Greetings, I have a question, I'm new to making wine. I have no clue what I'm doing but I've been watching your videos. My question is the items that I have purchased bottles containers? What do you initially wash them with before you sanitize them? Or do you just The sanitizer? Also with my first batch I was wondering if it would be okay for me to add my Concord grapes that I have in my freezer.? I have about 10 lb. I have cleaned and put it in my freezer. Can I add that to the juice please and thank you!
Great that you added the segment on sanitising! I currently have a strawberry wine that’s in secondary. It’s a fruit-and-juice combination. Strawberries and grape juice in primary, removed the fruit after a little less than a week, more fruit in secondary, also removed after a little less than a week. Pectic enzyme and tannin added before pitching. It smells like a strawberry shortcake doll right now. Edit: and you’re right that one of the things this hobby is all about is the freedom to tailor your end product exactly to your liking. You’re able to gradually sweeten as well, having some dry, some semi-sweet and some sweet. When making a test batch, you can make a small batch, when repeating a recipe you really like, you can make a bigger batch. If you don’t drink a lot you can stick to smaller batches. For special occasions or it you entertain a lot, you can make larger batches. You want your wine organic? By all means, use organic fruit or fruit juice (or both). Home brews make great gifts, too. A half-size bottle and a small bag of home baked cookies in a pretty basket with a bow on it will often be received much better than a gift straight from the store.
@@HowToDoneRight - once it’s truly done, I’m going to see if I feel it needs tweaking or if I’m going to stick to back sweetening and bottling. I suspect I’ll oak it if it needs tannin, and if it needs roundness but has enough tannin I’ll add vanilla.
@@HowToDoneRight - Update: it finished, I tasted it, and decided to add the vanilla. I allowed it to age for a bit and it’s AWESOME. It’s relatively low tannin so those who like their wines a bit more tannic should add a smidge of it. But I was going for easy drinking, with no intention to keep it for decades. I wanted something that is at its best within the 6-18 months range. Something to enjoy during those Spring and Summer evenings when the temperature outside is just right to enjoy a nice glass of wine either before or after dinner. Slightly cooled this is EXACTLY what you want. Feel fancy? Drop in a frozen strawberry. For more tannic wines I’d recommend dark fruit. Blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries. Throw in a few dark cherries if you want. Court the frozen section of the supermarket and only buy when there’s a good deal. Or go foraging. Or check if a day trip to one of those pick-the-fruit-yourself-and-get-it-cheap is available: you get to have a fun day out (which usually costs money) and you get your fruit. That’s a great twofer if you ask me!
I’m just finishing up some blueberry and some pineapple. I’ve tasted both already. Blueberry is definitely my favorite. I love the way it smells the house up.
Glad I ran into your page guys. Thoroughly enjoy watching your videos and just recently started my first batch of apple wine 5 days ago. Also purchased about 21 pounds of frozen blueberries, which will be my next adventure. Cheers!
I will tell you something Kevin... I know people say wine gets better with age... but I like my wine the best after about a month or so too. So don't be afraid to open one sooner.👍👍
@@HowToDoneRight - But of course! I didn’t mean to imply you absolutely have to age your wine (or cider, or mead) for 6-12 months. Personal preference is what it is. 😊 My personal preference goes towards 6 months of age to more, depending on the recipe, ingredients, and the ABV. I tend to let higher-ABV wines and meads age longer. If the end product has more tannins, ageing rounds out the flavours and allows them to bloom. Of the flavours are compex the same seems to apply. To figure out if age benefits the wine or mead, I always try to have a few ‘taster bottles’ available. Generally those are half-size bottles because I’m not a big drinker and don’t like opened bottles sitting around. Every few months I’ll crack one open and see how my wine or mead develops. Some times I decide that it’s good for drinking, some times I’ll decide it needs to sit for a while longer. Yes, there have been times when I’ve waited too long. The wine/mead had passed its peak. I add these tasting notes to the records I keep. Everything is grouped together: recipe, method, readings and tasting notes, wine per wine, mead per mead, cider per cider. Over time, when I choose to repeat a recipe I’ll know at which age it’s peaked. After a while you can also see a pattern emerge. High-fruit blackberry wines and meads really benefit with age and can be kept for several years, generally are okay to drink at around 6 months but become best around 1-2 years IMHO. Blueberry tends to be best (to my taste) around the 1-year mark. Tart cherry mead, if in a high fruit concentration, is best to my taste at 6-12 months, especially if made sparkling. Elderflower wine is best at 3-9 months (sparkling). But again, that’s MY preference and you have to take into account that I tend to brew towards 13-14% ABV. I’ve got a sweet to semi-sweet spiced orange mead that is 18% ABV that really peaks when it’s older than 2 years and is divine between 3-5 years: smooth as creamed butter, warming like a hug, drinks like a dream but treacherous like the kick of a bad-tempered mule if you’re not careful. You don’t notice the alcohol and would be tempted to have several glasses. And then you get up from your seat… oof. 🤣 Long story short: if you have the option to fill 3-4 smaller bottles I highly recommend you do so. It’ll give you more options as far as testing is concerned.
