Do not consume alcohol if you are under the legal age limit. Doing so could result in arrest and/or other legal penalties. I do not endorse the consumption or creation of alcohol by minors. Please adhere to your local, state, or provincial alcohol codes if you choose to make your own wine. Drinking is universal across college campuses as a social aphrodisiac, stress reliever, and status symbol; however, many college students complain about the cost of drinking. After all, who has money to pay for alcohol after tuition, books, housing, and living expenses? Most students do not work during college, and their bank accounts dwindle lower and lower as their tolerance rises and their partying gets more intense.

A dorm room winery.

This guide will teach you how to turn ordinary juices into wine using cheap, household materials. It will discuss legalities, safety, and options as well as provide a walkthrough of the actual wine-making process which takes five weeks. After reading this guide, you will be prepared to make your own wine in a few easy steps.

Device Design

Adding yeast to a bottle of juice will create alcohol, but your juice will not turn into wine if it is exposed to oxygen. Instead, your juice will turn into vinegar. The vinegar is alcoholic but also tastes repulsive.

Likewise, when the yeast reacts with sugars in your juice, it splits the sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide needs to be released from the bottle so that the bottle does not fill up with air and explode.

This is why the key to winemaking is preventing oxidation while releasing carbon dioxide. There are many methods of controlling oxidation while releasing carbon dioxide. An elementary technique is to put a balloon over the lid of the juice. It will fill up with carbon dioxide, and you will need to periodically remove the balloon to let the air escape. This is not only time-consuming but also dangerous because the balloon might pop while you are away, and oxygen might spoil your wine.

Instead, I recommend you build a simple device made of plastic tubing and a bottle of water. By connecting one end of a plastic tube to a bottle of juice and submerging the other end in water, the carbon dioxide is able to escape through the water as bubbles while the oxygen cannot enter the tubes. This is also entertaining and fun - you can see the bubbles rise through the water.

A simple homemade device used to control oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Environment

Wine can easily be ruined when exposed to heat, light or air. Exposure might ruin the wine's taste or simply prevent the juice from becoming alcoholic. Historically, college students have few problems when storing their wine in a dorm room or apartment; but here are some guidelines to follow:

• Keep the temperature low and constant - Wine should ideally be stored between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Avoid vast fluctuations in temperature - try to keep it as constant as possible. Irregular temperature might spoil your wine's taste.
  
• Avoid humidifiers or dehumidifiers - Fluctuations in humidity can affect your wine. Strong or weak humidity can lead to mold. Store your wine at regular room humidity.
• Find a dark place to store your wine - Sunlight is particularly harmful to wine. Wines that are exposed to sunlight will turn brown and taste burnt. I recommend storing your wine in a closet or under a blanket.
• Make sure your wine is stable - Vibrations can disturb the reaction between yeast and sugars. It will cause a poor taste in your wine. Make sure to find a stable surface, away from fans, computers, or other vibrating objects.

Safety

There are rumors that the consumption of yeast can lead to blindness. I have never experienced this myself but strongly recommend that you filter your wine after fermentation to get rid of dead yeast. The dead yeast will sink to the bottom of your bottle as a gunk. This gunk, called "dregs" can also give the wine a poor flavor. With the exception of these rumors, homemade wine is perfectly safe to drink.

Timing

Wine takes about two weeks to complete primary fermentation. Primary fermentation is the main phase of alcohol-creation when the yeast feeds on the majority of the sugars. After two weeks, your wine is safe to drink and should give you a good buzz. Fermentation will continue for up to five weeks. If you want the most alcoholic wine you can get, you should wait the entire five weeks. I usually have a few gallons of wine brewing at different times, so there is always wine available to drink while still being able to wait the full five weeks.

"Aging" is the process of letting wine sit until it develops a better taste. Aging should be done in a dark location with little movement. If you choose to age your wine, you should remove the tubed-cap after five weeks and replace it with a normal cap. Put it in a dark closet, and wait. After your wine has set for a month or two, it should have a better taste. Again, different people like different ages of wine, so experiment until you find what you like.

Yeasts

Yeast is a fungus that is used in procedures like alcohol fermentation and pasteurization. It is used to make liquors, wines, and beers. When making alcohol, the yeast essentially feeds on sugars and leave behind two chemical compounds: carbon dioxide and alcohol. After feeding on all of the sugar in a liquid, the yeast dies. This is why I recommend filtering and adding sugar to your wine before drinking it.

