NOOBs Beware the You Tube Videos !

[Scooter68]

So I don't know why but in the last 3 days two different videos have popped up: How To Easy Blueberry Wine and Making Peach Wine.
Unfortunately both were riddled with bad/incorrect information.
First off both were recommending making wine with paltry amounts of fruit per gallon (4 lbs/gallon for Blueberries and 3lbs/gal for Peach For the Peach wine it was sad - The sample of peach wine he had poured at the start looked like a pale white wine at best.) .
Secondly their terms they used were wrong (Saying to "Sterilize" instead of "Sanitize"), Incorrect calculations of the ABV and warning people not to mash their blueberries too much lest they crush open the blueberry seeds. Yeah, that's not going to happen unless you 1) Put the blueberries in blender or 2) Us a hammer or mallet to mash the berries. (They make strawberry seeds look big.)

Sorry, I couldn't take it and I bailed on both of them once their "Directions" rose to the level of Just plain scary dumb.

Reason for posting this.... NEWBIES BEWARE - so many of the videos on you tube are just plain stupid. Yes it's nice to see someone actually doing something so you can see what they do - but NOT if they are doing it wrong or mis-leading/mis-informing you.

 

[hounddawg]

So I don't know why but in the last 3 days two different videos have popped up: How To Easy Blueberry Wine and Making Peach Wine.
Unfortunately both were riddled with bad/incorrect information.
First off both were recommending making wine with paltry amounts of fruit per gallon (4 lbs/gallon for Blueberries and 3lbs/gal for Peach For the Peach wine it was sad - The sample of peach wine he had poured at the start looked like a pale white wine at best.) .
Secondly their terms they used were wrong (Saying to "Sterilize" instead of "Sanitize"), Incorrect calculations of the ABV and warning people not to mash their blueberries too much lest they crush open the blueberry seeds. Yeah, that's not going to happen unless you 1) Put the blueberries in blender or 2) Us a hammer or mallet to mash the berries. (They make strawberry seeds look big.)

Sorry, I couldn't take it and I bailed on both of them once their "Directions" rose to the level of Just plain scary dumb.

Reason for posting this.... NEWBIES BEWARE - so many of the videos on you tube are just plain stupid. Yes it's nice to see someone actually doing something so you can see what they do - but NOT if they are doing it wrong or mis-leading/mis-informing you.

i agree all the way with @Scooter68 , any noobs or anyone wishing to learn more or better, several years ago after becoming disabled , i wanted to go back to my roots of wine crafting, so for 2 years i went site to site, then i started my wines, got hospitalized and after another 2 years i joined this site before i dumped 12 gallon blackberry 14 gallon strawberry and 9 gallon apple/pear/crabapple, these people saved it all for me, so anyone wishing to do it right, traditional wines, country wines or as i like primitive country wines, by primitive is country wines without the back breaking work, THIS IS THE SITE OF GIANTS,, not counting me, i like simple, hehe,
Dawg

 

[Dave Sutcliffe]

WOW..... Where to start. Lots of people out there who like lite wines. Myself included. I never add more than 3 lbs. of peaches per gallon because it becomes hard to clear. Often still cloudy after a year. Just because someone doesn't do it your way doesn't not make it wrong. This is a hobby where everyone has an opinion and they are often very different. It's probably a good idea for a novice to start with lower amounts of fruit due to less problems with clearing. Also the fruit may be the major cost so if they make a big mistake they won't be dumping a lot of money down the drain. I haven't seen the videos but I would be careful about saying something is wrong!

 

[winemanden]

Sterilize - that's an English term from when I first began way back last century. In fact the elderly lady who got me hooked used to ask the baker to bring her a quarter of fresh yeast, spread it on toast, float it on top of the must, and cover it with a blanket to keep the flies out. She didn't sterilize anything, just kept everything clean. I think winemakers began using the term when C.J.Berry began publishing his magazine "The Amateur Winemaker.

 

[hounddawg]

Sterilize - that's an English term from when I first began way back last century. In fact the elderly lady who got me hooked used to ask the baker to bring her a quarter of fresh yeast, spread it on toast, float it on top of the must, and cover it with a blanket to keep the flies out. She didn't sterilize anything, just kept everything clean. I think winemakers began using the term when C.J.Berry began publishing his magazine "The Amateur Winemaker.

