A Journey at making Wine!

[Jr. Greenthumb]

I read Midwestbluntmans post on Marijuana Wine and decided right then and there I was going to make me some one of these days. I have since read many things on making homemade wine. I am as confused now as I was the day I first started looking in to it. So, I figured I would do a little journal on my ventures at making My Marijuana Wine. This is going to be a very long journal since it takes a couple months to make wine and it is recomended to let them age for 6 months to a year after bottling to have a good tasting wine.

The main venture of obtaining the equipment I need began a couple weeks ago when I went to a huge beer and wine sells place. This place has a huge walk in cigar humidor and everything. They have beer and wine kits but they really specialize in homemade beer not wine. They have the equipment kits but not much of anything else. They didn't even have the yeast I needed nor anyone to answer my questions about how to make wine or what I actually need. There wine kit was like $89.99 or something like that and didn't come with much, it had stuff like a hydrometer, cork depressor, stuff to sterelize the bottles with, a siphoning tube, a shitty air-lock, and some other stupid shit. I think I could have bought it all seperately right there off the shelf for $20 less than the whole kit to tell you the truth. The main guy that worked that area was on vacation so they told me to come back in a week and he could probably order anything I could possibly want.

So, I went back and we was more lost than the last guy but he pointed me to a small hole in the wall beer store. I went there today and the guy that owns it runs a home brewers club and has about anything I could possibly want to make beer, wine, or anything else that has alcohol in it. His helper was working but she called him and I spoke to him on the phone for a few minutes and asked him about the 50 different types of wine yeast he carried and some other questions I had too. I was pretty vague about what I was trying to make I just kept saying homemade wine. He was like first..... What kind one wine are you making. I just blurted out leaf wine. lol....

I think it stumped him as bad as it did me when I said that. He was like what kind of leaf? I told him well depends on what you want, you could use basil, mint, or any other kind of fresh herb you wanted. He left it alone after that. We spoke a little about the different types of yeast he had and how different types of yeast produces a totally different taste. Like I said he had probably 50 different types of yeast in the fridge and probably 100 different types of hopps for making beer. He has anything and everything you could think of. The dude probably sells stills too if I were to ask him.

Anyhow, My head hit overload so I told him I would re-read my list of crap I need and would stop in tomorrow when he was there and buy everything I need to start my first batch of wine. So, I set down and put everything together that I need to take with me tomorrow. I re-wrote the how to make so marijuana was no where in sight in the wording. So, we'll see how things go tomorrow and I will be sure to put up prices and everything for all to see.

I think this is going to be a very interesting venture, that is the reason I am making this in to a journal. I hope I am not one of the few idiots in the world interested in Marijuana Wine. I am sure there is one more out there that will try this. :rofl2:

When I get home tomorrow from the little store I will fill everyone in on what I bought and I will also put up the ingredients and method I plan on using for this attempt. I would put it up now but I want to discuss it with this guy a little before I actually do it.

So, Let the Venture begin.....

[midwestbluntman]

Im in dude,I got to see what this wine is actually going to be like.hell i make some my damn self if it turns out for you bro.This journal will make HGB history,:teef:.This ought to be a real adventure.

[Cranky]

I'm in...will be interested to see how this goes myself.....would be nice to take some canna wine home next time i visit;)

top man for putting this up :gthumb:

cranky

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Alrighty, here we go. The venture now begins......


I just now got back from the Brewing store. I got a little more than I really needed but I figured what the hell. I will put a list below of what I bought....

Yeast - $5.75 I bought the more expensive stuff that is supposed to be more for sweet wines. The stuff I got is from White Labs, it is the Sweet mead/Wine yeast. The vial of yeast I got is good for up to 5 gallons of wine so I may be making a little more than I thought this time.

Yeast Nutrition - $1.10 for 2oz. You use this to make sure your yeast works at it's best potential. It also helps the yeast ferment faster and at a more regulated rate.

Sugar - $1.00/lb You can use other sugar but they say this is the best for making homebrews. It is Corn Sugar. I am sure I could have searched and found it cheaper but I bought 6lbs for $6. I was there and it's not like that was all that expensive.

Campden Tablets - $1.50 for 50 tablets These are used to clean your Equipment. Buckets for fermenting and Bottles before you bottle the wine. It is also used to clarify your wine before you bottle it up. I will have to read up on that more but it was only $1.50 for 50 tablets.

