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LeverTime

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I want to make a currant wine out of a black currant juice that I acquire locally. It is basically smashed black currents, sweetened with a small amount of fructose (it is still pretty tart). It is pre-chilled when I buy it, and the label says to keep refrigerated. Is it safe to make wine out of this, which would obviously involve letting it sit at 65-70 degrees for a long period of time? I know no known pathogens can live in beer, but I wasn't sure if that also applies to wine.
 
LeverTime said:
I want to make a currant wine out of a black currant juice that I acquire locally. It is basically smashed black currents, sweetened with a small amount of fructose (it is still pretty tart). It is pre-chilled when I buy it, and the label says to keep refrigerated. Is it safe to make wine out of this, which would obviously involve letting it sit at 65-70 degrees for a long period of time? I know no known pathogens can live in beer, but I wasn't sure if that also applies to wine.

You'll want to add some sugar. If you don't have a hydrometer, get one. Add sugar until you reach a specific gravity of 1.090. Use wine yeast and let it ferment.

During the first few days, it will produce a lot of CO2 to keep the wine from spoiling. Once it slows down use an airlock or a rubber balloon with a pin hole to keep air out.

In 30 days, transfer off the yeast sediment and you'll have wine.
 
You'll want to add some sugar. If you don't have a hydrometer, get one. Add sugar until you reach a specific gravity of 1.090. Use wine yeast and let it ferment.

During the first few days, it will produce a lot of CO2 to keep the wine from spoiling. Once it slows down use an airlock or a rubber balloon with a pin hole to keep air out.

In 30 days, transfer off the yeast sediment and you'll have wine.

I'm planning to add sugar, ferment with a wine yeast, and age it for about a year before I start sampling it. My question was more about the safety of this. I wasn't sure if there are certain fruits that might not be safe to make wine out of when they are not pasteurized, and need to be keep refrigerated when in juice form.
 
LeverTime said:
I'm planning to add sugar, ferment with a wine yeast, and age it for about a year before I start sampling it. My question was more about the safety of this. I wasn't sure if there are certain fruits that might not be safe to make wine out of when they are not pasteurized, and need to be keep refrigerated when in juice form.

You can make wine out any juice with fermentable sugars. Once you add wine yeast, it is not long before it is protected by a blanket of CO2.

As long as you sanitize your bottles, hoses, ect, your juice will ferment just fine without any problems.
 
Black currants make a very good wine, they can have a lot of acid in them so you will have to dilute the berry mush juice you have now by at least 30%, an acid test kit would guide you much better. As for being safe, you can eat currants right off of the bush, you can smash some up and put them in with your sauces for meats, you can make jelly and jam from them. You may be thinking about E.Coli from things like apples being pissed on by wild pigs and being picked up and thrown into your unpasturized cider, that can set you back a little time in the potty. I would think your currants are just picked off of the bushes and not off of the ground. YOu can also heat currants, simmer them a few minutes if that makes you fell happy, or add KMeta to knock down any baddies before the alcohol kills them. Lots of choices. WVMJ
 
The easiest way to sanitize your must (unfermented wine) is to get Campden tablets from the homebrew shop or online. They're pretty cheap, just add one crushed tablet per gallon of must. Then wait a few hours (I think 24 is what is recommended, but I do 12) and add your wine yeast. This way you don't have to worry about unknown yeast or bacteria (harmful or not) messing with the flavors you're waiting a year for.
 
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