I get a lot of questions about how to increase the alcohol content in homemade wine. In recent years, the wine industry has given much importance to fortified wines or wines that border on 17% alcohol. For whatever reason, wine-tasting snobs have decided that wines with a slightly higher alcohol content simply taste better.

This is how you can increase the alcohol content in your homemade wine to almost 50%. (Might not be a good idea, but I’ll tell you anyway.)

Most of the wine you make is water. Only about 14% is alcohol. Alcohol has a much lower freezing temperature than water. So, you can make an “iced wine”, wine that has been partially frozen.

All that is needed is to put the bottle of wine in a freezer. First you will have to uncork it. Leave it in the freezer for about an hour. You will see some ice begin to form in the bottle. Once it’s “slushy”, just drain the liquid part and leave the ice in the bottle. Guess what you’ll have? Ice wine! And, if you left it in the freezer long enough, the alcohol percentage will be around 30% (that’s 60 proof!).

People in the Northeast have been making “iced apple cider” for a long time. They make the apple cider, they ferment it, and then they put the secondary fermenter in the snow and let it sit for a while.

Then, they simply insert the bucket or carboy and drain the liquid. soooo daaa! It’s called “HARD” apple cider and it’s great for warming up your nose in the middle of a cold winter. Here’s another tip: put in a little cinnamon when you’re doing the primary fermentation for a spiced hard cider.

Happy oenology!