HOW TO MAKE PLUM WINE FROM SCRATCH - using 5 gallon demijohns

[orderlyqueue]

praise to the plumtreee, hada redskin tree in our garden all my life, every year we eat them just about, have made jam before, next year we are doing wine, just took our discarded plums to the dump, i could smell the wine then when i opened the barrel, cant imagine how delightful the finished product tastes! Bring on 2012

[Grayfoxx861]

6 months???? don't u mean 6 weeks

[MrPlumbertuck]

I have a batch of plum wine going now, it is bubbling very well, I also am making muscadine wine as well. Muscadines are " wild grapes" that grow in my area in Georgia. My son and I picked them. Do you think it will be ready for Thanksgiving or Christmas?

[poldsmobile]

having made sloe gin last year that turned out extremely well, i'm planning on making plum wine this year. there a huge quantity of wild cherry plums near me, in both bright red and amber / yellow skinned verities. should i mix these, or keep them separate? Great vid BTW.

[rickvanman]

@poldsmobile I've only ever kept them seperate, but I don't think there's anything to keep you from mixing them :o)

[Krustyknutz]

Hi rick.....well impressed with this, I just got 25lb of wild yellow plums, same as the ones you had, could you please say how the yellow plum wine turned out as you only mentioned the red plums which you bottled. Also, did you stone all the plums before you added the Pectolase to them in the first stage.  Hope you reply as the plums are in the wine cooler for now. Kind regards Krusty

[rickvanman]

@Krustyknutz oops- sorry, only just saw this. no i didnt stone them - too much faffing around. the plum wine turned out very well, although the following year it wasnt so good - i think it varys from year to year.

[Krustyknutz]

@rickvanman Many thanks for the reply Rick.......the wine is now well on its way... so I will let you all know how mine will turn out around the New Year. Small tip for anyone who has the same fermenting barrel as Rick, apply a small ammount of Vaseline to the sealing ring and the screw on lid for a real airtight seal and your bubbler will work well.. Once again, many thanks Rick and keep up the excellent work.

[supervascular]

Ever since watching this last year I have been waiting and waiting for wild plubs/greegages to fruit. This weekend I should be getting 5 gallons of greengage wine going! then a feww weeks after the plumbs may be ready, shall let you know how it turns out

[rickvanman]

@supervascular Excellent! My best advice is to make sure all your equipment and containers are sterile and totally clean when you process it all :o)

Looking forward to hearing how it turns out.

[rweilage]

Next week......Hemp wine!

[rickvanman]

@RiCoHeTMcQuEeN Absolutely!

[DumpYourTelevision]

from scratch?

I was hoping that in this video you may have shown us how to harvest wild yeast.

Has anyone tried it without using packet yeasts yet?

Still interesting, best look into lens rather than the camcorder screen btw...

[0123jenny1]

Got another yeast and the wine is bubbling now thanks for your help.I was on line buying the yeast and I seen sachets of turbo yeast you add it to 23litres of water and 10lb of sugar and you leave for 2 days and you have 23% proof alcohol,so I bought it lol.I'm going to make 2 day wine I'll let you know how I get on.

[rickvanman]

@0123jenny1 glad youre up and bubblinr. The quick wine will get you sloshed, but it probably wont taste that nice. good luck, be interested how you get on.

[0123jenny1]

Thanks rick I really appreciate your constant tips through out making my wine.I put my ear to it this morning and I can hear it bubbling inside the 5gallon container does that mean it will probably start coming through the bubblier?

[rickvanman]

@0123jenny1 Hi, not sure. Rekon the main bubbler should be bubbling by now. If you're sure you don't have an air leak in the demijhon / cork / lid / bubbler, I would give it another day or two & then try adding another yeast sachet. (you are using wine yeast yes?)

[0123jenny1]

Hi rick my wine hasn't bubbled yet and it's been in for a few days now,how long did yours take to start bubbling?

[rickvanman]

@0123jenny1 Hi. It usually starts within 2-3 days. Was the liquid cool enough when you put the yeast in? if it was too hot, it would kill the yeast. Give it another few days & try another yeast sachet.

Also, is the demijhon sealed air-tight? if there is a slight gap, the pressure will not build up enough to make the bubbler work - try tightening your lid and pushing your bung in tighter - might do the trick.

Good luck

Rick

[L0ver80y]

Love the background music :)

[L0ver80y]

00:01 = skip googles add

click skip one second to skip add

[0123jenny1]

Thanks for you help and great video,I'm starting making wine this Saturday you make it look simple hopefully it's as easy as you make it look.

[rickvanman]

@0123jenny1 Thanks. I'm learning that winemaking can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be! I prefer the simple.

