How To Make Alcohol From Fruit​

Homemade Wine

It’s surprisingly easy to make good wine. You just need to understand the fundamentals of the process and be absolutely rigorous about keeping your home winery spotlessly clean at all times.

At its most basic, wine is fermented fruit juice. Grapes are used most often in wine production, though other types of fruit (and even flowers like dandelion or elderflower) can be used as well. Fermentation is just as simple and easy to undertake as any basic chemistry experiment. A solution called must—comprised of water, sugar, fruit juice, and fruit pulp—is created in a clean container before introducing wine yeast to the must.

Wine yeast is not the same as the baker’s yeast used in baked goods. Instead, wine yeast leaves no taste in wine and can withstand up to a 16 percent concentration of alcohol. It’s available at home brewing stores and online. Some wine recipes don’t require wine yeast. For instance, this strawberry wine recipe relies on wild yeast that the fruit produces naturally.

The actual process of making wine can be either complex or simple. The wine can be ready within a couple of weeks or it may take several months to a full year. Some wines are best when left to bottle age. It depends on the recipe you're following and the amount of work you want to commit to the process. Whichever approach you take, it's rewarding and fun.

To make wine at home, you'll need a few supplies, though not every recipe requires the full list:

• 8-gallon container
• 25 screw-top wine bottles with plastic caps
• 2-gallon stainless steel bowl or pot
• 2-quart, small-mesh sack
• 9 1-gallon, small-mouth jugs
• 1/2 gallon, small-mouth jug
• 6 feet of flexible, clear plastic tubing
• Plastic food wrap
• Rubber bands
• Hydrometer
• Thermometer
• Acid titration kit

Video

How to Ferment Fruit Juice Into Alcohol

If you ever wondered if you can turn juice into alcohol, the answer is yes. By doing so, it saves you time instead of preparing your own fermented fruit first.

1. Start by pouring 2 ounces of whatever kind of juice you are choosing to use (just be sure it’s 100 percent fruit and preservative free). This will help prevent any sort of overflow during the fermentation process. 

2. Add 1/4 teaspoon of champagne yeast to the juice. You can also add sugar

   –

   however much you’d like.  3. Lastly, top the bottle with an airlock and let the bottle ferment somewhere warm for around three to five days. 

Tips

• For specific instructions on making gin, see How to Make Gin.

  Thanks! Helpful Not Helpful

Submit a Tip Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Advertisement

Does salt make alcohol stronger?

You have to add something to the mixture that competes with the alcohol in binding to the water molecules. One substance that can do that is salt. … For this reason, salt ions attract the water molecules much more strongly than alcohol molecules do because alcohol is less polar than water.

What fruits can be fermented into alcohol?

What Fruit Ferments the Fastest? The fruits that ferment the quickest are high in sugar. Red and white grapes and peaches ferment the most quickly, creating alcohol in just 6 days. After that, it takes about 9 days for apples, pears, and pomegranates to ferment.

How can I contact you to ask about How To Make Alcohol From Fruit​?

All the results for How To Make Alcohol From Fruit​ searching are available in the Howtolinks site for you to refer to. In case, you are still confused on some problems about How To Make Alcohol From Fruit​, you can contact us via our email to get our best support.

Distilled Beverages

As discussed above, distilled beverages are fermented beverages made stronger by running them through a distillation process. As a result, they have a higher percentage of alcohol and are usually mixed with soft drinks, fruit juices, water, or made into cocktails to make them more palatable. 

Note: that doesn’t mean that they should always be mixed. Fine spirits are often sipped neat or on the rocks.

Distilled beverages can range from the 20% ABV mark (usually liqueurs) to around 60-70% (e.g., cask strength whiskeys). However, most spirits sit around the 40% ABV. 

Note: The alcohol percentage of spirits is commonly referred to in proof terms, e.g., 80 proof. To arrive at the ABV%, you divide the proof in half. I.e. 80 proof spirits = 40% ABV. 

The two main categories of distilled beverages are spirits and liqueurs. 

