I do get using wine yeast preserves the fruit flavors, but if you're turning a $2 bottle of apple juice into alcohol let face it you're not drinking it for the taste, you're drinking it to get riggity-riggity wrecked
I've made cider out of juice from the store several times over the years. You can make a quite an enjoyable cider out of it. Not everything has to be a symphony of subtle flavors.
No, I've made some honestly pretty good (as in tasty and pleasantly drinkable) wines and ciders out of cheap juice bottles. Also, juices only have enough sugar in them to ferment to maybe 7-8%, so if your goal is just to get wrecked, they're actually not very cost-effective vs. just buying the cheapest bottle of 80 proof spirits you can find. Low-end whiskey/vodka isn't that expensive by comparison for the amount of alcohol, and you won't have to wait for it to ferment before you can get hammered on it.
@@wasd____ I froze mine and removed the water to increase the alcohol content. It's a little hit and miss, but this was also just what I would do before I was 21, so I wasn't super picky
2024 reply., bottle of 100% juice 1cuo of suguar 1 teaspoon of yeast bought of amazon shake bottle , keep lid half tight allowing presure to escape. Wait until all bubbles stop forming on top of bottle 8 days / 18 days . Once bubbles are gone empty from bottle except 1/2 inch from bottle stick in fridge to.get cold amd could get .2 people with a good buzz .
Nico Cappabianca You should be fine, Jus keep it in a dark space somewhere around 70 degrees for about 3 1/2 weeks. You can peak at it, but no touching unless there’s an issue. It’s ready to drink when there’s not the tiniest inkling of any bubble rising to the surface. Good luck and enjoy.🍷
Yes, PawPaw is a pretty good starting point to gain confidence and a decent wine without much hassle. I recommend as a next step, go to cuoredicioccolato's videos (also on YT), and learn how to "harvest" your own wine yeast from fruits. Today I racked some of my wine (using apple yeast) after 4 weeks, and my best guess is, above 14 ABV easily, with better taste and appearance compared to just baker's / basic yeast. Even better than shelf wine under 1 USD per liter. My $0.02 guys, cheers.
@@666ffdp48 Really good! I was actually surprised it turned out so well. It was pretty sweet though so I'd make it exactly how Pawpaw does it and adjust accordingly to your taste after that
You guys are the champions. It's good to break free every once in a while and take a bohemian approach to this crazy little thing called fermenting. It wouldn't be difficult to find somebody to love learning this. It's easy to do without feeling like you're under pressure. You couldn't stop me now from trying it out. You and your best friend helped show me how to get off my fat bottom and make a beverage that will rock anyone and not have to throw away old juice that otherwise would have bitten the dust.
just a hint that I figured out on my own... put a tilt on your bottles so the yeast falls to one side of the bottle bottom. makes for cleaner syphoning and pouring.
@@imspiffy you'll want to get something similar to a Fermtech auto syphon. and as I wrote, let it ferment on a tilt so gravity will cause the dead yeast to settle towards the low points. then when you go to rack it (syphon out the good stuff) slowly make the low tilt the high tilt so the dead yeast will mainly stay on the high tilt. then put the syphon angled to syphon from the low tilt. you'll still get some dead yeast... but less than if it is flat fermented. hope that helps.
Watching this at age 30, thinking how much easier it would’ve been to get whacked at 16 with juice and bread yeast instead of trying to get people to buy us alcohol 😂
Pineapple comes with its own enzymes (excellent meat tenderizer) so there's a different sort of activity in the juices with pineapple. It would be interesting to see what would happen if you added just a little bit of pineapple juice to the other juices. Did you know that during prohibition, people made wine from Welch's grape juice and the way they learned how to do it was that Welch's put warnings out that said, "DON'T DO THIS" - followed by instructions on how to turn grape juice into wine. ROFL! Sneaky!! Just because of that, I will always have a soft spot for Welch's. Reminds me of the "librarian" protest where librarians all over the country weren't supposed to tell you that the FBI was trying to get at library records so they posted signs that said "We can't inform you when the FBI asks for records of what books you check out so, don't ask.". ROFL! I have a soft spot for librarians, too.
About the pineapple in wine making is an awesome choice. It's my go to base when I do a try fruit flavor. In my opinion of after making countless batches of wine over the years, try flavor's make the best wine's; but even better if you use concentrate. But even better still if you can press your own juice. Less water is key, however if you have to use water use the best water you can get your hands on.
@@phuckyoutube5927 And librarians - don't forget the librarians. They weren't supposed to tell anyone that the FBI was trying to get at library records and, so, posted what they weren't supposed to tell you with instructions not to ask because they weren't supposed to tell you which is how people learned that the FBI was doing it.
My dad lived in Hawaii when he was a kid. Said they do that there, let pineapple juice ferment on it'd own. I think he said they called it swipe or slash, not sure.
@@PlatoonGoon You can get a sweet black cherry juice. The stuff I've used has a specific gravity of 1.080, really high for a juice. Not sour at all. Used it with fresh black cherries for a cherry wine. Didn't like the taste in secondary, but it's been getting better with age, lol. Come this June, I'm going to do a Rainer Cherry wine. They're only available around here for a month, and one week a year where they go on sale for $3 a pound. Very specific time frame for that one, lol...
Yeah, I'd like to see him try to do this with an actual tart cherry juice. Yeah, it's more expensive than Juicy Juice, but if you want a "Viking's Blood" mead, that's what you should use instead. The alternative would be taking frozen cherries and adding them to what you created for a secondary fermentation.
@@user-qjvqfjv The bottle I have right now (I'm waiting for warmer weather before I start production again, lol), is an Open Nature brand. (It's a Safeway brand, so you should be able to find it in your Safeway affiliate. Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel, etc.) I think I've used another sweet, black cherry juice, but I don't remember the brand. Otherwise, all the shelf cherry juices seem to be sour cherries. But they all are available in my grocery store... BTW, I did do the rainier cherry wine. It's a golden colored wine, and was very good...
Currently "working" on a 'Hard Cider' bottle of juice. Took out a cup of the liquid then added a cup of sugar and a tablespoon of weischmans yeast to the bottle. Letting it sit in a dark spot of my closet. Already smeeling and tasting a bit like champagne. Im expecting after s few more days, it will taste more like champagne and become more "dry"
I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BUT I WILL DECENTLY TRY THIS IN A 5 GALLON GLASS JUG I BOUGHT A LONG TIME AGO I'VE TRIED TO MAKE WINE BUT DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING BUT I DO NOW THANKS FOR YOUR VIDEO IT WILL HELP ME OUT A LOT THANKS AGAIN
Another tip is after the fermentation has finished put the juice in the fridge overnight it will clear the liquid a lot quicker and any suspended bits sink to the bottom.
If you are going to make a wine without equipment then you don't need potassium sorbate to stabilize the wine. Simply add sugar (or honey or agave or maple syrup) to taste in each glass in the same way you add sugar to taste when you make tea or coffee. Also, there is really no need to puncture the caps. All you need is a a rubber band and some cheese cloth and that is quite sufficient to prevent dirt entering and allow CO2 to escape. Most seasoned wine makers do not use an airlock in their primary (first) fermenter. They cover the container (usually a bucket or large pail) with a cloth. This allows them to punch down fruit caps that form and allows them to easily add nutrients during the course of active fermentation without any concern for the liquid erupting into volcanoes of juice and gas caused by the action of particles on the carbon dioxide gas that is saturating the wine.
Great video! Thanks! I've been making hard apple cider for a couple months and have had a blast--as well as saving so much money--making my own at home like my grandfather did in the Depression. I bake all my own breads, pitas, bagels and such, and now am very happy to be making my own cider.
I do the same as you suggest. I even add a tsp. per qt. of sauerkraut for a second fermentation kick. The kraut gets much sourer as a result & the sugar gets totally consumed by the yeast.
My dad used to get me to put a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle at bottling time for his home brew ..my treat for helping was a spoon full of malt 😆thanks for reminding me 💞
I’ve been wanting to home brew and have been nervous about all the things that could go wrong. This video makes it feel a lot more simple than I’ve been thinking so thanks! Time to get me some champagne yeast!
It is simple and if it goes wrong, it will look (moldy or floaters) or taste off and you toss it and start over. Jump in! It is fun and the options are endless.🥂
@the pnw mountain rider I normally add yeast nutrient as well to help the yeast work more efficiently. Make sure there’s no preservatives or artificial sweeteners in the drink.
New to brewing. 6 months now. I have learned a lot from watching you more experienced folks. I have my favorites store bought juice wines. Cran-pom, seems to have some different mouth feels, white grape- peach, very good if you like a sweet peachy,, white grape-cherry, has a pretty good muscadine quality. I start all the juice ferments in the orginal juice container, pour out 8 to 16 oz, add table sugar with a starting gravity around 1.106. Different juices require different amounts, pitch yeast, shake vigorously, loosing the cap until it jumps when you squeeze. Let set for 4 weeks, rack. We like sweeter wines, so my OG is higher. If you like dryer obviously start with lower OG. I use mostly bread yeast, on average for me goes to 11-12 %. I have used Lavin products too, but never side by side, taste test, Great video!! and have learned a lot from you. Juice wines may not be for the discerning palates, but it is fun to do. It is a blast. From picking out the juice at the store, to consuming. Thanks keep up the good work.
