Dude. You have been so, so helpful. I just started my first batch ever and I can't tell you how much your videos - and the measured, simplified way you have of explaining the process - have become bible for me. So grateful.
Your videos are well informed, easy to follow. You obviously know the science behind what you're stating adding credibility to the content. Most appreciated! Tom
Thank you! I learn a lot in the preparation for the videos a lot of the time. Over the last five years I have learned more than I would have imagined when I started making the videos.
Hi Rick - when you press your wine and you have more than one vessel you fermented your wine in, do you combine all of the free run juice and then transfer to the carboys? I understand going straight to the carboy with the free run juice if you only have one vessel for fermentation (I have three). Thanks!
Question, when you start a wine do you use go ferm to kick start the yeast and then mix in fermaid k when you add the goferm and yeast mixture to your must? Basically do you use both products or just 1?
I realized you do talk about this. To clarify my question at what point during the fermentation do you add fermaid k. At the beginning, half way through or when your alcohol content reaches some level?
Besides rose and oak-aged, could you take some must from just a few days maceration for some early-drinking low-tannin red wine or all these transfers would cause too much oxygen exposure?
Thank you so much for theses videos. This will be my first harvest of 90 vines of Merlot & Cab we transplanted from a neighbor in January. Because of the corona virus, the classes I had planned to take were all cancelled. Your videos are a lifesaver. I’m not quite so nervous about screwing up. 😊 I’m in SoCal, so harvest will be mid September, a little earlier than I had planned. Just wanted to thank you. Loved your dog in this video.
@@donnalyn223 I have one white varietal that is pretty much stuck at 16 or 17 brix and just doesn't seem to want to ripen not even 3 days of 90 degree weather managed to get them to ripen. Beginning to wonder if I'll just have to pick them and then do something with them.
Thanks so much for the videos. My parents have been making wine for 30 years in a very old school way. This year I have been learning as much as possible and they let me take over. I wish I discovered your info sooner, as I followed the instructions from my wine store that said to press at 1.020. I sanitized everything and used domesticated yeast. I added some sulfites to the must. I ran it through a strainer into the demijohn after pressing. I didn’t rack it after a few days as you say to and now it’s been 2 weeks! I’m super nervous. It’s been under airlock in the demijohn. It has a slight rotten egg smell now. I’ve measured the SG every few days and it’s been at 1.000 for one week. It does not taste sweet. I was planning to rack it today after watching this video. Should I add sulfites? When should I rack again after today’s racking? I also didn’t consider malo and didn’t add any. I have been confused because I’m not sure if my alcohol ferm is complete given that my SG is 1.000. Thanks so much for your help and for making this videos. At least I will know what to do differently next year.
Thank you! What type of wine is it? If you still have a lot of dissolved solids in the wine it can read a little off on the hydrometer. I would not sulfite it until the rotten egg smell is gone. That indicates that the wine is reductive which is the opposite of oxidation. If it is a traditional red wine that should go through malolactic fermentation, then I would consider getting some malolactic bacteria rather than leaving it to chance and letting whatever wild bacteria do their thing. CH16 is my go to for red wine. Once MLF is complete then sulfite appropriately for aging. Make sure to top up in carboy for MLF because you don't want to encourage other aerobic bacteria to do their thing. With very little SO2 the wine is very vulnerable so minimizing oxygen is key (once your rotten egg smell is gone). You can start oaking with oak cubes or spirals or whatever now also.
Great Channel and videos! I knew a bit but learned a lot from you. Its hard to find good teachers and you... my friend.. are one of them. Appreciate all you're doing. I'm in Pa too, making wine from my own organic grapes for the first time! Was curious if you have a tip for pulling must out (when fermenting reds on skins) to test? My thief seems to always clog..my best idea was to pour through muslin that is stretched over a funnel. works but its messy and a pain. Any tricks?
