# I'm making wine (Thanks Wikipedia!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363 "2005-11-16T19:26:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/1 "2005-11-16T19:26:45Z")
> [@Wikipedia](#): > > Wine making under difficult circumstances > > While not as clear and tasty as wine made professionally, acceptable wine may be made at home with a minimum of effort and equipment. The equipment required is minimal: 2 X 5 gallon (20 litre) bottles. (Plastic water bottles are excellent for this.) 1 meter of 1/4" inside diameter plastic tubing. 12 - 15 resealable bottles. 1 thin sandwich bag 1 rubber band 12 - 15 liters of unpasteurized grape juice. 1/4 tablespoon of yeast. (Wine yeast does a better job but ordinary baking yeast will also work.) 1 kilogram of sugar. 1 liter of clean water. > > Equipment need not be sterilized but all surfaces that come in contact with the wine must be clean and sanitized. Sanitizing can be done by using a solution of 2 oz. Metabisulfate to 1 gallon of water or other commercially available sanitizer. Skipping this step will result in wine spoilage. > > Pour grape juice into the large bottle. Mix sugar with the liter of clean water and warm until the sugar dissolves, then allow to cool. When water reaches room temperature, add the yeast and stir. Add the sugar water and yeast mixture to the grape juice. Using the rubber band, close the top of the large bottle with the sandwich bag. The wine should start fermenting within 2 days. Bubbles should appear and the sandwich bag will inflate. Wait 3 weeks for fermentation to complete and check for bubbles. If bubbles are present, wait an additional week. After 3 or 4 weeks when no bubbles appear, use the plastic tube to siphon the wine into the other large bottle. Be careful not to go too far down with the hose as this will suck up dead yeast cells and cause the wine to be cloudy. With the wine in the new large bottle, wait a minimum of 3 days and then siphon into the smaller, resealable bottles and close tightly. Wait at least another week and then enjoy. [Article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_making#Wine_making_under_difficult_circumstances) I pretty much followed those instructions. The only deviatation was I used juice concentrate instead of grape juice, a variety of flavors (mostly some blend). I used an old water bottle from the water fountain at work and some tubing from an old Camelbak to make a water lock, all bleached and rinsed. This morning I eagerly rushed to check on it and was please to see a bubble pop once every 3-5 seconds. I’m going to wait until the bubbling stops then rack it like Wiki says. If there is no more bubbling, I’m bottling. It seems too easy, I can’t wait to see how it turns out. If it’s decent, I’ll be overjoyed. 5 gallons of booze for $17! ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/2 "2005-11-16T20:04:57Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > It seems too easy, I can’t wait to see how it turns out. If it’s decent, I’ll be overjoyed. 5 gallons of booze for $17! Sounds more like pruno than wine. 😉 Getting ready for a stint in the Big House? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/3 "2005-11-16T20:14:26Z")
Well? You can’t just post that and then not share! ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/4 "2005-11-16T20:31:17Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Sounds more like pruno than wine. 😉 > > Getting ready for a stint in the Big House? I was all out of ketchup, no pruno. > [@Kythereia](#): > > Well? > > You can’t just post that and then not share! Who me? I have to wait at least a week, probably longer! Anybody else do this? Beer, wine, shine? ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/5 "2005-11-16T20:34:37Z")
That sounds…frightening. 🙂 What are you bottling in? ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/6 "2005-11-16T21:10:49Z")
My grandmother made wine when I was a kid. When she died, Mom decided to make wine on her own. We didn’t have grapes, but we did have a lot of blackberries and plums. So she sets this off for a few weeks, then decides it didn’t ferment enough (still too sweet) and added more yeast and set it off again. We ended up with blackberry-plum brandy. And I have been looking for this deep rich flavor since I was 12 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/7 "2005-11-16T21:17:29Z")
Don’t be surprised if you need to rack to a third fermenter after another month. If you’re going to be bottling into standard wine bottles, you need to be really, really sure fermentation’s done before you bottle. Unless you like messes in your basement involving wine & broken glass, of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/8 "2005-11-16T21:29:41Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Don’t be surprised if you need to rack to a third fermenter after another month. If you’re going to be bottling into standard wine bottles, you need to be really, really sure fermentation’s done before you bottle. > > Unless you like messes in your basement involving wine & broken glass, of course. 🙂 Ok, this is the kind of stuff I need. Doesn’t putting the mess in the refrigerator stop the whole process? Like, if I taste it and it isn’t too sweet and is “alcohol-y” enough, can’t I just put the brakes on the thing? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/9 "2005-11-16T22:08:13Z")