This is really interesting really. Just take normal store bought juice (without potassium sorbate). Add about a gram of yeast. Maybe a little more sugar. And let it sit for a few weeks until you see no bubbles. Very nice
.....how long does it take to start fermenting at 70 degrees ? I started the yeast in a little water with a pinch of sugar . After it started , I put it into the primary fermentation bucket . It was at body temperature , but hasn't taken off yet . It's been about 4 hours and no bubbles going through the bubble trap . Any advice for my homemade " hand sanitizer " ! ? Will it take a day to start fermenting or did I screw something up ? Please & thank you !
......it didn't have any potassium sorbate , but had potassium metabisulfite . As a preservative , it said . If it's not bubbling by the next day , guess I'll just use sugar , and a little lemon concentrate . I used apple juice and white grape juice . The white grape juice had the preservative in it , but the apple had none .
@@georgehays4908 I personally didnt try this yet. I just observed the video, and took what I could from it. Just thought it was a really cool thing to make homemade "wine" with very minimal effort.
@@georgehays4908 I'm glad you got it going! I guess if the gases dont expand after adding yeast. Add more sugar! I guess yeast isnt able to feed from artificial sweeteners. Really sugar is a must
I did it once In high-school but I left the cap shut tight looked at it a week later and the bottle was bulging I barely touched it and the juice shot straight up to the ceiling never tried it again.
@@libtard.4844 you have to put a balloon on the mouth of the bottle and poke small holes in it to slowly release pressure. If you don't rubberband the balloon on tight you'll probably have a huge mess after a few days when it rockets off
@@libtard.4844 Bro I did this and it sounded like a bomb went off a 3am. Needless to say my dad wasn't to pleased that his teenaged son was brewing hooch.
Love the video! I made my own batch of mango wine with bread yeast, it ended up pretty decent. It was good enough to have me passed out on the couch with the door wide open, pants in the kitchen, threw up twice lol
I wondered about that one! I couldn't tell if it had preservatives or not so I just got an apple juice from the dollar store instead. How long does it usually take to be ready?
My dad used to enjoy making home brewed wine and beer. Anyway, he was fond of experimenting but… one day he decided to use Ribena. (it’s a fruit cordial, basically almost 100%fruit juice made with blackcurrents) well, his wine wasn’t red as expected nor white, not even rosé, it was green! He never did find out what had caused such a bizarre wine colour. It didn’t get wasted. 😉😉😉
Made my Grandma's (old school) recipe with raisins,sugar, & bread yeast. It was turned out delicious! Explanations on video will make next batch even better. Thanks
We just did the cranberry pineapple as our first try at this and would love to know more about your raisin recipe and process if you can share? We are on an exciting roll with “one” under our belt😄🙌
New subscriber and highly enjoy your easy to grasp videos on making Cider Mead Etc ! Most on youtube that share likeminded material are either boring ,analytical,complicated and with it expensive rants! You guys rock!!
thanx for sharing! I have a tip from an experienced home wine maker. When the yeast is just finished, siphon the wine out into a sterile jar but leave the last inch and a half of the cloudy sediment and then you can add more sugar and more yeast to ferment. She says ferment and rest for at least 3 months before drinking.
If you want it to be more boozy or boozier you'll need to add some sugar. Remove about 20-25% of the juice and add 1/4c or more of pure cane sugar and 1/4 tsp. bread yeast. Recap it tightly, shake vigorously, then loosen the cap a little bit like one turn. Wait 2-3 weeks. After the mixture has ceased bubbling, tighten and put in the fridge. My first try I only had 1 bottle of juice. I poured out 25% and drank it then I added 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. yeast. It was delicious. So, I bought 3 more bottles and poured 25% of each bottle into the first bottle that still had the sediment and repeated the process. Apparently, "new" yeast likes to feed off the sediment. Since, I have purchased two carboys, and will purchase a siphon. I do not want to purchase too many pieces of equipment because I am a little lazy and do not have a dishwasher. And, I don't need it to be too boozy so I don't need the proof thermometer. Try the white cranberry and cherry pomegranate. Laters, God Bless!
I like to make mead with wild yeast from raw honey. It's a little unpredictable but if you're patient I think it can be super worth it. If you want it carbonated it's definitely a lot of trail and error and fermentation grade bottles are not optional.
Love this video. Thank you very much for uploading. The tiny hole in the cap is the best wine making tip ever, as you do not need any specialized equipment and the bottle will not burst or explode.
I have used ribena. A uk, I think, blackberry cordial which has potassium sorbate and sodium metabisulfite in. The secret is you have to boil the heck out of it for about 20 min to drive off the sulfates. Then it will ferment no problem when it cools. It's rather good.
Gary z ?. Am looking to use a Ribena myself been looking into finding ways of making Ribena wine... what was your recipe buddy and what size Ribena bottles did you use because I'm thinking of a 5 L Batch..
@@knickersinatwistuk7361 I took this this from C.J.J Berrys book first steps in winemaking. It doesn't mention the boiling here but the later edition did. One 12 oz. bottle of Ribena Blackcurrant juice will in fact make one gallon of wine. Dissolve 3 lb. of sugar in some warm water, and pour into a 1-gallon jar, then add the bottle of blackcurrant juice and three-quarters fill the jar to the shoulder. Then add your chosen wine yeast, or a level teaspoon of Heath and Heather granulated yeast. The merest trace of acid, one-third of a teaspoon of citric acid, and a pinch of yeast nutrient should also be added. Insert the fermentation lock and stand the jar in a warm place for fermentation to get under way. When the first vigorous fermentation has died down after a fortnight or so, top up the jar with water to the bottom of the neck, and reinsert fermentation lock; then continue with the fermentation in the usual way.
Love 💕 this vid! Two good looking men taste testing cheap homemade wine! Excellent instructions too, I'm about to watch it a second time... Much appreciation!
Great video! I've tried this many times with mixed results. I've used bread and wiwin e yeast. I do,however, add more sugar to increase the alcohol percentage. Just subbed!
I thought they called that "fingers". I am not a wine snob as I will drink anything, ha ha. I have 8 gallons of 3 different wines fermenting as we speak. 5 gallons is black tea wine that has been fermenting for 6 weeks now and it is still bubbling strong at about a blurp every 5 seconds or so. I have grape, orange juice and apple also but I started them later as I am trying to stagger them a bit.
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You are correct. It is generally indicative of high ABV.
We usually add a cup of sugar per gallon when we make wine or cider from store bought juice. For our yeast we have had good results from safeale s-04 getting a 10% abv for the cider, and D47 or 71b for the wine ending with a abv from 10 - 14%. Typically we let ours go for a month in primary and at least a month in secondary before we start seeing if it’s ready to bottle or drink.
I had 2 hydrometers, I broke one and lost the other lol. I used to brew from kit and once from scratch 10 plus years ago. I feel now seems the right time to get back into the hobby
😁 you are so technical . You could just take one cup of pure juice out ,replace it with one cup of sugar and 2 packs of yeast put that cap on loosely so it doesn't pop,set the bottle in a bowl and put in you closet or any dark place for about 7 to 10 days.
I've tried the juicy juice wine before. it doesn't have a straight flavor, because they use a mixture of juices to make the listed flavor. It still makes wine though lol
With bread yeast, I think I liked purple grape juice the best (out of the ones I made, not the same as your juice flavors). I will have to sample them again later. It seemed to maintain the most flavor. I have not tried any wine yeast yet.
Wow, this was really interesting. Thx. I’ve been beermaking and cider making for years but have just now started with mead. I have to admit I wasn’t that interested in the efficacy of the bread yeast, but was interested in the quality of the wine/mead you got from these cheap juices. As it happens, after living in New England and being spoiled by having access to fresh cider from special varietals appropriate for hard cider, I finally broke down and made hard cider this Fall from Trader Joe’s cider. Why? I live in Cali now and can’t get the fresh cider. My ciders from the Fall are aging in the garage now. My preference is for a very dry and alcoholic cider (12% or so from added sugars). Cross fingers! From your study of these cheap juices, I’m now encouraged. Thx again!
I'm in New England. Do I use the local apple cider in the same way using the wine yeast like he does in this video? Or is there some extra steps to be taken when using fresh apple cider?
