Important Safety Question!

FizzyFjord · Feb 27, 2009

I have made a bottle of wine by adding sugar and baker's yeast to a bottle of Welch's Concord grape juice. I used a funnel that was washed with hot water and soap but not sanitized to add the sugar. Is this wine safe to drink, or is the sanitization purely to prevent the taste from being affected? I don't want to go blind. Thanks for the advice, and thanks for maintaining a forum that is fascinating to a kit-less ultra-noob like me.

twissty · Feb 28, 2009

ok.... first of all, you didnt screw the cap back on tightly, did you?

if its a glass bottle, the resulting pressure could cause an exploding container that could kill or maim you.

Secondly, if things go very wrong, it'll just taste bad and may make you sick.
My understanding is that when people make mistakes in home distilling (ie. making moonshine) that supposedly can cause blindness.

Wade E · Feb 28, 2009

Even that is not really correct. I wont get into here but the amount of methanol made in a batch when distilling is not enough to cause this, its the people that were trying to cheat their "proof" by adding congeners like benzine or industrial alc to boost their product for easier sale as everyone wanted the high octane. As far as your wine goes you should be fine but like said above never ferment in a closed vessel, always have some way to let the built up c02 escape.

FizzyFjord · Feb 28, 2009

Alright, thanks for the help. I didn't screw the lid back on tightly, I just screwed it on loosely so CO2 could escape but (hopefully) oxygen would not get in. I don't think it's on too tight because when I unscrew the lid I don't hear a hiss of CO2 escaping, so there probably isn't a lot of pressure.

Conquistadude · Feb 28, 2009

go buy a smell balloon, poke a small hole in the tip with small needle and place that at the mouth of the bottle.

Luc · Mar 1, 2009

Or put a plastic bag around the neck of the bottle
and secure (not too tight) it with a rubber band:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2008/12/sinterklaaswijn-santa-claus-wine.html

You can make some decent wines with this method.

Luc