Sterilize is a misnomer we sanitize. and yes back in the day it was hot water and soap here in the ozarks, i make my wines the oldways as much as possible, but to reduce work, i use potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate, a vacuum pump and i stir using a cordless drill, zero fancy dancy parts per million and the rest, that's for people that wish to replicate the same over and over, yet fruit ain't the exact same flavor year to year, so why should my wine be the same year to year, i agree with @winemanden ,
Dawg

 

[Scooter68]

WOW..... Where to start. Lots of people out there who like lite wines. Myself included. I never add more than 3 lbs. of peaches per gallon because it becomes hard to clear. Often still cloudy after a year. Just because someone doesn't do it your way doesn't not make it wrong. This is a hobby where everyone has an opinion and they are often very different. It's probably a good idea for a novice to start with lower amounts of fruit due to less problems with clearing. Also the fruit may be the major cost so if they make a big mistake they won't be dumping a lot of money down the drain. I haven't seen the videos but I would be careful about saying something is wrong!

I would go ahead and say that I have done weak wine with 4 lbs of peaches and other and I have done batches with up to 7+ lbs and there is no comparison. Sure if you like that sort of lightly flavored wine go for it, but, I haven't seen too many folks on here talking up their lightly flavored wine. Almost without exception folks prefer to really taste the fruit. I've been on her for 5 years now and never heard anyone except you mention that they didn't like a stronger flavored wine. I'm not into making wine coolers.
Finally if that was the only thing wrong with those videos I wouldn't have bothered posting anything about it. There were numerous mistakes like stating that a starting SG of 1.100 would get you 'about a 13% ABV' Reality is that it's over 14 % - 14.44 and by custom we ALWAYS use that end point of .990 because that is the end of a full fermentation. One video suggested that too much mashing of blueberries would risk breaking open the seeds - Pretty hard to do given the size of blueberry seeds. Again that just one more example. These weren't silly videos suggesting using a balloon for an airlock but in a way they were worse because they presented themselves as experienced wine makers when their facts were just wrong in many ways. You Tube can be either helpful or harmful for folks looking for help with many things but all too often the video makers really either lack knowledge or suggest inappropriate methods.
We have some professional wine makers and very experienced home wine makers, as well as a few folks who pop onto this board now and then and have interesting ideas about wine making some of which has been gleaned from misleading sources such as You Tube. What most folks here will provide is mainstream solid advice based on some pretty significant amount of experience.
Myself, I've only done about 48 batches of wine so I'm still learning, but, at 5 years on here, this is the first time on here I've heard anyone say that it's a good idea to start out making a light flavored wine. Yes, we all have different likes but my opinions are based on what I've learned on here from many excellent wine makers who have been doing this for many years individually and collectively probably well over 200 years of cumulative solid experience. I started out trying to stay low budget, and still do that, but compromising flavor was never something I considered doing to save a few dollars. A beginner who makes a weak flavored batch is far more likely to walk away from wine making than someone who makes a 'overly' strong batch. I can always add some white wine to soften the flavor but you can't do much to a weak wine.

Long response but those are the facts and the track record on this site bears out my conclusions.

 

[hounddawg]

WOW..... Where to start. Lots of people out there who like lite wines. Myself included. I never add more than 3 lbs. of peaches per gallon because it becomes hard to clear. Often still cloudy after a year. Just because someone doesn't do it your way doesn't not make it wrong. Tnow that is my way, his is a hobby where everyone has an opinion and they are often very different. It's probably a good idea for a novice to start with lower amounts of fruit due to less problems with clearing. Also the fruit may be the major cost so if they make a big mistake they won't be dumping a lot of money down the drain. I haven't seen the videos but I would be careful about saying something is wrong!

pear takes 2 years bulk aging to go all natural, my more flavorful wines like blackberry wild 5 to 6 lb per gal, lighter say peach or apple 12 lbs per gallon, now each of us is different, homewinery.com is pure single fruit on top of being a concentrate it is done by reduction, making it much stronger than like vintners harvest and all the purees and other concentrates, i hear walkers is good, but to rich for my blood, www.homewinery.com ,, as well i like mine very robust, @dralarms can tell you about the quality of their concentrates, but if you like lite wines then add less concentrate, as for clearing i go natural/long time, but if in a hurry then dura fine or super kleer will have you rocking fairly quickly
Dawg
Dawg

 

[dralarms]

Thanks @hounddawg , they just be good. I’ve spent about 325.00 a year since finding them.