Sodium Metabisulphite - $0.95 for 2oz. This is used to kill the yeast when you are done fermenting. You can also use it to sterilize your equipment. I just heard about this shit today but for a buck I figured if I may need it I better get it.

Muslin Grain Bags - $1.25/ 2 bags Use this to filter the leaf and shit out of the wine. It doesn't look like it is all that fine of a filter so I may have to use something else too as I am making the wine. We'll see when the time comes.

Hydrometer - $5.95 This little tool is used to tell you the alcohol content of the wine. It is also used somehow to tell you when you are ready to kill your yeast. By using this tool you can tell how much sugar content is in it too. I gots a lot of reading on it to do too.

Air-Lock - $1.25 This is a little piece of shit to tell the truth but the guy there says he uses them on all of his beer vats and they work fine but instead of tearing it apart to clean it he buys a new one for every brew. Looks easy to clean and all but it is only a buck and a quarter. We'll see.....

So, on the stuff I needed to make wine I spent $23.75. Plus uncle sams Taxes, you know he has to has his part. I also spent $3 on some cool imported German Monchshof Schwarz beer to drink while I am getting all this shit together tonight.

I will get some pics tonight of all the stuff I bought so ya'll can see what the stuff looks like. I got to go do some work for a few hours tonight so when I get back about 10pm tonight I will get some pics up and get the brew a going, or at least shit started for it.

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Marijuana Wine


Equipment:
1. 1 - 5 gallon fermenting bucket
2. 1 – Air-lock
3. 3 ft length of plastic tubing
4. Muslin or filtering bags
5. Wine bottles and corks
6. Hydrometer

Ingredients:
1. 8 ounces dried marijuana leaf, trim, stems, and/or left over bud.
2. 3 fresh oranges and 2 lemons
3. 6lbs of Corn sugar. If a sweeter wine is preferred, 1 lb more sugar is used; for a dryer wine, 1 lb less sugar.
4. One Vial or cake of Live active yeast. (Enough to brew up to 5 gallons)
5. 3 tsp Yeast Nutrition
6. Sodium Metabisulphite
7. Campden Tablets
8. 4 gallons distilled water

Preparation:
1. Sterilize fermentation bucket and all equipment to be used.
2. Heat ½ gallon of distilled water to near boiling (do not use an aluminum pan). Completely dissolve the sugar in hot water until it looks like plain water again. Set aside to cool.
3. As sugar is dissolving in hot water on stove squeeze juice from oranges and lemons. Filter juice thru a muslin or grain bag to remove all pulp and seeds.
4. Put all marijuana into Fermenting Bucket.
5. Pour juice and hot sugar water over marijuana. Put lid on fermenting bucket, hold finger over air-lock hole
and shake vigorously to mix contents well. Set aside to cool.
CAUTION! Before proceeding make sure the mixture has cooled completely!
6. Pour Vial of Yeast into fermenting bucket or mix cake of yeast in warm (not Hot) Water until completely dissolved then pour in to bucket.
7. Pour the yeast solution into the bucket, add 3 tsp. Yeast Nutrition, put on lid, shake well, and immediately
remove the lid. Fill the Bucket to within 4-5 inches from the top with 2 ½ gallons distilled water. Be sure to leave several inches of space at the top of the bucket or it will overflow when fermentation begins.
8. Put the Air-Lock in the lid, place the bucket on several thicknesses of newspapers or in a rubbermade tote and put it in a dark place. The back of a closet is ideal. The contents of the jug will begin fermenting vigorously within a few hours. Often some of the liquid will bubble out of the jug, especially when the jug is filled too full. Just wipe it up and change the newspapers. DO NOT ADD MORE WATER! This super-active fermentation lasts for several days. During this time it is helpful to open the jug and push the leaf down with a clean stick or wooden spoon. Be sure to replace the lid and air-lock.
9. Allow fermentation to continue for 2 weeks. During this time bubbles will be rising continuously through the leaf. Add small amounts of cool water during this 2 week interval to gradually fill the jug. At the same time, push the leaf down as before. Always replace the lid and make sure air-lock is in the lid.
10. The total fermentation time varies, but the average time is 4 weeks. The active fermentation of the first few weeks will gradually get slower and slower until it stops. To check for completion of fermentation use a hydrometer or tip the bucket slightly back and forth. If no bubbles rise up through the leaf, the fermentation is complete. DO NOT SHAKE THE JUG AT THIS TIME.


