# How about Sparkling Watermelon Merlot?



## jobe05 (Jan 20, 2008)

Ever since I have been thinking about a sparkling wine, I have been collecting champaign bottles, but all I have collected are green ones...... No clear ones. So my wife and I are at the store the other day and I find a Brut, Freixenet, Ros'e type sparkling wine. It was excellent (in the hot tub), so we decided that this is what we want, soft, fruitful and an easy drinker. OH Yea........ it came in the clear bottle that I needed, so I now have one.

We were thinking of turning the Watermelon Merlot into a sparkling wine.

I have fermented the White Merlot, and tonight I racked it and just added the clearing agent, nothing else, just the clearing agent.

I'm thinking, when this clears, but it in a primary and add 1/2 to 2/3 of the F pack (which is rather large with this kit), add a packet of yeast and put in champaign bottles. Put the remainder of the f pack in the fridge.

After a few months, and I finish and disgorge the wine (now sparkling, Sweeten back with the remaining F Pack.

Question: When I add the remaining F Pack to help sweeten back, do I add the Sorbate and sulfite? Im thinking it would get added to the F Pack and added to each bottle. 

Then Age for 6 months............. well....... OK.. 6 weeks.

*Edited by: jobe05 *


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 20, 2008)

DO NOT add any Sorbate...that will not let the yeast ferment.


I don't know anything about the F Packs and such...so can't comment on that. Others have made some Sparkling Wine kits...so they can help you with that question.


Most Sparkling Wine instructions say not to use a clearing agent....When I made the Pineapple/Rhubarb Wine I had used SuperKleer K-C to clarify the wine as I hadn't thought about Sparkling any of it at that point...That was my first failure with SuperKeer K-C...I then added some Isinglass and it cleared in hours....I had wondered if the wine would still Sparkle after all of that....It has awesome bubbles.....


As for making a sweeter Sparkling Wine...I hope you figure it out and share your experience as others have asked that question.


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## Wade E (Jan 20, 2008)

Jobe, I havent tried this method but copied it from somewhere and will try it with both my crab apple and plum wine that has been bulk aging for about 6 months. I would add ascorbic acid in your wine to protect it from oxidising before sparkling. her is what I copied for a sweeter sparkling wine.



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This method is a bit
more troublesome, but yields a sweet, sparkling wine without sediment.</span>

Make a basic dry table
wine, 10 - 11.5% alcohol by volume, finished, clear and stable.</span>

Take two ounces of
sugar for each gallon of wine and make it into a syrup with a little water.
Thoroughly mix the wine and syrup. (DO NOT try adding more sugar to get more
sparkle!).</span>

Be sure of a good
second fermentation, add one packet of Champagne Yeast or good all-purpose wine
yeast to the mixture and 1/4 teaspoon per gallon (NO MORE) of yeast energizer.</span>

Siphon the sweetened
wine into <st1lace wt="on">Champagne</st1lace> bottles and cap with crown
caps. Store at 65º to 70ºF. Once a month pick up each bottle, turn upside down
and then put back upright. After three months all the sugar should be converted
to Carbon Dioxide and alcohol. Yeast deposited on the bottom will show you that
the sparkle is there. When you think the wine is ready, taste one bottle. Cool
it in the refrigerator, open it and see if the wine really sparkles. If so,
proceed as follows, ( by the way, this test is a delightful excuse for sampling
your wine early).</span>

Next, place your
bottles in a freezer and chill the wine to about 25ºF. This usually takes two
to three hours. You may see a little ice within the bottles when they are
ready. Now get an equal number of champagne bottles. Put into each of these
bottles one ounce standard sugar syrup and one tablet of wine stabilizer
(Crushed and dissolved potassium sorbate), and put these bottles into the
freezer along with the wine. The stabilizer is essential to inhibit the yeast
and prevent a third fermentation and possible explosions.</span>

When the wine is cold
enough, bring out one bottle of wine and one champagne bottle. Uncap the wine
and siphon it gently into the cold <st1lace wt="on">Champagne</st1lace>
bottle, taking care to leave the sediment behind. Since the wine is cold, it
will loose very little gas. Now insert the plastic stopper and wire it down.
Then invert the bottle several times to mix the syrup and wine.</span>

This wine will be very
palatable almost immediately after bottling. Note, that one ounce of syrup
gives brut (Slightly Sweet) wine. If you want a Sweet wine, use two ounces of
syrup per bottle, plus the wine stabilizer tablet.</span>

* Sugar Syrup 2 cups of
sugar per one quart water yields five cups of syrup.</span>


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## jobe05 (Jan 20, 2008)

So it's pretty much what I thought I would have to do, except to figure out how much Sugar per oz. is in it.................

