How to make wine – Pectic enzyme – What is it?

If you want to learn how to make wine, one of the first things you need to do is learn about all the different additives and chemicals that go into making homemade wine. Pectic Enzyme is one of the most misunderstood additives.

This article will explain what the pecitic enzyme is, why I need it, and how it works.

Let’s back up a bit and talk about grape jam. MMM! Everyone loves grape jelly and marmalade on a hot buttered biscuit. It always has a sticky, almost gelatinous consistency.

Ever wonder where that jelly consistency comes from? Well, in jelly, it’s all about jelly. But in fruit jams and jellies, much of the consistency comes from something called pectin.

Pectin is produced commercially as a white to light brown powder, extracted from citrus fruits, and is used in foods as a gelling agent, particularly jams and jellies.

If you want to make your own wine from grapes, peaches, strawberries, or any other type of fruit, you have to have a way to deal with the natural pectin. The reason is that the pectin can cause the solids in your wine to clump together in a colliodal suspension and you’ll end up with a cloudy wine that won’t clear no matter how long you let it sit in the secondary.

How to deal with? Use something that EATS pectin! Pectic Enzyme loves to eat pectin.

The way to use pectic enzyme when making your own wine at home is to add about 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of fruit juice before you start to ferment the juice.

As fermentation continues, the pectin enzyme will also eat away at and dissolve the pectin. This will make the wine clear much faster and prevent any suspended solids.