Distilling Cheap Wine : Is It Drinkable?

[@StillIt]

Picking different types or brands of wine will likely give very different results. But thats the fun of it! If you have tried something similar sound off bellow to suggest a certain type of wine . . . .. or warn us away from it!

[@TwinSteel]

Could we send you flavor sticks from old wood? I’ve got some 100 year old oak I can’t use - I know someone could benefit from it

[@drampadreg1386]

Distill Chinese rice wine, it's about 40% top start! I distilled some cooking wine, they put salt in it so you can't drink it, and it was on for a buck a bottle! Cheaper as turbo yeast! What ever happened to "Tony Auckland" home distillation site? It used to be great.

[@davidsanderson6459]

I've done it with a buttery chardonnay and a sangria....the sangria was pretty good, chard not so much

[@JohnFerrerAkaEric]

@@davidsanderson6459 franzia?

[@davidsanderson6459]

@@JohnFerrerAkaEric yes it was, actually

[@ledzep331]

I've had a couple of home made wine experiments that I ended up distilling, rather than ditching. One nasty tasting apple peach wine, ended up being the best brandy I've made. The other... Well I'm probably the only person with 500ml of 65% abv of a very interesting Marmite spirit.

[@jackmehoffe9372]

Brilliant

[@wesleythomas7125]

So you fermented with marmite rather than yeast, or added yeast to dissolved marmite?

[@ledzep331]

@@wesleythomas7125I made a gallon of wine with sugar as the fermentable and four tbsp (from memory) of marmite added. I didn't expect it to ferment because of the high salt content but it fermented no problem with E1118 champagne yeast (that stuff could ferment concrete). The wine would have been OK to cook with as it had a definite umami taste but I couldn't resist distilling it.

[@jrrarglblarg9241]

I made five gallons of plum wine many years ago that was so bad I made a pressure cooker pot still and Liebig to fix it with. Totally worth it.

[@ledzep331]

@@jrrarglblarg9241 I have a descent home made reflux still that can be converted to a pot still. But I still have my old stove top, converted pressure cooker for smaller quantities and experiments.

[@joelsmith552]

Box wine is absolutely a thing here in the US. Many years ago it was popular in my circle to remove the bladder from the box and drink straight from it. Some of it is perfectly drinkable.

[@ashtonacosta203]

Don’t forget to slap the bag!!!

[@charliemorgan5704]

In Australia we call that goon and a goon bag respectfuly, they are cultural staples.

[@danielnelson2725]

As mentioned, in Australia it's a right of passage to drink goon. Party game is to attach it to a clothes line called a Hills hoist which spins. So it's like wheel of fortune, rotate the clothes line and whoever it falls on has to take a skull from it. Many scary times

[@joelsmith552]

@@danielnelson2725 I've said it before and I'll say it again: You Aussies know how to party! Were I a younger man, I'd be introducing this tradition in Ohio.

[@danielnelson2725]

@@joelsmith552 best effort was 6 litres of goon in one night plus a few beers.

[@conradh7659]

A friend who had 144 bottles of 20 year old (or older) bottles of home made wine, gave them to me to distill. Each bottle was tasted to ensure it hadn’t gone bad, decanted each into the boiler and distilled them. Put the hearts into medium charred oak casks for two months and… fantastic home made brandy! Give it a try folks!!!

[@ThePhonoski]

Some friends made a cherry wine, and with the leftover crushed cherries added sugar, fermented and distilled. The spirit from the leftovers was then added back to the original cherry wine. Was like an awesome cherry port

[@dioncrouch3897]

Unpalatable wine is how I got into distilling. I had about 10 gallons of wine that didn't quite hit the mark. After ageing for years, there was no significant improvement, so during lockdown boredom, I made a hand sanitiser production facility 😉

[@Grizzlox]

Waste not, want not

[@TheNZSimon]

This was exactly how I got into distilling. Made hundreds of litres of random fruit wines, some were terrible after a long time, thought I might as well try to make brandy. Turned out bad but started a hobby!

