – If the juice has a heavy acidic base use Malic Acid to balance it out. It works to soften other acid bases but it will also add tartness to the drink.


• Tartaric Acid – Lowers the pH of the fermenting juice to a level where many undesirable bacteria cannot live and acts as a preservative after fermentation. Also, if you don’t want to soften the other acid bases (as Malic Acid will) but want tartness to your finished drink, Tartaric Acid will add some.


• Citric Acid – There must be some acid in the juice for the yeast to work. If you aren’t adding any other acid, then add Citric Acid for the yeast.


• Grape Tannin – Attracts protein in your wine which aids in creating clarity. Will also aid in the aging process adding about 2.5 years to the drinkable life of your wine. Be careful with it, if you add to much, depending on the wine, a harshness and a dryness will occur.


• American Oak Chips – Provide a nice simple oak flavor. It is a quieter flavor, more subtle than French.


• French Oak Chips – Provides a more complex oak flavor. It is a more noticeable, more complex, and can add layers of flavor to your wine.


• Yeast Nutrient (Superfood-Plus) – This powder helps to invigorate the yeast. The yeast works faster and longer with this powder added. It is a recommended addition to most every wine.

• Short fermentation – If you stop after Primary Fermentation (about 5 days) it will be about 5% alcohol.


• It will also be a bit unbalanced because the yeast hasn’t had enough time to work on the sugars and acids, and there hasn’t been time for the elements to blend. It will be sweeter than you expect in a wine, and it will have an edge to it. The flavor will be rough.


• This will be very much like a period style wine.


• Medium Fermentation – If you stop fermentation about a third of the way through Secondary Fermentation (another 3 weeks), you will have about 9% alcohol.


• The balance will be better. It will be more fruity than sweet and the edge will mostly be gone. The flavor will not be at its best but approaching the profile wanted.


• This would approximate a high end period style wine.


• Long Fermentation – If you let through Secondary Fermentation complete (another 6-12 weeks, when the bubble stop) it will have about 12% alcohol (of course-as per type).


• The balance should be nice with sweetness, flavor, and edginess all be appropriate to the wine type.
• Tertiary Fermentation – This is a method of restarting fermentation and can add between 1 to 3 percent alcohol, but more importantly, it will enhance the flavor profiles.


• Before you start Primary Fermentation, set aside 1/2 gallon of juice for every 5 gallons you’re fermenting. When Secondary Fermentation has completed and you’ve racked your wine into a new carboy, the reserved juice will come into play.


• At that point mix into the reserved juice: 1/2 teaspoon of Yeast Nutrient per half gallon of juice, and enough sugar to change the alcohol percentage by about 3% (at least 2 pounds of sugar per half gallon of juice).


• When the sugar is completely dissolved add a package of the same yeast you used for the main batch and let it sit until Primary Fermentation starts, about 12 hours.


• Then slowly add enough of this mix (approximately 1/2 gallon) to top off each carboy of racked wine. The higher alcohol content in the fermented wine will slow down the new fermentation, and the Tertiary Fermentation will take approximately another 12 months to complete.


• The balance and flavor profiles should be above standard profile – well worth the extra time and effort!

Decide how long you are going to age the wine (see guidelines below).

After racking, let it sit in the fermentation vat for half of the time you plan to age it. Then bottle it, and let it age it the rest of the time in the bottle.

• White wines are light in sugar, alcohol, and usually have no tannins. They usually need at least 6 months total aging before drinking. They usually reach their peak of maturity between 1-2 years, show signs of decline at 3-5 years, and usually go bad after that.


• Rosé wines have a little more sugar and a little more alcohol than the whites, and have a touch of tannin. They usually need at least 9 months aging before drinking. They usually reach their peak of maturity between 1-3 years, show signs of decline at 4-7 years and usually go bad after that.


• Red wines have a little more sugar and a little more alcohol than the Rosés, and have a lot of tannin. They usually need at least 12 months aging before drinking. They usually reach their peak of maturity between 4-6 years, show signs of decline at 8-12 years and usually go bad after that. However, there are several that will continue to age and continue to improve up to 25, 50, and even 100 years old.

Most wines at a restaurant have been bought at a young age, allowing a few extra years of shelf life. So chances are that you may have received a bottle that is not yet at its peak, or is just past its prime.

A bottle of wine from your own cellar may have been forgotten and is just now seeing the light of day.

So how do I know how good this wine really is?

• Age – The first thing to do is determine its age: Is it in its prime? Starting downhill? A year downhill? Or at the end of the slope?


• Smell – Do you smell off odors or vinegar? If so you’ll want to pop another bottle for tonight’s dinner.


• Taste – If it’s in its prime – Enjoy! Even if it has just started downhill it should still be very enjoyable. Some wines as they slide past their prime will lose their unique flavors and become a nice, mellow unidentifiable wine.

There are items on your dinner table that can help revive a wine that has just started down the slope. In order to utilize them think about the wine’s proper flavor profiles.

• Pepper – Most reds going downhill have lost their peppery flavor or bite. To perk it up, add a pinch of pepper per glass and let it sit for about 3 minutes.


• Salt – As in cooking, salt can bring out many flavors. A pinch per bottle can perk things up for reds or whites.


• Lemon – Many whites have a citrus component in their flavor and they lose that as they go downhill. A couple of drops of lemon juice per bottle can help bring that back.


• Sugar – Sugar helps carry the flavors. Sometimes a pinch of sugar in a bottle will work to revive dying flavors. But it will also make it sweeter.


• In all cases – think about how the wine should taste versus how it does taste. What flavors are missing, and what can you do to add, revive, or enhance U them?

• If it’s vinegary use it in cooking or make it into vinegar.


• If it’s just a pleasant mellow wine that has lost its uniqueness, then drink it around the campfire late at night, or sip it Friday night while watching a movie or anytime you want something pleasant to drink and don’t really care that it’s at its best.


• Use it as a mixer for punch or other drinks.


• Again, think about the current taste of the wine and how it can be enjoyed.

An excellent resource is the Right Noble Brewers Guild of Caid Facebook Group, there you find brewers willing to help and sharing their own brewing activities.

I also recommend Home Beer Wine Cheesemaking Shop in Woodland Hills, CA.

And feel free to contact me with any questions, I love to talk brewing!