Bottling and Aging:
1. When the fermentation is complete, carefully move the jug as not to disturb the sediment on the bottom. A sink counter is a good place to work. Insert the plastic tubing down the inside of the jug to about 1 inch from the bottom. Siphon (start by sucking on the tube) the contents into another clean glass jug. At this time it's best to allow the wine to pass through several layers of clean nylon stocking or muslin before allowing it to enter the second jug. This will remove particles that may come through while siphoning. The wine will look murky at this time.
2. Discard the fermenting jug with the leaf. Take the new jug of wine, cap it loosely and put it back in the dark place. Gradually the wine will become clear and a layer of sediment will form on the bottom. DO NOT DISTURB THE JUG AT THIS TIME!
3. Allow it to settle and clarify in this fashion for one month then, being very careful not to disturb the sediment on the bottom, carry the jug back to the sink counter.
4. Rinse several wine bottles in boiling water. Carefully siphon the wine from the jug through several layers of nylon or muslin, as before being careful not to disturb the sediment on the bottom. When the
bottles are filled, cork or cap them tightly. Seal the cap or cork with electrical tape or melted wax.
5. The wine is now ready to drink (if you're too eager), but it's going to taste nasty. It's best to put the
bottles back in their dark place. The longer they are aged in this manner, the clearer, smoother and more mellow this wine will become (I highly recommend aging at least 6 months). Note: the wine will never
be as crystal clear as a commercial wine, as this is a natural wine with no chemicals added

[CB]

don't see why this wont work, as we all know what alcohol will do when mixed with our trim ;)

I'm not much of a wine drinker myself but wouldnt turn down weed wine

seems pretty easy so far and if ya let it age like recomended then you could have a taste about 9 months from seed....1 month veg 2 flower and 6 for age'n the wine.....

not bad at all

so are you gonna go for sweet or dry ?

myself i perfer dry when i do drink a bit of it

whats this air lock for bro? and how much for the bottles and corks and the other stuff ya need...

bring on the weed wine bro I'm sub'd

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Hey Cheap....

As for the bottles and corks. I didn't buy them today as it will be a while before I need them and I may come across a deal I can't pass up between now and then. But the Cost there was $10.95 for 12 bottles and the corks where like $0.25 each, they also had bags of them but didn't see the price on them. The bottles were really nice too. Spring time is coming up and I tend to visit a lot of flea markets and suck so I am bound to find some goodies there for my new little hobby.

As for the wine I like. Well I drink my fair share of wine man. It really depends on what kind of mood I am in and what I am eating. I like a dry wine if I'm eating something like steak, deer, or something with a tomatoe base in it. If I am just drinking wine on it's own or something with a white sauce then I prefer a sweeter wine. My favorite wine is White Zinfindel, I have to buy it in the small bottles because whatever size bottle I buy, it don't last thru the night. My wife won't let me buy the 2 gallon box, she's afraid I'll try to drink it all in one night like I do the huge bottles I sneak and buy now and then.

As for the wine I am shooting for this time. I am shooting for a sweeter wine. I think that there may be a nastey taste with the wine so I figure if it is sweeter maybe it will mask the flavor if it is bad. Plus if it is sweeter than the sugars may eat up a lot of the bad taste in the fermentation as well. At least I hope so...

As for the material I'm using. I think this go round I am gonna use alot of the trim and leaf I have stowed away. I was gonna use it for hash but I think this would be a good place to use it. I had 3 plants from last harvest I cut the main tops off of and tossed them in the closet to dry and didn't do anything else with them. There is really a lot of bud on it too. Probably 4-6 ounces plus the leaf and stems as well. I will toss some of this in too but I am gonna save a lot of it because I want to make some cannabutter too.

I just got home, I had my wife buy the lemons and oranges while I was out and now I need to go get some pics and get the rest of this stuff together to see if I can hopefully get my wine a brewin tonight.

We'll see.....
Jr.

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well I guess I should first start off with pictures of some of the purchases I made yesterday.