2 oz of sugar in a gallon doesn't seem like a lot. What I could do is use sugar, as they recommend in 1 gallon of the wine, then take an SG reading.

Add the F-Pack in measured amounts to a gallon till I get the same SG reading, and that measured amount is what I will add the the remaining 4 gallons. Then sweeten back with the remaining F-pack, mixed with sorbate and sulfites to sweeten back and stabilize the final product...........

*Edited by: jobe05 *


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## Wade E (Jan 20, 2008)

Have you started this Watermelon kit yet, if not you use the F pack in primary to up the abv where it should be and then sweeten with the sugar syrup, this way you will have all the flavor and a good abv.


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## jobe05 (Jan 20, 2008)

I thought about that because I have already finished the White Merlot part. It will clear till next weekend, then I will do whatever needed to make sparkling wine.

I also added the needed 5 # of sugar to bump up the ABV also...........

Should be 11.5 % right now, but will know for sure by next weekend. A 12% +- ABV sparkling wine won't bother me though if thats what it turns out to be. 

Although I won't add the whole F-Pack to this after words, because I don't want it that sweet, but I hope it doesn't lose the Watermelon flavor........ I don't think it will if I just use 2/3 the bag, I think it will be fine.

If I use the F pack to sweeten back, will that cloud the finished product?

*Edited by: jobe05 *


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## Wade E (Jan 20, 2008)

Both RJS and Winexpert say to add f-pack before clearing. Mosti's port had me add it after clearing. that being said, if its something that will fall out you should be fine as your going to riddle and degorge anyway, youll just need more to top up these bottles and we'll just have to hope that it dont stay cloudy I guess. I will be starting my sparkling wines as soon as it starts to warm up again. I should have done these last year butbetween getting my basement done for the cellar and wine room, i got lazy towards the end and then it was just to chilly in the house. I didnt want to take a chance as the temps in the house are typically 64* and in my opinion are just a little to cold for re fermentation. Just watch out for leaker's as I had few , a couple of them when I had them in the cellar when i laid them on their sides and had a tiny little sprayer.


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## jobe05 (Jan 21, 2008)

Here's what I did Wade:

Took an SG reading of the must: 75 degrees = SG of 1.000 (How Lucky)

Took an SG Reading of Water : 75 degrees = SG of 1.000

Since the must and the water are the same, I measured out 2 ounces of sugar, added to water to dilute, then added to the gallon jug (after removing some water). I floated the gallon jug in a sink of water to adjust the temp just right at 75, so it would be the same as the must. Then took a SG reading, 1.005 ....... Thats 0.68% ABV........ Now I will take a gallon of the must, and add in measured amounts (perhaps liquid oz) of the F Pack, till I get an SG reading of 1.005. Or I could just pour all the must into a primary bucket, and add the F Pack till I get to the proper SG.

Waddya think?


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## Wade E (Jan 21, 2008)

That sounds like a good idea but I was just wondering if there is any sorbate in a F-Pack. I know people have fermented this in addition to a must but that was also with an abundance of sugar to eat. Im a little concerned about this factor. Hope all goes well and this is an experiment.


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## joeswine (Jan 22, 2008)

F/PACS consist of the base wine and sorbate,this then gives you the flavor the kit mfg. wants to impart and the assurance of freshness the wine needs,


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 22, 2008)

Wade...have you made your riddling rack yet????


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## Wade E (Jan 22, 2008)

no, I havent touched a piece of wood out of work in awhile and just bought the lumber to start finishing our bedroom in the basement. I will need to do this soon as I plan on sparkling the Plum and crab apple as soon as it warms up.