 

[hounddawg]

Thanks @hounddawg , they just be good. I’ve spent about 325.00 a year since finding them.

hey i know you know them good, hehe if i remember correctly several years ago you turned me on to them, your very welcome sir,,, and Thank You, you've helped me worlds,
Dawg

 

[dralarms]

hey i know you know them good, hehe if i remember correctly several years ago you turned me on to them, your very welcome sir,,, and Thank You, you've helped me worlds,
Dawg

No problem. We’re all here to do one thing, make the best wine we can.

 

[winemanden]

Re what Scooter said " Yes, we all have different likes but my opinions are based on what I've learned on here from many excellent wine makers who have been doing this for many years individually and collectively probably well over 200 years of cumulative solid experience."
That puts me in mind of when we visited Albany NY. in 2000. There was a big fête or fair in the big precinct while we were there. Some exhibitors were winemakers from the Finger lakes area. I tasted a very nice BlackBerry flavoured grape wine at one stall. I asked the maker how he got the BlackBerry flavour, adding that I had been making wine at home for over thirty years. "How many times a year do you make it?' "On average about ten" I replied. He just laughed. " I don't know why you're asking, you've got more experience than I have. I've been making wine for twenty years and I've made only twenty vintages."
What could I say? I just raised my glass to him with a smile and said "CHEERS"!!

 

[Dave Sutcliffe]

In almost every beginning wine kit (the kits with the primary bucket, chemicals, hydrometer, etc.) is included a small pink book called the Winemaker's Recipe Handbook by Raymond Massaccesi. You would be hard-pressed to walk into any wine making supply store and not find one of these books. His recipe for blueberry also calls for grape concentrate so that's not a fair comparison but the recipe for his peach wine calls for 2-1/2 lbs of peaches per gallon (pg 4). Not saying he's right or wrong, just that it is a book commonly used by beginners. The one I have is copyright 1976 so it's been around for 40+ years. You commented that the color of the wine was pale. A yellow flesh peach like Hale Haven will produce an amber wine while a white flesh peach like Belle of Georgia will produce a light, pale colored wine. I have a farm with a small peach orchard so I often make both types of wines. I pick my peaches when they are perfectly ripe, I can bite into them and the juice runs down my arm. So while I only use about 3 lbs per gallon I can assure you my wine is very flavorful.
Also, if you look at the recipes for Dragon's Blood and Skeeter Pee these call for relatively small amounts of fruit yet are very popular with the members of this forum. Six pounds of triple berry blend and 48 oz of lemon juice for six gallons of DB in my opinion makes this a lite wine. So I'm still going to say many people like a lite wine and we can agree to disagree. But again you really "went off" on these videos as wrong and misleading when for the most part you didn't agree with their recipe or their terminology. We all are going through some trying times in 2020 so a little tolerance can go a long ways.

 

[hounddawg]

In almost every beginning wine kit (the kits with the primary bucket, chemicals, hydrometer, etc.) is included a small pink book called the Winemaker's Recipe Handbook by Raymond Massaccesi. You would be hard-pressed to walk into any wine making supply store and not find one of these books. His recipe for blueberry also calls for grape concentrate so that's not a fair comparison but the recipe for his peach wine calls for 2-1/2 lbs of peaches per gallon (pg 4). Not saying he's right or wrong, just that it is a book commonly used by beginners. The one I have is copyright 1976 so it's been around for 40+ years. You commented that the color of the wine was pale. A yellow flesh peach like Hale Haven will produce an amber wine while a white flesh peach like Belle of Georgia will produce a light, pale colored wine. I have a farm with a small peach orchard so I often make both types of wines. I pick my peaches when they are perfectly ripe, I can bite into them and the juice runs down my arm. So while I only use about 3 lbs per gallon I can assure you my wine is very flavorful.
Also, if you look at the recipes for Dragon's Blood and Skeeter Pee these call for relatively small amounts of fruit yet are very popular with the members of this forum. Six pounds of triple berry blend and 48 oz of lemon juice for six gallons of DB in my opinion makes this a lite wine. So I'm still going to say many people like a lite wine and we can agree to disagree. But again you really "went off" on these videos as wrong and misleading when for the most part you didn't agree with their recipe or their terminology. We all are going through some trying times in 2020 so a little tolerance can go a long ways.