You’ve probably heard about both of these beverages, but the difference between them might not be so clear. So let’s clear things up. 

Liquor

Before we get started, let me cover a question that I get asked all the time.

What is the difference between a liquor and a spirit? 

They’re the SAME thing! These terms are used interchangeably in the alcohol world. 

Moving on…

Liquor is simply a distilled, fermented beverage. Generally, there are six major liquor categories: Vodka, Gin, Whisk(e)y, Brandy, Tequila, and Rum. Although there are others debated, we will stick to covering the most used behind a bar in this post. 

Vodka

Vodka is a neutral-flavored clear spirit primarily made from grains but can honestly be made from anything. Corn, fruit, and even potatoes can be used to make Vodka.

Vodka is made to be virtually tasteless, odorless, and transparent, but it does have subtle flavor profiles distinguishable between brands and dependent on the base ingredients used.

Smirnoff, Skyy, Belvedere, Grey Goose, and Absolut are some of the most popular brand names.

Gin

Gin is essentially flavored (but not sweetened) vodka. 

Gin is clear in color and flavored with various botanicals and spices. The essential ingredient in Gin is the juniper berry. For Gin to be Gin, it must be flavored with the juniper berry. 

Popular Gin brands include Gordons, Beefeater, Tanqueray, Hendricks, and Bombay.

Whisk(e)y

Among the different types of liquor, whisk(e)y can be the most overwhelming. Even the way it is spelled depends on where the spirit is distilled. 

For whisk(e)y to be whisk(e)y, it must be distilled from fermented grain juice (essentially beer!), and depending on where it’s from, it must adhere to strict legal requirements. 

Common grains used to make whisk(e)y include corn, rye, barley, and wheat. And the grain used is the essential factor in what kind of whisk(e)y is produced. 

Bourbon, Scotch, Irish Whisky, blends, single malts, etc., all have specific requirements they need to adhere to. You can read more about that here.

Some popular brands of whisk(e)y are Johnnie Walker (Scotch), Jameson (Irish Whisky), Jack Daniels (Tennessee Whiskey), Woodford’s Reserve (Bourbon), and Canadian Club (Canadian Whisky).

Rum

Rum can be distilled using sugar cane but is primarily made using molasses (a thick dark brown juice obtained from raw sugar). Rum is often aged in wooden barrels, and because it’s primarily made in the Caribbean, its requirement laws are nowhere near as strict as whisk(e)y. 

Rum is sometimes flavored with other spices to make ‘spiced rums.’

Some popular brand names of rum are Havana Club, Appleton Estate, Bacardi, Diplomatico and Ron Zacapa.

Tequila

Tequila consists of distilled, fermented blue agave (a plant native to Mexico). Tequila has quickly become the up-and-coming spirit in recent years. Once considered a mediocre spirit reserved for shots, the quality of tequila has risen dramatically, and the more premium brands are meant to be sipped and savored – similar to single malt Scotch.

Some popular brands of Tequila include Patron, El Jimador, Don Julio, Hornitos and Jose Cuervo.

It is also worth highlighting Mezcal here as it has been exploding in popularity in recent years. Many critics may balk at including Mezcal in the Tequila category, but most patrons at the bar you encounter will think of them as brothers.

As the saying goes, though, “All tequilas are mezcals, but not all mezcals are tequilas.”

The difference between Mezcal and Tequila primarily comes down to the type of agave used, the region produced, and the distillation process.

Brandy

Brandy is a distilled fermented fruit juice. Technically, any fruit can be fermented to make brandy, but fermented grapes are used most of the time. Therefore, one way to conceptualize brandy is simply as distilled wine.

Brandy is primarily sipped straight in specialized, round glasses called ‘snifters.’

Cognac, Armagnac, and Calvados (apples) are all types of brandy and they’re often aged for several decades in barrels before they’re bottled and subsequently consumed. Pisco is also considered a type of brandy.

If you want to learn more about the different types of liquor,you can check out this article here.