This is the airlock:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1507&stc=1&d=1138081679


This is the nutrients and stuff I got:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1508&stc=1&d=1138081679


This is the Hydrometer:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1509&stc=1&d=1138081679


This is the Muslin bags:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1510&stc=1&d=1138081679



This is the Yeast:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1511&stc=1&d=1138081679


This is the beer I drank. Should have bought 2, but it was some awesome beer. I suggest if you see it anywhere to get it to try. If nothing else the bottle is cool.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1512&stc=1&d=1138081679

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well I am gonna have to rewrite the steps because things just don't work out right the way it is written now. I'm keeping notes and will take care of all of that at another time. It is 1:00am now and I am ready to get my ass between the sheets with the ole' lady.

This pic is the buckets I have. The one on the left is a 2 gallon bucket. I was going to use that to ferment in but when I weighed out 8 ounces of good trim it almost completely filled it up so I decided to go with the 5 gallon on the right. The trim I ended up using was probably 50% leaf, not fan leaves but the leaf I trim off as the bud is drying. 35% bud, and 15% stems. There ended up being a little bit of bud there but I wasn't gonna smoke it anywaqy so this is gonna be a good thing to use it for.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1513&stc=1&d=1138082094

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1514&stc=1&d=1138082303


Now that I have my fermentation bucket I have to do a little modification to it so that the airlock will sit on it correctly. It has to have an airtight seal. The bucket lid also has a gasket in it to completely seal that as well. In the lid I cut a 1" hole with some electrical knock-out tools I had in the basement. Here are a few pics of that:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1518&stc=1&d=1138082521

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1515&stc=1&d=1138082521

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1516&stc=1&d=1138082521

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1517&stc=1&d=1138082521

[Jr. Greenthumb]

So here is what I did tonight....

1. Measured out 8 ounces of trim and bud and set aside.

2. Set up my fermentation bucket.

3. Squeezed my fruit and filtered thru the muslin bag.

4. Heated up water on the stove and disolved 6 pounds of sugar in about 1/2 gallon of water.

5. Sterilized my fermintation bucket and all tools I planned on using. Most just before I actually used them. Next time I will be more prepared and I also plan on typing it up so whoever follows this recipe knows ahead what to do.

6. Put all marijuana in fermintation bucket.

7. Poured fruit juice in on top of marijuana

8. Poured Sugar water in on top of marijauana and fruit juice.

9. Put lid onto bucket a shook very well and set aside to let cool to room temperature.


Now all I have left to do is wait until the mush (the shit in the bucket now) cool to room temperature and add the yeat, yeast nutrition, and additional water. Since it is 1:00am I am going to set everything aside for tomight and finish it all up in the morning. I am putting out about 4 gallons of water so that in the morning it will be room temp and all of the chlorine will have evaporated. I may run over to the store first thing and grab 4 gallons of distilled water just to make the mix a little more pure. The city water may have stuff in it to kill bacteria and yeast now that I think about it so YES, first thing in the morning when I take my son to school I will pick up 5 gallons of distilled water.

Below are a few pics....

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well, First thing this morning when I took my son to school I picked up 4 gallons of distilled water. I set out the Yeast Vial since the package says to set out 3 hours before using. I sat down with the rest of the family and ate breakfast and figured today would be a late start. After I ate and played around with updating my recipe on my own hard drive I went to finishing up my wine mixture.

I opened the bucket up and it looked a little nastey:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1525&stc=1&d=1138115423


I then added the vial of Yeast and 3 tsp. of Yeast Nutrition. I put the lid back on a shaked the bucket really really hard to get everything mixed up very well. After that I added 2 1/2 gallon of water which gives me a total of 3 gallons of liquid in the mix.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1526&stc=1&d=1138115423


Well, Here goes hour one. Everything is completed and fermentation should begin any time now:

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1527&stc=1&d=1138115423

[Shadows]

3. 2½ to 3 lbs of white or turbinado sugar or 3 lbs of refined or natural sugar can be used. If a sweeter wine is preferred, ½ lb more sugar is used; for a drier wine, ½ lb less sugar

This is from your ingredients list, but in setup you said you disolved 6lbs of sugar to 1/2 gallon of water?

I ask here because if you doubled your sugar needs, and water needs, you may still have weak wine because you didnt increase your MJ needs.

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Sorry Shadows, My recipe is a bit off.

