Introduction:
Kilju (pronounced like Kill-You) is a Finnish term for sugar wine, or wine brewed almost exclusively from simple sugar water, sometimes flavored with various fruit. The fruit is not essential to have a healthy fermentation or to brew a fine finished product, but it does help the fermentation sail along to fruition. Keep in mind, when brewed without a fruit or another source of complex sugars, your finished wine will not have a very rich mouthfeel.
The wine is popular with young antiestablishment and punk groups in Finland due to simple and easy to master production methods. It can be brewed with minimal equipment. While I recommend using single gallon glass jugs as carboys, such as those which apple juice is sometimes sold in, if you are in a budget any foodgrade plastic gallon jug will work nicely. When in a pinch, I've personally used empty gallon milk jugs and vinegar jugs in the past and still brewed fine wine. If you don't want to use a glass 5-gallon Carboy as your fermenter, you can use a white plastic, food-grade, five gallon bucket as your fermenter. I like to use a sanitized t-shirt or cloth to cover the top of the bucket which I then secure down with the lid. A Carboy with an airlock is better because it allows you to track the fermentation by directly watching the bubbles released, but as you develop your experience with home brewing you will find that this isn't the only way to identify fermentation progress.
Plain sugar wine when allowed to mellow out over a month or so after brewing creates a nice light drink with a smooth white wine reminiscent flavor. If spirits are more up your alley, this wine can be considered a light sugar wash which is the first step home-distillers who wish to distill their own moonshine or rum.
If unfamiliar with how to use a hydrometer, don't worry too much about it unless you'd like to have a more accurate estimate of your wines alcohol content. Follow these steps using sterile equipment, ensure no excessive light lands on your fermenter, and maintain an oxygen free environment inside of your fermenter throughout fermentation to ensure a quality product.
The Recipes:
Included are two simple recipes for Kilju, the first is for the individual with access to a homebrewing equipment shop in their area. The second is for the total newbie that wants to learn the process with minimal investment. The second recipe can be brewed with access to just about any simple grocery store. The first also utilizes a hydrometer, which is a tool which uses the viscosity of the fluid to determine how much sugar is in solution at any given time. The alcohol content can be measured by tracking the loss in viscosity as the fermentation continues. Make sure to sanitize all equipment that will come in contact with your wine to minimize risk of infection. The second doesn't use a hydrometer so the alcohol content is more or less based on the sugar present and the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. For the second recipe I'll be using active dry yeast simply to show that it can be done, but as a baking yeast this isn't optimal of course. You'll get a smoother, less yeasty finish quicker using a yeast bred for mead, cider, or a dry wine production, depending on what kind of alcohol content you're shooting for.
If your wine tastes thick and sweet after following these steps it's likely one or two steps were messed up or that there were environmental factors that bashed the process and caused the fermentation to stop prematurely. If fermentation stops prematurely you can always reintroduce a little extra yeast to kick the process back into full swing.
Make sure you rack, which means to pour or siphon, your wine off of the lees, which is the yeasty sediment at the bottom of your fermenter, at least one time before bottling. Let the wine rest in the secondary fermenter until as much yeast flocculates, or falls out of solution, as possible. The more you repeat this process of racking the wine, the more clear and smooth you're finished wine will be.
Recipe #1 Herrdoktor330's "Good" Raisin Kilju - (tailored to scale per gal)
Ingredients:
3 lbs Cane Sugar per gallon of water.
1 tbsp Yeast Nutrient per gallon. This will be applied again 1/3rd and 2/3 sugar break.
1 gal Spring Water
1 gal Carboy or 5 gal Carboy
10-15 Raisins (for additional Yeast Nutrient)
1 packet Lalvin K1-V1116 or EC-1118 Yeast w/ 1 tbsp Yeast Energizer (1 pack may be too much for just 1 gallon, so if you're going small I'd scale back to 1/2 pack.)