I just found your channel and I subscribed. By the way, the high gravity reading for the grape juice likely is due to suspended particles and not due to more fermentable sugars. The grape juice is the cloudiest of them all, and all likely have a similar fermentable gravity around 1.050. Thank you, -Wolfgang
I started making wine using Fleshman's bread yeast. I had it on hand and I was using it to figure out the process. I used value apple juice and on sale fruit juice, cheap buzz. Once I began using wine yeast the taste and clarity were superior to the bread yeast. Also, the bread yeast gave the wine a funky smell, that usually went away with age. Who has time to age store-bought juice wine? It's for drinking. D47 is a good wine yeast to use for grocery store-bought juice fermentation, and real wine-grape juice, plus it will ferment at about 60 degrees though ferment slower. D47 is fairly inexpensive once you learn how to pour some fermenting juice into a new juice container to get the new juice fermenting. Kinda like chain-smoking, but only drinking cheap wine. That way you will never run out of wine. Plus you will very rarely if ever have to buy wine yeast again. Probably best to get one-half gallon started every three to four days until you figure it out
I’ve been making store bought juice into wine for a while now … however I add sugar and use an airlock so I don’t accidentally make vinegar… peach mango is also delicious and giving it a secondary ferment adds bubbles
What is 2nd fermente? I tried mango peach, cranberry and orange juice with sugar and an airlock and after fermentation not crazy for taste, maybe 2nd fermentation would help.
@@rhondawest414 I have found the juice must be a good 100% organic to taste good … I tried using cheaper juices and they definitely have alcohol but I’m not crazy about the taste either .. I made up a “sangria” recipe to use some of it 🤣😂🤣
I just started my first batch of this (I finished it at about 8:30 pm on 11/12/22). It’s two bottles of Cran-Raspberry and I will come back once it is done to report my results.
Bottle those for 6 months and the taste will be dramatically different. So will adding sugar for fermenting. I also recommend using coffee filters to help keep the yeast from forming at the bottom of the bottles.
Does the alchohol level increase with time?.... Also do i still need to let it breathe after say two weeks, or can i completely close the lid or will it still explode.....
@@giuk1987 I don't bother checking alcohol content either before or after. I want high alcohol but whatever it is is fine. My problem is I tend to make them too sweet. As far as exploding goes it's rare for them to continue to ferment after bottling but I did get a couple of cherry wine bottles to become sparkling cherry but that was accidental but good. I usually put the wine in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation and get the yeast to settle on the bottom. After 2 weeks it's usually done fermenting. If it's not warm enough it may take longer. As long as the yeast has settled on the bottom it can be bottled. If you use coffee filters, it will degas the wine so you don't need to let it set for 2 weeks. But if you do it may be better but I've never done any tests to see if it makes a difference.
I did it with a balloon once. Makes the finished product taste like latex, which isn't the best. You can make a blow off tube very easily and get a decent homemade airlock. Apple juice fermented dry and usually still is known as apfelwein and my favorite homebrew to make. Using a blend of juice helps a lot. Standard apple juice ends up tasting really flat and hollow. You want to use an apple juice blend or juice some other apples to add to it. I usually juice something more on the tart side like granny smith or pink lady to improve the flavor. Tree Top makes a 3 apple blend juice people use for it, but I haven't tried it. Montrachet yeast is often used for it also.
I messed around with Bread Yeast and store-bought juice when I first started homebrewing. (If you could call it that) I tried Cranberry juice and Apple juice. Cranberry turned out amazing with a little back sweetening and Apple was just awful. I could never get it to taste good. Your video reminded me of those days and tbh, sometimes using the cheap store-bought stuff just makes sense. Depends on your resources and what's available to you. Great video guys!
Ugh. I did a cranberry, and it went dry. Tasted it, and my face almost turned inside out it was so tart, lol... The apple was awful because when it goes dry, the malic acid comes to the front. If you let it age a couple of months, you might find you like the apple a lot more. You could also try a yeast like D47 or 71B, which are supposed to help eliminate the malic acid problem...
Apple always has a vinegar twang to it . I can't even drink reds wicked apple ale because of it . I like the regular reds apple tho. But that stuff doesn't actually have apples in it. Just flavoring 🤮
The Cran-Pineapple drink was surprisingly good! Even 8/9 months after it was finished fermenting. I'm experimenting with the 100% juice Cran-Mango version that I added an extra half pound of honey to raise the ABV a bit (if it ferments out dry, then this should finish at 9 to 10% ABV). Really looking forward to this one
@@browndd1 No, I really didn't do anything with the Cran-Pineapple, I didn't even carbonate it (might be worth trying on the next batch). I might have added like a 1/2 cup of sugar in the primary (for a slight ABV bump), but I don't really remember The Cran-Mango unfortunately didn't turn out well - the flavor was a little off, but the worst was it felt thin - no body/substance to it at all. Maybe adding some tea (for the tannins) might help, but the Cran-Pineapple provided better results overall
So I decided to try this method (coffee filters instead of cheese cloth, because it's what I had on hand), with wine yeast. I'm doing the same cherry juice, but I got cran-tropical juice, and cran-watermelon juice to try. I figured both the cran juices were about the same gravity, since they both have the same sugar content. The cherry juice is fully bubbling, the other two aren't bubbling as much, but they are still bubbling. Excited to try them
Yes I use sugar to my juice I add about 1 to 2 cups in a gallon jug of juice. Then take my reading and then add the yeast and let it run. And also I have used distiller yeast in my wine and it cracked the abv. And I relly love the cranberry cott supper nice and got a good taste. And I think mine tastes like grapefruit in a way.
2 questions 1- if you added sugar at the beginning would your alcohol content be higher. 2- was the alcohol content the same with the bread yeast and wine yeast Also you should try just strait cranberry juice it comes out awesome
Same here. And it is cloudier for a longer time as well, bread yeast takes a long time to settle. But I like the result more than I liked Lallvin 1116.
I can't believe I just found this video. I asked for advice in the FB group, "Mead". I wound up using a recipe that I found in a book. Haven't tasted them yet, but hope to soon.
Newbie question: if there is still enough yeast in the racked brew to continue fermentation of added sugar... why the yeast dregs in the bottom of the original vessel? What would be the result of adding another 2 litres of fruit juice and letting it do its thing all over again?
You can definitely add more juice on top! It will just add more ABV to the mead because it's adding more sugar. There is nothing wrong with doing that!
Reusing the yeast cake is done quite often, I've done it myself. Apparently it should only be reused half a dozen to 10 times. Something about the yeasts mutating over time. But I've only done it the once.
I think bubbles sticking to the side is called "lace". "Legs" are when the wine or Mead liquid runs down the inside of the glass like in little rows. Could be wrong but that's what I always thought.
I have a question. If I want a stronger wine can I add more sugar to the juice before I start fermenting or will that mess something up? I’m new to fermenting, just got all my starting stuff of amazon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
First of all thank you for the vid. So I tried it, with bread yeast and cran-rasperry but I like the sweetness so I added 2 tbsp of unpasteurized honey. This was, in my mind, way to damned easy. Either it was gonna taste like shit or just not work. The results are in. This drink is amazing. It's got all the tastes of the fruit with a lingering winey flavour, not too dry, not too sweet, good mouthfeel, a little carbonation and pretty to look at with it's soft peach-pink haze. Also hits like a damned truck. So unexpectedly awsome. I'm gonna invest in a hygrometer and some K-sorbate. While I might try a different combination of yeast and ingredients later on, this one is already a winner. I'll still be drinking mostly beer my bbqs but I know this drink will have the girls coming back for more!
Is there a difference when using 100% juice, as opposed to using something that has high-fructose corn syrup in it? Or, what about juices that have a lot of Pulp in them?
They will all ferment if you add yeast as yeast consumes most kinds of sugar, including high fructose corn syrup. As long as it doesn’t have sorbate or potassium metabisulfate to make things hard on the yeast. Even then, upping the amount of yeast and/or adding yeast nutrient can help and some say boiling does help to get rid of the preservatives that inhibit yeasts. Juices that have a lot of pulp will ferment too, but will often cause a ‘fruit cap’ to form on top of the liquid. This needs to be mixed in once or twice a day to avoid the formation of mold. As the wine-to-be will foam a lot in the beginning, it’s best to remove part of the juice prior to adding the yeast so the bottle won’t bubble over. You might consider placing the bottle in an empty tray with high sides as well, just in case. The phenomenon of bubbling over is called a ‘blow-off’ and brewers who use airlocks have been known to find their airlock clog up and be blown clean off the fermenter. When they suspect this might happen, they build a ‘blow off tube’ that’s basically an airlock on steroids. It keeps the mess in control. Allowing for plenty of head space is normally enough to avoid trouble. Keeping an eye on temperatures is more important IMHO. I avoid brewing in the height of summer as I don’t have an airconditioner and if temps go up too high it can really ruin a brew. There are specialised high-temp yeasts out there though. Not sure about how they perform though. I’d rather not brew two months a year than pour all that potential goodness down the drain!