There are thousands of types of yeast. Each type of yeast is different and will produce different flavors, but they can all be used to make wine. The most commonly available yeast is baker's yeast. Fleischmann's is an example of a baker's yeast which can be found at any grocery store. My on-campus convenience store actually sells Fleischmann's, so be sure to check your on-campus stores first! A packet of Fleischmann's will usually cost about $0.50.

Fleischmann's Yeast, courtesy of BreadWorld.com.

Some yeasts are better for winemaking than others. Yeasts identified as specifically good can be purchased over the internet. These yeasts can be expensive - I have seen them running as high as $10 per pack. They are available at specialty stores like: HomeBrewIt.com, eBrew.com, or Leeners.com. These specialty yeasts are treated to survive higher alcohol contents and produce a better taste.

Juices

You must use 100% juice when making wine. Concentrates or supplemented drink-mixes will not work. Be sure to check bottles to make sure a product is 100% juice before buying. Also, acidic juices cannot be used to make wine. For example, lemon juice and orange juice will not work. The acid will kill yeasts before they are able to ferment the juice.

In my experience, juices that are members of the grape or berry family produce the best tasting wine. White grape juices and dark grape juices are excellent. Cranberry juices are also a treat. Some juices will still produce wine, but they do not taste as good. Apple juice, for example, does not produce good-tasting wine. Experiment with different juices to find which ones match your taste.

Legality

The production of wine for family or personal use has been nationally legal since the end of Prohibition. A person who is of legal age to consume alcohol may produce up to 100 gallons of wine per year. The production is tax-exempt, and you do not need any special license.

It is, however, illegal to distribute or to sell your wine to anyone outside of your immediate family. This includes sharing it with friends or serving it at parties. Some individual states or provinces prohibit the production of wine, and you will have to check with your local authorities before brewing.

Official laws and regulations can be found here.

Materials

The materials that are needed to make wine.

Note: Click on a part below for a picture and more information.

• Bottle(s) of 100% Juice
  
  This must be non-acidic and 100% juice. Concentrates and acidic juices DO NOT turn into wine. Make sure the label says "100% juice" before purchasing.
  
  
• 1/4" Drill Bit
  
• 1/4" Tubing
  
• Yeast
  
• Bottle of water - any size is fine.
• Empty bottle - to store finished wine in.
  
• Water Filtering System
• Granulated Sugar
• Scissors

Preparation

1. Remove the juice cap.

2. Drill a hole through the juice cap. You may use an electric drill, but it is not necessary. It should     only take a few minutes to drill the hole by hand:

3. Cut roughly 12-inches of tubing from the tubing coil for each bottle of juice.

4. Insert the tubing through the hole in the juice cap. The end of the tube should be
    about 2cm through the hole:

The tubing should be about 2cm through the hole.

Fermentation

1. Pour a dime-sized amount of yeast into the palm of your hand:

Use a dime-sized amount of yeast.

4. Submerge the open end of the tubing in the water bottle.

WARNING: Do not let the tubing come out of the water for more than a few                                        minutes. Your juice will NOT turn into wine if it is exposed to air. Make                                        sure it is submerged correctly before going any further.

Submerge the tubing under water.

5. Place the device somewhere that is relatively dark.

WARNING: Do not leave your juice out where the sunlight can hit it. The juice                                       cannot be exposed to natural sunlight for more than a few minutes at a                                       time or it will taste burnt. Store your wine in a closet or under a chair                                       with a blanket over the top.

6. Wait for two to five weeks. You should see bubbles coming up through the bottle of water within
    a day and a "gunk" settling at the bottom. Your wine might give off a foul odor during     fermentation. Wait five weeks for the wine to reach maximum alcohol content, but you can stop     waiting anytime after two weeks.

Filtering

1. After two to five weeks, remove the cap from your bottle of wine - it should smell alcoholic.

2. Pour the wine into the filter to let the dead yeast separate from the wine.

CAUTION: This will change the taste of water that comes through your water filter. I                                     recommend purchasing a filter specifically for wine.

Filtering the wine.

3. Pour the filtered wine into the container you want to store it in.

4. Add granulated sugar. The amount of sugar needed will vary from person to person depending     on taste preference. I suggest two or three teaspoons per half-gallon of wine.

5. Your wine is now ready to drink! Keep it sealed until you are ready to consume. ENJOY!