I will update it as soon as I can. The recipe called for: 4-6 ounces of leaf. 8 ounces is preferred for optimal flavor. When I weighed out 8 ounces of leaf, trim, and 1/2 trimmed bud it turned out to be quite a bit. 8 ounces is quite a bit to be using for 1 gallon of wine in my opinion. I think 8 ounces is enough for 3 gallons at least. I won't really know until I get done with this whole experiment but I will change all my calculations then.

I didn't really double the ingredients. I just took into consideration things I have read from wine making sites and put it together with this recipe using 8 ounces of trim. I am just making it the way it seems to me would be the best way.

Does that make sense?

As for the wine being weak. From what I am gathering the oranges and lemons are what is flavoring the wine more than anything. Now, I know the MJ is playing a big part of it in this case but you can make wine without the MJ with just the oranges and lemons.

I don't know man. We'll see how it turns out in the end I guess.

I'll update the recipe here in a minute bro.....

[Shadows]

oh yeah, makes perfect sence. I was just reading some things that didnt add up and had to ask.

Im no wine drinker, or a drinker at all for that matter so I dont really have anything to add, but I do wish you well in this endeavor, and hope ya get a nice pleasing drunken high effect, lol.

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Alrighty Shadows, I updated the recipe to what I am using now. Well, actually I did it the other day but didn't have anything else of value to add so I didn't post it. :rolleyes:

Anyhow, I check it everynight to see if it is still fermenting vigorously like it should be. The airlock I have I put a little bit of water in so that when it releases pressure it has to raise that little cap up out of the water a 1/2" or so. I did that so I can tell exactly what is happeneing and not leaving no guess work to it.

Well last night when I checked the grow I stuck my head in to the closet and it wasn't bubbling anymore like it had been the last few days. I have a small video file of it bubbling but I am still working on getting it changed from a quicktime file to something else so everyone can view it. Hoping I can get in touch with cel, he messes with that stuff I think. Anyway, I am thru step 8 of wine making now.

Today is day 6 so in 5 days the vigorous fermentation was done. So now I give it two more weeks at fermenting. I also need to figure out how to use this Hydrometer so I know exactly when to stop the fermentation. I'll stop in to the store I got all this shit from and see if they can show me what I need to do and look for.

I guess it has to ferment for another 2 weeks or so. I got a few small bottles cleaned and put back but I still need to get some regular wine bottles. I got 3 gallons so I need to have quite a bit of things to put it in.

[Fillabong]

egads man! i've made several batches of ale. it ferments @ the perfect temp in my room. I could help you with beer but I know nothing of this 'wine making' ordeal. none the less I'm pretty curious to see how it plays out.

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well Filla it seems to be fermenting right along schedule bro. It says that it should ferment real vigerously for the first few days then slow down. And that is exactly what it has done. I counted the airbubbles per minutes the other day when it was going really hard and it was like 55 airbubbles per minute and today it was at like 2-3 per minute. That was before I stirred it up. I haven't been back up to check it so I guess I'll see later on tonight.

When I opened the bucket up today it was some funky smelling stuff to say the least. It smelled like a drunken puke with a little orange juice smell and that odor you get when you store your trim with leaf. Leaf just puts off a distinctive odor to me, I guess it does to everyone but nobody I know messes with leaf really except on here and that discussion never has really came up. :cool:

As for the Hydrometer I bought. I should have read the instructions before I started all this. You are supposed to weigh the specific gravity of your solution just after you put the ingredients together and write it down and when you test it later to test your alcohol content you just subtract the specific gravity of the solution then and subtract it from the original and that gives you a number and blah blah blah blah........ Regardless, I didn't test it before so it is useless to me know. Maybe next time I will be able to figure it out. That little store has means of testing exact alcohol content because the guy told me that the hydrometer only tested up to like 22% and if it was higher than that to bring it to him and he could test it up to 100%. So I guess when I am done I will take a little up to him and see what the content is. Too bad he can't test the THC content while he is at it, I guess that will be for a taste test huh.....

[Fillabong]

yup. my beers and ales usually started around 1.050 and ended around 1.003.

more or less sacchrometers and hydrometers measure the sugar content and by finding the difference from start-->finish you can determine an alcohol content.

mind the smell bud. keep that vapour lock clean and secure. nasty bacteria in your primary fermenter can produce methanol or might just rot your whole wort

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well the fermentation has seemed to have stopped. I am gonna check it out a lot better tomorrow to make sure. I just figured I would stop in and make a note of that. My memory isn't the best in the world so I need to write everything down I want to remember.