From my experiments, bread yeast lees doesn't pack well. It needs to sit in secondary for a while to clear, and really requires a siphon to rack it off the lees. But if you age both yeast results for a couple, three months, I'll bet you'll have a hard(er) time telling the two apart. For some reason, I've moved beyond juice-only based brews. They're boring, lol. All of my wine is now made mostly from fresh (well, frozen) fruit. And if you want sour/tart, ferment cranberry juice completely dry. It'll bring you a whole new definition of tartness... You don't have to use sorbate. Let the wine sit in secondary for a month before backsweeting. That does it for me... :) (And so long as you're experimenting, try using a frozen juice concentrate to backsweeten. I've have an apple wine now that's been in secondary for a while that I did that with, and it tastes quite good. I've tested Fleischmann's Active Dry, EC-1118, 71B and D47, and D47 is my go to yeast of choice. 71B comes in a close second, but 71B is the same variety of yeast as D47. 71B also seems require a longer primary ferment than D47 for some reason...
If you're in a hot climate and can't control temp I'd rate 71b over d47 but you laid it out just how it is. The juice concentrat is the best trick I've used for sweet cider.
It's late and I don't know what state you're in or even if you're in the United States but I will contact you tomorrow I need your help I just started doing this I have five bottles in the closet I pour out two apples that I had because I didn't like the taste it was really bitter and it tasted like like it was sour or something it stayed in the closet for about 3 weeks the type of yeast is downstairs I think it's a fisherman or something but they're too bitter and I red you say something about back sweetening need help on that if you're available thank you
@@williamtaylor1559 Are you talking to me, lol? Bitter or sour? They are two different tastes. Bitter is like the taste of black coffee or unsweetened cocoa. Sour is acidic. Since you're doing bottle juices, I'll assume it's acidic. Since I don't know how much experience you have, I don't want to sound condescending. If I come off that way, I apologize. Here's the first fundamental rule about fermentation. The yeast consumes sugar to produce alcohol. If you're fermenting juice without adding any additional sugar, the yeast has the ability to consume *all* the sugar in the juice. (The yeast may have the ability to consume all the sugar even if you did add more at the start of fermentation. Depends on the yeast.) At that point, all the "sweet" will be gone (also termed, "dry"), and the only things left will be what actually flavored the juice in the first place. Apple juice is particularly bad because of the malic acid in the juice, which will make a new apple wine taste sour if you don't let it age for a couple of months or more. (Aging it will eventually mellow the malic acid bite.) "Backsweetening" is adding some sort of sugar back into the wine after fermentation to make it sweet again. Try this. Take a glass of the apple wine you think is bad, and dissolve a little bit of sugar (just plain table sugar) a little at a time back into it and keep tasting it as you do. If it improves with the more sugar you add, then it's not bad, you just prefer a sweeter wine. The problem with adding more sugar, is there's a chance fermentation could start up again. So until you get further into the specifics of wine making, you might just want to sweeten the wine just before consumption.
I do get using wine yeast preserves the fruit flavors, but if you're turning a $2 bottle of apple juice into alcohol let face it you're not drinking it for the taste, you're drinking it to get riggity-riggity wrecked
i bought some orange wine from a liquor store that was 2 dollars as a product.. i had to ask them, is this 2 dollars?
I've made cider out of juice from the store several times over the years. You can make a quite an enjoyable cider out of it. Not everything has to be a symphony of subtle flavors.
No, I've made some honestly pretty good (as in tasty and pleasantly drinkable) wines and ciders out of cheap juice bottles.
Also, juices only have enough sugar in them to ferment to maybe 7-8%, so if your goal is just to get wrecked, they're actually not very cost-effective vs. just buying the cheapest bottle of 80 proof spirits you can find. Low-end whiskey/vodka isn't that expensive by comparison for the amount of alcohol, and you won't have to wait for it to ferment before you can get hammered on it.
@@wasd____ I froze mine and removed the water to increase the alcohol content. It's a little hit and miss, but this was also just what I would do before I was 21, so I wasn't super picky
@@hostile_prof im 18 lol
That's cool you invited Freddie Mercury to try your hooch.
😂🤣
lol I did not understand what you meant until @7:45 I laughed so much..
Has he finally broken free?
If Reed isn't an Freddie Mercury impersonator, or at least dressing up on Halloween, he's wasting a gift.
Nah fam that was Burt Reynolds
Yeast: dies in its own toxic poo.
Humans: that's really good stuff.
Yeast is just sea monkeys that pay rent by pooping out booze.
Lol, now that’s funny!🤣
🤣😂
Yep, it's good shit.
@@mgreene1409 what you did there? I see it.
He's more proud of his brew than the fact he raised Freddy Mercury from the grave
omg
Aahaha
Jesus Christ, your right
2024 reply., bottle of 100% juice 1cuo of suguar 1 teaspoon of yeast bought of amazon shake bottle , keep lid half tight allowing presure to escape. Wait until all bubbles stop forming on top of bottle 8 days / 18 days . Once bubbles are gone empty from bottle except 1/2 inch from bottle stick in fridge to.get cold amd could get .2 people with a good buzz .
I use PawPaw’s recipe.
1 cup sugar
1 quart juice
1/4 teaspoon yeast.
I started today with grape juice. Hopefully it turns out pretty well 🤞
Nico Cappabianca
You should be fine,
Jus keep it in a dark space somewhere around 70 degrees for about 3 1/2 weeks.
You can peak at it, but no touching unless there’s an issue.
It’s ready to drink when there’s not the tiniest inkling of any bubble rising to the surface.
Good luck and enjoy.🍷
Yes, PawPaw is a pretty good starting point to gain confidence and a decent wine without much hassle. I recommend as a next step, go to cuoredicioccolato's videos (also on YT), and learn how to "harvest" your own wine yeast from fruits. Today I racked some of my wine (using apple yeast) after 4 weeks, and my best guess is, above 14 ABV easily, with better taste and appearance compared to just baker's / basic yeast. Even better than shelf wine under 1 USD per liter. My $0.02 guys, cheers.
@@nicocappabianca5729 how did it turn out
@@666ffdp48 Really good! I was actually surprised it turned out so well. It was pretty sweet though so I'd make it exactly how Pawpaw does it and adjust accordingly to your taste after that
You guys are the champions. It's good to break free every once in a while and take a bohemian approach to this crazy little thing called fermenting. It wouldn't be difficult to find somebody to love learning this. It's easy to do without feeling like you're under pressure. You couldn't stop me now from trying it out. You and your best friend helped show me how to get off my fat bottom and make a beverage that will rock anyone and not have to throw away old juice that otherwise would have bitten the dust.
😂
ISWYDT
LMFAO
Wow. Can't tell you how much I just appreciated that lol
Lmfao nice
just a hint that I figured out on my own... put a tilt on your bottles so the yeast falls to one side of the bottle bottom. makes for cleaner syphoning and pouring.
Can you explain what you do when it’s finished fermenting.... how to pour it and get rid of dead yeast. Thanks
@@imspiffy you'll want to get something similar to a Fermtech auto syphon. and as I wrote, let it ferment on a tilt so gravity will cause the dead yeast to settle towards the low points. then when you go to rack it (syphon out the good stuff) slowly make the low tilt the high tilt so the dead yeast will mainly stay on the high tilt. then put the syphon angled to syphon from the low tilt. you'll still get some dead yeast... but less than if it is flat fermented. hope that helps.
@@atruefreethinker1944 thanks so much appreciate that
@Aristides Gonzalez huh. let me know how it works. might "sieve" through too slow. but I'm curious. hope it works.
Watching this at age 30, thinking how much easier it would’ve been to get whacked at 16 with juice and bread yeast instead of trying to get people to buy us alcohol 😂
Exactly. Could of fermented in the closet with the loose cap method so mom wouldn't hear the bubbles
😂😅no joke! 😢
Im 37 yrs and finding out 😢😅😂😮
😂😂😂😂😂-right!🎉🎉🎉
Pineapple comes with its own enzymes (excellent meat tenderizer) so there's a different sort of activity in the juices with pineapple. It would be interesting to see what would happen if you added just a little bit of pineapple juice to the other juices.
Did you know that during prohibition, people made wine from Welch's grape juice and the way they learned how to do it was that Welch's put warnings out that said, "DON'T DO THIS" - followed by instructions on how to turn grape juice into wine. ROFL! Sneaky!! Just because of that, I will always have a soft spot for Welch's.
Reminds me of the "librarian" protest where librarians all over the country weren't supposed to tell you that the FBI was trying to get at library records so they posted signs that said "We can't inform you when the FBI asks for records of what books you check out so, don't ask.". ROFL! I have a soft spot for librarians, too.
About the pineapple in wine making is an awesome choice. It's my go to base when I do a try fruit flavor. In my opinion of after making countless batches of wine over the years, try flavor's make the best wine's; but even better if you use concentrate. But even better still if you can press your own juice. Less water is key, however if you have to use water use the best water you can get your hands on.