I can’t seem to get a hold of any crystals in the uk to do mlf. I’m racking my wine of the less today as it’s been 24 hours . How long should I leave them in the new carboys before bottling . Thanks
Thanks for the videos! Very informative. Question - do you stir the stir the wine during MLF? Have read comments for and against doing so and am curious what your thoughts are.
Thank you! As long as you have racked the wine off of the gross lees, you will not want need to stir during MLF. Malolactic bacteria does not like oxygen and will not pile up on the bottom of the carboy like yeast does.
Great series! I was wondering though you mentionned that the malolactic bacteria was on the grappes, dont they die when you add sulfite at the begining?
With juice you will just give it a stir once a day to keep it going. Also no need to press since it does not have skins. A red wine from juice will be very easy drinking but if you are a more seasoned red wine drinker you may want to explore red wine from grapes since most of the complexity and intensity will come from the time on the skins and seeds.
For red wines I just loosely cover it to keep the fruit flies out. You can ferment completely open which is also common on larger batches. It produces a lot of CO2 so it can't be fully sealed or will explode. An active fermentation likes a little air to keep the yeast healthy also. After that is complete, air is a bad thing.
I'd at least put a more sealed cover over it. If you can let it cool down a bit it will be a little safer. Also if you have access to a heavy inert gas (CO2 or argon), you can blanket the wine. It should be okay since at this stage it is very co2 saturated and can swing a little towards the reductive end of the oxidation curve. I would probably hit it with about 10ppm of SO2 before pressing just to offset the air it will get when pressed and make sure you get your carboys topped up right away since you probably won't be wanting or needing any more intentional air exposure.
I just tasted my first batch of home grown wine, it’s super dry. We harvested on August 28 and put in the carboy once dry 8 days later. Will it mello out or is it just gonna be super dry?
Yes, it will smooth out considerably over time. Usually around 8 months a red wine really starts to become more approachable. If it tastes well balanced now, it would likely get thin and weak tasting later on. What grape varietal is it and where are you located? End of August is relatively early for most red grapes,unless you are in a very warm climate or it is an earlier season grape like cab franc. The pH will climb as the grapes finish ripening. If they are a little under ripe, the low pH can make the grapes a little sour when dry. Over time, some of the acid can destabilize and fall out, but the wine could still need a tiny bit of sugar to balance out.
We live in San Marcos CA, we purchased a house with 20 Petite Sirah vines and this was our first time trying to figure everything out. We had some really high temps and I mismanaged the watering, I was getting about 23 brix when picked but about 1/2 the grapes were raisins. Thanks for your videos I would not have been able to do this without them. Next year I hope to get 6 gallons.
Oh wow. Yeah, that is a lot warmer climate than my area. Raisins will push up the brix quite a bit. If you can shade or water them a little more, you may find that it takes a few more weeks to hit the low to mid 20s. Even just a rain before the harvest can knock the sugar down a couple percent by plumping up the berries with water. Normally you want a dry week to pick on though. Thanks for the good feedback!
A big meat grinder with the big open blade (two oval shaped openings) is several times faster than that stupid fruit press (been there and done that). The six and a half gallon brew buckets are the best primary fermenters, for one thing because after a week to ten days when you filter out the pulp you'll have approx. 5 gal. of wine that fits perfectly into a 5 gal. carboy. Jack Keller has one of the best websites on winemaking, and he has great recipes, many of which use fruit that is much better than grapes.
Thank you! I have certainly thought about grappa but have not done it. I use my skins in the compost pile. I would have some interest in trying grappa if I legally could. I don't think I would get a while lot though on the home Winemaking scale. It would take a lot of grape skins to get just one bottle of grappa.
Great timing I will be pressing my Norton’s today, could you help with the amounts of tannins to use. Also I don’t have oak barrels but chips at what stage will I add these.
Awesome! I usually add about two grams per gallon before or during pressing. Depending on the grapes I will often add a little more later. They are for the most part sacrificial tannins that will bind up with color compounds and off aroma compounds and help improve mouth feel
And you can add your chips early if you want but go light on them since you won't want to rack the wine mid malolactic fermentation. I usually add a little early, then fine tune later once the wine is a little more mature
Longer if it is properly sulfited. There are 30 or 40 year old wines that are still hanging in there. Most wines that age very well are relatively high acid and high tannin.