[@wrex509]

The ironic thing about boxed/bagged wine is it does a better job protecting the wine from oxygen than the traditional bottle does (after its been opened)

[@SuprousOxide]

Though I guess the expectation is a bottle of good wine will be drunk in a single sitting, and doesn't need to be preserved once opened

[@simonholmqvist8017]

Aren't there vacuum pumps made for wine bottles that would solve this?

[@jekanyika]

@@simonholmqvist8017 They can't pump all of the air out.

[@josephgauthier5018]

​@@jekanyika you can also just displace the air in the bottle with computer duster. And if you were feeling extra fancy then you could also pull a vacuum on that computer duster gas. Though I'm sure just displacing the air would be good enough

[@brettjc0483]

@@josephgauthier5018 An inert gas like CO2, N2, or N2O would be a better bet. Most computer dusters have a bittering agent mixed in aswell, so it may impart a bitter flavor.

[@warrencourt7938]

I did some reading on the origins of brandy. The lower abv, more acidic grape varieties of wine were distilled, probably as they did not keep so well and so as not to waste the wine. These gave rise to some of the finest brandy.

[@mikeclarke952]

It's actually a pretty good brandy after I ultrasonic wood aged it. Used your exact air still. Edit: Yes boxed wine is very common here in Canada too, perfect for hosting a party And yes it's not very cost effective, my cheap box wine cost $32 and I could buy a decent 750ml bottle of Brandy for $38.

[@tiny989]

I'm pretty sure distilling even for personal use in Canada is against our alcohol laws.

[@vtbn53]

@@tiny989 It is in most countries, so what?

[@matthewhall5571]

@@ws8080 Canadian alcohol taxes are sky high as are the penalties for undisclosed imports from the US and for short trips the duty free allowance is microscopic nowadays.

[@chillermiller3565]

@@tiny989 cry about it

[@tiny989]

@@chillermiller3565 wtf am I crying about? I'm not the one on the forum admitting to bootlegging in Canada. I never see the reason to admit openly that you are involved in illegal acts. Side note I don't agree with there being such harsh guidelines for home distillation in Canada and would like it to be like in NZ.

[@quarlow1215]

Many here in Canada have woken with these pillows also. Lol. The very first run we made was a bunch of miscellaneous bottles of wine that were leftover from a wedding at a cultural center. It was a total mish mash of about 10 different kinds ds plus a couple extra boxes added for volume. It turned out fantastic and everyone who tried it wanted some. Guys were asking me to sell them some or make them some but I could have never recreated it if I wanted to. I'd absolutely do it again and hope for the best.

[@Tacritania]

Boxed wine (known as a 3 liter) is a big thing in Norway too. It's usually for young people going to a party or older folks having friends or family visiting when a bottle or two simply isn't enough.

[@savagesarethebest7251]

It is quite popular here in Sweden, but I can't drink wine without feeling like shit. Half a liter of vodka and I am up before the morning birds. But just a little glass of wine and I will feel like shit for days to come.

[@vikramkrishnan6414]

@@savagesarethebest7251 You might have sulphur allergies.

[@terencemcgeown2358]

As a Tasmanian Australian 4L stills are legal here. I run 4L of Fresh Dry White through it & end up with 1L of 40% then add some banana essence & vanilla extract to it with a tiny bit of lemon juice to brighten it up. I do it once a months & age it for 6months. My wife and her friends get together monthly & go nuts for it.

[@itsMikeSki]

Would love to know more of the process, you just run the 4L through pot still and come out with 40% on the other side?

[@terencemcgeown2358]

@@itsMikeSki Yeah straight through the pot still. 1L at 40% or 750mL at 50% then add some water to make 40% . It will still have a slight taste of wine (which I personally hate wine) which adding the extras too covers them and then when aged and mixed with carbonated water the ladies will down a bottle with other drinks and get wobbly legged.

