Making Tasty Wine from Cheap Fruit Juice and Bread Yeast (Full Walk-through and Tasting) 

Thank you, Frank, I appreciate it

Thanks Guy, that's great info.

one question im using welches grape juice no additives however it says pasteurized and to refrigerate after opening. is this juice ok to use and does the fermentation process kill harmful bacteria? Thanks and cheers!

​@@LoreExplore369 The yeast swamps any other bacteria that you introduce after opening. The extra sugar that is added pushes up the final alcohol level to the point where nothing can grow in it.

@@LoreExplore369As long as it doesn't have any additives, it should be ok. Pasteurisation is basically cooking it to kill all the microorganisms before packing it

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Thanks friend

Ha, yea it basically tastes like cherry juice but has 10% ABV. Could get into some trouble with that!

unused condoms might have been better in hindsight

I thought that said 'used condoms' as an airlock lol

Thank you biz, I really appreciate that.

Thanks Ronnie, I appreciate it!

and that’s known to cause botulism? but kvass also uses bread (rye) to get its yeast. so how does that work… genuinely concerned bc i don’t want to get botulsim

Yea I made and printed these, thanks!

Yes! Another person who likes yellow peppers on their pizza. I gotta say, my friends and family think I'm so weird for that particular topping. I tell them that pizza joints wouldn't offer it if it wasn't somewhat popular!

Might be good mixed with club soda....

Thanks for the heads up because I actually like that flavor 😂

Thanks! Yes, that should be just fine. The fermentation process does keep harmful bacteria from being a problem. Any wine (or beer or mead) making involves letting a lot of very sugary liquid sit at basically room temperature for weeks or months.

White grape juice has a yeast inhibiter, the trick is to open the bottle, set the lid on but not tighten, and put it in the fridge for the sulfur to defuse out. Two to four days seems to be enough. Also, if you don't stur the sugar in, it will dissolve on it's own in a week. The only downside is you won't be able to test the sugar content, which most people don't bother with anyway.

When making, keep indoors in a dark somewhat cool space. Room temperature away from light.

I’ve been into home brewing meads, fruit wines and ciders for over 30 years. Citric acid/ascorbic acid won’t affect fermentation. Neither do tartaric acid or malic acid. Yeast actually needs a slightly acidic environment and as an added perk, if the pH is low enough (as in: acidic enough) you create an environment that is inhospitable for botulism, which is why producers of commercial fruit juices will add it to their juices as well as for balance. What you want to watch put for are sorbates and sulfates. Or, as some home brewers say: anything that ends in -ate or -ite. They have their uses AFTER fermentation, but that’s another story in case you want to add sweetness but the yeast you’re using has an alcohol tolerance that’s higher than the wine you’ve made. As this recipe uses baker’s yeast, the alcohol tolerance should be around 10-12% maximum. I’ve had baker’s yeast go up to 14% but that’s unusual. Easy tip: when your wine has finished fermenting, give it a little taste. Take a gravity reading, it’ll probably show a value of 1.000 or lower. If it’s gone completely dry (no sweetness left), add sugar to taste. Take another gravity reading. Replace the airlock (or the cap). Watch for signs of fermentation. If there are none after 2-3 days and your wine starts clearing again, bottle it and either enjoy, or allow it to age (it’ll get better if you do!). If you don’t have a hydrometer, simply add sugar to taste, replace the cap/airlock and watch out for signs of fermentation. If there are none for several days to a week, bottle. Some advice: Always wait to bottle until your juice wine has cleared. Invest in airlocks, a hydrometer with a fitting graduated cylinder, no-rinse sanitiser and an autosiphon with tubing like in the video, they can be re-used over and over again and make your life SO much easier to make wines, ciders, meads and beers. They save a lot of work and take the guesswork out of it. You can make your alcoholic drinks without them but for just a few bucks, you will avoid bottling too soon (bottle bombs!), will avoid oxidation of the wine you’ve just spent so much time waiting to be ready (oxidised wine tastes stale), will easily know when fermentation is done, how much alcohol it contains AND if you need to add more sugar.

I made another video that wayyyy simplifies the process, and you don't need any sort of special stuff. Just a bottle of fruit juice. Here's the video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gc4I_-2QnUM.html

If I recall correctly, I just used Kroger brand bread yeast for these.

Checking the specific gravity before any fermentation happens is key to getting your starting number. As soon as you add yeast, fermentation starts. As far as what type of yeast, you can technically use any kind. I used regular bread yeast, just to show it can be done. Wine yeast will apparently give the most ideal results, but other yeasts will ferment and create alcohol (and therefore wine). Beer yeast would certainly work.

@@GreatLakesPrepping thanks a lot. I appreciate it.

Raw honey creates its own and plenty of yeast its great for this type of stuff

Beer yeast would be better. Wine yeast even better. Bread yeast has an aftertaste, and Im on here to see if theres a way to get rid of bread yeast flavor.

I'm not quite sure what you mean

@@GreatLakesPrepping I'm using balloons as a airlock and was asking could I takeoff the balloon if it were to expand to much? Would that hurt the yeast?

@@drinkyjac3155 Ah, I see. I think it's fine. I know people have used the balloon method for a long time, and it should be fine as long as you remember to release that pressure regularly.

Just fill it around 2/3 full and you should be good.

@@GreatLakesPrepping Thank you!

I'm confused..... I've read some comments saying its fine as long as the juice doesn't have any added preservatives

This is a video about making cheap "hillbilly" wine. This may not shock you, but my channel isn't really geared towards professional vintners and sommeliers.

What kind of yeast would you recommend for making a dry wine with these same fruit juices?