The blue barrel is a food grade juice barrel. That I cut the lid off of. If you can find a factory that makes juices or other liquid food products they might have some. Our local wine supplier sells them for about 35 bucks. You can also use white, grey or yellow brute brand garbage cans which are also food grade.
I usually throw a towel or sheet over the fermenter to keep the fruit flies out. Fruit flies carry acetobacter which creates acetaldehyde and later vinegar. The bacteria is really gonna be there regardless from the vineyard but I don't want the flys touching the wine more than they have to. Some wineries ferment wide open, no cover. At this stage the wine is saturated with co2 and acetobacter is an aerobic bacteria that needs air. If you stay topped up after primary fermentation and sulfite once mlf is complete you should have very little risk of spoilage. If I leave the wine on the skins a day or two after fermentation signs have stopped, I will usually give it a light dose of SO2 right before pressing just to be safe but otherwise I can wait. Wine yeast, Including EC-1118 can often produce up to about 50ppm of SO2 naturally which is something that a lot of people don't realize. It's natural.... We are just maintaining the levels to inhibit the next level of the decomposition process (vinegar).
@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel ,surprised you commented. Made a deal on home wine equipment today hope to be starting this week. Just found out about the Paw Paw tree about 2 years ago. Tried my first last year. I grew up around them and never noticed them. Good luck on your vlogs. They are easy to understand .
எளிய முறையில் ரெட் ஒயின் செய்வது தயாரிப்பது எப்படி இந்தியாவில் ஒயினுக்கான செய் முறை யாருக்கும் முறையாக தெரிய வில்லை பிலிஸ் சின்ன வீடியோ பதிவிடுங்கள் தம்பி நன்றி வாழ்த்துக்கள் நான் இந்தியாவில் தமிழ் நாட்டில் சென்னையை சேர்ந்தவர்
The frustration on your face when your dog chased the neighbors dog, was palpable ;-) The unpredictable nature of animals is great.
Dude. You have been so, so helpful. I just started my first batch ever and I can't tell you how much your videos - and the measured, simplified way you have of explaining the process - have become bible for me. So grateful.
Thank you! I am glad the winemaking videos have been helpful!
That look at 1:14 is priceless! Very informative video. I can't wait make my own wine someday.
That is the Control Freak Face. Never seen that before? When something funny happens, you can run, laugh, or freeze. No choice, really.
Your videos are well informed, easy to follow. You obviously know the science behind what you're stating adding credibility to the content. Most appreciated! Tom
love the way the dog hair and fleas got into the mash.
When you crush and destemm the grapes into the blue drum, does it matter if it’s filled up to prevent oxidation?
Thanks for great videos! I’ve probably watched 90% of yours and have learned more than I could have imagined
Thank you! I learn a lot in the preparation for the videos a lot of the time. Over the last five years I have learned more than I would have imagined when I started making the videos.
Hi Rick - when you press your wine and you have more than one vessel you fermented your wine in, do you combine all of the free run juice and then transfer to the carboys? I understand going straight to the carboy with the free run juice if you only have one vessel for fermentation (I have three). Thanks!
Did you put a lid on the fermentation barrel? Give that cake to the chickens or pigs. They love it.
Question, when you start a wine do you use go ferm to kick start the yeast and then mix in fermaid k when you add the goferm and yeast mixture to your must? Basically do you use both products or just 1?
I realized you do talk about this. To clarify my question at what point during the fermentation do you add fermaid k. At the beginning, half way through or when your alcohol content reaches some level?
Besides rose and oak-aged, could you take some must from just a few days maceration for some early-drinking low-tannin red wine or all these transfers would cause too much oxygen exposure?