whop, most make their DDDB as dan land does, i at minimal triple to quadruple my dragon blood,,,, Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

BUT thats just to suit my taste
Dawg

 

[winemanden]

BUT thats just to suit my taste
Dawg

Quite right Dawg. It's YOUR WINE. It's unique, there's no other wine like it in the world. You made it, other folks may not like it, but what does that matter. Keep on learning, maybe you can make it better but if you're not selling it, make it to suit you!!

 

[hounddawg]

Quite right Dawg. It's YOUR WINE. It's unique, there's no other wine like it in the world. You made it, other folks may not like it, but what does that matter. Keep on learning, maybe you can make it better but if you're not selling it, make it to suit you!!

i quit for 2 years, judges, row crop farmers, businessman, naw i'm dialed in, i quit for 2 years so the movers and shakers would forget me, except for family and very good friends nobody gets nothing, plus those that do know that they tell they're cut of premently Period, i d making my wines gives me peace of mind,
Dawg

 

[winemaker81]

@Dave Sutcliffe, I recently commented in another thread regarding books I have from the 60's and 70's that have some extremely crappy recipes. No offense intended, but the copyright date of the book doesn't mean it's good nor right. A lot of the old books truly suck wind.

Comparing anything to Skeeterpee or Dragon's Blood doesn't work. I made wine from Welch's grape juice and Ocean Spray CranRaspberry juice. None of the above compare to the Malbec/Merlot/Zinfandel I have in a barrel, nor the apple wine I made a few years back. All are completely different. Hand me a glass of Dragon's Blood, I'll enjoy it for what it is. Each has its place.

I've made fruit wines with low fruit. I'll not do it again as the result it was less than pleasing to me. When I drink peach wine, I want to taste peach.

You want a low peach taste? Cool. Your wine, your decisions. No one has the right to tell you otherwise.

But I won't recommend the recipe. The folks that tasted my low fruit wines always reacted negatively. The positive reactions were for wines made at 4+ lbs fruit/gallon.

@Scooter68's opinions are solid and experience based. This does not mean we'll not disagree -- I guarantee we will disagree on something.

I've been helping people with wine making for 30+ years. Scooter's reason for nuking those videos makes sense to me.

 

[hounddawg]

@Dave Sutcliffe, I recently commented in another thread regarding books I have from the 60's and 70's that have some extremely crappy recipes. No offense intended, but the copyright date of the book doesn't mean it's good nor right. A lot of the old books truly suck wind.

Comparing anything to Skeeterpee or Dragon's Blood doesn't work. I made wine from Welch's grape juice and Ocean Spray CranRaspberry juice. None of the above compare to the Malbec/Merlot/Zinfandel I have in a barrel, nor the apple wine I made a few years back. All are completely different. Hand me a glass of Dragon's Blood, I'll enjoy it for what it is. Each has its place.

I've made fruit wines with low fruit. I'll not do it again as the result it was less than pleasing to me. When I drink peach wine, I want to taste peach.

You want a low peach taste? Cool. Your wine, your decisions. No one has the right to tell you otherwise.

But I won't recommend the recipe. The folks that tasted my low fruit wines always reacted negatively. The positive reactions were for wines made at 4+ lbs fruit/gallon.

@Scooter68's opinions are solid and experience based. This does not mean we'll not disagree -- I guarantee we will disagree on something.

I've been helping people with wine making for 30+ years. Scooter's reason for nuking those videos makes sense to me.

Amen to recipes from old not always right, after all aren't we all still trying to learn and do better,
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

and when i drink peach wine i want to pick the branches from my teeth, and that takes loads of fruit
Dawg

 

[dralarms]

and when i drink peach wine i want to pick the branches from my teeth, and that takes loads of fruit
Dawg

. That’s the truth.