@@HowToDoneRight - Always goad to. I guess it boils down to: 1. Determine what your personal preferences are 2. Taste at bottling, adjust, but consider keeping part of your brew unchanged if you can. 3. Taste at various intervals 4. Keep track of your tasting notes 5. Compared with both previous tastings, and the evolution of other brew if you can find out commonalities 6. Go from there for further brews. Or, put more simply: build experience and learn from it. Reading up on stuff also helps, but is much ‘drier’ than the hands-on approach described above. Harvests vary, affecting tannin levels, sugar content, ripeness, levels of other flavour components and colour. But over time some things start to pop up and in my humble opinion, a home brewer’s notes are home brewer’s gold. The things about ageing I wrote in my other comment are based on what I like, with the fruit sources I have in the area I live in, brewed in the conditions I have in my home brewing space according to the methods I use. That’s a lot of variables. If for example you purée blackberries and strain the seeds out, you won’t have an end result that is as tannic. If you leave the seeds in, you can vary tannic values significantly by removing the fruit at different moments (after 24 hours on pectic enzyme but before yeast pitch, after 24 hours post-pitch, one week post-pitch, etc). I happen to like my dark berry wines and meads with high fruit content at pitch, and tend to leave the fruit, seeds and all, in the must for a week. That’ll yield you a highly aromatic wine almost so dark you can’t shine light through a 1-gallon fermenter and has characteristics very close to Southern European wines or wines: Italy, Spain, Southern France. Thick legs on the glass, yet very smooth and almost buttery when aged. Perfect for spicy dishes, meats, pasta in rich sauces or a string cheese. Finished sweet, they go well as an after dinner drink. Fortified, you’ll he thinking port wine. Especially if you add a few unripe chopped walnuts (booster and all), harvested before the shell hardens, in secondary for a few months. It’ll give you “vin de noix”, but made with your own home brew. Those are what I call ‘long term projects’. If I want something fast, my methods, conditions and preferences will take me towards florals (elderflower wine, passionfruit wine/mead, chamomile wine… etc). Eghad… rambling again. Stopping now!
You make great videos!! I enjoy all of them😍 I would like if you make mango wine, rice wine, melon wine, etc… there is some different flavours that you could taste and recommended to us. I really appreciate all your efforts for making these videos 👏🏻🤗😘
Interesting, I've never used any of these chemicals on my wine. I make it a bit more naturally, except for fermaid o and that works for me. But this looks great! Right on! Save me a glass haha
Thank y'all for the videos, really enjoyed them. My wife is more fond of white wines, and was curious to know if the same process could be used on white grape juice?
some folks say never stir during primary fermentation because you might end up with vinegar, whats your thoughts on that?, i always stir never had an issue, just curious as to your thoughts on it. Great vid new sub and like.
You should do a wine cellar reveal. I would think you would need a huge area to store it with how much you make. I just bottled my first batch of mango. Story yours cracked. I made mine too sweet. Lol second batch under way
Thanks so much for watching us..❤️❤️❤️. oh yeah you can bulk age in carboy. My friend once wine clear enough and sediment removed he will bulk age in carboy for 1 year or more. No issues.
Nice detailed video as usual. Just curious have you ever tried using Bread yeast, has a lower ABV tolerance and keeps the wine as a sweet wine found I do t need to back sweeten , super simple... but I might have to add wine tannins next time...
Hi Todd and Laura, you are both my “go-to’s” when it comes to homemade wine making, and I am truly so,so thankful that you share your knowledge and wisdom with us. I have a question, please. I notice that when you are racking this wine you allow the tip of the racking cane to touch the bottom of the carboy where the dead yeast and sediment is; I bought all the equipment (that I can afford so far) that you have listed but was wondering …won’t that sediment get pulled up into the new carboy? Or does it not? I watched the Fermtech videos on their racking canes but it does not not explain anything about this.
Doing this process just added Bentonite on 03-13-23 how many days will it take before you notice it clearing up? Thanks again for the informative videos, your honey should be very proud of you
Great videos! I've been making Hooch type wine for several years now and thanks to you I'm moving my game up to higher quality wine, no more mason jars. I do have a question. Is it necessary to use the Potassium sorbate if you are not going to back sweeten the wine?
I have a question on 2nd fermentation on using the hard plastic mason jar fermenting lids where it keeps oxygen out and has the pin hole for escaping gases would that not work if you have extra wine from the first fermentation. I made a gallon + in a 2gallon size bucket and had about a pint left from primary and didn’t have another bubbler or small enough jar so I put it in a mason jar with my fermenting lid will it still be wine or will it become vinegar? You have inspired me to try I’m new so sorry for so many questions. Can I use wine bottle that have the screw on caps from previous moscato wine that I keep ? I don’t have a screw corker or corks.
Yes you can use the Mason jars as long as has airlock. To let carbon dioxide escape and keep oxygen out. You can use twist caps it just will not keep near as long as cork would. And make sure using stabilizer if back sweetening wine. Thanks so much for watching the channel. Keep me posted. 👍👍😁😁♥️♥️🍷🍷
When the bentonite is added you said stir it for 3 days, do you take stir stick all the way down to bottom of jug and stir it up for three days? Thanks so much for the informative videos.
I wish there was a recipe page for each of the processes, at least using slides listing every ingredient and measurement as you add. I’d love to make this
Hi there, I need your help, I started my black grapes wine on 27th October temperature was 85fnt with 26 lbs grapes I smashed them and added 5 lbs of sugar plus 4ltr water ,with all chemicals you recommended with initial gravity 1.120, after 24 hour I added wine yeast since then I seen little fermentation activity and now at 4th day fermentation stuck even I stirred every day, please let me know how to restart fermentation, should I add more sugar or water or what please help. Thanks in anticipation 🌹
Also your sugar is very low. You need 2 to 3 pounds sugar per gallon of wine... please watch this video and review description for a 5 gallon recipe. th-cam.com/video/eNXP5UPGJ9M/w-d-xo.html
I have several videos out there if you watch part 2 of my wine videos when I'm racking. It is very common. If not much can add water. Can add wine or juice. And some people will add sanitized marbles.
