Wine Making Process: How to Sterilize the Wine Supplies

One of the most important parts of the wine making process is to properly sterilize all jars and equipment. Bacteria and wild yeasts will quickly taint an entire batch if you not careful. Thankfully, sterilizing isn't complicated.

1. Boiling Water

As long as the water is still boiling when it is poured over the equipment, the water will sterilize. Be extremely careful when sterilizing glass as it has the tendency to shatter if too warm.

2. Homemade Bleach Solution

One cup of bleach to one gallon of water creates an ideal sterilizing solution for plastic or glass, but will corrode metal. Leave the equipment submerged overnight and rinse before use.

3. ChemPro SDP

ChemPro is used in breweries because cleans and sterilizes at the same time so can be a great time saver. Follow the directions on the package.

4. Sodium Metabisulphite or Campden Tablets

These chemicals turn into sulfur dioxide when in contact with water and then sterilize. They cannot be used on metal but they can be used over and over if kept in an air tight container. The vessel does not need to be submerged, merely swirl the solution around in the equipment.

5. Baby Feeding Equipment

Any products which are approved by the FDA for sterilizing baby feeding equipment are excellent for wine making. Follow the directions on the package.