Tomato Wine Recipe for beginners
There have been an over-production of tomato in our place recently. Tons of ripe tomatoes were dumped, and tons have been given away to other place as help to the needy due to this pandemic.
Seeing those dump trucks dumping tons of tomatoes, I clinched my fist and felt awful, very awful to the tomato farmers of our province.
Perhaps, if only the government resorted to other means of saving those tomatoes instead of dumping them to landfill, those tomatoes may be of great use in the future. Only if somebody who has funds, teach them how to preserve their harvest, and give them some equipment, they can benefit from their harvest soon, instead of dumping it to waste.
I have been making wines (of different types) for personal consumption for years. I have made Cassava Wine, Glutinous Rice Wine, Mango Wine, Wild Cherry (Pangot in our Local Dialect) Wine, and Banana Wine. During my first year being a Vintner (Wine Maker), I ended up spoiling two batches of 20 liters each. I learned from my mistakes and after that, I always measure my acidity level before fermentation, making it sure it is not acidic enough to inhibit yeast fermentation or not too alkaline which is prone to spoilage.
Continue reading and the recipe comes next
Before we list down the ingredients in the recipe, we will first discuss the process of wine making for beginners to have a glimpse of what is going on in their batches, and what to do if something happens.
The Wine Basics
Preparing the Must
Wine making begins with selecting the fruits to ferment. In selecting fruits, bear in mind that the riper the fruit, the more aroma the fruit imparts in the flavor. I personally select those over ripe fruits, for example, in case of banana, I would choose Bananas with peels turned brown as it contains more sugar, and more aromatic than half ripe fruits.
Chop the fruits crosswise of about less than a centimeter thick then put it in Primary Fermenter (Either a Plastic Bucket, or an Stainless or Glass Container. Add water according to the recipe then sterilized (Will tackle about sterilization Later in this article).
If you have hydrometer, measure your Gravity to know how much sugar is in your Must and to estimate how much alcohol can be made in your wine. Add sugar if necessary.
Sanitizing the Must
Wild yeasts are almost every where. It can be found readily on fruits, in the air, etc. These yeast, while they perform almost the same function (to convert sugar into Alcohol), some wild yeasts contains undesirable traits like imparting some foul aroma, some have very low Alcohol Tolerance leaving your wine with too low level of alcohol, and also, one strain of yeast is known to be an wine spoilage bacteria. In addition to wild yeasts, fruits may in most cases contains Acetobacter, a bacteria that devours Ethanol (Alcohol in Wines) and convert it to Acetic Acid and Carbon Dioxide, turning your wine into vinegar.
Sanitizing your Must before fermentation means Killing all bacteria that maybe present in the must, before tossing in fresh cultured yeast, making sure that only the cultured yeast is dominant, hence, we can predict the outcome of your wine.
Many modern winemakers/vintners used potassium meta-bisulfite. Campden Tablet is an example (or you can also purchase in powder form). Potassium Meta-bisulfite, when mixed with water produces Sulfur Di-Oxide (SO2) Fumes, which, almost no Microorganism (Bacteria, Microbes) can survive. Toss in Potassium Metabisulfite to your Must, cover it with a clean cloth and let it sit undisturbed overnight.
Another way of Sanitizing your must (Naturally) is by heating it. Just be careful not to exceed 90°C as it can burn starch (on Starchy Fruits like Banana) and Sugar. Simmer your must in low heat for 10-15 minutes, stir occasionally and do not allow it to boil. Yeast and most Bacteria dies below 60°C. All bacteria in wine dies off at 80°C.
Fermentation
To start fermentation, toss in your desired yeast culture, yeast nutrients, and other ingredients like pectic enzyme (if necessary), Amylase Enzyme (Only if necessary) and wait for sometime (about 4 hours) until fermentation is visible to eyes. Many winemakers prefer to make a yeast starter by dissolving the yeast in a glass of warm (not hot) water, added some sugar, some nitrogen source if available and wait for a few minutes. When bubbling starts vigorously, pitch the yeast starter into the Must, stir it well then cover it with a clean cloth.
Primary fermentation take 10-15 days, and after that, remove the Lees or the Fruit chunks and transfer the Must to a sanitized fermentation Carboy or Demi-Jhon (If you are not familiar with some equipment names, please Comment below).
Make sure to install a Rubber Bang ang an Airlock after racking to prevent aeration which causes wine oxidation. Limiting air inside the Carboy helps in controlling the growth of Acetobacter (all variants) which converts your precious Alcohol into Acetic Acid (Turning your wine into a delicious Vinegar for cooking).
Racking and Re-racking
During wine making process, you will transfer the Must several times, this is known as Racking and Re-Racking. When your wine reached 1 and a half inch of sediments or lees, re-rack it to another clean carboy by Siphoning, leaving the lees behind and some wines along it. After every racking, top-up your newly re-racked wine with water to fill your carboy up to its neck. Most wines are re-racked 3-5 times, few are up to 7 re-racking.
Stabilizing
When fermentation is finished, the wine clears, and no more sediments or lees left, it is time to Bottle your wine, or aged it a little more in bulk. Whether to Bulk age (Age the wine in a large container) or let it age in bottle, it is necessary to stabilize the wine prior to bottling.
Stabilizing wine means, deactivating or annihilating all micro-organism in the wine. This is done by pitching in Potassium Sorbate, and Potassium Metabisulfite, and let it sit for 24 hours before back sweetening and bottling.
Back Sweetening and Bottling
Back Sweetening refers to adding sugar to finished wine to add some sweetness, unless you prefer dry wine. After back sweetening, you can transfer your wine in the bottles, and age it there, or you may prefer to age it in bigger container known as Bulk Aging, it is your call.
Tomato Wine Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 Kilo Fully Ripe Tomatoes
- 1 Pack Wine Yeast (In my place, you can use Cake Yeast, we called it Bubod)
- 4 Kls. White Sugar
- 20 Liters Water (Distilled)
Procedure
Wash tomatoes and slice them into chucks.
Add 20 liters water and simmer for 30 minutes. Let it cool.
Mash the fruits and discard solids (peels, flesh, and seeds).
Add and dissolve the sugar, and transfer it to fermentation carboy, toss in yeast (if using cake yeast, pulverize the cake yeast first). Seal the fermentation carboy with airlock bubbler and let it sit for 10 to 15 days. Do not throw away excess liquid because you can use that to top up later after re-racking.
After 10-15 days, re-rack the must by siphoning it to another carboy (do not decant), top-up the carboy up to the neck using the excess liquid earlier, or if not enough, or is unavailable, top-up with water.
Seal again the carboy with airlock bubbler, and let it sit for 2-3 weeks or re-rack it again if Sediments or Lees has reached one and a half inch think at the bottom. After 2-3 weeks, re rack again and again, top-up with water up to the neck of the carboy. Repeat the process until no sediments are left, and until it is clear enough.
Normally, you can drink your wine after 2 weeks of fermentation if you don't mind drinking cloudy wine.
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