This may have been asked, but could you use a steam juicer to first extract the juice from the fruit, then make wine with that juice? I’m sure you could, but I would not know how to calculate the sugar needed. Maybe it’s just an extra step that isn’t really needed.
You usually get abv done upfront as i show you in all wine videos. You can add more simple syrup later in fermentation but can be risky turning it to vinegar.
Help! I’m so bummed. I followed your instructions to the “T” and added in my packet of yeast yesterday afternoon. When I got home from work today the air lock wasn’t bubbling and there weren’t any real bubbles /bubbling action on the top of the grape juice, but when I stirred it it started bubbling like soda pop. I don’t know what to do. Would it be okay to add another packet of yeast? P.S - I use RO water since that’s what we pay for in our home. We live out here in West Texas and the well water & city water here is horrible and nasty.
First ro water can be used but not ideal as wine needs minerals but it should still ferment. Add additional yeast and be sure to watch my stuck fermentation video with things to try also. Did you use a juice without sulfates as suggested in the video? Don't give up on it. It took me a week to get my lemon wine to start fermenting. Are you seeing any foam?
@@HowToDoneRight - there was a little foam when I first opened the cover this afternoon. I’ll be sure to use bottled drinking water from now on. And I’m going to be sure to watch your stuck fermentation video. I feel so relieved from your reassurance to not give up and how your lemon wine took a long time to start fermenting. I just gave it some yeast nutrient to hopefully help it to get going. I bought good grape juice without sulfates…no -ates in the juice at all. I also just added another packet of yeast.
Some wines take longer to get going. I Have had wine that were fermenting very slowly that the Bubbler never went. Keep checking with hydrometer and see if it is dropping the means it's working.
hi. my first wine was the banana wine. i made a series of huge mistakes and it ended up being like 18% abv. it tasted mostly of alcohol. it was nasty.....but for my second wine(pineapple) i followed the instructions properly. and i measured properly. i made it 12% abv, and it was quite delicious the alcohol was definitely there, but it had a soft, refreshing pineapple taste. so i ordered a 3 gallon carboy, because now i have confidence that i can make it well, so it's time to scale up. the only problem i have is that my auto-siphon came with one of those 1gallon kits. and it's way too short for the 3gallon carboy. i tested every other piece of equipment and everything else works perfectly with the 3gallon carboy. what size auto-siphon do you use for a standard 3 gallon carboy? i measured it and it was about 18 inches in length. and the siphons i've seen are about 17 inches.
You can always dilute a brew that is too strong. Once the brewing is done, there is so much you can do and add still to it. Flavouring, spices, different juices, honey, a bit of salt can do wonders sometimes. Just take out a measured amount and play around with it. Keep track of the quantities you add and add in small increments cause you can't undo adding too much. Once you like it, do the math to figure out how to scale your measurements up for the big bottle. Depending on what you add, you may need to let it sit and rack it again after stuff settles out.
I have a question. I had my wine crystal clear, and after back sweetening and adding campden tablets and potassium sorbate I am getting sediments in the bottles after it sits. Why is that?
I believe that batch got racked 3 or 4 times. How long would the aging take for that to go away? I would like to send pictures but I don’t know how to do that.
I do not have instagram. And no I did not . I followed your video to make wine in 30 days but never do use the quick clear because it was so clear. Maybe with the batch I have going now. I will be more patient and let it sit much longer between rackings. So should the Campden tablets and potassium sorbate dissolve crystal clear ? And I have one more question. The last two batches I have done once the fermenting is done I keep getting these little tiny bubbles that constantly come up looks like fizz. Is that trapped gas and why is that happening?
Yes these additives will dissolve. Those little gas bubbles are carbon dioxide.. if you use bentonite like I do in all my wine you will see I stir that for 3 to 5 days that releases those bubbles. Or some people degass there wine by stirring.
Yum!! I really want to do this but in my country it's really hard to find decent grape juice that's 100% grapes and affordable. There's plenty of juices with either sulfates or various mixed ones with like 47% of grapes, 25% apples and the rest various red berries...which is fine, but it's not classic grape wine that way. The pure au naturel 100% grape juice is in the organic produce section and it costs an arm and a leg. Okay, I',m being hyperbolic, but for the price of 1L of that juice you can get a bottle of really good wine, so that kinda defeats the purpose. That said I currently have 80 kg of the Black Hamburg Muscat grapes I was given after helping a colleague of mine with the harvest, fermenting on the skins. The juice alone had 1.065 gravity and I raised it to 1.096 by adding 5kg of blueberry blossom honey I had left from mead making. It's not enough to make this into a pyment, it's just going to be a really bold red wine...just the way I like it! On another note, I've actually used bentonite for the first time ever the other day, on a really stubborn plum wine that just wouldn't clear...and to say I'm impressed with the product (bentonite) would be an understatement! Holy moly...it literally started working instantly, mixing with the gunk and clearing the wine up top within minutes. Next morning, so less than 12 hours later, there was a thick layer of sediment at the bottom, but the rest of the carboy was crystal clear! How long would you say it should take for that sediment to compact and firm up enough for racking to go smoothly? I have zero experience with bentonite.
