Can I make my wine sick?

[physics911]

I have a new batch fermenting, and now I have a cold. Can I make my wine sick?

Without knowing what kind of cold I have, that is, of course, impossible to answer. So I guess a more appropriate question would be, are there any known zoonotics between wine and people?

For purposes of this conversation, let's assume I can still keep keep "ordinary" infections out of the wine through proper cleansing and sterilization.

Thank you,
Chris

 

[JohnT]

Wine normally has a very low PH and also contains a fair bit of alcohol. There are just a handful of microbes that can survive in that environment.

Since most colds are transferred through surface contact, your worry should be limited to the OUTSIDE of your equipment and not the wine itself.

Simply wipe down your equipment and you should be just fine.

 

[physics911]

JohnT, thank you for your reply.
I would like to follow-up a bit more.

In the beginning of fermentation, we aren't exactly dealing with wine yet, as there hasn't been a lot of alcohol produced; it is still closer to grape juice. So there isn't a lot of alcohol to be toxic to other microbes. And to me, if yeast can reproduce, why can't some other bugs?

Also, regarding the surface contact, that is what I initially meant. I'm not going to go sticking my fingers or tongue in the liquid, but no matter how much I sanitize my stirring spoon, it is still likely that I will breath on it before it goes in to push down the skins.

Obviously if I used very good sterilization techniques I could keep everything out of the wine which isn't supposed to be there. But lets just assume I sterilize my stirring spoon and then breath on it or touch it after wiping my nose. Are there human bacteria which can infect wine and/or beer in the fermenter?

I'm not particularly concerned with this as I just have a head cold; it is more of an academic question.

Thank you,
Chris

 

[JohnT]

Although grape juice has no alcohol, it does carry a low PH. Most every microbe will not survive in that environment. Yeast on the other hand, is a horse of a different color. It is far hardier than the typical virus that causes the common cold. Yeast has evolved over millions of years to do exactly what we use it for.. to ferment sugar into alcohol in a low PH environment.

Most yeasts available on the market today originated from strains that formed on the skins of grapes. Grape juice can be almost be considered one of the natural habitats of yeast and is one of the few things that can survive in grape juice.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Even the sugar content is antimicrobial, you are making yourself sick worrying about nothing.

 

[physics911]

I'm still missing something. If wine has all these antibacterial properties, which helps protect it from me, what is that I'm protecting it from when I sterilize everything it comes in contact with?

 

[sour_grapes]

I'm still missing something. If wine has all these antibacterial properties, which helps protect it from me, what is that I'm protecting it from when I sterilize everything it comes in contact with?

Principally acetobacters and Brett, I believe.

 

[JohnT]

.. also.. you are not sterilizing. You are sanitizing.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Also, if you have read much of this forum, lots of people pour water or juice and sugar and a pack of bread yeast in a 2 liter bottle and get wine. Nothing sanitized.

It will work, but you run the risk of getting bad wine.

With any food, cleaner is better.

 

[JohnT]

Also, if you have read much of this forum, lots of people pour water or juice and sugar and a pack of bread yeast in a 2 liter bottle and get wine. Nothing sanitized.

It will work, but you run the risk of getting bad wine.

With any food, cleaner is better.

-- or WELCH's (dont, dont, daaaah) (insert high pitched scream here)!

 

[grapeman]

Even if it was possible to infect your wine - what do they use at the hospital to disinfect your skin with prior to taking blood, etc? Alcohol just in another form. So once the wine is done fermenting any of your cold bacteria SHOULD be gone. Of course there is always mutations going on so maybe a super cold bacteria could form, but I doubt it.

 

[ramsis23]

From the perspective of whether you would effect the wine fermentation due to a cold, it would probably have zero effect. The environment of either juice or the wine is very different from the human body. Bacteria that infect humans can not survive and propagate in a wine/juice environment. Body temperature is too high, ph, oxygen levels are all different, etc. I would still be sure to be thorough with sanitation and sterilization, but it is highly unlikely that the bacteria will even survive the process let alone propagate to effect the wine quality.

 

[RegarRenill]

Additionally, the "common cold", like the flu, is actually caused by a variety of viruses, not bacteria, hence why antibacterials are ineffective against the flu or a cold.