Good luck with your batch :o)

[0123jenny1]

did you boil the plums

[rickvanman]

@0123jenny1 no, just crushed them and topped up with boiling water

[WaterWerksNW]

How many gallons of water do you start with when you let the juices soak for 3-4 days? Also how much water do you use with the sugar. I'm going to be making a batch this weekend. Do you have the recipe online somewhere? Thanks for making this video, I've wanted to make plum wine for a while.

[rickvanman]

@WaterWerksNW I used about 3-4 gals of water for the initial soaking, then topped it up to 5 gals with the sugar water.

My universal recipe is 4lbs of fruit to 2lbs of sugar for every gallon.

therefore, 5 gals = 20lbs fruit + 10lbs sugar

good luck ;o)

[j2thakhomeboy]

i cant wait for the plums this summer. rick, is plum the easiest to make?

[rickvanman]

It was pretty straight forward, although extracting the juice from the must was a bit of a pain as it kept blocking up the sieve. I'm sure there are easier natural products to turn into wine - will have a go at nettles later this year & possibly elderflower, but not dandelion (I don't like the taste).

[loku1125]

@j2thakhomeboy plum wine takes the least amount of time oh and does any one know how much a 5gallon demijohn costs

[rickvanman]

@loku1125 by far the plum wine had been the most enjoyable so far - will definitely be making a LOT more of it this year. 5 gallon demijohns are about £10

[loku1125]

@rickvanman oh okay good to know

[greatruaha]

@loku1125 If you are in the UK go to Wilkinsons, I think I bought mine for £15 or so, they have all the supplies you need there

[94lexdog]

hi howcome you dont press your plum's to get all the juice out. and why dont you rince out your equiptment like your funnel before you use it??? :D

[rickvanman]

The pectolase does the equivalent job, plus the plums do get squished with a potato masher, and squeezed through a muslin cloth.

Rinsing the equipment off with tap water will nullify the job the sterilizing solution just did.

[toppa196]

how strong is it? will it get you drunk?

[rickvanman]

I'd say! One galss and youre slurring your speech :o)

[robblac]

intersting nick, thanks :)

[T1g3rZz]

I made some wine in science last year... It was horrible... Im sure yours tasted nice though rick! :D

[MicheleMidnight]

ok..so you can make wine, do repairs, build stuff...dance in a silly costume....yup...my crush is in tact!

[rickvanman]

d:o)

[MicheleMidnight]

that's right...don't encourage her...lol

[baddogonline]

You keep coming up with the coolest most interesting videos... :)

[natejace1]

so how is the wine? your videos are great !

[rickvanman]

Thanks. yep, wine is doing well - hope to do another video when i bottle them.

[lambarini]

mmmmmmmm plums. shame i cnt have thm in the house as my sister is very very very alergic 2 thm. i like plum wine, ive tried it b4 as some1 i know made some. lovley stuf x

[TheMusicMark]

that's cool rick!

[rickvanman]

cheers Mark - perfect project for on-campus! LOL

[Flaviomoy]

Great vide man!

Thank you!

PS Could you pls expand on the pectolase and its proportions...

[FenderGibsonWashburn]

There are a lot of mulberry bushes (trees?) around here and virtually nobody harvests them. This sounds like a wonderful idea for next autumn. Thanks for the idea Rick.

[bestSVMS]

how come it cant feed of suguar in plums

[ScottRoseVideo]

Amazing stuff Rick, how is the wine going by the way?

[SelfSufficientEire]

It took me 5 videos to explain this :-)

Mental note, must try scripting :-)

[Domingo0022]

Wow, it's snowing over here in Canada now :(

[KhmerD0g]

i challenge u to make rice wine.

[realworldproductions]

didn't even know that was possible

[rickvanman]

Sake - rice wine is quite nice - I'll  have to look into it.

[KhmerD0g]

the asians are doing for centuries. i know for a fact the vietnamese are making. i tried it and it was nice.

[Moozman]

Amazing stuff and very informative!

Is there anything you don't know "how-to" do?

Mooz

[Petersunnergren]

You know what you should make? Mead.

It's pretty easy... Film it and show us how you do!

Go easy on the herbs though, most people use too many, being worried that the mead may be too sweet. Mead is supposed to be sweet.

If you've never tried proper mead, you will be amazed. (the mead you can get at Morrisons is kind of ok, but way too heavy on the herbs)

[realworldproductions]

and what is mead ??

[Petersunnergren]

What is Mead? oh no, you poor poor thing.

It is said to be one the oldest, if not the oldest alcoholic beverage known to man. (not sure how true that is but hey).

It was a popular drink in Scandinavia in Viking times.. I believe the Celts were also partial to it.

Many think Mead is a kind of beer but they are wrong.. it is wine made from honey.

It is the sweetest, smoothest and tastiest drink I have ever tries (as long as you don't go crazy with the herbs, like I think some of the Celts did)