First time wine making... questions...

[Annpan]

Questions and general advice needed please

I went out and bought a wine making starter kit... £15 and brought it home and investigated the contents, but the plastic demijohn left much to be desired (it looks like a diluting juice bottle) So I asked on Freecycle for demijohns and a fermenting bin. A kindly wonderful lady mugged her mum (well, apparently it has all been sitting up in the loft for decades, and needed clearing out)

She dropped off everything she had, so I now have
8 glass demi-johns
Several thermometer and hydrometer sets
All the air locks and bungs (about 15 all in)
2 large plastic barrels - with 3"diameter opening, they have air locks that fit them but I don't quite know what they are called - I am going to use them for fermenting. perhaps they are made for beer making?
Lots of other bits and pieces, including 4 corking thingys
There is also a bag of corks, can I use these? since I shall be sterilising it all anyway?

Plus a ice cream box (it's from Presto... that shows how old it is) full of the chemicals - sachets of citric acid (7p each) and brewers yeast along with sterilising powders... YIKES!

Do you think I can use them for cleaning the bath or something, might as well make use of them, but I won't be putting hem in anything consumable


Also.. a wine heating mat, what do I use that for? I'm thinking for propagating seeds in January but there must be a proper use.


2 of the demi johns were quite dirty, presumably not been washed since they were last used. They each had a sticker on them "rice wine, June '82"

All in all, I am chuffed to bits about all this stuff, my dad was an avid wine maker (guess that is where my 'ish gene comes from) but he passed away in '84 and all his equipment was split-up, given away, or just chucked out...
Part of me thinks that this could be exactly the same stuff that we got rid of way back then... and that makes me happy

[StripyPixieSocks]

I have persuaded the great brewing God himself to sign up and help you out with this one... aka my OH!

I just ask him anyway so I figured I'd get him to sign up so I don't have to sit here asking him questions about brewing and then repeating it all here.

He really does know his stuff and is one of the main gurus on Brew it yourself !

[Annpan]

Thanks SPS and Mr SPS

I am adding another one on here....

After I have sterilised the demijohns should I rinse out the sterilising liquid with fresh water? should it be pre-boiled water?

I am using milton sterilising liquid if that makes any difference.


I am used to sterilising for jam making (I use the oven) and for baby... but not on this scale

[CyberPaddy66]

Hello Annpan, nice list of items you have there :D

2 large plastic barrels - with 3"diameter opening, they have air locks that fit them but I don't quite know what they are called - I am going to use them for fermenting. perhaps they are made for beer making?

If it's one of these then you can use them for either beer or wine and there's no reason you have to keep them separate as long as you clean and sterilise them properly. Some people keep their beer and wine making equipment separate so that they don't get wine tasting of hops or beer tasting of grapes but as I already said if you clean them properly then there's almost no risk of cross contamination.

There is also a bag of corks, can I use these? since I shall be sterilising it all anyway?

There are several different types of cork, some need sterilising some need soaking in hot water and some are wax coated and don't need sterilising or soaking, I assume you have the generic old style corks which are not coated and will need soaking in hot water. I tried sterilising the old style corks once and they ended up leaving a cloud of white stuff in my wine bottles so I recommend you just put them in a jug and pour boiling water over them, cover them with a saucer to keep them under the water level and leave them to soak for 20 minutes before you need to use them.

Plus a ice cream box (it's from Presto... that shows how old it is) full of the chemicals - sachets of citric acid (7p each) and brewers yeast along with sterilising powders... YIKES!

Do you think I can use them for cleaning the bath or something, might as well make use of them, but I won't be putting hem in anything consumable

I don't know about using them for cleaning the bath but I agree you should not use them for anything to do with your brewing or baking, I received a box of random chemicals when I used freecycle to get most of my brewing equipment and I didn't take any chances, I threw the lot in the bin... in my opinion it's just not worth the risk.

Also.. a wine heating mat, what do I use that for? I'm thinking for propagating seeds in January but there must be a proper use.

The mat goes under your demijohns and allows you to brew wine even in the coldness of winter, spring and summer is usually warm enough to not need it but the cold evenings currently may slow your fermentations down so I recommend you put the mat on under the demijohns at night to keep your yeast from getting too sleepy.

2 of the demi johns were quite dirty, presumably not been washed since they were last used. They each had a sticker on them "rice wine, June '82"

If they are glass they will clean up nicely but you may need to leave them soaking for a dew days to soften the crud that has caked onto the bottom.

All in all, I am chuffed to bits about all this stuff, my dad was an avid wine maker (guess that is where my 'ish gene comes from) but he passed away in '84 and all his equipment was split-up, given away, or just chucked out...
Part of me thinks that this could be exactly the same stuff that we got rid of way back then... and that makes me happy

Nice thought, I'm sure he'd be proud your taking up the torch for youe family :D

After I have sterilised the demijohns should I rinse out the sterilising liquid with fresh water? should it be pre-boiled water?

I am using milton sterilising liquid if that makes any difference.