I hear that about the cost of juice.. that's why I really like to use fresh fruit because can get some good deals on it where I live. if you watched my other video series using bentonite I like to let it go for 30 days. No rush needed to Get bottled. But I understand people that you only need to wait a few days or a week. But I always let mine go for 30 days... hope that helps.👍👍🍷🍷😁😁
@@HowToDoneRight It does help. Thanks. I'll wait too then because the wine is only 2 and a half months old anyways. It just wouldn't even begin to clear and I had even less sediment than you. Another plum wine is clearing just fine and has a wonderful purple color!
So you added like four different chemicals into this? No thanks. Yeast and thats it. In many countries,people making wine dont add anything and it's good wine. I dont think hundreds of years ago they added chemicals.
Congrats on getting over 8.32k subscribers! i enjoy your winemaking videos and recipes. I just finished making a Strawberry Watermelon 3 gallon Batch myself. Check it out @ Greg Sumner. Your channel is an inspiration to follow my wine making interest. Thanks for sharing
@@HowToDoneRight yes sir! the Strawberry Watermelon is a bright Candy Apple Red in color and Smells awesome! It should be an amazing wine. While my Watermelon looks more like a cotton Candy... I can't wait to try both of them! keep on inspiring me... we will have to compare our creations some day
We now have a store for everything you see in our videos for supplies. www.amazon.com/shop/howtodoneright
Greetings, I have a question, I'm new to making wine. I have no clue what I'm doing but I've been watching your videos. My question is the items that I have purchased bottles containers? What do you initially wash them with before you sanitize them? Or do you just The sanitizer? Also with my first batch I was wondering if it would be okay for me to add my Concord grapes that I have in my freezer.? I have about 10 lb. I have cleaned and put it in my freezer. Can I add that to the juice please and thank you!
Unless they are really dirty sanitizer is all i use between each is bottling. Yes you can add those grapes to your wine for sure. 👍👍🍷🍷
Great that you added the segment on sanitising!
I currently have a strawberry wine that’s in secondary. It’s a fruit-and-juice combination. Strawberries and grape juice in primary, removed the fruit after a little less than a week, more fruit in secondary, also removed after a little less than a week. Pectic enzyme and tannin added before pitching. It smells like a strawberry shortcake doll right now.
Edit: and you’re right that one of the things this hobby is all about is the freedom to tailor your end product exactly to your liking. You’re able to gradually sweeten as well, having some dry, some semi-sweet and some sweet. When making a test batch, you can make a small batch, when repeating a recipe you really like, you can make a bigger batch. If you don’t drink a lot you can stick to smaller batches. For special occasions or it you entertain a lot, you can make larger batches. You want your wine organic? By all means, use organic fruit or fruit juice (or both).
Home brews make great gifts, too. A half-size bottle and a small bag of home baked cookies in a pretty basket with a bow on it will often be received much better than a gift straight from the store.
Omg strawberry shortcake wine... now that sounds amazing👍👍
@@HowToDoneRight - once it’s truly done, I’m going to see if I feel it needs tweaking or if I’m going to stick to back sweetening and bottling. I suspect I’ll oak it if it needs tannin, and if it needs roundness but has enough tannin I’ll add vanilla.
My thoughts exactly. Homemade wine and maybe a small mason jar of homemade lemon curd … gifts made from the heart and with love ❤️
@@HowToDoneRight - Update: it finished, I tasted it, and decided to add the vanilla. I allowed it to age for a bit and it’s AWESOME. It’s relatively low tannin so those who like their wines a bit more tannic should add a smidge of it. But I was going for easy drinking, with no intention to keep it for decades. I wanted something that is at its best within the 6-18 months range. Something to enjoy during those Spring and Summer evenings when the temperature outside is just right to enjoy a nice glass of wine either before or after dinner. Slightly cooled this is EXACTLY what you want. Feel fancy? Drop in a frozen strawberry.
For more tannic wines I’d recommend dark fruit. Blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries. Throw in a few dark cherries if you want. Court the frozen section of the supermarket and only buy when there’s a good deal. Or go foraging. Or check if a day trip to one of those pick-the-fruit-yourself-and-get-it-cheap is available: you get to have a fun day out (which usually costs money) and you get your fruit. That’s a great twofer if you ask me!
That's fantastic. Glad it turned out so great. Some great tips for us all. 🍷🍷
I’m just finishing up some blueberry and some pineapple. I’ve tasted both already. Blueberry is definitely my favorite. I love the way it smells the house up.
Like blueberry pie. 😋
I have had fun making some wine. Your the best. I got a few extra stuff like wine drying rack, things like that to make bottling a bit better
Thank you so much Lisa for the compliment. And it is a fun hobby. Thanks for watching the channel for sure. 👍👍♥️♥️😁😁
Glad I ran into your page guys. Thoroughly enjoy watching your videos and just recently started my first batch of apple wine 5 days ago. Also purchased about 21 pounds of frozen blueberries, which will be my next adventure. Cheers!
Awesome. Glad you found us keep me posted. 👍👍❤️❤️🙂🙂
The blueberry wine is excellent.
I bottled my first batch of wine last night. It was good. sweet but not overly sweet now we wait a few months and try it again
Great! The waiting is always the hard part. I’ve always got a batch (or two, or three… or more) going to keep me busy between stages.