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## jobe05 (Jan 22, 2008)

Hey Wade, I have green champaign bottles much like the one that you sent me, How full do I fill these, I have read between 1 and 2" below the cork for fermenting, would that be right?


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## Wade E (Jan 22, 2008)

That would be right buddy, I stay right in the middle. Did you ever try that bottle yet and what did you think. I think I can do a better job with any of my fruit or kit wines. That wine was nasty as a still wine, and I mean nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kit gave directions for both sparkling and still, if I made it a still wine I would be asking for my money back. OH YEAH, I didnt pay for it!


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## jobe05 (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks Wade, I did up three bottles to see how it's going to work. I kept one about 1", one at 1 1/2" and one at about 2 inches to see how it would work at each level.

I also added a wee bit more......... OK, twice as much of the F pack as I needed to get the SG to 1.010, to see if there were sulfite's in the F pack. and if so, would the yeast start under those conditions.

Also.......... How will I know that the fermentation started?

Yes Wade, We rang in the New Year with your sparkling champaign................. it sucked!





We drank it, but as you know...... it's almost sour tasting or very dry tasting, as I would think any wine that finishes dry would be. Thats why I was asking about sweetening back (and probably why you know the answer).

OH yea........ I didn't really mean it sucked...... Figured that would get your attention.... we did drink it all. I'm just glad that you shared it with me to allow me to understand the changes that I would want to make in a sparkling wine. That one of the reasons I like to share my wines as much as I do with some of the newer people............... NO WALDO!!!!!! That was not an offer!

And your right, you could make a better fresh fruit of kit sparkling wine.


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## Wade E (Jan 22, 2008)

As far as knowing when fermentation started i had the same problem of not knowing. In the article I posted earlier it specifies - Be sure of a good
second fermentation - so I guess they say to wait for signs like sizzling. Glad your not shy to say it pretty much sucked, you should have tasted this stuff before it was sparkled. </span>


*Edited by: wade *


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## jobe05 (Jan 22, 2008)

Can they be opened at all during the process? I would imagine if you open it during the process, you would have to wait a few days longer to have pressure build back up......... so would that mean I only open the one with 1" of head space?............... OH CRAP!!!!! I didn't use the clear bottle!



OH well............. I'll save that for when I do the rest of them.........


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## jobe05 (Jan 22, 2008)

wade said:


> Glad your not shy to say it pretty much sucked, you should have tasted this stuff before it was sparkled. </span>



Well........ You know I want and expect complete honesty, I just wanted to reciprocate........... NO....... I said I was just kidding. It wasn't great however, but it was drinkable, really, just not on that sweeter side that I was expecting, or would want.

By the way, Not being great is based on my taste, it very well may be very good......... My palate didn't get that from my Mason Jar...........

But, I am very sincere about being grateful for the opportunity to try it, so I could start right out of the gate knowing what I would like and what I would need to change in a kit to get there.


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## Wade E (Jan 22, 2008)

I would open it as youll lose some of the carbonation and it may never recover from that and that is why you put in a certain amount of sugar so as not to over carbonate but have plenty for sparkling. I guess since this is just a specimen for checking you could see what happens but I wouldnt expect to much from that bottle. thats the purpose of freezing them to degorge. At close to freezing temps very little gas is lost kind of like trying to degas a wine at colder temps, the wine retains its gas.


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## jobe05 (Jan 22, 2008)

Will the wires get tighter as the pressure builds and the corks move up? I remember someone having a problem with that, I think it was Joan that had to put a double wire on a cap or 2. Will the tighter wires be a good indication of fermentation?


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## Wade E (Jan 22, 2008)

The stoppers will move up after some time. Make sure you have something like old newspaper under the bottles as I had 2 leakers during fermentation, 2 during riddling and 1 spraying a very very thin spray that was like invisible until it hits you in the face while I had it laying on its side after degorging. i would get a wire toll like NW bought at I think Home depot for possible doing re bar ties, I used electrical pliers though and they worked fine. I dont know if i got some bad stoppers or bad bottles.