Hiii sir your wine video is supper👌🏻.., i have some doubt, i have 6 kg grapes so how much, water, sugar, yeast,add help me sir please
Hello, can i just ferment the wine without dry malolactic bacteria? and just let it sit for a month?
Unbleached muslin makes a great liner for the press. It should reduce the amount of sediment carried to the carboy.
Thank you so much for theses videos. This will be my first harvest of 90 vines of Merlot & Cab we transplanted from a neighbor in January. Because of the corona virus, the classes I had planned to take were all cancelled. Your videos are a lifesaver. I’m not quite so nervous about screwing up. 😊 I’m in SoCal, so harvest will be mid September, a little earlier than I had planned. Just wanted to thank you. Loved your dog in this video.
Im in so cal and I harvested last week and this week. You should be ripe by now if not then you are really in a cool part of the state or something.
PilsPlease I picked on the 13th.
@@donnalyn223 I have one white varietal that is pretty much stuck at 16 or 17 brix and just doesn't seem to want to ripen not even 3 days of 90 degree weather managed to get them to ripen. Beginning to wonder if I'll just have to pick them and then do something with them.
Thanks so much for the videos. My parents have been making wine for 30 years in a very old school way. This year I have been learning as much as possible and they let me take over. I wish I discovered your info sooner, as I followed the instructions from my wine store that said to press at 1.020. I sanitized everything and used domesticated yeast. I added some sulfites to the must. I ran it through a strainer into the demijohn after pressing. I didn’t rack it after a few days as you say to and now it’s been 2 weeks! I’m super nervous. It’s been under airlock in the demijohn. It has a slight rotten egg smell now. I’ve measured the SG every few days and it’s been at 1.000 for one week. It does not taste sweet. I was planning to rack it today after watching this video. Should I add sulfites? When should I rack again after today’s racking? I also didn’t consider malo and didn’t add any. I have been confused because I’m not sure if my alcohol ferm is complete given that my SG is 1.000. Thanks so much for your help and for making this videos. At least I will know what to do differently next year.
Thank you! What type of wine is it? If you still have a lot of dissolved solids in the wine it can read a little off on the hydrometer. I would not sulfite it until the rotten egg smell is gone. That indicates that the wine is reductive which is the opposite of oxidation. If it is a traditional red wine that should go through malolactic fermentation, then I would consider getting some malolactic bacteria rather than leaving it to chance and letting whatever wild bacteria do their thing. CH16 is my go to for red wine. Once MLF is complete then sulfite appropriately for aging. Make sure to top up in carboy for MLF because you don't want to encourage other aerobic bacteria to do their thing. With very little SO2 the wine is very vulnerable so minimizing oxygen is key (once your rotten egg smell is gone). You can start oaking with oak cubes or spirals or whatever now also.
Great Channel and videos! I knew a bit but learned a lot from you. Its hard to find good teachers and you... my friend.. are one of them. Appreciate all you're doing. I'm in Pa too, making wine from my own organic grapes for the first time! Was curious if you have a tip for pulling must out (when fermenting reds on skins) to test? My thief seems to always clog..my best idea was to pour through muslin that is stretched over a funnel. works but its messy and a pain. Any tricks?
I can’t seem to get a hold of any crystals in the uk to do mlf. I’m racking my wine of the less today as it’s been 24 hours . How long should I leave them in the new carboys before bottling . Thanks
Thanks for the video! You don't put your grapes into a bag when it's in the press?
Thanks for the videos! Very informative. Question - do you stir the stir the wine during MLF? Have read comments for and against doing so and am curious what your thoughts are.
Thank you! As long as you have racked the wine off of the gross lees, you will not want need to stir during MLF. Malolactic bacteria does not like oxygen and will not pile up on the bottom of the carboy like yeast does.
How do you know when the malolactic fermentation has ended?
best video so far. Благодаря!!!!!
This was so great to watch!
Don't be mad at the dog love your stuff . Hopefully start my vines next year I'm stuck by ing mine for now
Great series! I was wondering though you mentionned that the malolactic bacteria was on the grappes, dont they die when you add sulfite at the begining?