I will tell you something Kevin... I know people say wine gets better with age... but I like my wine the best after about a month or so too. So don't be afraid to open one sooner.👍👍
@@HowToDoneRight - But of course! I didn’t mean to imply you absolutely have to age your wine (or cider, or mead) for 6-12 months. Personal preference is what it is. 😊
My personal preference goes towards 6 months of age to more, depending on the recipe, ingredients, and the ABV. I tend to let higher-ABV wines and meads age longer. If the end product has more tannins, ageing rounds out the flavours and allows them to bloom. Of the flavours are compex the same seems to apply.
To figure out if age benefits the wine or mead, I always try to have a few ‘taster bottles’ available. Generally those are half-size bottles because I’m not a big drinker and don’t like opened bottles sitting around. Every few months I’ll crack one open and see how my wine or mead develops. Some times I decide that it’s good for drinking, some times I’ll decide it needs to sit for a while longer. Yes, there have been times when I’ve waited too long. The wine/mead had passed its peak. I add these tasting notes to the records I keep. Everything is grouped together: recipe, method, readings and tasting notes, wine per wine, mead per mead, cider per cider. Over time, when I choose to repeat a recipe I’ll know at which age it’s peaked. After a while you can also see a pattern emerge. High-fruit blackberry wines and meads really benefit with age and can be kept for several years, generally are okay to drink at around 6 months but become best around 1-2 years IMHO. Blueberry tends to be best (to my taste) around the 1-year mark. Tart cherry mead, if in a high fruit concentration, is best to my taste at 6-12 months, especially if made sparkling. Elderflower wine is best at 3-9 months (sparkling). But again, that’s MY preference and you have to take into account that I tend to brew towards 13-14% ABV. I’ve got a sweet to semi-sweet spiced orange mead that is 18% ABV that really peaks when it’s older than 2 years and is divine between 3-5 years: smooth as creamed butter, warming like a hug, drinks like a dream but treacherous like the kick of a bad-tempered mule if you’re not careful. You don’t notice the alcohol and would be tempted to have several glasses. And then you get up from your seat… oof. 🤣
Long story short: if you have the option to fill 3-4 smaller bottles I highly recommend you do so. It’ll give you more options as far as testing is concerned.
This is some great information for all of us. Thanks so much for passing along. 👍👍🍷🍷♥️♥️
@@HowToDoneRight - Always goad to.
I guess it boils down to:
1. Determine what your personal preferences are
2. Taste at bottling, adjust, but consider keeping part of your brew unchanged if you can.
3. Taste at various intervals
4. Keep track of your tasting notes
5. Compared with both previous tastings, and the evolution of other brew if you can find out commonalities
6. Go from there for further brews.
Or, put more simply: build experience and learn from it. Reading up on stuff also helps, but is much ‘drier’ than the hands-on approach described above. Harvests vary, affecting tannin levels, sugar content, ripeness, levels of other flavour components and colour. But over time some things start to pop up and in my humble opinion, a home brewer’s notes are home brewer’s gold.
The things about ageing I wrote in my other comment are based on what I like, with the fruit sources I have in the area I live in, brewed in the conditions I have in my home brewing space according to the methods I use. That’s a lot of variables. If for example you purée blackberries and strain the seeds out, you won’t have an end result that is as tannic. If you leave the seeds in, you can vary tannic values significantly by removing the fruit at different moments (after 24 hours on pectic enzyme but before yeast pitch, after 24 hours post-pitch, one week post-pitch, etc). I happen to like my dark berry wines and meads with high fruit content at pitch, and tend to leave the fruit, seeds and all, in the must for a week. That’ll yield you a highly aromatic wine almost so dark you can’t shine light through a 1-gallon fermenter and has characteristics very close to Southern European wines or wines: Italy, Spain, Southern France. Thick legs on the glass, yet very smooth and almost buttery when aged. Perfect for spicy dishes, meats, pasta in rich sauces or a string cheese. Finished sweet, they go well as an after dinner drink. Fortified, you’ll he thinking port wine. Especially if you add a few unripe chopped walnuts (booster and all), harvested before the shell hardens, in secondary for a few months. It’ll give you “vin de noix”, but made with your own home brew.
Those are what I call ‘long term projects’. If I want something fast, my methods, conditions and preferences will take me towards florals (elderflower wine, passionfruit wine/mead, chamomile wine… etc).
Eghad… rambling again. Stopping now!
Excellent look so delicious.
Awesome video! My next batch will have to be from juice.
You must try Luther. It could be the best Red wine I ever made. I'm not kidding. 👍👍👍🍷🍷🍷
Congrats on a great batch and tutorial🐠 🥂🍷cheers
Thanks so much👍👍
I’m impressed most interesting video I’ve seen💯🍷
Thanks👍
You make great videos!! I enjoy all of them😍 I would like if you make mango wine, rice wine, melon wine, etc… there is some different flavours that you could taste and recommended to us. I really appreciate all your efforts for making these videos 👏🏻🤗😘
Thank you so much.. your in luck. I just shot a mango wine video and need to edit it yet. Stay tuned. More wines coming.👍👍
Good part 2!
Thanks so much.😁😁
Interesting, I've never used any of these chemicals on my wine. I make it a bit more naturally, except for fermaid o and that works for me. But this looks great! Right on! Save me a glass haha
Thanks for commenting. Cheers👍👍
Specially bought strawberry juice to make wine because i cannot find it anywhere this will be amazing
Most definately. Strawberry wine is incredible and I'm out... time to make some. 🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Thank y'all for the videos, really enjoyed them. My wife is more fond of white wines, and was curious to know if the same process could be used on white grape juice?