[@sanbe729]

Hey! you should use a wine kit to make a grape brandy wash! Im very tempted to try it, without the use of sulphites. Here in NZ you can get them for about $70 for the lower end ones, which does not seem bad at all for a 23L wash.

[@BassMatt1972]

The process for packaging 'cask wine' (boxed wine) was invented by Thomas Angove, a winemaker from Renmark, South Australia, and patented by his company on April 20, 1964. We call it "goon" here, short for "flagoon" (flagon)

[@JohnFerrerAkaEric]

Box wine is a thing in the US. Its such a thing here if you drink straight from the bag without the box we call it "slapping the bag". Costco has one of the best box wines in my opinion.

[@StillIt]

Haha nice, dude it dose not surprise me. Say what you want about Costco. . . . They have crazy value to cost

[@JohnFerrerAkaEric]

@@StillIt everything they make is the market average or better. Their bourbon is probably one of the best given it's price. Also if you're into golf they say their golf balls are the best all around for flight and spin control

[@Storm-crow13]

Of course Costco has a good Box wine

[@ianwilson3935]

Or in Australia, we attached goon bags(boxed wine) to a clothesline and play goon of fortune

[@ledzep331]

@@ianwilson3935 The box and plastic bag is where the value is in Aussie wine... Only pulling your leg, I do like a good Aussie Shiraz.

[@henrygregurke8015]

You should mix sangria flavours into the spirit! Instant sangria brandy to mix with wine! Love the channel! Such creative and inspirational content! You are a genuine and down to earth, which makes your videos easy to digest and thoroughly entertaining! Keep up the amazing work!

[@richardschwindt6588]

Thanks so much Jesse for your great videos A couple of thoughts on distilling in Canada, purely as an theoretical exercise: 1. Owning a still in Canada is legal. 2. Distilling alcohol is problematic only under Canadian tax laws. 3. Are you violating anything tax related? 4. As far as I know, no one has been prosecuted for distilling for themselves in the basement or the shed. The authorities have bigger problems.

[@stevegee7623]

The very first thing I ever distilled was inexpensive, higher ABV Chardonnay, and I've done it a few times since. From my experience the brightest fruity flavors come closer to the heads, the flatter flavors nearing the tails. The 2nd distillation cleaned it up considerably.

[@omegaflameZ]

You can get boxed wine up in Canada as well, the brands that do it tend to be a bit limited but is a bit of a popular option when you have lots of people over and don't want the cleanup of a bunch of bottles or just want to have wine 'on tap' in the fridge for small glasses on occasion. Apparently the wine keeps better since air doesn't get inside the bag.

[@ranman5501]

Save the bladders and rinse them out. (Yeah it’s a pain) Then lay flat in the freezer, pack it in your cooler next time camping etc…. As a plus, you also have chilled drinking water as it melts.

[@stoddern]

Yup, cheap box wine is a thing in the states and is surprisingly good as cooking wine, Franzia chardonnay is my go to white for cooking, Carlo Rossi Burgundy for red, makes great meaty pasta sauces and red meat gravies.

[@hardrout17]

I live in the countryside of Bordeaux, in the medoc. We got thoses bladder/carboards wine. Overall hte quality is great despite being cheap, we call it a "cubi" (keep in mind that there is a high culture of red wine over this part of France). Its from local 'Chateaux' and i love it. Distilling it is a crime. The natural fermentation product is already perfect :D ok... i might be biased :) Nice video as always.. now i want to try it ! :D

[@MrJhchrist]

I'm very curious what you consider cheap?

[@hardrout17]

​@@MrJhchrist more or less 3€ per litre for a decent quality bladder/carboards wine. The price depends a lot from the distance to the source. For instance a few years ago, the same bottle of wine in supermarket "Mouton Cadet - Baron Rothschild" was 7.5€ in Bordeaux, around 10-12€ in Paris, and 20-25€ in Belgium/Luxembourg.