Hello! I am just beginning my first wine with a Merlot juice. Do you do anything different when using a juice not grapes?
With juice you will just give it a stir once a day to keep it going. Also no need to press since it does not have skins. A red wine from juice will be very easy drinking but if you are a more seasoned red wine drinker you may want to explore red wine from grapes since most of the complexity and intensity will come from the time on the skins and seeds.
Great video. Would it be wrong to add the oak chips during malolactic fermentation?
You can add the oak during malolactic. It is common to be in oak barrels during malolactic fermentation on larger batches.
love the dog !! lol
During fermentation period do you seal/cover the fermentation barrel ?
For red wines I just loosely cover it to keep the fruit flies out. You can ferment completely open which is also common on larger batches. It produces a lot of CO2 so it can't be fully sealed or will explode. An active fermentation likes a little air to keep the yeast healthy also. After that is complete, air is a bad thing.
My cap has fallen to the bottom, I can’t press my grapes for at least one more day. Will my wine be okay? Or do I need to take some steps now?
I'd at least put a more sealed cover over it. If you can let it cool down a bit it will be a little safer. Also if you have access to a heavy inert gas (CO2 or argon), you can blanket the wine. It should be okay since at this stage it is very co2 saturated and can swing a little towards the reductive end of the oxidation curve. I would probably hit it with about 10ppm of SO2 before pressing just to offset the air it will get when pressed and make sure you get your carboys topped up right away since you probably won't be wanting or needing any more intentional air exposure.
Thanks for the fast reply I was getting worried, I will hit it with the 10 ppm tomorrow
Do you oak after MLF is complete? Does it do any harm to oak during MLF?
I have the same question I hope we find the answer
Love the dog
I just tasted my first batch of home grown wine, it’s super dry. We harvested on August 28 and put in the carboy once dry 8 days later. Will it mello out or is it just gonna be super dry?
Yes, it will smooth out considerably over time. Usually around 8 months a red wine really starts to become more approachable. If it tastes well balanced now, it would likely get thin and weak tasting later on. What grape varietal is it and where are you located? End of August is relatively early for most red grapes,unless you are in a very warm climate or it is an earlier season grape like cab franc. The pH will climb as the grapes finish ripening. If they are a little under ripe, the low pH can make the grapes a little sour when dry. Over time, some of the acid can destabilize and fall out, but the wine could still need a tiny bit of sugar to balance out.
We live in San Marcos CA, we purchased a house with 20 Petite Sirah vines and this was our first time trying to figure everything out. We had some really high temps and I mismanaged the watering, I was getting about 23 brix when picked but about 1/2 the grapes were raisins. Thanks for your videos I would not have been able to do this without them. Next year I hope to get 6 gallons.
Oh wow. Yeah, that is a lot warmer climate than my area. Raisins will push up the brix quite a bit. If you can shade or water them a little more, you may find that it takes a few more weeks to hit the low to mid 20s. Even just a rain before the harvest can knock the sugar down a couple percent by plumping up the berries with water. Normally you want a dry week to pick on though. Thanks for the good feedback!
A big meat grinder with the big open blade (two oval shaped openings) is several times faster than that stupid fruit press (been there and done that). The six and a half gallon brew buckets are the best primary fermenters, for one thing because after a week to ten days when you filter out the pulp you'll have approx. 5 gal. of wine that fits perfectly into a 5 gal. carboy. Jack Keller has one of the best websites on winemaking, and he has great recipes, many of which use fruit that is much better than grapes.
Thank for your presentation. Not much different at my own style.
You have helped me out a lot and I appreciate that. Have you thought about making Grappa after you press your grapes?
Thank you! I have certainly thought about grappa but have not done it. I use my skins in the compost pile. I would have some interest in trying grappa if I legally could. I don't think I would get a while lot though on the home Winemaking scale. It would take a lot of grape skins to get just one bottle of grappa.