Welch be OGS for that
@@phuckyoutube5927 And librarians - don't forget the librarians. They weren't supposed to tell anyone that the FBI was trying to get at library records and, so, posted what they weren't supposed to tell you with instructions not to ask because they weren't supposed to tell you which is how people learned that the FBI was doing it.
nice comment
My dad lived in Hawaii when he was a kid. Said they do that there, let pineapple juice ferment on it'd own. I think he said they called it swipe or slash, not sure.
One reason he didn't recognize the cherry is because Juicy Juice uses an apple base , sometimes grape, and flavors it.
Yep. Pure cherry juice is super dark and bitter
@@PlatoonGoon You can get a sweet black cherry juice. The stuff I've used has a specific gravity of 1.080, really high for a juice. Not sour at all.
Used it with fresh black cherries for a cherry wine. Didn't like the taste in secondary, but it's been getting better with age, lol.
Come this June, I'm going to do a Rainer Cherry wine. They're only available around here for a month, and one week a year where they go on sale for $3 a pound. Very specific time frame for that one, lol...
Cherry wine is delicious especially mixed with Dr pepper.
Yeah, I'd like to see him try to do this with an actual tart cherry juice. Yeah, it's more expensive than Juicy Juice, but if you want a "Viking's Blood" mead, that's what you should use instead. The alternative would be taking frozen cherries and adding them to what you created for a secondary fermentation.
@@user-qjvqfjv The bottle I have right now (I'm waiting for warmer weather before I start production again, lol), is an Open Nature brand. (It's a Safeway brand, so you should be able to find it in your Safeway affiliate. Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel, etc.)
I think I've used another sweet, black cherry juice, but I don't remember the brand.
Otherwise, all the shelf cherry juices seem to be sour cherries.
But they all are available in my grocery store...
BTW, I did do the rainier cherry wine. It's a golden colored wine, and was very good...
This is probably the easiest way of making alcohol I've seen , thank you
Currently "working" on a 'Hard Cider' bottle of juice. Took out a cup of the liquid then added a cup of sugar and a tablespoon of weischmans yeast to the bottle. Letting it sit in a dark spot of my closet.
Already smeeling and tasting a bit like champagne. Im expecting after s few more days, it will taste more like champagne and become more "dry"
@@Papatabb69 Right, if you add a cup of table sugar to those, you can get an An ABV up to like 14-16%
@@craigbush2138 i swear it gets just dry enough and sparkly like champagne 😋
I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BUT I WILL DECENTLY TRY THIS IN A 5 GALLON GLASS JUG I BOUGHT A LONG TIME AGO I'VE TRIED TO MAKE WINE BUT DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING BUT I DO NOW THANKS FOR YOUR VIDEO IT WILL HELP ME OUT A LOT THANKS AGAIN
@kebab REMOVER same
Another tip is after the fermentation has finished put the juice in the fridge overnight it will clear the liquid a lot quicker and any suspended bits sink to the bottom.
When I was in the Marines we did this with sweet tea and yeast from the gally. It was horrible but it did the job
The flavor grows on you, sort of.
Lol Thank you for your service!
Sounds like kombucha gone wrong. 😂
The taste is horrendous 😂 but it gets the job done
🏴👍
jonnie depp and ryan gosling taste tests cheap wine. awesome.
LOOOOL seriously it's undercover Depp
If you are going to make a wine without equipment then you don't need potassium sorbate to stabilize the wine. Simply add sugar (or honey or agave or maple syrup) to taste in each glass in the same way you add sugar to taste when you make tea or coffee.
Also, there is really no need to puncture the caps. All you need is a a rubber band and some cheese cloth and that is quite sufficient to prevent dirt entering and allow CO2 to escape. Most seasoned wine makers do not use an airlock in their primary (first) fermenter. They cover the container (usually a bucket or large pail) with a cloth. This allows them to punch down fruit caps that form and allows them to easily add nutrients during the course of active fermentation without any concern for the liquid erupting into volcanoes of juice and gas caused by the action of particles on the carbon dioxide gas that is saturating the wine.
Ever try balloons?
You don't even need the cheese cloth, paper towels will do just fine
Great video! Thanks! I've been making hard apple cider for a couple months and have had a blast--as well as saving so much money--making my own at home like my grandfather did in the Depression. I bake all my own breads, pitas, bagels and such, and now am very happy to be making my own cider.
i encourage you to start a TH-cam channel and show us how it's done
I would mix a couple of tablespoons of sugar into it and bottle them. In two weeks you have bubbly hard cider.
I do the same as you suggest. I even add a tsp. per qt. of sauerkraut for a second fermentation kick. The kraut gets much sourer as a result & the sugar gets totally consumed by the yeast.
Yeah but sometimes they explode into a sticky mess
My dad used to get me to put a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle at bottling time for his home brew ..my treat for helping was a spoon full of malt 😆thanks for reminding me 💞
An update what they taste like after they aged would be cool.
Heck yeah
Do it!
Non-sweet juice plus yeast. AKA, gross.
Not much better. These fruit wines are drunk younger. Though they would improve with time but not worth the effort and time spent.
@@Dave_en Ya, if these were cysers or melomels, I'd say aging them would make sense.
I’ve been wanting to home brew and have been nervous about all the things that could go wrong. This video makes it feel a lot more simple than I’ve been thinking so thanks! Time to get me some champagne yeast!
I’m happy to help! Good luck!
You should watch his video on how to make a traditional for $12 (ingredients only cost, not including equipment).
It is simple and if it goes wrong, it will look (moldy or floaters) or taste off and you toss it and start over. Jump in! It is fun and the options are endless.🥂
Everyone underage- write this down write this down ✍✍✍
😂 😂 I’ve been doing this since my freshman year of college. Might still do this after I’m 21 because nobody sells fermented mint/lime juice.
@the pnw mountain rider I normally add yeast nutrient as well to help the yeast work more efficiently. Make sure there’s no preservatives or artificial sweeteners in the drink.
that and before getting sent up to do hard time
@@noahradcliffe3253 wouldn´t artifical sweeteners just stay untouched, solving the issue of further stabilizing and re-sweetenting?
@@bobzeepl Yes, but if it’s artificially sweetened it would have lower sugar and therefore less food for the yeast.
I admire the organization of your brew room.
Thank you!
You are my favorite teacher, and from you I can learn. Greetings to you with all my heart and my respect to you. I am your brother from Algeria
I'm so happy to help! Thanks for taking the time to watch!
love his recipes and city steading, they both help and teach with all forms of meads.
@@micahtutor659 my two favorite channels!
I used to work for two brothers from Algeria. They had some interesting stories. (Granted they're definitely well into their 50s now)
@@mycrazylifewfawnlisette3582 you are welcomed at any time . We are very stupid people but we always laugh hahahaha😁😁😁😁
New to brewing. 6 months now. I have learned a lot from watching you more experienced folks. I have my favorites store bought juice wines. Cran-pom, seems to have some different mouth feels, white grape- peach, very good if you like a sweet peachy,, white grape-cherry, has a pretty good muscadine quality. I start all the juice ferments in the orginal juice container, pour out 8 to 16 oz, add table sugar with a starting gravity around 1.106. Different juices require different amounts, pitch yeast, shake vigorously, loosing the cap until it jumps when you squeeze. Let set for 4 weeks, rack. We like sweeter wines, so my OG is higher. If you like dryer obviously start with lower OG. I use mostly bread yeast, on average for me goes to 11-12 %. I have used Lavin products too, but never side by side, taste test, Great video!! and have learned a lot from you.
Juice wines may not be for the discerning palates, but it is fun to do.
It is a blast. From picking out the juice at the store, to consuming.
Thanks keep up the good work.
That sounds awesome! It sounds like you’ve got it all under control so far!
This is really interesting really. Just take normal store bought juice (without potassium sorbate). Add about a gram of yeast. Maybe a little more sugar. And let it sit for a few weeks until you see no bubbles. Very nice
.....how long does it take to start fermenting at 70 degrees ? I started the yeast in a little water with a pinch of sugar . After it started , I put it into the primary fermentation bucket . It was at body temperature , but hasn't taken off yet . It's been about 4 hours and no bubbles going through the bubble trap . Any advice for my homemade " hand sanitizer " ! ? Will it take a day to start fermenting or did I screw something up ? Please & thank you !
......it didn't have any potassium sorbate , but had potassium metabisulfite . As a preservative , it said . If it's not bubbling by the next day , guess I'll just use sugar , and a little lemon concentrate . I used apple juice and white grape juice . The white grape juice had the preservative in it , but the apple had none .
@@georgehays4908 I personally didnt try this yet. I just observed the video, and took what I could from it. Just thought it was a really cool thing to make homemade "wine" with very minimal effort.
@@BinkyDoinkus ......it's making a lot of bubbles now , and I added more sugar !
