I discovered home winemaking and am really having a great time learning and doing it. What a great hobby! I'm so glad that I get to share this with others! From experimenting with new recipes to enjoying the kits you can pick up at local wineries. Grab a glass of wine and enjoy.
Bleach is the best sanitizer. It will even eat wine particles out of a carboy. You will get a pectin haze if you add anything hot to the fruit must. Some wines will never clear. Peach can be one of them, especially if you ferment with the skins on. Otherwise, let time clarify it for you. Grape wines should be cold stabilized in a refrigerator or a cold garage in the winter so it can precipitate tartaric crystals. Always make a mini starter before pitching the yeast, using some of the must. If the starter dies after adding some must, then you still have too much potassium metabisulfite in the must. Wait longer and try again. Open ferment (with a cloth over the pail) until SG 1.010 andcthen rack to a glass carboy. You will have a cleaner tasting wine.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I'm all for the yeast starter, and would agree the wine does have a cleaner taste, well put. Good to know bleach works, thanks for sharing that as well.
Could this bentonite clarifier works inside fridge? I want to clarify my cold brew coffee and make it look cleaner like wine without hard to remove particle in it which make it look bad inside clear bottle
@@QualityHomeWinemaking I have 30 litres of mango wine in different containers at different stages, a 12 liter peach wine bucket as well. I have ordered bentonite to clear my wines, let's see how it works on country wines, given that the bentonite is indigenous.
Our new house has exactly this combination. Apples and plums. While the apple tree didn't fare too well this year due to the high moisture in my region, the plum tree yielded an ungodly amount. I'm going to give this recipe a try! Very brand new to wine making (skipping your recommendation of starting with kits as something gotta be done with all these plums asap) so few silly beginner questions - why was agitating day 3 bad exactly? It delayed yeast growth? - most importantly, any follow up at this time? Anything you would have changed from the recipe if you'd do it again?
Only start to stir when the bubbles start to happen. Seems like that effects the start. I really like using the yeast starter. The wine seems to get a another mouth feel. The rest I won't change anything. This wine is really delicious. Just be sure to let it age 10 months or more. That's when it really turns a corner.
I in California so it’s obviously really hot in summer right after I harvest my grapes. How can I keep the grapes cool when fermenting or does it even matter?
Mine are in my home, so the climate is controlled. I haven't had one go hot on me yet but I've heard it gives unpleasant flavor. There are chiller blankets as well if you need to go that route.
@@QualityHomeWinemaking Thanks for the cooler blanket suggestion. I had the grapes in a cooler and kept putting ice and dry ice into a small open container placed inside the cooler. Our house is kept at 79° so not VERY cold.
yes, make enough cider, mead and wine that you dont need to hurry the wine. My hard cider, is best after an entire year. it finally clears and is a magnitude better to drink. : )
Thank you. Never thought there were stages in wine making. This is awesome! Always looking forward to your sharings of knowledge on this fantastic hobby!
I am going to start making wine as soon as my grapevines mature. In the mean time, I’ll start gathering the equipment. I’m an excel nerd and would like a copy of your spreadsheet.
I had it in another video, I'll be adding to it at some point. Spreadsheet Link - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Lt2zxAlV_-26Af16sZUjMkwCmFd_QKN6KyTnwui1Il0/edit?usp=sharing you can find it there, let me know if you have any trouble grabbing it.
@@QualityHomeWinemaking the link is forcing me to download an app, which I did, but I can’t manipulate the data. I tried copying, but it just copied the data in the cells, not the formulas.
@@armyrabb1 It is in google sheets, so you'll need to click on the link, then file, and make a copy, it's there as a precaution so nobody edits the original.
Thanks for the video! I’m attempting to use bentonite to clarify sake. My first run in with bentonite was very thick and clumpy. Going to strain that out and give this a go!
David, great video! I'm about to start getting into the wine-making hobby and would really appreciate it if you could share a spreadsheet or timeline outlining all the steps involved. I have a couple of questions. First, I'm a bit confused about racking. Is it primarily done to help clear the wine? Wouldn't it be easier to just add bentonite during the second fermentation and only do one racking? Also, you mentioned letting the wine mature for about three months. Is it possible to bottle the wine (adding sugar, potassium sorbate, and Campden tablet) and let it mature in the bottles instead?
Unfortunately wine doesn't work on a timeline and recipes change how things happen which is kind of why I kept this video general. Follow a good recipe, there's a video on the channel about where to get good ones, or do a kit for the first batch and follow the instructions. As you see it all happen it makes sense quickly how it works. As far as letting the wine mature, where you want to leave it is up to you, the carboy or bottles works as long as there isn't much empty space in the container.
Can someone please help me I’m new to this my wine has been fermenting for a year in a glass carboy and I just opened it and it’s smells amazing but the taste is very salty/sour I don’t know if it’s bad and I should just throw it out or is there some way to turn it around there’s no mold or anything on it the lock was on the entire year
Once you add the Bentonite do not dilute the mis so much. Let it be a slurry a thick milk. Once you add it every day stir it for 3 days then let it sit and watch the difference. Then if you want the final rack as clear as anything you've ever made use Super-Kleer and wait 2 days to be amased.
I’m the king of making bad wine, but I am very diligent. I refuse to admit defeat. I’ve also become pretty good at making foul tasting mead. 😂 Thanks for passing on the recipes. Drink more wine.
Thank you for your outputs and your honesty about the outcomes of your brews. Your videos are fantastic and they give me a lot of ideas how on wine making and it make me realize that this hobby is not that easy. I am more on rice wine making and have seen a lot of videos about it too but haven't seen one and tried that I would say I had a successful real rice wine. Hope you can help me on this by making a video about rice wine making.
I've never tried rice wine, but it's a challenge I would be up to. Might be something that you'll see here in the future, I do have a few others in mind first. After all I don't want my ingredients, fruit, to go to waste. I'm glad you enjoy the channel, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
@@QualityHomeWinemaking Just got around to taking a look at the PDF and holy moly there are so many more recipes than I ever would have expected. You're the man!!
Hey, random question, but how do you know the amount of ingredients to use per new batch? Are some things like the yeast constant to where it doesnt really change between recipes or does it all vary?
@@QualityHomeWinemaking That should work, I've never tried it. Bentonite works best if it is rehydrated with warm water. So, you may have to warm up a small amount of your wine.
2 hrs ago my friend who work at winery told me of this Bentonite might be able to help clear my cloudy pineapple wine. And now your video popped up. TQ this great video. 😂😂
It is easier to just use a small blender with hot water .You will have a slurry ready to use in a few minutes also you can add the bentonite before fermentation .
Making some apple wine for the spring so I'm watching some wine videos. You really don't have to do all that, you can just dump the Bentonite in your carboy and shake it up pretty good A few times and you'll be fine.
Very few people notice, or only a few say something. You know what's funny about it, about once a year the green one will turn blue for a day, I have no idea what does it, but when you happen to travel on that day and the customs guy notices it.... it's very inconvenient.
@@QualityHomeWinemaking yes waiting truly requires patience. So I am using my other flavors to keep me occupied to see about to pass the time. Thank you bro, do enjoy the great flavors.