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## jobe05 (Jan 23, 2008)

I couldn't stand it Wade, the green bottles were killing me because I
couldn't see very well inside them. So I took one and transfered it to
the clear bottle and noticed a couple of things just after 24 hours:

When uncorking the bottle, I just twisted the cap and it rose out of the bottle by itself, giving a nice (small) pop.

The wine smells of yeast ............... or yeast hard at work.......

The wine is now cloudy again. Not bad cloudy, just enough so you can't see through it, which to me is a good indication that the yeast are trying to work, producing co2 and keeping things suspended. Perhaps......... I don't know heck, it's only been 24 hours. 

I thought I would do this now (transfer bottles) that I'm early on in this endeavor rather than wait or have this drive me nuts during the whole process. Once Im assured that a good fermentation is taking place, I'm gonna go ahead and finish the remaining 5 gallons the same way. I think this is going to be very good.

*Edited by: jobe05 *


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jan 23, 2008)

I used green bottles also, was amazed at how well I COULD see through them after the first month or so. 
I can easily see now with all the lees in the caps that degorging should remove all of the debris, leaving a very clear sparkling wine. Will know more tomorrow when I degorge them.*Edited by: JWMINNESOTA *


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## jobe05 (Jan 23, 2008)

FIRST MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!! A MONTH???????????

I OPENED ONE AFTER 24 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOTTA WAIT A MONTH?????????


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jan 23, 2008)

No, Two!


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## Wade E (Jan 23, 2008)

What happened to all your patience? You yelled at me for opening a bottle of your wine after many months and you couldnt wait more then 1 day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shame!


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 23, 2008)

We let ours sit on the 'lees' [yeast] for TWO months....Shake the bottles once a week....[this gives me the creeps...I always look away] 


Then turn the bottles up side down or put them in a Riddling Rack...twist and drop them gently everyday or so...Then...after two weeks of riddling you will be ready to dégorge.


The wine will clear nicely during the fermentation stage.....After they have been riddled for a couple weeks........test a bottle..


Our last batch wasn't very bubbly...so we let it sit awhile longer...testing a bottle every week or two...Then last week it was really bubbly.


Our wine room is running about 61*....Next batch we are going to set the bottles out in a warmer area forthe first month or so to let the yeast work faster.....


I think a riddling rack would be nice....I had been gently dropping the bottles on the plastic stoppers during the riddling stage....we have a thick layer of newspapers under them...But two batches ago I cracked the stopper and some wine leaked out...I think on two bottles....I could smell the wine in the wine room but couldn't track it down till we dégorged and there was some 'light' bottles...


Cheers!!!!*Edited by: Northern Winos *


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## jobe05 (Jan 23, 2008)

wade said:


> What happened to all your patience? You yelled at me for opening a bottle of your wine after many months and you couldnt wait more then 1 day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shame!



You mean 1 more day and I would have been in the clear????????






Edit: OOOops.... I thought you said I had to wait one more day..............

Yes....... I yelled at you but that was primarily because your just too much fun to yell at.............. don't believe me, ask your wife..........








I just wonder, once I am completely done, the labels go on and the wine rack has new pretty green bottles on them, how long will I have to wait to try this??

Thanks NW, your post brought a couple new questions:

You say you shake the bottle every week: Is that after the first month, or starting today, every week shake them up?

The temp in my wine room is maintained around 74 via electric heater. Would it be safe to leave at that during fermentation, but once I turn them upside down, should I store them in a cooler place??


*Edited by: jobe05 *


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## jobe05 (Jan 23, 2008)

JWMINNESOTA said:


> I can easily see now with all the lees in the caps that degorging should remove all of the debris, leaving a very clear sparkling wine. Will know more tomorrow when I degorge them.



JW, Your gonna have to take some pictures. I know NW and I think it was Ramona and Martina that has posted pics of their fun time doing it, We'dlike to see how you do it.

I would also like to know how many people that have degorged a bottle, or just opened a bottle of champain close your eye and make that face like you think it's going to blow up? 

I Do............ Sigh................


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 24, 2008)

I shake them every week from the beginning of refermentation.


I would store them cooler once they are finished...maybe during riddling too...never thought about that part.