Oh yes. It's been on my list to shoot a video on that. But will be with a twist of course.
@@HowToDoneRight Great, can't wait to see it. Thank you.
I am so happy seeing your videos
Thanks so much for watching our channel. Keep in touch and get some wine brewing.. lol😁😁
Thanks so much for watching our channel. Keep in touch and get some wine brewing.. lol😁😁
@@HowToDoneRight I hope you will make sparkling sweet wine. I would like to learn.thanks
I'll put that on my list. 👍👍
I just start to watch u, I love watching ur work, u should tech a hands on class,
Lol. That's a great idea. Thanks for supporting and watching our channel. ♥️♥️
some folks say never stir during primary fermentation because you might end up with vinegar, whats your thoughts on that?, i always stir never had an issue, just curious as to your thoughts on it. Great vid new sub and like.
Always stir first 3 to 5 days. After that let go and seal your bucket. Check out my wine needs oxygen video will explain alot. 🍷🍷
@@HowToDoneRight thanks
You should do a wine cellar reveal. I would think you would need a huge area to store it with how much you make. I just bottled my first batch of mango. Story yours cracked. I made mine too sweet. Lol second batch under way
That's been on my list couple people ask that. Nothing spectacular just wine racks. Give alot of wine away. Bring me a bottle of mango.. lol.👍👍🍷🍷😁😁
Amazing nice cheers🙏👍
Thank you👍👍
Me and my friend love wine, but I would love to pay someone to teach me a hands on class
Fly me there and I can teach you. 😁😁😁 Any questions you have reach out to me. 🍷🍷
Do you bulk age at all in your carboys? If so do you happen to have a video of that? I absolutely love your videos and you are about all that I watch.
Thanks so much for watching us..❤️❤️❤️. oh yeah you can bulk age in carboy. My friend once wine clear enough and sediment removed he will bulk age in carboy for 1 year or more. No issues.
Nice detailed video as usual. Just curious have you ever tried using Bread yeast, has a lower ABV tolerance and keeps the wine as a sweet wine found I do t need to back sweeten , super simple... but I might have to add wine tannins next time...
Never tried it. People I've talked too said it almost has a bread flavor. And you can tell a difference.
Hi Todd and Laura, you are both my “go-to’s” when it comes to homemade wine making, and I am truly so,so thankful that you share your knowledge and wisdom with us. I have a question, please. I notice that when you are racking this wine you allow the tip of the racking cane to touch the bottom of the carboy where the dead yeast and sediment is; I bought all the equipment (that I can afford so far) that you have listed but was wondering …won’t that sediment get pulled up into the new carboy? Or does it not? I watched the Fermtech videos on their racking canes but it does not not explain anything about this.
There is a special tip on it but I try and hold off the bottom a little also. It's most important in your final racking
Hello. Thank you a lot
I have question
Is degaussing needed or not and if yes when I should do it ?
Its not needed. But if watch me stir bentonite that is doing some degassing. Most commercial wine makers do not degass wine. 👍👍
Doing this process just added Bentonite on 03-13-23 how many days will it take before you notice it clearing up? Thanks again for the informative videos, your honey should be very proud of you
She is. You should see clearing after about 7 days. Remember to stir that bentonite for 3 days to charge it up. 👍👍
Thank you very much
Looks delicious 👌
It was! Thanks Ken as always...
Great videos! I've been making Hooch type wine for several years now and thanks to you I'm moving my game up to higher quality wine, no more mason jars. I do have a question. Is it necessary to use the Potassium sorbate if you are not going to back sweeten the wine?
Thanks so much... no potassium sorbate needed if not backsweeten wine. You will now be a professional wine maker... awesome👍👍😁😁🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
I have a question on 2nd fermentation on using the hard plastic mason jar fermenting lids where it keeps oxygen out and has the pin hole for escaping gases would that not work if you have extra wine from the first fermentation. I made a gallon + in a 2gallon size bucket and had about a pint left from primary and didn’t have another bubbler or small enough jar so I put it in a mason jar with my fermenting lid will it still be wine or will it become vinegar? You have inspired me to try I’m new so sorry for so many questions. Can I use wine bottle that have the screw on caps from previous moscato wine that I keep ? I don’t have a screw corker or corks.
Yes you can use the Mason jars as long as has airlock. To let carbon dioxide escape and keep oxygen out. You can use twist caps it just will not keep near as long as cork would. And make sure using stabilizer if back sweetening wine. Thanks so much for watching the channel. Keep me posted. 👍👍😁😁♥️♥️🍷🍷
hello again, just wondering if you've done or considered making lemon wine or lemon lime wine. Seems like it would be a great summer wine.
Oh yeah... that's on my list to do. If you saw my orange wine video its similar to that. Stay tuned. 👍👍
Looks lik my Potassium sword bait or Compton tablets. Clumped up looks lik It's filled with floaties now. Any idea what I can do is this normal?????
Did you stir it in?... it will dissolve over time.
@HowToDoneRight yea maybe I'll mix it some more Thanks by the way it tasted great for my first run..... cheers from NJ
Yes you can't beat homemade wine. 🍷🍷
When the bentonite is added you said stir it for 3 days, do you take stir stick all the way down to bottom of jug and stir it up for three days? Thanks so much for the informative videos.