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well I guess I was wrong about the fermentation being done.

10. The total fermentation time varies, but the average time is 4 weeks. The active fermentation of the first few weeks will gradually get slower and slower until it stops. To check for completion of fermentation use a hydrometer or tip the bucket slightly back and forth. If no bubbles rise up through the leaf, the fermentation is complete. DO NOT SHAKE THE JUG AT THIS TIME.

This is Step #10. I guess if I would have re-read it then I would have understood a little better. When I leaned the bucket side to side a little bit bubbles came up thru the leaf material. The smell is really getting a strong alcohol smell to it as well. It almost smells like a glass of orange juice that is half filled with taquila. Not that I have ever drank one but that is the smell that I get when I stick my nose in the bucket, just the best way to explain it.


So, I guess I will just keep an eye on it and see when the bubbles stop and then we'll move on to bottling and ageing

[Fillabong]

mmm... OJ and tequila is good:p

do you hafta rack wine to a carboy for secondary fermentation like beer?

[Jr. Greenthumb]

I don't know man. The instruction I have don't say anything about a carboy...

You got a picture of yours?

How much did yours cost?

And what exactly is it's pourpose?

[Fillabong]

no pics ATM. it's a glass 5 gallon container. same size as a bubblie bucket actually. Beer makers use it for a secondary fermentation. mine cost about 20 bucks

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well bro, for $20 I will be sure to get me one if I can find one. I will go look at my little wine making store to see what they have. I have been wanting to get one of them wooden ones but the ones I seen for 3 gallons are like $150. I really don't want to do that till I have a few good brews under my belt.


As for what is going on in this brew now, well. Last night while tipping the bucket no bibbles came thru the leaf so I checked it again today and still no bubbles coming up so that means fermentation is done. So today I I siphoned the wine out of the bucket with the leaf in it into a new clean bucket that I sanatized first. I then took the green fermentation bucket into the bathroom and cleaned it out and re-sanatized it. I then took it back to the closet and siphoned the wine back in to the green bucket thru some Muslin bags to filter out all the little particles of leaf and shit. I then cleaned and sanatized the lid and airlock and reassembled the bucket. I am gonna give it a couple days and see if the fermentation starts up again due to inducing oxygen back in to the wine. So, I think from now it will only be a couple weeks until this goes in to some bottles. I need to be buying some bottles and corks soon so I better get to looking around for the best deal.


I was gonna take some pics but my camera was dead. My wife was taking pictures of the kids this mornin. :cool:

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well I went to the wine store today and bought a lot more than I really wanted to but hell it's a hobby and I always end up spending too much. I bought the Carboy, I got the glass 3 gallon one plus the plug to go into the top of it so the airlock will fit in the top. I also bought a special little tool thingy to siphon the wine out of the carboy. It was only a couple bucks but it looks like it will help me when the time comes. I also bought 2 cases of new wine bottles, they were like $12 for 12 bottles. I also got 30 corks and a hand corker. I will get picks up later on of all the new stuff I bought. I also bought some pectic enzyme which is supposed to help clear up the wine. I also bought some special bottling wax to put over the cork after I cork the bottles. It is only for looks and it was green so I figured why the hell not.... I ended up spending like $55 today. You don't need to spend all of the money I have, I am just spoiled I guess. You can use just stuff you pretty much already have. I could have gotten some used wine bottles, used a bucket in place of the carboy, and made due with other stuff you already own.


Well as I was there I got to talking to the guy some more and he said where I am at now I need to put the wine into a carboy, or secondary fermentation vessel, and let it continue to sit for another month to three months. He said I also needed to taste it to see what I think about it and see what it needs. He said if it is too dry add some stuff he has, if it is too sweet let it continue to ferment, if it is just right then use the sodium whatever stuff to kill the yeast and then let it sit in the carboy for another month or so. After the yeast is killed and it sits for a month then bottle it and let it stand and age.