Great video 😊
part 3?
yeah, doggie just about dunked his ball in the must. oh boy
The Dog and the look
Great timing I will be pressing my Norton’s today, could you help with the amounts of tannins to use. Also I don’t have oak barrels but chips at what stage will I add these.
Awesome! I usually add about two grams per gallon before or during pressing. Depending on the grapes I will often add a little more later. They are for the most part sacrificial tannins that will bind up with color compounds and off aroma compounds and help improve mouth feel
And you can add your chips early if you want but go light on them since you won't want to rack the wine mid malolactic fermentation. I usually add a little early, then fine tune later once the wine is a little more mature
The Home Winemaking Channel sounds great, I have a norton and a norton chambourcin blend.
great to hear someone making Norton wine. However, I wish I could find more Norton wine that i actually enjoy
Kendall Willis let that stuff age, I also like a norton blend. Where are you located Missouri grows a lot of Norton grapes.
Can we keep grape wine for a long time for about 2 years?
Longer if it is properly sulfited. There are 30 or 40 year old wines that are still hanging in there. Most wines that age very well are relatively high acid and high tannin.
How to measure alcohol in wine present %
example I need 1% or less than or more than
thanks for answers
Can you please share where you got that blue bin? Thanks!
The blue barrel is a food grade juice barrel. That I cut the lid off of. If you can find a factory that makes juices or other liquid food products they might have some. Our local wine supplier sells them for about 35 bucks. You can also use white, grey or yellow brute brand garbage cans which are also food grade.
@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel Thanks for the reply and keep them videos coming! Super informative, many thanks!!
Thanks again, I usually worry about fruit flies getting into my must, you don't seem to worry about it. It must not be as big of a deal as I thought?
I usually throw a towel or sheet over the fermenter to keep the fruit flies out. Fruit flies carry acetobacter which creates acetaldehyde and later vinegar. The bacteria is really gonna be there regardless from the vineyard but I don't want the flys touching the wine more than they have to. Some wineries ferment wide open, no cover. At this stage the wine is saturated with co2 and acetobacter is an aerobic bacteria that needs air. If you stay topped up after primary fermentation and sulfite once mlf is complete you should have very little risk of spoilage. If I leave the wine on the skins a day or two after fermentation signs have stopped, I will usually give it a light dose of SO2 right before pressing just to be safe but otherwise I can wait. Wine yeast, Including EC-1118 can often produce up to about 50ppm of SO2 naturally which is something that a lot of people don't realize. It's natural.... We are just maintaining the levels to inhibit the next level of the decomposition process (vinegar).
@@CoolStuffGuysLike thanks for the info!
Would you do a video on carbonic maceration?
Great video. What do you use to measure pH?
Thank you! I use an Apera PH60 meter
@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel thank you. I have one more question. My lees after first racking is between 1/2 and 3/4 inch. Would you be concerned?
thank you so much for the help good people, i am learning a lot from you guys. this is the best channel for making home made wine.
I have question we can add water
I don't recommend adding water unless the grapes are extremely high and sugar or you have a very high percent of raisins in your grapes.
Please make more videos!!!!
Great video!!!
Oh, your making bug wine. Punching outside seems likely to get contamination. Not sure.
Is that a PawPaw tree behind you?
Yes it is!
@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel ,surprised you commented.
Made a deal on home wine equipment today hope to be starting this week.
Just found out about the Paw Paw tree about 2 years ago. Tried my first last year. I grew up around them and never noticed them.
Good luck on your vlogs. They are easy to understand .
No English Sub: make me difficult.
‼️🍷🙏
எளிய முறையில் ரெட் ஒயின் செய்வது தயாரிப்பது எப்படி இந்தியாவில் ஒயினுக்கான செய் முறை யாருக்கும் முறையாக தெரிய வில்லை பிலிஸ் சின்ன வீடியோ பதிவிடுங்கள் தம்பி நன்றி வாழ்த்துக்கள் நான் இந்தியாவில் தமிழ் நாட்டில் சென்னையை சேர்ந்தவர்