Wine Making Common Problems

March 25th, 2009 by Sibusiso M. Maseko

by Lucille Green

By far the most popular issue in most wine making failures can be attributed to equipment that isn’t up for the task. A lot of people make the mistake of using common household items for making wine because they seem to be familiar to the carboys, spoons and airlocks that are important for this process. You should take note however, that specific wine making equipment is made from special materials so including products made from different materials can effect on the finished product.

For the most part, it’s a mistake to try to reuse products that have held other items especially foods. It would be better to go ahead and invest the money necessary to purchase proper wine making equipment so you can be positive of success.

Not following instructions is also a big mistake and because of that, there’s an urge to make the process make the process simple which is a huge mistake. If you’ve been cooking for a long time then you probably know the importance of sticking to the directions and not following this usually results in disaster, and that doesn’t change in wine making.

The quality of your water can also impact the quality of your wine because hard water or water that has a high mineral content will create wine that has flavors that are somewhat off or even have somewhat of a haze. You should also know that water from a salt-exchange water softener should never be used in wine making. To be sure of the quality it would be best to only use bottled water and by doing so, you’ll notice a huge difference.

Handling the yeast properly, is also important it needs to be moistened at the proper temperature to activate it. In conditions that are too cold the yeast will fail to activate and if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. For the most part, you need to keep a the temperature somewhere between sixty-five and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure the temperature is constant because if the temperature in your fermentation area is too cool, the formation process will take too long, which can result in more fizz than you want.

Another popular mistake is removing the sulfite in the wine which is usually the result of allergies to sulfite. Though it is quite accurate that some people are allergic to sulfites, it needs to be pointed out that even if you take the sulfite from the wine the wine won’t actually be sulfite free due to the fact that the yeast always creates additional sulfites anyway. The reason for the sulfites is to prevent spoiling and oxidation. In under a month the wine will not taste right and in less than ninety days it will be undrinkable.

Lastly, be certain make sure you dedicate the time to your wine that it takes because successful wine making, is art. In order to fully appreciate the results you need to wait the right amount of time for the wine to finish before tasting it.

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