I am new to brewing at home...I went out and spent 300 dollars on all of my equipment to make wine at home. I was so exited about my new hobby that I could not wait to make my first batch. I got my first red wine fermenting right now but the more I read on the internet about home making wine the more I hear people saying how dangerous it is...they all talk about a bad wine that could kill you if you drink it. Now I am no so exited about my new passion, I am so paranoid about it. Is it true that a bad wine could get you really sick? How do I know if I have a contaminated wine? HELP!!
Making home wine is dangerous...
- Thread starter Tonypr24
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I think a bad wine that could kill you if you drank it is something like grappa that the old timers used to make. Winemaking is no more dangerous than cooking. Maybe less dangerous, since you're not heating anything that hot!
There is nothing in wine that will harm you- it might not always taste great if you don't sanitize your equipment properly, but it would not make you sick and definitely wouldn't kill you!
There is nothing in wine that will harm you- it might not always taste great if you don't sanitize your equipment properly, but it would not make you sick and definitely wouldn't kill you!
LakeErieBrew
Well-Known Member
It's not dangerous. Relax, don't worry, and have a home wine.
I was a little nervous taking the first sip of my homemade wine too. You'll get over it.
I was a little nervous taking the first sip of my homemade wine too. You'll get over it.
summersolstice
Well-Known Member
I've never heard of anyone becoming ill from homemade wine, aside from suffering from hangovers from drinking too much. I have, however, heard of a lot of people who have suffered injuries from the glass carboys. Between breaks that result in severe cuts and back strains from lifting them, carboys can present some real dagers. That, to me, is the biggest danger of this hobby. No need to manufacture imagined poisonings.
Yeah, you'll generally notice an off taste.
That being said, if you follow basic sanitation and the isntructions in your kit, it's pretty hard to make a bad batch of wine. Easier to make a bad batch of beer, as the lower alcohol content makes sanitation even more important. but with the higher alcohol content in wine, it's a lot more forgiving. Quit worrying, and let us know in 2 months when you open first bottle how you like it. Or even in one month when you do the botlting and are "forced" to sample bit left over after bottling.
Did that with a cabernet-shiraz I was bottling earlier this week. Couple glasses left after my 30 bottles.
That being said, if you follow basic sanitation and the isntructions in your kit, it's pretty hard to make a bad batch of wine. Easier to make a bad batch of beer, as the lower alcohol content makes sanitation even more important. but with the higher alcohol content in wine, it's a lot more forgiving. Quit worrying, and let us know in 2 months when you open first bottle how you like it. Or even in one month when you do the botlting and are "forced" to sample bit left over after bottling.
Did that with a cabernet-shiraz I was bottling earlier this week. Couple glasses left after my 30 bottles.
summersolstice
Well-Known Member
Hey Tony - even if it is a bad batch and tastes funny, I doubt it'll make you sick. Really - although it may have happened once or twice, I doubt it's even a hundredth the problem that food poisoning in the home presents from tainted food, unclean utensils or food prep surfaces. I've honestly never known anyone, even the most rank amatuer, to get sick from their wine.
pulpfiction32
Well-Known Member
I think the only thing dangerous about home brewing is drinking mass
quantities of your final product
quantities of your final product
I disagree wine making or well drinking is very dangerous. 4 weeks ago I just got done doing the snow, my boots were still wet and as I rushed downstairs to grab a bottle of my homemade Cabernet to sneak a few glasses before bed, I slipped, broke 3 ribs, hurt my back, ended up in the E.R. and have been on light duty at work for 4 weeks and two more to go. All that and I still have 36 more gallons to drink LOL , Tony dont worry, It's great for you, I like to refer to it as heart medicine, Ken
jrgtr42
Well-Known Member
I think people are still hung up on issues from the bathtub gin in prohibition times causing issues - ignoring that it's not the booze itself that was causing the problems, but the additives that people would put in to stretch it further - stuff never meant to drink.
Julian Høstan Urrea
Soyyojuli
Also when they refer to danger it's really when distilling/burning making spirits. If done improperly you can make something bad. Wine is awesome. Homemade wine is even better!
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I am really curious about where you read this. Can you provide some links?
FYI...That post was from 2009, and that member (according to their profile) was last here in 2016. I doubt you're going to get a response. LOL
ApolloSimcoe
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Maybe it was the wine...
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Yep, RIP Tony.
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I call dibs on Tony’s old wine making equipment
jgmillr1
Well-Known Member
Just to add a couple more points to the good comments here already...
Since the pH of wine is typically well under 4, there is no botulism concern. Same for E-coli contamination.
In fact state health departments do not even regulate wine making, leaving it to the state and federal government (at least in Indiana). Of course, the health Dept can be called in for consultation by the state if there is a question.
Wine can go "bad" via oxidation or spoilage (e.g. vinegar) but your nose would tell you that you probably shouldn't drink a particularly spoiled wine. Even then, the levels of vinegar, ethyl acetate or acetaldehyde may leave you with a headache but they won't kill you.
