Precautions for making fresh bayberry wine

The season for bayberry to mature is almost here. Bayberry is a very popular fruit. It is rich in vitamin C. Its sweet and sour taste is particularly appetizing and promotes digestion. Eating bayberry in summer also has the effect of cooling down. Many people also like to use bayberry to make wine. When making wine with bayberry, you must use fresh bayberry. Of course, there are still many things to pay attention to when making wine with fresh bayberry.

1. Selection of medicinal wine

(1) It must be pure grain wine. The selection of wine is the most critical step in making medicinal wine. You must use wine brewed from pure grains. Good medicinal materials and good wine can achieve the maximum effect of the medicinal wine. This kind of pure grain wine without additives is not easy to find on the market. Here, the author recommends a pure grain wine from Gu Yangkang that I have been using. Only wine brewed from pure grains can achieve the maximum effect of medicinal wine.

(2) Alcohol content: It is best to use high-quality pure grain liquor with an alcohol content of 50-60% for preparing medicinal liquor. From the analysis of Chinese medicinal materials, whether Chinese herbal medicine or animal medicinal materials, they all contain water and more or less bacteria and germs. Only a slightly higher alcohol content can kill bacteria and germs. In addition, the seepage of water from medicinal materials will dilute the alcohol content, so it is appropriate to choose a liquor with a higher alcohol content. However, low alcohol content is not conducive to the dissolution of effective ingredients in Chinese medicinal materials, thus affecting the treatment and health care effects. Finally, from the perspective of shelf life, low-alcohol liquor, coupled with the dilution of medicinal materials, has too high a water content, which is not conducive to long-term preservation. In addition, as wine is stored over time, its alcohol content will decrease. Therefore, it is better to use 50-60 degree wine for soaking.

(3) It is not easy to choose plastic barrels for wine: There are many plastic barrels for wine on the market, especially for strong liquor, which are actually very bad. You must choose ceramic jars or glass bottles to store wine. Remember not to use PET plastic barrels. Wine is corrosive, especially strong liquor. If it is in contact with plastic barrels for a long time, the liquor will corrode the plastic and easily blend into some components of the plastic barrel. For safety reasons, it is best not to use plastic barrels for wine soaking.

2. Selection and processing of bayberry

The best bayberries for making wine are Ruian Gaolou Black Charcoal Bayberry and Chashan Bayberry. These two types of bayberries have high sugar content, moderate acidity, dark color, strong aroma and soft taste. Please select fresh, mature, and undamaged bayberries, and remove the leaves and stems (the stems contain a lot of low-quality tannins that make the wine taste bitter).

3. Container selection

The container for soaking medicinal wine must be a ceramic jar or a glass container. If conditions permit, it is best to choose a ceramic jar. Ceramics jars are more suitable for storing wine than glass. We use ceramics to boil Chinese medicine and store wine in ancient times, which can accelerate the aging of the wine. Plastic and metal containers cannot be used. Toxic substances can easily escape from plastics and metals, or produce toxic reactions. However, this will not happen with glass and ceramics.