I remember being at the babysitter’s house and she send us out to pick dandelion flowers by the grocery sack. The basement had 5 gallon jugs with big inflated balloons. My grandpa’s homemade wine was better than most the stuff for sale. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/10 "2005-11-16T22:26:40Z")
I’ve made hundreds of gallons of home-made wine. What you are making will be plonk. Nothing wrong with that, but don’t expect subtle flavors or anything. If you really want to get into it, there are winemaking supply stores that will sell you varietal must. For the all-time cheap booze award, make mead. Get bulk honey from a supplier, mix with water (or better yet, apple juice) and add champagne yeast. Wait too long. Bottle and drink. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/11 "2005-11-17T01:36:40Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’ve made hundreds of gallons of home-made wine. What you are making will be plonk. Nothing wrong with that, but don’t expect subtle flavors or anything. > > If you really want to get into it, there are winemaking supply stores that will sell you varietal must. > > For the all-time cheap booze award, make mead. Get bulk honey from a supplier, mix with water (or better yet, apple juice) and add champagne yeast. Wait too long. Bottle and drink. Oh, no doubt. I’m not expecting some exquisite merlot, I’m looking to put Boone’s Farm to the test. I hear mead is the road to the worst hangover possible. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/12 "2005-11-17T01:44:57Z")
A favorite around the Dope, “Steve, Don’t Eat It!” has a blog entry about how to make prison wine: [http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000373.php](http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000373.php) ---
**Author:** ![John\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@John\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_F)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/13 "2005-11-17T01:54:56Z")
This is the kind of process that will give you fast cheap booze. It’s going to be really rough and might taste like rocket fuel but it will get you drunk. If that’s your only goal you’re good, but if you ever want to take a little more time and get a \*\*lot \*\*more quality out of your efforts go check out [this](http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php) place…good people. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/14 "2005-11-17T02:23:17Z")
I’ve done beer–it’s always turned out quite nicely. Cider I did once–it was not too hot, but I didn’t go all out on the juice. I’ve never done wine. I was at the homebrew shop for champagne yeast for soda to amuse the kids and looked at prices on wine stuff–sheesh, I think I’ll stick to beer. Mead is on my list, though. I definitely want to make some sometime. From my cider experience, I’m betting your wine won’t be too thrilling. But then, it might surprise you. And if you’re not too picky about flavors, maybe you could bottle in 2l plastic soda bottles. That way, if they get tight you can just loosen the caps a bit. The soda we made does seem to be still fermenting, even in the fridge. It’s slow, but the bottles are definitely tighter the next morning. I’ve been wondering what might happen if I left some in the fridge for, say, a month. But I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try it. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/15 "2005-11-17T08:30:44Z")
WoooHooo! My ten minutes of fame! I wrote that article. I’m in Saudi and this is the way we do it here. A few things I should have put in the article. We use Rauch grape juice here as it comes in a heavy green bottle with a snap-top arrangement like an old Grolsch beer bottle. The bottles and tops are heavy enough that they won’t explode on you. This shouldn’t be a problem as long as the fermentation is finished. As **Silenus** says, this is plonk. OTOH, ( **John F** ) it does NOT taste like rocket fuel. 😛 There are a lot of games you can play with this, using diffierent types of grape juices and yeasts. You can occasionally kick off the fermentation a second time by adding some additional sugar-water after the third week. OTOH, if you get too much sugar, the finished product will taste something like port, very sweet, with a high alcohol content. I use champaigne yeast when I can get it (rarely) but bakers yeast works well enough. The good thing about the champaigne yeast is that it generates more alcohol before it dies and it tends to sink to the bottom faster, resulting in a higher-proof, clearer wine. As an oh-by-the-way, you can usually recycle the yeast at least a couple of times. Save the mung in the bottom of your fermenter and use it to seed your next batch of wine. You can also clear the wine (usually) by adding half an egg-white mixed with a cup of water to the fermenter after fermentation is complete. Only use half the egg-white, more is NOT better. _S_ A couple of warnings. I’m not sure about using those other fruit juices. I’ve tried that a few times and the result can be strange. Not necessarily bad, just odd. I have added a couple of bottles of sour cherry to a batch of wine and that turned out well enough that I’ll do it again. The other thing is the use of bleach. I’ve used it but had a **hell** of a time getting the smell out afterwards. This whole process isn’t that picky as far as sterility goes. I’ve never had a batch go bad due to bacterial contamination. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/16 "2005-11-17T08:40:58Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > I was all out of ketchup, no pruno. > > Who me? I have to wait at least a week, probably longer! > > Anybody else do this? Beer, wine, shine? I’ve made something like 'shine a few times. In Saudi it is known as “Sid” and usually goes for about $100/liter. The shine here is between 175 - 185 proof. A real moonshiner from Arkansas was at my house once and I gave him some. His comment was; “This seems more like something that was stolen from a lab.” Anyway, making shine like they make it here is a beast of a job. The basic ferment is pure sugar and water. Fermenting other things generates other alcohols, some of which might not be good for you if concentrated by distillation. Most of the manufacturers here use stainless-steel reflux stills instead of the old “worm” type. In general, after the ferment is finished, you have to distill it a minimum of 3 times, four is better. If you want to do this, take a look on the 'net for something called “The Blue Flame.” This was a magazine issued by ARAMCO about 30 years ago that showed how to distill without either poisoning yourself or blowing up your house. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/17 "2005-11-17T14:10:38Z")
> [@Testy](#): > > The other thing is the use of bleach. I’ve used it but had a **hell** of a time getting the smell out afterwards. This whole process isn’t that picky as far as sterility goes. I’ve never had a batch go bad due to bacterial contamination. > Regards > > Testy Hey, the man that wrote “the book” on hobo wine! Cool. In my poking around reading up on this, it seemed that the 2 things most stressed were having a clean environment (bacteria free as possible) starting out, and that air not be allowed back into the system. Hence, the bleach and airlock. I rinsed everything until I couldn’t smell bleach anymore. We’ll see. It was bubbling pretty good this morning before I left for work, a good plop about every second! I don’t think I’ll have the patience to wait 3 weeks, I’ll be anxious to test it after 2. What could go wrong? A low alcohol content? Too sweet? ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/18 "2005-11-17T14:30:57Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > Hey, the man that wrote “the book” on hobo wine! Cool. > > In my poking around reading up on this, it seemed that the 2 things most stressed were having a clean environment (bacteria free as possible) starting out, and that air not be allowed back into the system. Hence, the bleach and airlock. I rinsed everything until I couldn’t smell bleach anymore. We’ll see. > > It was bubbling pretty good this morning before I left for work, a good plop about every second! I don’t think I’ll have the patience to wait 3 weeks, I’ll be anxious to test it after 2. What could go wrong? A low alcohol content? Too sweet? Great news. Good to hear that your wine is going well. Like I say, I’ve never had a batch go bad because of bacterial contamination but I’m certainly not going to argue against cleanliness. As far as checking the wine after two weeks, go ahead. I always siphon out a bit during the ferment to see if it’s going to be OK. As you say, the alcohol content will be low and the wine will be a bit sweet but it should give you some idea of what it’ll taste like. On another topic. I wrote a little blurb about distilling and after I posted, I noticed that I hadn’t mentioned that distilling is seriously illegal in the US. Of course, it’s illegal over here as well but nobody pays much mind to it. Best of luck Testy ---
**Author:** ![John\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@John\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_F)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/19 "2005-11-17T14:33:12Z")
> [@Testy](#): > > As **Silenus** says, this is plonk. OTOH, ( **John F** ) it does NOT taste like rocket fuel. 😛 Have you ever measured the alc. % using this recipe? ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363/20 "2005-11-17T15:20:01Z")
> [@John F](#): > > Have you ever measured the alc. % using this recipe? We’ve checked a few batches and the alcohol content varies between 14% and 18%. I think this depends on the variety of yeast more than anything else. Regards Testy [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-making-wine-thanks-wikipedia/331363.md?page=2)