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How du know how long to keep your wines bottled before drinking? I have only 2 recipes that tell me the length to keep them - the banana says min of 6 months, the elderflower was only a couple of months.
What do you other winemakers do please? Does the flavour improve in the bottle or just when its stored in bulk?
I have a ginger and lemon about to be bottled but how long do I leave it for before sampling it?

Can u tell im impatient lol

if its drinkable. I drink it. if its a bit rough, I wait and see if it improves

Du drink it without bothering to bottle it? Ive wondered if it can be drunk from the demi-john - most of them taste fine now.

I dont but that cos I am nota big drinker - and I would worry about nasties getting into th half empty demijohn - easier to bottle and attack one bottle at a time :) I don't seem to have any trouble getting bottles from friends and family (and me - I have not given up on grape yet), and I only hang on to screw top bottles.

i also beg screw top bottles from everyone around me!
I drank some of the ginger and lemon wine the night it was bottled. Haven't taste it snce actually.

i wouldn't drink direct from the demijohn, i keep them sealed with bungs and airlocks til i'm ready to bottle into sterilised bottles.

Hi, there
You can keep wine in demijohns, having added a Campden tablet if you want to make sure it stops fermenting. One-way-valve plastic tops are available for just over a pound each from wherever you buy your wine-making supplies and using those means you can risk not adding the C tablet if you prefer not to. However, I would definitely bottle the remains of the demijohn once opened, unless you are having a party (a polite way of saying, 'unless you are planning to drink a gallon of wine within the week).
The most useful aspect of this is that demijohns are often easier to store than lots of bottles, provided you have lots of demijohns! Speaking of which, I'm posting a separate offer for these!