Hydrometer
Instructions:
Open 1 gal jug of spring water and pour 1 half gallon of water into sterilized fermentation bucket/carboy of choice.
Pour 3 lbs of sugar into half emptied gal jug. Shake gallon jug vigorously until sugar is dissolved.
Pour sugar/water mixture into fermentation bucket/carboy.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 for all gallons of spring water you intend to use. Save some sugar water mixture for step 5.
Pour 1-2 cups of sugar water mixture into sterilized bowl or measuring cup. Empty K1-V1116/EC-1118 into sugar water mixture. Add 1 tbsp yeast energizer and mix. Cover the cup/bowl to prevent contamination.
Add 1 tbsp yeast nutrient and raisins to fermentation bucket/carboy.
Once yeast in cup/bowl is confirmed activated, pitch yeast into fermentation bucket/carboy.
Shake fermentation bucket/carboy to aerate the mixture and spread the yeast and nutrients. Top off container with airlock.
Store in dry area out of direct light at 70-80deg F.
After 10 days, use your hydrometer test for 1/3 sugar break, or that one third of the sugar has been digested. Add 1 tbsp yeast nutrient.
After 10 more days, use your hydrometer test again for 2/3 sugar break. Again, add 1 tbsp yeast nutrient.
By day 30, check for remaining airlock activity and check for liquid clarity, if possible. Hydrometer test again.
Day 35 Hydrometer test. If stable from day 30 check, bottle.
Target ABV is 17-18%
Recipe #2 Runningtree's "Budget" Simple Sugar Wine - (tailored to scale per gal)
Ingredients:
~2.3 lbs Cane Sugar per gallon of water.
1 gal Spring Water.
1 gal Carboy or 5 gal Carboy. Make sure all plastic used is food grade, but glass is always prefered.
1 packet Active Dry Yeast (1 pack may be too much for just 1 gallon, so if you're going small I'd scale back to 1/2 pack.)
1 bung plug and airlock, or at least a clean cloth with a rubber band. Large cloth or t-shirt with 5 gallon bucket lid of you're using a 5gal bucket.
Instructions:
Open 1 gal jug of spring water and pour 1 half gallon of water into sterilized fermentation bucket/carboy of choice.
Pour about 2.3 lbs of sugar into half emptied gal jug. Shake gallon jug vigorously until sugar is dissolved.
Pour sugar/water mixture into fermentation bucket/carboy.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 for all gallons of spring water you intend to use. Save some sugar water mixture for step 5.
Pour 1-2 cups of sugar water mixture into sterilized bowl or measuring cup. Empty Active Dry yeast into sugar water mixture. Optionally, add 1 tbsp yeast energizer. Cover the cup/bowl to prevent contamination.
Once yeast in cup/bowl is confirmed activated, pitch yeast into fermentation bucket/carboy.
Shake fermentation bucket/carboy to aerate the mixture and spread the yeast. Top off container with airlock, or a sanitary cloth and a rubber band if you don't have access to an airlock.
Store in dry area out of direct light at 70-80deg F.
By day 30, check for remaining airlock activity and check for liquid clarity, if possible. Pour the finished wine gently into a secondary fermenter two separate the wine from the yeast sediment.
On day 35 check clarity and sweetness of the wine. If stable from day 30, bottle.
Target ABV is 13-14%
Thank you for checking out my post! Be sure to check out some of these source articles and helpful links listed beneath if you would like to elaborate even more on this process and related processes. Keep the information free friends!
Cheers!
-Runningtree
Sources & Helpful Links:
https://www.reddit.com/r/winemaking/comments/2b06f6/making_quality_kilju_finnish_sugar_wine/
https://eckraus.com/wine-making-high-alcohol/
http://www.brewbitz.com/content/16-recipe-sugar-wine
http://learntomoonshine.com/how-to-make-a-sugar-wash-101
http://homemade-alcohol-college.blogspot.com/2008/03/sugar-wine.html?m=1
http://homedistiller.org/sugar/wash-sugar