[@hardrout17]

@@MrJhchrist I must point out "Mouton Cadet" is not a good wine, i dont recommend, you are just paying the brand/name "Baron Philippe de Rothschild", but its kinda known/available widely

[@MrJhchrist]

@@hardrout17 Very interesting, thanks. You'd have to lock me up, because at that price I would 100% be running it through a still :)

[@hardrout17]

@@MrJhchrist I would still considerate it a crime! 😁Wine is already a finished product with a complex and time consuming process to achieve all the quality. Distilling it would leave some flavour and complexity behind. Start from raw grapes for distillation, cheaper, more freedom in recipe, and wine is respected #WineLifeMatters! (Im just snobbing as a French guy from Bordeaux, the experience and output is probably worth it!) cheers ;)

[@BeardedBored]

Hmmm, the old Goon Bag. I might have to try something slightly more upscale. Jug wine!😂 Love the experiment, brother!

[@squidgepus]

Firtst off box wine is not called box wine, it is Cardbordeux from the Carbordeux region of France. We Canadians refer to it as getting goon bagged or slap bag, though I am sure other countries have used that as well.

[@bobvitas4132]

I have taken some old canned wine and distilled it, then used it as the base for a genever (to be somewhat historically accurate).

[@ChippieViz]

Boxed wine is big in South Africa as well. 3lt and 5lt is the standard. Its mostly plonk you get in the boxes but last couple of years there have been a real effort to improve the quality. Nowadays you can get quite decent quality wines in boxes.

[@DrAppalling]

I make muscadine eau-de-vie using an Air Still. A gallon of home made muscadine wine at 12% ABV yields around 750 ml of 80 proof eau-de-vie. It's great if you like muscadines.

[@larrygonzalez4375]

I have this little machine at home; I am pleased with it (knowing its limitations). I´ve distilled a sugar cane wash during Xmas, trying to obtain some Agricole rum. Out of the 20-litter wash I had, it produced about 1.8 litres of a delicious spirit, sitting at 50% ABV; as for the cuts, I did it all by taste and blended almost everything. The profile (at 50%) is sweet, grassy, and mellow. Overall, very proud of it; my family loved it!

[@rudraigh]

I used to buy four 4 liter jugs of "Burgundy" from Smart & Final and would end up with just shy of 4 liters (around a gallon) of 100 proof brandy. I'd age it with oak barrel chunks and it was certainly drinkable.

[@MsDemzon]

So, sort of took this idea and ran with it. I got some Bacardi Black rum one time, and it tastes like crap no matter how you mix it, in my opinion. Anyway, I tossed it into my air still the other day, got a liquor that takes good, but white. Proofed it to 45%, and it's like a rum that has seen a barrel, with a hint of clove and licorice. Tastes good now, so I feel better that I was able to fix what I saw as a waste of money before. I'm going back to make another batch of mead here soon. The last batch I made a few years ago only has half a bottle left. Might try stilling it like I saw you do before in another video.

[@christianpeters1832]

Common Idee in Germany to use wine. Just finished a pretty cheap white wine. After Destillation he had only a few month to rest in a small toasted oak barrel. Good result, everybody is fine with It. Thanks 4 wonderful ideas in ur Channel.

[@NetworkGeek280]

Been looking forward to this. I like how you continue to use the humble air still for experimentation. Making distillation accessible.

[@lynnbishop9493]

I'm from NZ near Rotorua. I just got this still last week and have worked out each run users about $1.50 power. So it's a economical way of experimentong.

[@nicholassmith9051]

Hello from Butte Montana USA..we do this..

[@cayminlast]

During the early 1970's while living in Cape Town, we started taking a 'funbag' or two on just about every outdoor adventure.

[@ToastedSynapseGaming]

Crazy idea: Use it as a fortifier for mulled wine. Or, better yet: you know all the 'botanicals' that you boil for mulled wine? Well just try to macerate those in this alcohol before doing your mulled wine.