@@georgehays4908 I'm glad you got it going! I guess if the gases dont expand after adding yeast. Add more sugar! I guess yeast isnt able to feed from artificial sweeteners. Really sugar is a must
This was really well done, thank you for taking time to do these experiments and share the results!
Happy to share!
I used to do this in like 8th grade using frozen concentrate to get drunk with my friends. Classic 2 liter prison wine
I did it once In high-school but I left the cap shut tight looked at it a week later and the bottle was bulging I barely touched it and the juice shot straight up to the ceiling never tried it again.
@@libtard.4844 you have to put a balloon on the mouth of the bottle and poke small holes in it to slowly release pressure. If you don't rubberband the balloon on tight you'll probably have a huge mess after a few days when it rockets off
@@libtard.4844 classic
@@libtard.4844 Bro I did this and it sounded like a bomb went off a 3am. Needless to say my dad wasn't to pleased that his teenaged son was brewing hooch.
im tryna cheap uni student it, does the process make any sort of smell? dorm inspections b crazy
Love the video! I made my own batch of mango wine with bread yeast, it ended up pretty decent. It was good enough to have me passed out on the couch with the door wide open, pants in the kitchen, threw up twice lol
And I’ve been drinking since I was 13, it was quite strong
That's pretty funny! lol!
Dammm
OMG, this was the best lol I've ever had at a post! 😂😂 I read it again and still laughed!!
Third!! 😂😂😂😂😂
My aunt used to make wine just like this and it was always awesome
Welch's White Grape Peach is my favorite. I have a batch in a first ferment right now.
I wondered about that one! I couldn't tell if it had preservatives or not so I just got an apple juice from the dollar store instead. How long does it usually take to be ready?
@@krenee984 I go by when it seems 'done' and that varies - I'm sorry I can't be more help.
@@krenee984 I would believe when all the yeast falls to the bottom of the bottle
My dad used to enjoy making home brewed wine and beer. Anyway, he was fond of experimenting but… one day he decided to use Ribena. (it’s a fruit cordial, basically almost 100%fruit juice made with blackcurrents) well, his wine wasn’t red as expected nor white, not even rosé, it was green! He never did find out what had caused such a bizarre wine colour.
It didn’t get wasted. 😉😉😉
Did you check the ingredients in the back of the bottle. Cause that's why
Black coloring will often turn green when diluted.
Likely the ph was too high. It needed acid.
Made my Grandma's (old school) recipe with raisins,sugar, & bread yeast.
It was turned out delicious! Explanations on video will make next batch even better. Thanks
We just did the cranberry pineapple as our first try at this and would love to know more about your raisin recipe and process if you can share? We are on an exciting roll with “one” under our belt😄🙌
New subscriber and highly enjoy your easy to grasp videos on making Cider Mead Etc ! Most on youtube that share likeminded material are either boring ,analytical,complicated and with it expensive rants! You guys rock!!
thanx for sharing! I have a tip from an experienced home wine maker. When the yeast is just finished, siphon the wine out into a sterile jar but leave the last inch and a half of the cloudy sediment and then you can add more sugar and more yeast to ferment. She says ferment and rest for at least 3 months before drinking.
If you want it to be more boozy or boozier you'll need to add some sugar. Remove about 20-25% of the juice and add 1/4c or more of pure cane sugar and 1/4 tsp. bread yeast. Recap it tightly, shake vigorously, then loosen the cap a little bit like one turn. Wait 2-3 weeks. After the mixture has ceased bubbling, tighten and put in the fridge. My first try I only had 1 bottle of juice. I poured out 25% and drank it then I added 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. yeast. It was delicious. So, I bought 3 more bottles and poured 25% of each bottle into the first bottle that still had the sediment and repeated the process. Apparently, "new" yeast likes to feed off the sediment. Since, I have purchased two carboys, and will purchase a siphon. I do not want to purchase too many pieces of equipment because I am a little lazy and do not have a dishwasher. And, I don't need it to be too boozy so I don't need the proof thermometer. Try the white cranberry and cherry pomegranate. Laters, God Bless!
I like to make mead with wild yeast from raw honey. It's a little unpredictable but if you're patient I think it can be super worth it. If you want it carbonated it's definitely a lot of trail and error and fermentation grade bottles are not optional.
Love this video. Thank you very much for uploading. The tiny hole in the cap is the best wine making tip ever, as you do not need any specialized equipment and the bottle will not burst or explode.
I’m happy to share!
I have used ribena. A uk, I think, blackberry cordial which has potassium sorbate and sodium metabisulfite in. The secret is you have to boil the heck out of it for about 20 min to drive off the sulfates. Then it will ferment no problem when it cools. It's rather good.
Gary z ?. Am looking to use a Ribena myself been looking into finding ways of making Ribena wine... what was your recipe buddy and what size Ribena bottles did you use because I'm thinking of a 5 L Batch..
@@knickersinatwistuk7361 I took this this from C.J.J Berrys book first steps in winemaking.
It doesn't mention the boiling here but the later edition did.
One 12 oz. bottle of Ribena Blackcurrant juice will in fact make one gallon of
wine. Dissolve 3 lb. of sugar in some warm water, and pour into a 1-gallon jar, then add
the bottle of blackcurrant juice and three-quarters fill the jar to the shoulder. Then add
your chosen wine yeast, or a level teaspoon of Heath and Heather granulated yeast. The
merest trace of acid, one-third of a teaspoon of citric acid, and a pinch of yeast nutrient
should also be added. Insert the fermentation lock and stand the jar in a warm place for
fermentation to get under way. When the first vigorous fermentation has died down after
a fortnight or so, top up the jar with water to the bottom of the neck, and reinsert
fermentation lock; then continue with the fermentation in the usual way.
@garyz2043 thankyou for sharing all this information, I'll try it to make ribena wine. Salut!
Love 💕 this vid! Two good looking men taste testing cheap homemade wine! Excellent instructions too, I'm about to watch it a second time... Much appreciation!
Man now I want to go buy a few bottles of juice....
I just got into homebrewing and I'm trying to have 1-2 bottles of cider on the shelf at all times, fun hobby.
Great video! I've tried this many times with mixed results. I've used bread and wiwin e yeast. I do,however, add more sugar to increase the alcohol percentage. Just subbed!
Thank you!
'legs' in wine terminology refers to how many droplets you can see dribble back down the glass into the wine after you swirl the liquid gently.
I thought they called that "fingers". I am not a wine snob as I will drink anything, ha ha. I have 8 gallons of 3 different wines fermenting as we speak. 5 gallons is black tea wine that has been fermenting for 6 weeks now and it is still bubbling strong at about a blurp every 5 seconds or so. I have grape, orange juice and apple also but I started them later as I am trying to stagger them a bit.
You are correct. It is generally indicative of high ABV.
Legs show the sugar
@@infinityiznow Then why are the driest of red wines said to have, "great legs"?
I always heard that called the “tears”.
Instead of cheese cloth you can use a clean surgical mask
really presentation! I plan on trying your method soon...ty for the post!
Off to the store for Cran Pineapple
i was surprised that was their favorite, i may have to try it too
I was thinking the same thing 😂 I tried straight cranberry once & it’s definitely not to my liking.
I'm seriously adding this to my house brew list! Haha
thanks for testing store bought juices for cider and wine and mead making your so cool dude you made my day
We usually add a cup of sugar per gallon when we make wine or cider from store bought juice. For our yeast we have had good results from safeale s-04 getting a 10% abv for the cider, and D47 or 71b for the wine ending with a abv from 10 - 14%. Typically we let ours go for a month in primary and at least a month in secondary before we start seeing if it’s ready to bottle or drink.
Rob Rainwater do u heat the juice for the sugar to devolve better Thanks
Frances Moore we just mix the must until we don’t see the sugar on the bottom of the fermenter. It also gives the benefit of adding oxygen to the brew
@@robrainwater8017 Thank you I am making my first batch tonight thanks again
I had 2 hydrometers, I broke one and lost the other lol.
I used to brew from kit and once from scratch 10 plus years ago.
I feel now seems the right time to get back into the hobby
My wife loves strawberry kiwi from juicy juice turned into wine this way
I was looking at that juice recently for wine good to know it'll be tasty!
It's a favorite in our house too!
I really appreciated your very simple recipes for homemade mead .Thanks !
Thought Reid was about to sing Bohemian Rhapsody 😂
Searched for someone too make a freddie mercury joke lol
😁 you are so technical . You could just take one cup of pure juice out ,replace it with one cup of sugar and 2 packs of yeast put that cap on loosely so it doesn't pop,set the bottle in a bowl and put in you closet or any dark place for about 7 to 10 days.
An easier airlock is to just screw the lid on loosely. When you sqeeze the bottle it should make a pffft noise.
Thanks for the video... I make peach mango for my daughter and she loves it!!!
I've tried the juicy juice wine before. it doesn't have a straight flavor, because they use a mixture of juices to make the listed flavor. It still makes wine though lol
Awesome vid. I think I may try this as a fun autumn experiment.
