Home Winemaking & Botulism

[@mdspider]

Thank you for the videos, I enjoy them very much. People saying you are making jailhouse wine are just being disrespectful.

[@DIYFermentation]

Yeah, I get that. Either they are being disrespectful, or just being ignorant.

[@kjfree]

I like your experiment showing how pH can control bacterial growth. I teach microbiology at a community college and sometimes we use this special media called Sabouraud Dextrose agar. This media has a low pH (5.6) and high levels of sugar (dextrose) that inhibits bacterial growth but fungi (yeasts) love this stuff! As a matter of fact it selects only fungal growth. So your wine with a low pH plus sugar makes total sense against most bacteria. Thanks and keep up your making so many varieties of wines. (As a side note, I made your "apple pie mead" wine back in March and now just trying to be patient to taste it.)

[@DIYFermentation]

Thank yo for your comment. The apple Pie mead could have used a bit more spice, but it turned out fairly well.

[@imari2305]

Hello Charles. I've just discovered your channel a few hours ago and have watched a few. Thank you for sharing this and your knowledge with us. Your wines look beautiful and I'm sure taste exceptionally delicious.

[@N1C0707]

Very interesting! Also I have never seen a fancy PH meter before, super cool.

[@DIYFermentation]

pH meter, yes. Fancy, no. For my own personal winemaking it might come in handy, but for the level of winemaking done on this channel it's not really needed except to verify the pH levels are in the safe range before I post a video.

[@TheHeroCam]

Fantastic VIDEO!!!! couldn't say enough about how great this is.

[@DIYFermentation]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lauriespotswood1866]

I just discovered your Chanel. I so enjoy your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@DIYFermentation]

Thanks for watching!

[@mohsen4465]

very good video with good information. 🍷🥂

[@DIYFermentation]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@RomeoDelta-gw7dd]

Very interesting! Thank you for your research

[@DIYFermentation]

I'm sure others can do it a lot better, but at least I touched upon the subject.

[@sandycheeks1580]

Wine 🍷 pH needs to be below 4.6. This new hobbyist Thanks you 😊

[@DIYFermentation]

Sorry, this channel does not offer individual winemaking advice. Amazon & Canva affiliate product information. As an Amazon Associate & BrewDemon & Canva Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases. My current winemaking setup: BrewDemon Fermenter: www.avantlink.com/click.php?tt=cl&merchant_id=f34b031c-e43a-43a4-973d-24d17c9a727a&website_id=ebe44688-8c34-46de-b945-9406903c8ad6&url=http%3A%2F%2FBrewDemon.com pH Meter: amzn.to/3QA5Bek Red Star Premier Blanc Wine Yeast: amzn.to/3yskhUK Wine Yeast Sampler: amzn.to/3F8gNtf Hydrometer: amzn.to/3l2XbMS Airlocks: amzn.to/36bpGlg Wine Corks & Caps: amzn.to/3vgBA9w Wine Bottle Corker: amzn.to/3zO4fVa Stoppers: amzn.to/3673Tv1 Racking Cane: amzn.to/34YyP19 Wine/Beer DeGasser: amzn.to/3ODVTXi Star San: amzn.to/356Tnot

[@DIYFermentation]

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[@alanchilds1456]

My uncle use to make homemade wine all the time and never had a problem

[@DIYFermentation]

Although there are things that can go wrong, winemaking is generally safe.

[@alanchilds1456]

@@DIYFermentation being sanitary is the main thing

[@vance7354]

Risk is even more minimal once you get over 6% Abv. Its literally a non-issue if you are following modern sanation pratices tbh.

[@DIYFermentation]

Unfortunately alcohol has no real effect on the botulism toxin. There is not substitute for proper sanitation in brewing.

[@vance7354]

@@DIYFermentation Honestly, the Only cases I can find of someone getting Botulism were all from Pruno made in a Prison setting where they had no access to any form of Sanitation. I cant find a single case of it from someone making wine or beer or mead at home outside of a jail.