Oh yes stir everything. It will recharge particles and break up some clumps you may have.
How long does it take for campden tabs and potassium sorbate to dissolve. Mine is floating top and bottom.
Give it 5 or 10 minutes. Till I Back sweeten and taste it Enough will be dissolve even if in bottles.
i just tried my homade grape wine that i brewed in a grape juice bottle delishi....
AWESOME 👌
Hello, I have a question, do you use natural corks? And do you store the wine bottles on their side? Thanks!
Oh yes all natural. I have a whole video on corks...th-cam.com/video/gr_SaY6HHL4/w-d-xo.html
And always store on side. Corks need to stay wet.
do i have to add up potassium sorbates before bottling if i’m not backsweeting my wine? thank you for the great work
No you do not as long as all the sugar is gone and dry wine. Great question👍👍
Is there any reason you couldn't add the bentonite when you rack from the fermentor, thinking it would make process faster.
No... need to get that slurry which you wouldn't get just adding to carboy.
I wish there was a recipe page for each of the processes, at least using slides listing every ingredient and measurement as you add. I’d love to make this
All recipes are in the description of the videos.
Hi there,
I need your help, I started my black grapes wine on 27th October temperature was 85fnt with 26 lbs grapes I smashed them and added 5 lbs of sugar plus 4ltr water ,with all chemicals you recommended with initial gravity 1.120, after 24 hour I added wine yeast since then I seen little fermentation activity and now at 4th day fermentation stuck even I stirred every day, please let me know how to restart fermentation, should I add more sugar or water or what please help. Thanks in anticipation 🌹
Is your must foaming at all? 85 degrees is very warm temperature .do you have a cooler place? What kind of yeast did you use?
Also your sugar is very low. You need 2 to 3 pounds sugar per gallon of wine... please watch this video and review description for a 5 gallon recipe.
th-cam.com/video/eNXP5UPGJ9M/w-d-xo.html
Dear first I really really appreciate your quick reply,
I used Red Star wine yeast
Dear now my must is foaming very little, and gravity is 1.012
Dear I am from Pakistan and I like your videos very much and you the only person really quickly.
Love you thanks 👍🌹
What do you do after racing and it doesn't reach the top of the carboy? How do you make it reach the top again? Add water? Will it dilute too much?
I have several videos out there if you watch part 2 of my wine videos when I'm racking. It is very common. If not much can add water. Can add wine or juice. And some people will add sanitized marbles.
Have you tried adding wood chips to get a wood flavor into the wine?
No way... I hate that taste. I don't understand how people like that. 😀
If you have extra sugar water, can it be saved or just through it out
This may have been asked, but could you use a steam juicer to first extract the juice from the fruit, then make wine with that juice? I’m sure you could, but I would not know how to calculate the sugar needed. Maybe it’s just an extra step that isn’t really needed.
Never juice your fruit. You will introduce alot of fine particles to your wine that will be very difficult to get out.
What video can I watch of yours that explains how to increase the ABV of a wine?
You usually get abv done upfront as i show you in all wine videos. You can add more simple syrup later in fermentation but can be risky turning it to vinegar.
Help! I’m so bummed. I followed your instructions to the “T” and added in my packet of yeast yesterday afternoon. When I got home from work today the air lock wasn’t bubbling and there weren’t any real bubbles /bubbling action on the top of the grape juice, but when I stirred it it started bubbling like soda pop. I don’t know what to do. Would it be okay to add another packet of yeast? P.S - I use RO water since that’s what we pay for in our home. We live out here in West Texas and the well water & city water here is horrible and nasty.
First ro water can be used but not ideal as wine needs minerals but it should still ferment. Add additional yeast and be sure to watch my stuck fermentation video with things to try also. Did you use a juice without sulfates as suggested in the video? Don't give up on it. It took me a week to get my lemon wine to start fermenting. Are you seeing any foam?
@@HowToDoneRight - there was a little foam when I first opened the cover this afternoon. I’ll be sure to use bottled drinking water from now on. And I’m going to be sure to watch your stuck fermentation video. I feel so relieved from your reassurance to not give up and how your lemon wine took a long time to start fermenting. I just gave it some yeast nutrient to hopefully help it to get going. I bought good grape juice without sulfates…no -ates in the juice at all. I also just added another packet of yeast.
Some wines take longer to get going. I Have had wine that were fermenting very slowly that the Bubbler never went. Keep checking with hydrometer and see if it is dropping the means it's working.
What happened to all the sugar from the start of the process? Or do you like it sweeter at the end
All the sugar turned to alcohol. You backsweeten before Bottling to get to the sweetness you want.
Is Weis grape juice the same as Welch's? When I do a internet search Welch's keeps coming up.
Perhaps.. you just have to be sure does not have sulfites or sulfates in it and will work.
After making a batch of star san, how long does it last? 1:22 1:22
It will last for 7 to 10 days mixed.
Do you think it would be possible to make a cheesecake flavored wine?