[@ianholmes6078]

I had a mediocre wine from a kit, and I also had a need for high-proof unaged brandy, which I cannot buy here in Canada. I did the only thing a man can do in such a predicament. It double distilled it through a stainless column packed with copper mesh, and out my copper condenser. It is characterful, and sharp; exactly what I would want out of an unaged brandy. I use it to make amari and fortified wine (mostly vermouth).

[@TheSprCch]

We can get that type of air still here in the States from Mile Hi Distilling...I have one for distilling water for diluting everclear for my vanilla extracts... Love your video!!

[@jasonuhl5816]

The copper in the “kettle” is a good tip, thanks

[@rodanielsut]

In the U.S., we have some amazing box wines. My favourite brand is Bota Box. They have a bourbon barrel aged Cab Sav that is heavenly.

[@iangodfrey6310]

Is in Oz. Don't drink it myself but understand the appeal and convenience

[@StillIt]

Agreed haha

[@travb8232]

Sweet, I'll give this one a crack as well. I think that the 'Goon Bag' (plastic bag in a cardboard box) was invented in South Australia in the 1960's and it took off all over the world.

[@slimsshady78]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned in the comments yet but cask wine always reminds me of Goon of fortune, Frenzal Rhombs song 4 litres and what we called it here in Oz...10 buck chuck although its priced a little more than $10 here now.

[@the_golden_bough8541]

"That's actually not horrible." Glowing review!

[@MicPain]

Have done it a couple times with all the straggler bottles of wine that end up around the house from dinner parties and holiday gatherings -- one run, cuts, and then add sugar and cherries for some brandy. I let it sit a couple months and it becomes a super tasty mixer in other drinks.

[@chadspurling7411]

I've been distilling old, homemade, oxidized wine that was essentially undrinkable and it's actually pretty danged good. Made apple pie out of most of it for Christmas with good results.

[@MostlyInteresting]

These air stills are a special case. They are about 350W so sized for boiling out ethanol slowly, with out a temp control (other than shutoff). A better way to go is the same body with a PID control and the usual 750W element. That will do water distillation fast, and when you turn the temp down, anything else. Got one works a treat. Another Big plus is the standard ones with PID are common so really cheap. I think mine was 80USD.

[@nwliving]

Link ?

[@MostlyInteresting]

@@nwliving They are all over eBay and Amazon. Various and changing vendors. I think mine is a Vevor brand, but they are all the same pretty much.

[@GaOutlawVinyl]

Bought an Air Still from amazon about a year ago. It’s my first still & I love it. I’ve tried a lot of different fruit based mashes & most have turned out great. I have found that instead of using regular sugar I have better results with brown sugar. I was using honey as well but it’s gotten too expensive. My next mash experiment is going to be yellow corn meal, whole wheat flour & agave nectar. Any suggestions or tips?

[@StillIt]

Awesome! I put a video out last week. A flow chart on how to deal with any ingredient. That will be a solid start ☺️

[@PoppaLongroach]

I've distilled tomatoe wine and it turned out great. It's common here in USA

[@SavelijBalalajkinMelbourne]

I distill cheap Australian cask wine for years, with a 15-lt copper alembic. I am doing 2 cycles, with cutting heads/tails and recycling some of them. Some wines are performing better than others, and I could say that what I get after distilling reds is very closely resemble Italian grappa, but more subtle, more refined, especially after I let the spirits age in a small wooden barrels. Even more interesting is distilling certain white wines (again, some cask varieties fire off better than the rest). Initially, the product tastes rather vile, but after 6-12 month in a small barrel I get something very close in flavours to Armagnac.

[@peterkapinos277]

I have distilled a LOT of red wine. I make wine at home and some of the kits taste like "kit wine", a distinct taste. Whites are better to make at home. Anywho, it works well. The kits make 6 gallons, and I use an air still, so it's a lot of stripping runs. The end result is "vodka made from grapes." It has a distinction in the nose. But, it's useful and a fun thing to do.