The only danger comes from using incorrect equipment or improper dosing of additives that can lead to excess copper, for example.
bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
Totally agree with what everyone is saying - given the pH of most wines and the alcohol content there is just about zero risk of anything pathogenic that can live and grow in any wine you make BUT there is one caveat. Just because some plant can be used to make wine does not mean that that plant is not in and of itself toxic - to give two simple examples - rhubarb wine is delicious but you do not use the leaves of the plant. Spruce beer is an old and wonderful ale but not every pine tree is a spruce. Yew (not a true pine) IS toxic. Bottom line: wine making is a fantastic hobby. There is nothing to be concerned or anxious about as long as you drink responsibly but if you are interested in making what is known as "country wines" (wines not from grapes but from fruits and vegetables and flowers (or honey), just make sure that you are using edible fruits and you are using the edible part of the plant.
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Yep. Our State flower here in CT is the beautiful Mountain Laurel. You wouldn't want to make wine from it.
I will add that I read a thread here on HBT years ago about making paw-paw wine (it's a type of fruit native to some parts of the US). In that thread the author describes a putrid smell of vomit or fecal matter. Several people replied and advised the author not to drink that wine. The fruit had a type of infection that would excrete chemical byproducts that could make humans sick. Important to verify the fruits integrity before usage, follow proper sanitization techniques and use the right types of treatments to the must to kill wild organisms before primary fermentation.
Scientific hippie
Well-Known Member
The elderberry wine experiment I started about a year ago is suffering from the high temps in the basement; it tastes oxidized. I will still give it a few months. I am growing elderberry bushes now; I hope the fall harvest will be big enough for a few gallons.
Cavpilot2000
Well-Known Member
UNfortunately you can't undo oxidation, you can only prevent it - either through sulfite additions or eliminating post-fermentation exposure to oxygen (and an airlock will not keep oxygen out).
Scientific hippie
Well-Known Member
It was my first project; I have a bit more experience now. We are talking about putting wine coolers or refrigerators in the basement. I use FastFermentors, which I really like.
Last winter I made Amarone from a kit; someone told me to ferment it twice the time recommended by the mfr.; I did. It tasted terrible. I backsweetened it a little and bottled it. Five months later, it is tasting great!
snyhut2014
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home made wine will not make you sick. There are so many recipes and processes people on the internet use. Some people feel the need to go out and purchase fancy equipment for it which is cool if hey you like to spend money but there are people who just use the same bottle the welches grape juice comes in which is what I do. If you think about it, the grape juice from store has already been processed to kill any bacteria etc.... so those who think you need to sterilize everthing, um no, you don't. wash your containers that's about it. I put welches grape juice in a thermos, added 1.5 cups of regular sugar and half packet of flieschmans bread yeast, covered thermos enough to let the carbon dioxide escape but let no air in (so don't put lid on too tight) let sit 14 days and bam...wine. Let me tell you, 2.5 glasses of it got me hammered lol. I loved it and been making my own since from 100 percent welches grape juices from the store. You tube it and you will see for yourself. Look for this dude on you tube called Paw paw homeade cheap wine. THe guy is a redneck but awesome. lol. Don't let these fancy pants people tell you this and that and you need all these chemicals to make it. You need the juice, sugar and regular bread yeast. That's it. and time to ferment.
hope this helps. Just think about how they made wine since the beginning of time. DO you think they sterilized everything? Or had all these chemical additives they do now adays? Nope. And another thing is when I get drunk from my home made wine, I don't wake up with a pounding headache like I would from a company manufactured wine. You know why? None of all those added chemicals. Happy wining.
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Acetaldehyde is partly responsible to oxidized flavor/aroma in wine... And it's easy to "remove" simply by adding sulfite, which binds to it pretty much irreversibility and reduces it's aromaticity.
Dustin_J
Well-Known Member
Acetaldehyde is partly responsible to oxidized flavor/aroma in wine... And it's easy to "remove" simply by adding sulfite, which binds to it pretty much irreversibility and reduces it's aromaticity.
Do you happen to know rough guidelines for "how much" sulfite could/should be used? Obviously it's contingent on Acetaldehyde levels, which wouldn't be known, but I'm just curious regarding what this looks like for beer use.
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
I don't know the typical levels of acetaldehyde in homebrew beer. If you have any idea, I can easily do the math to figure out how much sulfite is needed.
Beer almost certainly has much lower amounts than wine and beer has a much wider variety of staling compounds, so knocking out the acetaldehyde might not have much effect on flavor.
You can significantly reduce acetaldehyde formation by providing supplemental thiamine early in fermentation, as well as by limiting pre-fermentation sulfite levels. Yeast contact also serves to lower acetaldehyde (it's a precursor in the metabolic pathway of ethanol production). Prevention/reduction is a better approach than trying to remove it later though binding.
This prevention strategy is good for wine too, but it's a little different for wine because there's often significant oxygen exposure after fermentation completes (racking, degassing, aging, etc). There's more acetaldehyde because oxygen reacts with ethanol to form acetaldehyde, and if there's no sulfite it will accumulate and cause the sherry-like oxidation off flavor/aroma.
I've been reading crazy amounts of scientific articles about this stuff while creating the first few articles on my wiki.
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