With bread yeast, I think I liked purple grape juice the best (out of the ones I made, not the same as your juice flavors). I will have to sample them again later. It seemed to maintain the most flavor. I have not tried any wine yeast yet.
i don't use a bubbler either, I just loosen the cap just enough to let out excessive pressure
Wow, this was really interesting. Thx. I’ve been beermaking and cider making for years but have just now started with mead. I have to admit I wasn’t that interested in the efficacy of the bread yeast, but was interested in the quality of the wine/mead you got from these cheap juices. As it happens, after living in New England and being spoiled by having access to fresh cider from special varietals appropriate for hard cider, I finally broke down and made hard cider this Fall from Trader Joe’s cider. Why? I live in Cali now and can’t get the fresh cider. My ciders from the Fall are aging in the garage now. My preference is for a very dry and alcoholic cider (12% or so from added sugars). Cross fingers! From your study of these cheap juices, I’m now encouraged. Thx again!
I'm in New England. Do I use the local apple cider in the same way using the wine yeast like he does in this video? Or is there some extra steps to be taken when using fresh apple cider?
I like the experiment, but I think you also need phase 2, which would be to add sufficient sugar to each and drive the ABV to 14%
Step feed...that would be interesting.
Or more age time
And/or both!
How much sugar should you add?
@@nathanc.8821 I usually go with another lb.... It also goes by gravity and how sweet you want it in the end if it doesn't referment.
Alcohol is yeast piss.
Swimming in piss is....deadly.
You need specific yeast to hit that ABV, piss resistant strains.
@@markvickroy6725 Bread yeast usually goes to 12%.
I just found your channel and I subscribed. By the way, the high gravity reading for the grape juice likely is due to suspended particles and not due to more fermentable sugars. The grape juice is the cloudiest of them all, and all likely have a similar fermentable gravity around 1.050.
Thank you, -Wolfgang
I really liked your video. I always wanted to try making wine but thought it was much harder right to do. Thank you.
You should definitely try it!
I started making wine using Fleshman's bread yeast. I had it on hand and I was using it to figure out the process. I used value apple juice and on sale fruit juice, cheap buzz. Once I began using wine yeast the taste and clarity were superior to the bread yeast. Also, the bread yeast gave the wine a funky smell, that usually went away with age. Who has time to age store-bought juice wine? It's for drinking.
D47 is a good wine yeast to use for grocery store-bought juice fermentation, and real wine-grape juice, plus it will ferment at about 60 degrees though ferment slower. D47 is fairly inexpensive once you learn how to pour some fermenting juice into a new juice container to get the new juice fermenting. Kinda like chain-smoking, but only drinking cheap wine. That way you will never run out of wine. Plus you will very rarely if ever have to buy wine yeast again. Probably best to get one-half gallon started every three to four days until you figure it out
Do u get drunk from it lol
They say that breadyeast becomes intoxified after the alcohol reaching 5%, I can see using it in prison because thats all they can get.
You can also backsweeten whit non-fermentable sugars/sweeteners (stevia, splenda etc), which eliminates the need to stabilize or pasturize.
Very true!
I have an intense urge to listen to queen for some reason.
Another one bites the dust 🎵🎶
Same lol
Just stumbled onto this video and it's So Awesome! Thank you!😁👍
Didn’t know you could make wine without adding extra sugar gonna give it a try thanks for sharing 👍🏻
Definitely. There is sugar in the juice. If you add more sugar, lik e air normally do, it increases the alcohol percentage.
I use Old Orchard and add about 3 cups of sugar per gallon. Then use Safale S-04 yeast (available at brewing supply store or online).
Thany you! A low cost, budget approach to good wine making!
I’ve been making store bought juice into wine for a while now … however I add sugar and use an airlock so I don’t accidentally make vinegar… peach mango is also delicious and giving it a secondary ferment adds bubbles
What is 2nd fermente? I tried mango peach, cranberry and orange juice with sugar and an airlock and after fermentation not crazy for taste, maybe 2nd fermentation would help.
@@rhondawest414 it’s just going through the process a 2nd time … makes it a little fizzy
@@rhondawest414 I have found the juice must be a good 100% organic to taste good … I tried using cheaper juices and they definitely have alcohol but I’m not crazy about the taste either .. I made up a “sangria” recipe to use some of it 🤣😂🤣
I just started my first batch of this (I finished it at about 8:30 pm on 11/12/22). It’s two bottles of Cran-Raspberry and I will come back once it is done to report my results.
Any Updates?
What happened
@@Gaggot he's dead now
@@Dictatortot-n3d that's a shame
Where's that update?
Bottle those for 6 months and the taste will be dramatically different. So will adding sugar for fermenting. I also recommend using coffee filters to help keep the yeast from forming at the bottom of the bottles.
Does the alchohol level increase with time?.... Also do i still need to let it breathe after say two weeks, or can i completely close the lid or will it still explode.....
@@giuk1987 I don't bother checking alcohol content either before or after. I want high alcohol but whatever it is is fine. My problem is I tend to make them too sweet. As far as exploding goes it's rare for them to continue to ferment after bottling but I did get a couple of cherry wine bottles to become sparkling cherry but that was accidental but good.
I usually put the wine in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation and get the yeast to settle on the bottom. After 2 weeks it's usually done fermenting. If it's not warm enough it may take longer. As long as the yeast has settled on the bottom it can be bottled. If you use coffee filters, it will degas the wine so you don't need to let it set for 2 weeks. But if you do it may be better but I've never done any tests to see if it makes a difference.
I did it with a balloon once. Makes the finished product taste like latex, which isn't the best. You can make a blow off tube very easily and get a decent homemade airlock.
Apple juice fermented dry and usually still is known as apfelwein and my favorite homebrew to make. Using a blend of juice helps a lot. Standard apple juice ends up tasting really flat and hollow. You want to use an apple juice blend or juice some other apples to add to it. I usually juice something more on the tart side like granny smith or pink lady to improve the flavor. Tree Top makes a 3 apple blend juice people use for it, but I haven't tried it. Montrachet yeast is often used for it also.
Latex free gloves 😉
Flowery, with strident latex overtones and a cinnamon aftertaste...
"Did we disagree?"
I don't know, we're drunk!🤪
such a great video idea. thanks for this. it answered MANY questions i've been thinking about lately.
I messed around with Bread Yeast and store-bought juice when I first started homebrewing. (If you could call it that) I tried Cranberry juice and Apple juice. Cranberry turned out amazing with a little back sweetening and Apple was just awful. I could never get it to taste good. Your video reminded me of those days and tbh, sometimes using the cheap store-bought stuff just makes sense. Depends on your resources and what's available to you. Great video guys!
Ugh. I did a cranberry, and it went dry. Tasted it, and my face almost turned inside out it was so tart, lol...
The apple was awful because when it goes dry, the malic acid comes to the front. If you let it age a couple of months, you might find you like the apple a lot more. You could also try a yeast like D47 or 71B, which are supposed to help eliminate the malic acid problem...
@@Backroad_Junkie huh, didn't realize about the malic acid. I want to mess around with ciders and cysers this winter so good to know.
Apple always has a vinegar twang to it . I can't even drink reds wicked apple ale because of it . I like the regular reds apple tho. But that stuff doesn't actually have apples in it. Just flavoring 🤮
@@DrLove911 Haha. I've had a couple ciders that weren't to bad. I get what your sayin' though.
Damn, Freddie Mercury was pretty intense in the taste test :-)
LMAO
glad you said it. I was thinking He's back from the grave to do TH-cam.
I Legit just said WTF is Freddie Mercury doing in the video
He reminds me of Scarface from "Half Baked"
Freddie Mercury was my first thought too. Lol
I wouldve liked to have had the test done at a month out. Give it a bit of time to settle and degass some.
Ditto
The Cran-Pineapple drink was surprisingly good! Even 8/9 months after it was finished fermenting.
I'm experimenting with the 100% juice Cran-Mango version that I added an extra half pound of honey to raise the ABV a bit (if it ferments out dry, then this should finish at 9 to 10% ABV). Really looking forward to this one
Did you back sweeten the cranberry-pineapple with anything other than sugar?
@@browndd1 No, I really didn't do anything with the Cran-Pineapple, I didn't even carbonate it (might be worth trying on the next batch). I might have added like a 1/2 cup of sugar in the primary (for a slight ABV bump), but I don't really remember
The Cran-Mango unfortunately didn't turn out well - the flavor was a little off, but the worst was it felt thin - no body/substance to it at all. Maybe adding some tea (for the tannins) might help, but the Cran-Pineapple provided better results overall
I wish i had found these videos when i was about 13 - 17 years old. Would have been selling so much of this stuff.
lol
Great video. Thanks for the cool tips 👍👍👍
Happy to share!
Do you think this can get contaminated? Also, what temp can I store this in for it to fermentate and taste good?