So, I went up to the wine I am making and popped the lid. In my hand I had a wine glass and a ladel to dip out some wine. When I popped the lid the wine looked black. I was like OMG it is ruined. I was a little pissed to tell you the truth. Anyhow, I wanted to see it in the cup so I dipped some out and poured it into the glass and the shit was yellow and fairly clear. I was totally AMAZED to say the least. It had sort of a funny smell to it to. Smelled of slight orange, just barely, but real fruity smelling with a slight pungent smell to it that is hard to describe. It almost smells like a very faint smell of compost. I am taking it that is coming from the marijuana that set in it for so long. I hope it goes away but it is very very faint. You really have to stick your nose in to the glass and breath deep to smell it. I then tipped it up and took a small taste. I was sort of amazed again. It wasn't horific. It tasted rather good to tell you the truth. It tastes almost like a chardoney. Not as dry as most I have tried but yet it isn't sweet either.It's not dry but not sweet either. I wouldn't want it to get any dryer but I am afraid if it gets any sweeter it won't be as good either. I think I am just gonna leave it alone and kill the yeast and bottle it. I am gonna talk to the guy again tomorrow and see how much I have to add and what I do if I get it too sweet. Chances are I am just gonna kill the yeast and let it sit.

Now, that I am able to taste it. I am happy with all the money I have stuck into it so far. I think I am gonna try to make some beer too while I am getting me some more MJ together for another batch of wine. This turned out to be easier than I thought and I think the 2nd time will be even better since I know what I am doing a little. When this is all done and bottled I am gonna go back and type up a complete beginning to end draft so it sounds better and makes more since than being strung out over 5 pages and maybe someone else will give it a shot someday. You never know, we may end up with our own HGB winery. :sodrunk:


Here's what I seen when I first opened the lid. I though it had gone bad.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1848&stc=1&d=1139524894


Here's what it looked like when I actually got some out.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1849&stc=1&d=1139524894


Here it is getting siphoned in to the new carboy.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1850&stc=1&d=1139524894

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1851&stc=1&d=1139524894



And here the carboy is sitting with the Airlock in it till I decide wether I am gonna kill the yeast or add some sweetner to it. But regardless it will be sitting like this at least for the next month or so.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1852&stc=1&d=1139524894


Now I am also having a little experiment going on here. I had a little more than 3 gallons so I put the rest I got into 2 wine bottles. Since this is an experiment I did some additives to the two bottles. One I added pectic enzyme wich helps clear it up. I didn't add anything to kill the yeast so it may blow up or blow out the cork. We'll see. The other bottle I put the sodium metabasulphite or whatever it is, that kills the yeast. I then corked the two bottles and marked them to what I did and the date. I will see what each of them do so I know what to do later, or next time. I also think I will get some green bottles too. Maybe bottle 1/2 in clear and 1/2 in green. We'll see. This is still my first time. I do need to come up with a label for my bottle so anyone with ideas toss em up.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1853&stc=1&d=1139524894

[CB]

this wine project is shaping up great indeed :D

looks like lots of cool tool 's to play with and so far the cost seems more than reasonably to me....

from the QC report i got first hand :rolleyes: a small cup will yield a small buzz

wonder what 3-4 glass's will do ?

we don't drink alot of wine but....... we do have access to a hot tub and usually pick up a couple bottle's of this peach stuff the Miss's likes a few times a year :D guess one could substitute some peach type material instead of orange huh ?

alot of good info in here bro ...... thx for take'n the time to post this up

if ya a bet'n type fella I will give ya 10 to 1 that the bottle with only the stuff to clear and not stop the yeast will blow a main cork soon :eek:

can ya show us the cork'n devise and how it works ?

i would ramble more but i need a beer :p

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well I didn't forget about this project I've just been letting it do it's thing. The guy at my local store I get stuff from says to let it age in the carboy so I have been. I checked on it and it had a little sediment in the bottom so I racked it and added the stuff to kill off any and all ferminatation. Sodium something another.... lol

It still tastes like shit but I guess it's just tuff titty. I have been waiting to see if it will get better before I bottle it but nothing is really changing. I will be bottling it in a few weeks hopefully. Just figured I would drop a note for ya'll....