Ohhhhh yeah... here is a link for cheesecake extract that would be perfect for that.. lol...amzn.to/466L9c3
hi. my first wine was the banana wine. i made a series of huge mistakes and it ended up being like 18% abv. it tasted mostly of alcohol. it was nasty.....but for my second wine(pineapple) i followed the instructions properly. and i measured properly. i made it 12% abv, and it was quite delicious the alcohol was definitely there, but it had a soft, refreshing pineapple taste. so i ordered a 3 gallon carboy, because now i have confidence that i can make it well, so it's time to scale up.
the only problem i have is that my auto-siphon came with one of those 1gallon kits. and it's way too short for the 3gallon carboy.
i tested every other piece of equipment and everything else works perfectly with the 3gallon carboy. what size auto-siphon do you use for a standard 3 gallon carboy?
i measured it and it was about 18 inches in length. and the siphons i've seen are about 17 inches.
This one will work... it's 27 inches long...amzn.to/3KLrMNY
You can always dilute a brew that is too strong. Once the brewing is done, there is so much you can do and add still to it. Flavouring, spices, different juices, honey, a bit of salt can do wonders sometimes.
Just take out a measured amount and play around with it. Keep track of the quantities you add and add in small increments cause you can't undo adding too much.
Once you like it, do the math to figure out how to scale your measurements up for the big bottle.
Depending on what you add, you may need to let it sit and rack it again after stuff settles out.
Great information. 👍
I have a question. I had my wine crystal clear, and after back sweetening and adding campden tablets and potassium sorbate I am getting sediments in the bottles after it sits. Why is that?
That should go away as ages. Also will get sediment if didn't rack enough times.
I believe that batch got racked 3 or 4 times. How long would the aging take for that to go away? I would like to send pictures but I don’t know how to do that.
You can send through our instagram. Are you letting sit in carboy 30 to 45 days are apart
I do not have instagram. And no I did not . I followed your video to make wine in 30 days but never do use the quick clear because it was so clear. Maybe with the batch I have going now. I will be more patient and let it sit much longer between rackings. So should the Campden tablets and potassium sorbate dissolve crystal clear ? And I have one more question. The last two batches I have done once the fermenting is done I keep getting these little tiny bubbles that constantly come up looks like fizz. Is that trapped gas and why is that happening?
Yes these additives will dissolve. Those little gas bubbles are carbon dioxide.. if you use bentonite like I do in all my wine you will see I stir that for 3 to 5 days that releases those bubbles. Or some people degass there wine by stirring.
When looking for juice what ingredients do you not want ????
100 percent juice no sulfites or sulfates.
Have you ever tried to make a fortified wine or port ?
Yes... I will do a video on that soon. 👍👍
Yum!! I really want to do this but in my country it's really hard to find decent grape juice that's 100% grapes and affordable. There's plenty of juices with either sulfates or various mixed ones with like 47% of grapes, 25% apples and the rest various red berries...which is fine, but it's not classic grape wine that way.
The pure au naturel 100% grape juice is in the organic produce section and it costs an arm and a leg. Okay, I',m being hyperbolic, but for the price of 1L of that juice you can get a bottle of really good wine, so that kinda defeats the purpose.
That said I currently have 80 kg of the Black Hamburg Muscat grapes I was given after helping a colleague of mine with the harvest, fermenting on the skins. The juice alone had 1.065 gravity and I raised it to 1.096 by adding 5kg of blueberry blossom honey I had left from mead making. It's not enough to make this into a pyment, it's just going to be a really bold red wine...just the way I like it!
On another note, I've actually used bentonite for the first time ever the other day, on a really stubborn plum wine that just wouldn't clear...and to say I'm impressed with the product (bentonite) would be an understatement!
Holy moly...it literally started working instantly, mixing with the gunk and clearing the wine up top within minutes. Next morning, so less than 12 hours later, there was a thick layer of sediment at the bottom, but the rest of the carboy was crystal clear!
How long would you say it should take for that sediment to compact and firm up enough for racking to go smoothly?
I have zero experience with bentonite.
I hear that about the cost of juice.. that's why I really like to use fresh fruit because can get some good deals on it where I live. if you watched my other video series using bentonite I like to let it go for 30 days. No rush needed to Get bottled. But I understand people that you only need to wait a few days or a week. But I always let mine go for 30 days... hope that helps.👍👍🍷🍷😁😁
@@HowToDoneRight It does help. Thanks. I'll wait too then because the wine is only 2 and a half months old anyways. It just wouldn't even begin to clear and I had even less sediment than you.
Another plum wine is clearing just fine and has a wonderful purple color!
Certain wines clear better than others... peach is one that can take a while to clear too.
I HATE bentonite! I use it but it's a pain in my butt!
Oh yeah I agree I hate working with it.. but does a great job. 👍
You made prison wine
So you added like four different chemicals into this? No thanks. Yeast and thats it. In many countries,people making wine dont add anything and it's good wine. I dont think hundreds of years ago they added chemicals.
These additives all have a purpose sunshine. We don't live 100 years ago we have better ways to do it now.
Congrats on getting over 8.32k subscribers! i enjoy your winemaking videos and recipes. I just finished making a Strawberry Watermelon 3 gallon Batch myself. Check it out @ Greg Sumner. Your channel is an inspiration to follow my wine making interest. Thanks for sharing
Strawberry Water melon sounds amazing and I am going to checkout your channel also. Cheers to wine making😁😁👍👍🍷🍷
@@HowToDoneRight yes sir! the Strawberry Watermelon is a bright Candy Apple Red in color and Smells awesome! It should be an amazing wine. While my Watermelon looks more like a cotton Candy... I can't wait to try both of them! keep on inspiring me... we will have to compare our creations some day
Now that sounds like a great idea. A wine festival for the channel. Lol👍👍😂😂🍷🍷