I am used to sterilising for jam making (I use the oven) and for baby... but not on this scale

I use the same stuff and even the cheap un-branded stuff for my brewing, I leave the DJ's soaking overnight in the steriliser then rinse out with hot tap water just before I need to use them, be careful when moving the hot demijohns about as heat shock can destroy them. If the DJ is hot put it on a tea-towel and not a cold work surface and consequently don't our boiling hot liquids into a cold DJ, always half fill your cold DJ's with whatever your brewing (water or grape juice) before adding in any hot liquids like sugar syrup.

I hope this is enough for you to be getting on with, if you need any more advice don't hesitate to ask :D

[Annpan]

Thanks so much Paddy, just the pointers I needed

I have just put together the ingredients for dandelion wine... but I just want to watch it now

I know where to come if I need any more help.



ETA... yes, that is very similar to the big plastic drums I have, a slightly different design but definitely the same thing...

I am just going out to the garden to pick rhubarb for wine too

[CyberPaddy66]

Hows the wine going Ann, has it started to bubble yet?

[Annpan]

No, but I am wondering...

Was I supposed to stir it to dissolve the sugar? because the recipe didn't tell me to and now there is a thick layer of sugar at the bottom of the demi-john.

Can I slosh it about, or take the top off to stir it now?

Or nothing?

[craig.r]

What you could do with is a book by CJJ Berry called First steps in Winemaking. i got my copy when i started making wine in 1984 (i was 15 at the time) .This book tells you everything you need to know, it really is a must have as far as books go. My gran got me onto making wine, she had about 20 gallon on the go all the time but she didn't drink.She gave it all away, my brothers and i had a few drunken nights with friends on the school field Anyway have fun and the key is too experiment and keep a wine log full of notes on everything you make.

[Annpan]

Oh I have many old books... I kept all my dad's old books and recipes (hundreds of handwritten recipes, in a big folder), but most of them might as well be written in greek, lots of talk of yeast nutrients and such...

So I started with the recipe for dandelion wine from the 'ish bible which was very much in laymans terms.

I shall have a flick through the books now though, now that I know how it all fits together.

It is a real shame sometimes not to have someone to watch doing it... another thing I miss my Dad for.

[Green Aura]

We've just bottled last years dandelion wine and it's lovely Ann, you're in for a treat. A neighbour told us that if we left the green bit at the bottom of the flower it would taste like Retsina and she's right Can't wait to start drinking it, but it needs to stay in the bottle for another few months.

My Dad had the CJJ Berry book, but its too full of chemicals for me - we don't use any other than a couple of Steradent tablets to clean the demijohns and bottles and bits. I found a great book on e-bay - can't remember the exact title but it's something like "Making Wines the Natural Way".

Everything we've done from it has been really good. We use 1/2 a tsp of vegemite as yeast nutrient per gallon of wine. And a cup of tea (minus the milk of course!) to add tannin.

[CyberPaddy66]

Can I slosh it about, or take the top off to stir it now?

Yes, wine does not suffer from the introduction of oxygen after the yeast has been added like beer does so feel free to mix in the sugar, the more it's incorporated into the liquid the easier it is for the yeast to make use of it.

That book by CJJ Berry is great and although he does mention a lot of chemicals some of them are optional and some are essential, take pectolaise for example, a lot of recipes add it as a matter of course but it's really only necessary in fruit recipes and especially fruit high in Pectic Enzymes. Don't panic as it won't hurt none if you put it in where it's not required, it'll just cost you more in the long run.

For the record I have mostly made wine from kits and some mead from raw ingredients but that was back when I was learning the basics and I made some humongous mistakes that I'll not be making again like using too many campden tablets when in fact I needn't have used any!

I am fairly confident with the techniques required in wine and beer making to pretty much try anything so if there's a special recipe you want to work out feel free to ask if I know what to do and if I don't know the answer I'll have a hunt about and see if I can find out what you need to know. I have several books on wine making and most of them have really nice sounding recipes including one book that has a seasonal chart telling what's best to pick and brew when :D

[Annpan]

OK, now it is bubbling away quite happily but there is a froth forming on the top. Is this likely to be just yeat (it looks kind of yeasty) or is it likely to be mouldy

[CyberPaddy66]

It's what's known as a krausen (not sure why) and it's a mixture of yeast and bits from your wine, it'll eventually die off and fall back into the wine as the production of yeast turns towards the production of alcohol instead.

Don't worry about it but if you can post a picture I'll tell you instantly whether it looks right or not ;)

[Annpan]

Thanks again Paddy, will put a picture up later (if I remember) But that sounds about right - it doesn't look bad, just a bit frothy

[RobHed]

Thanks so much Paddy, just the pointers I needed

I have just put together the ingredients for dandelion wine... but I just want to watch it now

I know where to come if I need any more help.



ETA... yes, that is very similar to the big plastic drums I have, a slightly different design but definitely the same thing...

I am just going out to the garden to pick rhubarb for wine too

Why not try the coffee wine, Ann ? It is dead simple to do and if you are at all partial to kahlua or Tia Maria I am sure you will like it. Mine has turned out at 20% proof and is great with coffee as a liquer. I made the initial mistake of thinking "ok - I can drink it like ordinary wine !" No, no, no ! The following morning I had a mouth like the inside of a budgie's cage (and I think the budgie was still in there).

Toodle-oo

Rob