The Different Types of Alcohol

Rather than cover every type of alcohol on the planet, we’re only going to cover the most important ones in this post. Because let’s face it, even though I could explain to you what Kalju is (a fermented Finnish beverage made from sugar), in all honesty, you’re probably not going to hear about it again. 

Moving on…

The general list of acohol can be separated into two major categories. If you read the above sections on fermentation & distillation, you’ll know exactly what those categories are: fermented and distilled beverages. 

I’ve listed the most common types of alcohol in the categories below.

Fermented Beverages:

• Beer
  • Ales
  • Lagers
• Wine
  • Red Wine: (pinot noir, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, etc)
  • White Wine: (chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, etc)
  • Rose Wine: (usually soft red grape varieties)
  • Sparkling Wine: (Champagne, Prosecco are types of sparkling wine)
  • Fortified Wine: (A combination of wine & liquor)
• Cider

Distilled Beverages:

• Liquor or Spirits (they’re the same thing)
  • Vodka: (Smirnoff, grey goose, Belvedere, Absolut, etc)
  • Gin: (Tanqueray, Gordon’s, Bombay Sapphire, etc)
  • Whisk(e)y: (Scotch, bourbon, rye whiskey are all types of whisk(e)y)
  • Rum: (Havana Club, Bacardi, Captain Morgan’s,  etc)
  • Tequila: (Hornito’s, Patron, Don Julio, etc)
  • Brandy: (Cognac, calvados and Armagnac are all types of brandy)
• Liqueurs (Below, you’ll find a list of some of the most popular liqueur brands)

Others

• Cocktail bitters
• Alcopops (Also known as RTDs)

Without further ado, let’s take a look at what all of these alcoholic beverages are.

Homemade Liqueur

Homemade liqueurs are easy to make. They’re terrific gifts and can be used to replace many store-bought liqueurs for your favorite cocktails. The basic premise is that you’ll combine a base liquor (e.g., brandy, rum, or vodka), sugar, and the flavoring ingredients. Let the combination steep for a specific amount of time, strain out the solids, and bottle your creation.

The alcohol content is usually about 20 percent to 30 percent (40 to 60 proof) for fruit and berry liqueurs. In general, liqueurs should contain about 1 cup of sugar per 3 cups of finished liqueur. Since sugar doesn’t dissolve well in cold liquid, many recipes use a simple syrup as the sweetener, and that’s very easy to make as well.

All you need for supplies are washed and sterilized bottles or jars, and some cheesecloth for straining. You'll also want to designate a cool, dark place for the liqueur to rest during the infusion. This can take anywhere from a week to a few months or more, depending on the ingredients and how intense you want the flavor.

The flavor possibilities with homemade liqueur are as vast as the cordials you’ll find in any liquor store. You can make a coffee liqueur that rivals Kahlúa, a homemade amaretto that’s ready the same day, or a traditional Italian walnut liqueur that’s utterly delicious. Fruit liqueurs can range from berries to peaches. You can substitute any fruit you like into those recipes, though you will have to make a few adjustments to the infusion time.

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 48,719 times. 60 votes – 66% Co-authors: 8 Updated: July 21, 2021 Views: 48,719 Categories: Bartending

Article SummaryX

To make wine, you will need between 12 and 18 pounds of ripe fruit, such as grapes, strawberries, cherries, or apples. You’ll also need wine yeast, two glass gallon containers, a hydrometer, equipment sanitizer, corks, a corker, a sanitized food pail, airlocks and tubing. Once you’ve sanitized your equipment and washed your fruit, use a fruit press or your hands to press the juice from the fruit into a 2 to 4 gallon food grade pail. Add a packet of wine yeast dissolved in water to the juice to start the fermentation process. Cover the pail with a layer of cheesecloth and leave it for 7 to 10 days. When the time has passed, strain the liquid through the cheesecloth into a sanitized glass gallon bucket and seal it with an airlock. You can bottle the wine after 2 to 3 months. To find out how to make beer and spirits at home, keep reading!

Did this summary help you?

• Print
• Send fan mail to authors

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 48,719 times.

Tags