How do I Make Homemade Raspberry Wine?
While some home brewers use raspberries to provide additional taste to grape wines, the foundation of raspberry wine is the raspberry itself. You don't need a large vineyard or distillery to make your own wine. With a few standard pantry ingredients and kitchen items, you can make your own.
While some home brewers use raspberries to provide additional taste to grape wines, the foundation of raspberry wine is the raspberry itself. You don't need a large vineyard or distillery to make your own wine. With a few standard pantry ingredients and kitchen items, you can make your own. The only specialty items required are wine yeast, a slow fermentation yeast and a fermentation bucket -- a plastic bucket with an airtight lid. It takes two to three months for the fermentation process to complete.
Step 1
Boil 1 gallon of water.
Step 2
Put the raspberries in the fermentation bucket. Mash them a little with a potato masher to break the skins and release the juices.
Step 3
Pour the boiling water over the mashed berries. Place the lid on the fermentation bucket, sealing the berries in until the contents cool.
Step 4
Add the sugar and yeast into the fermentation bucket, and stir. Close the lid, locking all ingredients in for five days. Stir three times per day.
Step 5
Strain the raspberries from the liquid through a cheesecloth, pouring the liquid into the 1-gallon jug.
Step 6
Seal the jug with a cork or airlock, and set it in a warm, dark spot for three months.
Step 7
Siphon the liquid into wine bottles and seal with corks. This wine does not require aging.
Tip
Use only ripe, plump raspberries.
Raspberry wine is enjoyed during winter months, warmed with winter spices.
Squeezing the raspberries in a cheesecloth helps pull more juice from the berries, adding more flavor to the wine.
Some recipes call for aging the wine for one year after fermentation.