This homemade spiced pomegranate wine is a delicious and festive homemade fermented brew to make for the winter season. It has a gorgeous deep red color, not unlike red wine, and is rich in flavor. Pomegranate wine is perfect for the holidays!
Artisanal Small-Batch Brewing Book
This recipe for spiced pomegranate wine is from the book Artisanal Small-Batch Brewing by Amber Shehan of Pixie’s Pocket.
I love this book because all of the recipes are for one gallon batches! It includes mead, country wine, cider, beer, plus some recipes for using your amazing homebrews like beer bread and mulled wine.
It’s the perfect book for beginners, or those just wanting some simple and delicious small batch recipes!
Spiced Pomegranate Wine Recipe
Homebrewing wine or mead (honey wine) in small, one gallon batches is one of my favorite things to do. It’s easier than you would think to put together, and is always exciting when it comes time to taste it!
This pomegranate wine is such an easy recipe, once I had all of my ingredients and equipment ready it only took me about 30 minutes (or less) to brew!
Pomegranate Wine Equipment & Ingredients
A little bit of special equipment is needed for brewing and bottling this one gallon batch of wine:
- Sanitizer (everything must be sanitized prior to brewing)
- One Gallon Glass Jug with Airlock
- Auto Siphon with Tubing
- Bottling Wand
- Flip Top Bottles
You will also need to get pomegranate juice that does not contain any preservatives (they will hinder fermentation) and Lalvin K1-V116 wine yeast.
Brew the Pomegranate Wine
The first thing you will need to do is sanitize all of your brewing equipment.
Then you will boil the water in a pot with the peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom pods, raisins, and orange. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, then remove it from the heat.
Add the sugar to the pot and stir it well until it is completely dissolved.
Use a funnel and a strainer to transfer the spiced sugar water into the gallon glass jug, then add the pomegranate juice.
If there is space left, top off the jug with unchlorinated (filtered) water until the liquid (called “must”) reaches the neck of the jug.
Pitch the Yeast
When the glass is cool enough to handle (mine was right away), pitch the yeast. First cap the jug, or if you don’t have the cap you can use the rubber stopper from the airlock with your hand over the little hole.
Shake the jug vigorously to aerate it, then sprinkle half the yeast packet into the jug.
Ferment the Pomegranate Wine
Put water in the airlock to the line, then put the rubber stopper and airlock into the top of the jug.
Label the jug with the name of the brew and the date and set it aside somewhere out of direct sunlight until it is finished fermenting.
Within a day or two you will start to see bubbles forming in the jug!
You can tell that fermentation is done when the bubbles have stopped and the wine has cleared, usually after about 4 to 6 weeks.
Racking, Bottling & Aging the Wine
This wine can be racked into a secondary jug for a while to clear it up if you’d like.
Then it will be time to bottle! You can see my instructions for bottling one gallon of wine here (or cider or mead, the process is the same).
Most wine benefits from some aging as well. I aged this wine for nearly a year before tasting it, and it was incredible! Even just a few months of aging will greatly improve the flavor.
The color is gorgeous and the flavor is rich and wonderful, but not too heavy. It is a little bit sweet, but not overly so. Definitely a new favorite, especially for the holidays!
For another festive pomegranate cocktail, try my Pomegranate Martini with Rosemary Honey!
Here is what Amber says about this wine in Artisanal Small-Batch Brewing:
“This pomegranate wine has a rich, deep flavor. It is reminiscent or a Beaujolais, with a touch of sweetness that lingers on the tongue. The spices in the recipe do not live at the forefront, but contribute to a balanced base for the tart pomegranate to rest upon. This wine is an excellent companion to warm you on cold winter days, especially when mulled!”
I’m definitely going to try mulling this wine for the holidays, that sounds so festive and delicious!
Related: Mulled Hard Cider: Warm Spiced Apple Drink for Fall
Mead Making for Beginners Ebook
If you want to learn more about making one gallon batches of mead (honey wine), I have a Simple Mead Making for Beginners eBook for you!
It has ingredient and equipment checklists and detailed instructions for brewing and bottling your mead. Be sure to check it out if you’re new to the mead making process and want a more detailed guide.
Here are some more popular one gallon homebrew recipes:
- How to Make a Gallon of Mead
- 15 Easy Mead Recipes for Beginners
- Mugwort Lemon Beer
- Maple Mead with Orange and Spices
Spiced Pomegranate Wine
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups water plus more if needed
- 5 black peppercorns
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 12 whole cardamom pods
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 1/2 orange chopped
- 2 pounds sugar
- 2 quarts pomegranate juice without preservatives
- 1/2 packet Lalvin K1-V116 yeast
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients and sanitize your equipment.
- Boil the water in a pot along with the peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, raisins and orange. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes and then remove it from the heat. Add the sugar to the pot and stir it well until it is completely dissolved.
- Use a funnel and strainer to transfer the spiced sugar water into the carboy. Add the pomegranate juice to the jug. If there is space left, top off the carboy with unchlorinated water until the must reaches the neck of the jug. Seal it with the rubber stopper and airlock to keep everything clean.
- When the glass is cool enough to handle, pitch the yeast. First, cover the mouth of the carboy. Shake the jug for a minute to add oxygen. Sprinkle the yeast into the jug and then recap the carboy with the rubber stopper and airlock (fill the airlock with a little water to the line first).
- Label the jug with the name of the brew and the date and set it aside somewhere out of direct sunlight until it is finished fermenting.
- Within a day or two you should start to see bubbles forming in the jug. You can tell that fermentation is done when the bubbles have stopped and the wine has cleared, usually after about 4 to 6 weeks. Bottle when ready.
Notes
- This wine is hazy and thick, but can be racked into a secondary jug for a while to clear it up if you’d like. It does clear up after bottling.
- See my instructions for bottling one gallon of wine here (or cider or mead, the process is the same).
What does “pitch the yeast” mean?
It means adding the yeast to your pomegranate juice in your fermentation vessel.
This looks divine! I’m new to wine making, but I’ve been loving it so far. Do you think this could work as a wild ferment?
Hi Bridget. It may. I haven’t tried it as one, so I can’t say for sure.
What happens if you use all the yeast
It may taste a little yeasty, but otherwise should be fine.
I was out of sugar so tried this as a mead! Hopefully I didn’t mess it up :-) ….I added extra raisins to the carboy just in case there wasn’t enough nutrients for the yeast. How soon would you rack (you mention it in the article)?
Pomegranate mead sounds delicious! I would rack it after about 4 weeks or so.
I can’t wait to make this and give it as gifts for the holidays next yr! I’m also ordering the book! I just found you not to long ago and I’m LOVING everything!!! I’ve been a dabbler for yrs with herbalism and homesteading but now with Covid and home full time, Getting back to basics and learning to be more self sufficient is a must!!
I’m glad you’re here, Sherice! Enjoy!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I tried it today now waiting for the wine to sit . How did yours come out. The sugar water spice with just the pomegranate is really good before it’s wine cannot wait to see how this comes out. Made two batches today.