Ferment at regular room temperature or a bit warmer to make it faster.
So I decided to try this method (coffee filters instead of cheese cloth, because it's what I had on hand), with wine yeast. I'm doing the same cherry juice, but I got cran-tropical juice, and cran-watermelon juice to try. I figured both the cran juices were about the same gravity, since they both have the same sugar content. The cherry juice is fully bubbling, the other two aren't bubbling as much, but they are still bubbling. Excited to try them
That's awesome! Let me know how they turn out!
I guess I didn't poke a big enough hole... There is juice foam everywhere. Smells like Modelo tho lol
Yes I use sugar to my juice I add about 1 to 2 cups in a gallon jug of juice. Then take my reading and then add the yeast and let it run. And also I have used distiller yeast in my wine and it cracked the abv. And I relly love the cranberry cott supper nice and got a good taste. And I think mine tastes like grapefruit in a way.
2 questions
1- if you added sugar at the beginning would your alcohol content be higher.
2- was the alcohol content the same with the bread yeast and wine yeast
Also you should try just strait cranberry juice it comes out awesome
1: more sugar will lead to a higher ABV beverage.
2: both of the ABVs were the same!
You every use lalvin ec-1118.?
It is supposed to yield a higher abv
Great video, gonna make a juicey juice and cran-something cider.
Thanks for watching!
I found that if you use bread yeast it takes longer to age, however it does clear and have a great flavir.
Same here. And it is cloudier for a longer time as well, bread yeast takes a long time to settle. But I like the result more than I liked Lallvin 1116.
@@devilinthedetails9665 try cider yeast and let it age months...great stuff
I can't believe I just found this video. I asked for advice in the FB group, "Mead". I wound up using a recipe that I found in a book. Haven't tasted them yet, but hope to soon.
Newbie question: if there is still enough yeast in the racked brew to continue fermentation of added sugar... why the yeast dregs in the bottom of the original vessel? What would be the result of adding another 2 litres of fruit juice and letting it do its thing all over again?
You can definitely add more juice on top! It will just add more ABV to the mead because it's adding more sugar. There is nothing wrong with doing that!
Reusing the yeast cake is done quite often, I've done it myself. Apparently it should only be reused half a dozen to 10 times. Something about the yeasts mutating over time. But I've only done it the once.
You should really stop calling this mead
@@vladrasp You really should take care to make your replies on the main thread.
_I_ have not called it 'mead' once.
Sheesh.
I think bubbles sticking to the side is called "lace". "Legs" are when the wine or Mead liquid runs down the inside of the glass like in little rows. Could be wrong but that's what I always thought.
The stuff running down the inside of the glass with wine or liquor is called the “tears”.
@@vickielawson3114 just googled it. Legs and tears in wine are the same thing. Never heard it called tears before but it's definitely a thing.
I have a question. If I want a stronger wine can I add more sugar to the juice before I start fermenting or will that mess something up? I’m new to fermenting, just got all my starting stuff of amazon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Of course you can! I just didn’t in this case to keep it simple.
I add about half a cup per liter. So a 2 liter uses a cup. You can also step feed by adding sugar over time even after the original cup
You can also freeze it when done fermenting in a bucket and then remove the ice from the bucket it's an easy way to do a little distillation.
Really awesome, thanks for showing us how to do this…and so much more!
I’m happy to share!
Hall and Oates -- The Lean Years
Such an underrated comment right here.
That’s a smart idea for a cost effective airlock! Thanks for the idea.
First of all thank you for the vid.
So I tried it, with bread yeast and cran-rasperry but I like the sweetness so I added 2 tbsp of unpasteurized honey.
This was, in my mind, way to damned easy. Either it was gonna taste like shit or just not work.
The results are in. This drink is amazing. It's got all the tastes of the fruit with a lingering winey flavour, not too dry, not too sweet, good mouthfeel, a little carbonation and pretty to look at with it's soft peach-pink haze.
Also hits like a damned truck. So unexpectedly awsome.
I'm gonna invest in a hygrometer and some K-sorbate. While I might try a different combination of yeast and ingredients later on, this one is already a winner.
I'll still be drinking mostly beer my bbqs but I know this drink will have the girls coming back for more!
I use 3 cups of sugar and bread yeast and let ferment for 3 weeks and it's good 👍
2 cups of sugar for me and 14days
Is there a difference when using 100% juice, as opposed to using something that has high-fructose corn syrup in it? Or, what about juices that have a lot of Pulp in them?
They will all ferment if you add yeast as yeast consumes most kinds of sugar, including high fructose corn syrup. As long as it doesn’t have sorbate or potassium metabisulfate to make things hard on the yeast. Even then, upping the amount of yeast and/or adding yeast nutrient can help and some say boiling does help to get rid of the preservatives that inhibit yeasts.
Juices that have a lot of pulp will ferment too, but will often cause a ‘fruit cap’ to form on top of the liquid. This needs to be mixed in once or twice a day to avoid the formation of mold. As the wine-to-be will foam a lot in the beginning, it’s best to remove part of the juice prior to adding the yeast so the bottle won’t bubble over. You might consider placing the bottle in an empty tray with high sides as well, just in case. The phenomenon of bubbling over is called a ‘blow-off’ and brewers who use airlocks have been known to find their airlock clog up and be blown clean off the fermenter. When they suspect this might happen, they build a ‘blow off tube’ that’s basically an airlock on steroids. It keeps the mess in control. Allowing for plenty of head space is normally enough to avoid trouble.
Keeping an eye on temperatures is more important IMHO. I avoid brewing in the height of summer as I don’t have an airconditioner and if temps go up too high it can really ruin a brew. There are specialised high-temp yeasts out there though. Not sure about how they perform though. I’d rather not brew two months a year than pour all that potential goodness down the drain!
I used to do honey mead long ago, still have the bottles n other stuff, I'll give this a try.
From my experiments, bread yeast lees doesn't pack well. It needs to sit in secondary for a while to clear, and really requires a siphon to rack it off the lees. But if you age both yeast results for a couple, three months, I'll bet you'll have a hard(er) time telling the two apart.
For some reason, I've moved beyond juice-only based brews. They're boring, lol. All of my wine is now made mostly from fresh (well, frozen) fruit. And if you want sour/tart, ferment cranberry juice completely dry. It'll bring you a whole new definition of tartness...
You don't have to use sorbate. Let the wine sit in secondary for a month before backsweeting. That does it for me... :) (And so long as you're experimenting, try using a frozen juice concentrate to backsweeten. I've have an apple wine now that's been in secondary for a while that I did that with, and it tastes quite good.
I've tested Fleischmann's Active Dry, EC-1118, 71B and D47, and D47 is my go to yeast of choice. 71B comes in a close second, but 71B is the same variety of yeast as D47. 71B also seems require a longer primary ferment than D47 for some reason...
If you're in a hot climate and can't control temp I'd rate 71b over d47 but you laid it out just how it is. The juice concentrat is the best trick I've used for sweet cider.
It's late and I don't know what state you're in or even if you're in the United States but I will contact you tomorrow I need your help I just started doing this I have five bottles in the closet I pour out two apples that I had because I didn't like the taste it was really bitter and it tasted like like it was sour or something it stayed in the closet for about 3 weeks the type of yeast is downstairs I think it's a fisherman or something but they're too bitter and I red you say something about back sweetening need help on that if you're available thank you
The same one that you tested but my the active dry original
@@williamtaylor1559 Are you talking to me, lol?
Bitter or sour? They are two different tastes. Bitter is like the taste of black coffee or unsweetened cocoa. Sour is acidic.
Since you're doing bottle juices, I'll assume it's acidic. Since I don't know how much experience you have, I don't want to sound condescending. If I come off that way, I apologize.
Here's the first fundamental rule about fermentation. The yeast consumes sugar to produce alcohol. If you're fermenting juice without adding any additional sugar, the yeast has the ability to consume *all* the sugar in the juice. (The yeast may have the ability to consume all the sugar even if you did add more at the start of fermentation. Depends on the yeast.)
At that point, all the "sweet" will be gone (also termed, "dry"), and the only things left will be what actually flavored the juice in the first place.
Apple juice is particularly bad because of the malic acid in the juice, which will make a new apple wine taste sour if you don't let it age for a couple of months or more. (Aging it will eventually mellow the malic acid bite.)
"Backsweetening" is adding some sort of sugar back into the wine after fermentation to make it sweet again.
Try this. Take a glass of the apple wine you think is bad, and dissolve a little bit of sugar (just plain table sugar) a little at a time back into it and keep tasting it as you do. If it improves with the more sugar you add, then it's not bad, you just prefer a sweeter wine.
The problem with adding more sugar, is there's a chance fermentation could start up again. So until you get further into the specifics of wine making, you might just want to sweeten the wine just before consumption.
Flavors love it. the mead is, I can't wait! no More! You did the flavor, Yum!