[@jgibson5041]

I did a run about a year ago with 8 gallons of Franzia Red Wine. I did a 1 and done run and it tasted and smelled like a good red wine only 50% ABV. I aged it on French oak. It was a pretty nice brandy.

[@RiggerBrew]

I did a Home brew Merlot kit but didn't add the other stuff for clarity or sulfur additions. Once it was processed, used the French oak chips it came with. I was rather happy with the results for what it was.

[@yatesmachine1234]

This is a really good idea...did you still use copper even though you left out the sulfur?

[@nicloewenhagen5557]

Hello from Wisconsin USA! We have boxed wine here that comes in a 2.5/3 gallon bag of course! The first thing I ran in my still was five gallons of homemade strawberry wine that had frozen same thing here it was just ok thank you for the videos and all the great information

[@TwinSteel]

We got ‘em in the US - common to use it in college to play “slap bag”

[@FrugalShave]

I put in another big order with Into the Am after you last video. Had to get the new shirt and was happy too see they had a ton of new designs from my last order 6 months ago.

[@paulbirch7635]

Boxed wine is common here in Sweden as well. ...and yes, there was a time when math was involved, and the comparative index has a unit: APK. (Hint: Currency of Sweden is called Krona) Cheers!

[@ericdellamater7583]

Hey, long time follower first time poster.. made 18 gallons of pear wine this year. First batch was a little green on the pears. Not completely ripe. It turned out like a decent pinot grigio. So I said heck with it. I distilled 5 bottles in my air still that I. Bought because of you and I captured a VERY NICE pear vodka at 50% that everyone loves. I probably will turn all of batch 1 (5 gal) into pear vodka Instead. This experiment you posted is so similar to what I did except use a white wine. Just a thought for future video.

[@Not_Of_This_World868]

If you have a used wine cask. Aging an average tasting brandy in it can add a nice subtle bump of fruity and oaky flavor. And in a red wine cask, it will add a pink hue as well.

[@damedimeski6177]

Hey I'm new to your channel and watching you do all this stuff is awesome. In the last couple of months I read lots on destilation and every day I learn more about it from your videos, thanks on that. In this episode you are trying to make Brande that's cool but I will suggest you to make it from white wine probably some rizling or some sour wine. Double destilation and you are good to go. Put some oak sticks in it for 3-4 months and enjoy.

[@johnheath86]

The vanilla sweetness will come from the vanillin in the oak that the wine would have been in contact with. Country red is made with surplus Australian wine, it’s actually not bad wine. But yes, the sulphur is high as is all boxed wine, this is to try to counter the oxygen ingress that naturally occurs through plastic, and is done to extend the shelf life.

[@skybarnum9859]

When i first built my still i was in a local discount store that had a sale on box wine that was dated. Dirt cheap, cheap enough that it was cheaper than making a sugar wash for my initial cleanse. Picked up enough boxes that it raised a few eyebrows at checkout. First 5 boxes were dumped in and just allowed to run with no condensor. The rest were dumped in and made into my first ever distilate. It was a mix of strawberry and some type of white wine. The results were quite palatble, but not exactly amazing. But i was still learning and have often thought about trying it again just to see if i could do better.

[@kirkstinson7316]

White sangria makes some pretty tasty spirits. The big 1 gallon bottles are fairly cheap to buy

[@jeremycostin6352]

Im actually doing this experiment right now using wine grape lees (its harvest time in aus right now) to make a shiraz, i intend to tincture it with some 60 abv white rum i made a while ago to make fortified wine. I find that if you use lees to make your own the cost/return ratio gets far better.

[@ryanmacneill2857]

We have box wine in Canada. I work as security guard in the summer at a yacht club it common thing you see on the boats. Due to they up less space in bar fridge on smaller boats and less likely to break when boat rocking when sea rough

[@dreamspectre_]

This makes me genuinely curious about distilling some homebrew traditional mead to use in fortifying other more specialty homebrew meads!