[@mohsen4465]

@@vance7354 in winemaking sanitation has no meaning because if you sanitize all your equipments you still have fruits waiting for fermentation that is not sanitized. botulisim in wine making is rare because fruits are already has some acidity by itself but what about when you use vegtables or non acidic foods like malted barley in beer brewing?

[@vance7354]

@@mohsen4465 The reason its less of an issue in beer is due to a few factors. 1) Where as the temperature of boiling water (100 C / 212 F) is not hot enough to kill botulism spores, but it is hot enough to destroy the toxin (which is what kills you) that they produce. Most Beer wort is Boiled for 60 to 120 minutes depending on style. 2) Once the beer is fermenting, the alcohol inhibits the bacteria from producing the toxin and above 6% ABV it completly prevents the toxin from being created. 3) is due to the pH of fermented wort typical values for ale are 4.0-4.5, for lager 4.4-4.7. while yes lagers due tend to run close to or slightly over the border pH for botulism spores, the other facts really play in as well, Such as boil time and ABV Production. 5) Hops are anti-bacterial in nature. Where as it is unclear if they will inhibit botulism outside of highly purified hop extracts, when combined with all other factors, they certianlly reduce the risk. 6) Finally, I will quote Sui Generis Brewing, which is ran by a Microbiologist. "The good news for conventional beer brewers is that normal brewing practices will prevent botulism from growing. The oxygen levels achieved by normal oxygenation processes are inhibitory to growth, while the acidificaiton during fermentation will suppress botulism long before it produces toxin. In other words, if you quickly chill your beer, oxygenate well, and immediately pitch a good dose of yeast, your risk is essentially zero." suigenerisbrewing.com/index.php/2020/01/29/botulism-in-beer/ The take away, from all of this is, Unless you are Brewing Beer,wine,or mead in a prison toilet, and you have ZERO access to modern Brewing equiptment and Sanatation supplies, your risk is very low. I spent like 3 hours searching google trying to find one case of botulism from home made beer,wine or mead OUTSIDE of a prison setting, and i couldnt find a single confirmed case linked to home made wine,beer or mead. I found a number of cases from an actual prison where they were making pruno in a bag in the toilet or some other unsanitary location inside a jail But not one from home vinters or home brewers. I suppose it COULD happen if you do everything 100% wrong ON PURPOSE. But reaslically, the risk is extremely minimal at best if you are using modern best pratices.

[@funwithwine9643]

The way you kill the yeast with heat also gets rid of some of the methanol .

[@DIYFermentation]

Thank you for your comment.

[@kingquesoIV]

@@DIYFermentation not true. Methanol cannot be separated from water/ethanol by simple distillation. Boiling points are too close to each other

[@DIYFermentation]

@alex forest never said that it would. I use pasteurization simply to kill off the yeast, and maybe a few remaining bacteria. Dissuasions on ethanol/methanol boiling points I'll leave for more advance channels. It is beyond the scope of what this channel is designed for.

[@kingquesoIV]

@@DIYFermentation I never said that you said it did. The original commenter incorrectly said it would remove methanol. You thanked him for his comment. I thought I would take the opportunity to correct OP.

[@DIYFermentation]

@alex forest I kinda figured as much. I will thank people for their comment only just to be polite and give some kind of response and move on.

[@marcellablankenship4390]

I call these country wines. Never heard of the other names either.

[@DIYFermentation]

Thank you for watching.

[@Jellofreeze]

I still can't brew with just one yeast packet. I did the math. 3 pounds of sugar per gallon ( depending on the fruit of course ) and I still end up with fruit water . Yet everytime I use 3 packets of yeast I get the perfect results. How is everyone doing this with just one? I'm using Red Star yeast btw.

[@DIYFermentation]

Anyone want to chime in...

[@mohsen4465]

too much sugar! you are reaching Brix 31.58! you should use hydrometer and Brix calculators to rich Birx around 22 for 12% alcohol content. going higher could make an environment difficult to survive or even inhospitable for yeast.