[Mr. Bud]

Nice dude, Ive made my own wine for years now. Love doing it and I have used all kinds of berries and cherries and every mixture you can think of but, I have never thought to use grass man.. Wow man, I haven't made any for a long time but now I think you may have motivated me to make a batch.
The taste of your wine will change a great deal over the next few weeks. I've had wine that taste like crap even when I bottled it. I opened one about 3 months later and it wasn't bad.. Opened another at about 6 months and it was pretty good. Keep in mind that there is little to no Tanic Acid in your mixture. With little to no Tanic Acid your wine won't change much after that six month period; as a matter of fact, it could start to taste worse. I would plan on chugging it all no later then 8-9 months after you put it in the bottle. If you where to make a large batch I would recommend adding a little Tanic Acid to your brew.
Clearing your wine. There is a little thing called gelatin that you can pick up at your wine shop. Put a little in about a half cup of warm water, stir your carboy so the wine is going in a circle. Then pour the gelatin in slowly. After it stops spinning you will see big chucks of gunk falling to the bottom. Transfer wine to another carboy, let it sit for a week then put it in the bottles. Mucho Better.....
Nice work Bro... :sodrunk:

[Cranky]

the wine might off been abit off or to strong...we havent seen JR since he drunk that stuff lol

cranky

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Funny Cranky....... Laughed my rear off.....

I taste tested a few times and I still think it tastes like some shitty chardoney. I actually was just messing with it the other day and I have a buddy that wants a big ole bottle. So I am going to experiment with him, see if he can drink a bottle and wake up the next morning. I guess that will be a sign it's not poisen huh..... lol

I also found a guy at my wine store that "Has a Buddy" that makes hemp beer. He uses weed in along with hops and malt or some shit. He told me about it and all but I have to go back and revisit him here soon when I get all the stuff I need. I hope to make Hemp Beer as this Hemp wine tastes like poopie to me.....

[vernonsupreme]

I also found a guy at my wine store that "Has a Buddy" that makes hemp beer. He uses weed in along with hops and malt or some shit. He told me about it and all but I have to go back and revisit him here soon when I get all the stuff I need. I hope to make Hemp Beer as this Hemp wine tastes like poopie to me.....

i've got a hemp lager in the works right now....but i'm too cheap to buy more bottles and have 2 other lagers aging in the cellar that have all my bottles filled. so here in another month or so I might start another batch, but I have over 100 beers waiting to be drunk so it might be a while :D

[Mr. Bud]

Jr, worst case is that he may get the runs and go blind... I would try it out on someone else for sure... Actually I am just kidding.. I read your process and what you used. Being a long time wine maker myself (not with pot) you did it text book.. Should be no ill effects... If it were me I would plug my nose and chug a glass then sit back and watch the Power Rangers... :halol:

[Cakes]

but I have over 100 beers waiting to be drunk so it might be a while
we could probably help you with that problem.

4.20 party at mt vernon!!!!!

[Cakes]

17 days and counting!

ok now that i have read the thread i can say that maybe the hydrometer tells you when to kill your yeast because the hydrometer can tell you how much sugar has been subtracted from the starting amount and that way you know how much has been converted to alcohol and so then you know how much alcohol is in there and so you know if you want to stop the process or not. The process is usually stopped either because the alcohol content is right for your plans or else because the solution is maxed out and will not support anymore activity (fyi to some>yeast can only be active if the alcohol content is under 15%-12.5% or so depending on type of yeast).

tee hee to bubbly wine if you add CO2 (dry ice) then you get carbonation and no dilution upon melting like you get from regular ice cubes.

[Sticky_Budz]

This was a very interesting thread thanks for sharing it with us:D Im not a wine drinker myself but it is always nice to see things made with MJ:D
so did you get shit faced off it??????:p

[Cranky]

he had one sip and disappeared:p

cranks

[CB]

he had one sip and disappeared:p

cranks


yep that sum's it up :eek:

not gonna be try'n it here anytime soon :p

[Even Crazier Van Guy]

kewl thread :cool:

[Sticky_Budz]

he had one sip and disappeared:p

cranksI was thinking the same thing that's to funny lol:p

[maxinrelaxin]

i've got a hemp lager in the works right now....but i'm too cheap to buy more bottles and have 2 other lagers aging in the cellar that have all my bottles filled. so here in another month or so I might start another batch, but I have over 100 beers waiting to be drunk so it might be a while :D

Could you use a keg rather than bottles for the beer? I really want to try making my own beer, and would like to put it into kegs rather than bottles. Is that possible ?