Comments on: Questions about homemade wine?

By: JackieB

JackieB — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:42:29 +0000

Congrats Angela,

Really pleased for you that you are happy with your wines and I hope you will make many more.

The cloudiness may disappear once the wine has settled in its bottles. Household fixes take a while, and New Year’s Eve is fast approaching!

If the apple wine is too strong for your taste, try it mixed with a soda.

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:50:35 +0000

I have finally finished straining both gallons of wine. Ends up the blueberry/watermellon is WONDERFUL tasting, it’s a bit sweet, but I prefer sweeter wines so it works for me. The apple on the other hand is so strong, i’m not sure it would qualify as a wine. They are both still relatively cloudy, not sure what I should do about that. Are there any “around the house” fixes for the cloudiness? If not I may have to deal with it. Once again, I would like to thank you for answering my questions, it is much appreciated.

Angela

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:07:48 +0000

I sampled just the blueberry/watermellon, the tiny taste I got did not convince me one way or the other….not sure but thought I got a hint of vinegar taste. I think I’ll go ahead and chill it, I’ll get a better taste of it after I strain it. I’m hoping that my taste was incorrect. I have been worried about that particular batch since early in the brew cycle, I believe I may have gotten air in it during the first week (had to move it to a different location due to my cats). Thank you for your assistance. I’ll let you know if it turned out ok or not.

Angela

By: JackieB

JackieB — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:24:31 +0000

There is a risk of contamination but probably not a huge one, as long as you are quick.

Make sure you use clean sampling equipment (Not your finger! ).

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:14:38 +0000

There arises a problem, I can’t taste the wine without letting air into it. I’ve had a hard time finding any real info on making wine in this fashion. All the sites I’ve looked at talk about doing it with different equipment (that would allow tasting). I plan to get better equipment in the future, but this was a spur of the moment decision to make the wine and I had to make due with what I had available. Is it ok to allow air into it to taste and still turn out a decent wine?

By: JackieB

JackieB — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:09:31 +0000

Hello Angela, I would recommend you taste them.

If it tastes like wine - chill it, then bottle it.
If it tastes a lot like yeast - give it a swirl around and let it ferment some more.

Good luck!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:09:15 +0000

I started 2 gallons of wine almost 5 weeks ago. One is blueberry/watermellon the other is apple. Both are from concentrate and both in one gallon milk jugs. I did not use the ballon technique I had read about, I opted instead to cut a hole in each of the caps just big enough to squeeze a plastic tube into. I then ran the plastic tubing into a jug of water. At 5 weeks I still have small bubbles rising though the liquid, but the bubbles that are coming out into the water are few and far between. I was hoping this wine would be ready for New Year’s Eve. When should I take the wine off of brew? The recipe I had said 4-6 weeks for the ballon to deflate. And it also said something about setting it in a near freezing place to kill the yeast. Should I take it off of brew now or wait another week? By the way, I’m DYING to taste the blueberry/watermellon, the mix tasted fantastic when I was preparing it. I should also point out that this is my first attempt at making my own wine. Hope to hear from you soon. Angela

By: JackieB

JackieB — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:52:31 +0000

Hi Pat,

If the mix is bubbling, you are essentially making wine! Congratulations.

Apple wine usually ferments for about 6 months. It varies with the temperature, the yeast, and the amount of sugar in the apples. If you bottle it at 6 weeks it will most likely try to continue to ferment in the bottles.

As far as stirring it – I wouldn’t, unless the bubbling stops. In a container covered with a cloth, every time you lift the cloth, some contaminants will get in. I would recommend moving the mix to a closed container with an airlock, if you can.

By: Pat Minor

Pat Minor — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:10:05 +0000

I started a 5 gal bucket of apple wine a week ago. I cut 30 apples in 1/4s, added 5lbs of sugar, and 2 packs of bread yeast and topped it all off with 4 gallons of H2O. I then covered with a cloth. Im going to let it ferment for 3 weeks. Then strain and bottle. Does this sound right? This is my first try… Did i use the right Yeast? It is making the bubbling sound. Should i stir it? Thanks Pat

By: JackieB

JackieB — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:41:47 +0000

Hi Stewart,

You can add a very small amount of crushed campden tablet, or you can return to a demijohn and leave the wine to finish before re-bottling.

Good luck with your wine.