[@Chemist1076]

We have some really good and some mediocre box wine in Canada. Our favorite is Wayne Gretzky box wine.. one of the more expensive ones but cheaper than in a bottle.

[@darkally1235]

Boxed wine is available in Canada, although they are usually cheaper blends. However, my wife and I love them as it makes it much easier to have a glass when we want.

[@pfhmusicplus3649]

French guy here. You might be surprised of the quality of some of the bagged wine (Bed-in-box is the term) we can buy here. Sometimes quite cheap too ! I don't think the plastic bag alters the taste at all. It all comes down to the quality of the wine in it.

[@problemwithauthority]

Several years ago I did this same experiment with completely different results. I put several bottles of cheap wine in the air still filling it to the full mark and l let it run. After I hit the foreshots point the condenser lifted and burped. Then all hell broke loose. I pushed the condenser back down and held it there...then like watching a cartoon the condenser lifted again and spewed hot red wine all over my kitchen. I was laughing hysterically as I watched these few seconds unfold...it was funny to watch. After cleaning up my mess I found that hot red wine does not wash off white painted walls, hence requiring a repaint. The first coat didn't cover completely and another coat of paint was needed.

[@BillThrobsme]

I bought a cheap $10 cushion of multi fruit flavoured with 5L worth and run it through the air still and found it was the best use of the still so far though that was years ago when I only distilled to have a cheap buzz. I've grown since then

[@etvon32]

Yep, buying bagged milk and wine is totally normal here (Hungary). You can also buy cheap eine in 5 liter glass jugs "family pack" we call it.

[@That_dude_who_knows_some_stuff]

I’m so thankful you posted something! I was bored and needed you’re awesome face to be entertained. Pouring a glass and getting ready!

[@IronGunner10]

Yup! Normal here in the US! Actually quite popular in my neck of the woods because box wine is cheap!

[@DB-thats-me]

SNAP! I did my first attempt yesterday with Velluto Rosso! 😳 With your advice I’ll re-distill with copper. Meh was the exact reaction I had after the first run. Thank you for your posts. 👍

[@transplantinnz2716]

I wonder about doing this each time I’m at the grocery store- thanks! I use the gin basket with copper saddles all the time, too.

[@romanyrobes25]

Living in France, I use the absolute cheapest plastic jug wine, 5E99 for 5 liters and run it through my thumper still, (putting some wine in the thumper) Gives an acceptable raw brandy, even better if you age it with red wine soaked oak. Making cuts is essential for a drinkable result.

[@cogboy302]

Boxes of wine are a thing in the UK also. Bonus is it doesn't smash if you drop it when you're smashed.

[@FinnBearOfficial]

Man, that interview with the American chap who built those old stills. It won't let me go! Good going man. Keep it up.

[@StillIt]

Lol really? KZbin keeps promoting it to you ya mean?

[@FinnBearOfficial]

@@StillIt oh yes! Well, maybe it's my bingewatching. And to be fair, the still designs are hardly older now than the time of recording 😄

[@FinnBearOfficial]

@@StillIt I wonder if people have tried to build their own? I would love to see one where you make something using one of those ancient stills.

[@thegreendabbler6987]

here in Italy i do a distilation once a year with left over wine from my cellar. i do one run through a thumper with mandirin peel, honey and rosmary then i proof it to about 55 abv and its realy good brandy. this year we filled a 5 liter oak barell made in sicily to age it 5 years.

[@ItsTristan1st]

Box wine is also big in South Africa, except the bag usually metalized.

[@atlekaland9404]

We have both wine and hard liquor as bag-in-box in Norway. Quite common to buy wine at least in bag-in-box.

[@myme5615]

I reckon age it rum barrel oak, maybe add a coffee bean or two in it, go for a rum and raison flavoured liquor

[@KilroyWasHere83]

USA guy here. We have box wine here. I see it all the time in wine sections of grocery stores, and in gas stations that sell wine

[@paulmyfinger]

Yep. We have it in the UK. I think the bag is foil though. I never thought to sleep on it😀

[@niles006]

In the U.S. we had Boones Farm wine, specifically Strawberry Hill. Very popular with kids in the 70’s. Not sure if you have that in New Zealand. That would be kinda interesting 🤔

[@TheNumbers400]

Great to get the tips for dealing with sulfates. Thanks.

[@JakHart]

It's definitely normal for us in America, Franzia Blush is the choice amongst the 16-25 year olds. Not only have I used the bags as a pillow, but myself and some friends, using some milk crates and some zip ties, made a pretty decent raft.

[@jeffmills5144]

Aransas, USA 2, 3 and 5L size are common.

[@billb89]

Shout out to Fayetteville AR, WOOOOOO PIG SOOOOOIE

[@prdprdprdprdprdel]

"Perfect for sharing with friends" is a true statement, as those are usually shared between friends who live together.. in front of the train station...

[@doodwasalreadytaken]

Distilling 20lt of Sonata Estate fresh dry white boxes wine. Running it down to 40% then taking the spirit and mixing it back with 5lt of cheap red cask dry red and distilling that. The plan will be to then soak the spirit, some dried fruits and nuts and some old red wine cask chunks for a month, bottle then drink

[@reiksrayb]

I got a good deal from Amazon 30 bottle red wine kit under £20 fermented out 😊did not use the oak chips provided as I would age after distillation stripping run first then run again slower fantastic results then used some to make a cherry brandy made apple brandy have the rest ageing will be ready for drinking by April 23

[@BillThrobsme]

We also have Smirnoff in a bag in Australia with multiple flavours

[@schmidtyschmidty5118]

YES we have boxed wine in America :D My hometown has a big event in the spring that all the students throw house parties for and the townies call it the Tour De Franzia

[@joeledwards6587]

South African here, we have boxed wine as well, typically 5liter volume but 1 and 2 liter also exist

[@ZachZRipper]

Always my recommendation to add a little bit of hydrogen peroxide to store-bought wines and let it sit for a bit to react with the sulfites!

[@JohnFerrerAkaEric]

How much would you recommend?

[@ZachZRipper]

@@JohnFerrerAkaEric oh, really not much. For a standard bottle of wine (750mL) you'll usually have total sulfite concentrations between 50-200 ppm... Now, a good portion of it is locked in non-reactive sulfites and you'll have a lower concentration of free sulfite between 10-50 ppm. If you remove this, the other locked sulfite will convert to free sulfite. If you don't want to worry about the minutia, a good 2mL of food grade H2O2 solution will often do the trick. Though I'd recommend doing 4 additions of 0.5mL and waiting a half hour in between. So add, cover+mix, leave uncovered, and repeat.

[@ZachZRipper]

@@JohnFerrerAkaEric but to be honest, 2mL of 15% peroxide solution tends to be overkill even. If you have more concentrated material, use less but still allow enough time for the conversion of total to free SO2

[@JohnFerrerAkaEric]

@@ZachZRipper I'm no chemist but wouldn't the hydrogen peroxide be capable of also reacting with the alcohol?

[@ZachZRipper]

Just keep an eye on pH... Wine is absolutely loaded in tartaric acid, but still a good idea to monitor it.

[@CalcasieuImperialPiper]

Normal in us. Here in Louisiana we have drive thru daiquiris shops I guess some people up north don’t have that

[@lizdimps1498]

I did this exact thing for my first sacrificial distillation in a brand new still. Didn’t dare taste it but it smelled very interesting.

[@cbr900dork]

Heck yeah we have "Juice boxes" here in the US. I had to run my Franzia Sangria box of wine 3 times before it was drinkable! It was gross! I also ran two bottles of "19 Crimes Hard Chard" (16% ABV) in the air still and it was better... Still terrible but better!

[@peterb6836]

Wineboxes are quite normal here, netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, every shop I go to, they are for sale and contain pretty good wine for an affordable price