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## jobe05 (Jan 29, 2008)

OK, per NW's advise, I went down and gave these a good shaking up. There is quite a layer of lees developing on the bottom of each bottle, so I assume it's working. After shaking a bit upside down, I would turn right side up and quite a few bubbles float to the top, again, I assume it's working.

And this past weekend, I was racking my French Chardonnay and my Piesporter after 30 days of stirring up (whic makes them clear really quick). I couldn't resist. I took a gallon of each and sweetened back .005 SG each and added some Champaign yeast to the bucket and made up 5 bottles of each. I'm sure after all is said and done, I'll have 4 bottles to age a bit and a glass or 2 to sip on during degorging.


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jan 29, 2008)

Funny how it works, every batch I now make I think about setting some aside to sparkle.



Have Muscat to degorge in about two weeks!


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 30, 2008)

Sounds good to me....Cheers!!!!


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## jobe05 (Jan 30, 2008)

Have you tried any of the ones that you have done yet JW, or is this something that you just started? I got the idea from NW when she posted that some champaign's are made from Chardonnay wine, or sparkling wines were made from it............... That made me think because I had a batch in secondary, along with the Piesporter............ If it doesn't turn out, I'll only lose a gallon of each, if it does work out, I will make more.


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## jobe05 (Feb 3, 2008)

Shook them up again today per NW's suggestion. The first three bottles I did a few days before the others is very bubbly, the others are coming along and getting more bubbly every week............... Well....... it's only been a week for them, but they are bubbly!

So I guess if there were chemicals in the watermelon F pack, it's not enough to prevent fermentation, at least it's not for the small amount I used.


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## Wade E (Feb 3, 2008)

Thats good to know Jobe and thanks for being the guinea pig in this experiment.



Oh, by the way, for anyone who ups the abv on these kits it takes awhile for these kits to come around. I was not fond of this kit when I made it but finally opened another bottle last night and now I love it, and my daughter had a sip and loves it too!





*Edited by: wade *


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## jobe05 (Feb 3, 2008)

You really didn't like it?

I think this was one of the first wines that we had here that the entire group liked. It was one of my friends that was here who bought me the kit so that when they come over, they can have their favorite wine, as a side note, they are white wine drinkers.

Another thought..................... I have to freeze these don't I.............

AWHhhhhh CRAAAPPppp........... THE FREEZER!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Wade E (Feb 3, 2008)

I didnt when I tried it at 1st, may have needed a little while to come around since I upped the abv on it but it is really good now. Yes, your gonna have to make room for these in the freezer to degorge so as that you can get rd of the sediment in 1 nice plug and not lose to much CO2 as the colder temp helps to keep the CO2 other wise it would probably go flat.
*Edited by: wade *


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## jobe05 (Mar 25, 2008)

Time to resurrect this thread and give everyone an update.

I came home after a long day and have been dying to try this sparkling wine, but it wasn't ready yet. I had been riddling it for the past few weeks and it was nice and clear. So tonight, I wanted something special for the hot tub, so I through a bottle in the freezer................

It froze in short time and I took it outside and popped the cork.................. actually...... I didn't need to pop the cork..... it just popped when I loosened the wire a little bit......... needless to say... the top went flying....... somewhere........??????......... Gone like a rocket!

I took the ice cold bottle upstairs where I had the F Pack in the fridge to help back sweeten and flavor. I added a tablespoon of F Pack to about 4 ounces of water, mixed well and added it slowly to the bottle to top off, and re-corked and wired. I shook it up and let it settle while I changed for the hot tub.

Once in the hot tub, we but the bottle on the table to uncork............... Once again.... we loosened the wire, and off like a rocket went the cork............... Straight up in the air..... and we never heard it land............ I'm sure it did, we just never found it.

This was young tasting....... but had great flavor potential, just the right amount of alcohol, lots of bubbles and great body! Probably better than the original wine had.

This is a great sparkling wine and would highly suggest that anyone try this. 

We are going to finish the rest of the bottles this weekend and we still have a couple of weeks and the Chardonnay and Piesporter that we sparkled will be ready to de-gorge and shelf for a while as it ages.

Now I'm looking at all the Orchard Breezin kits and saying HMMMMmmmmmmmmm.....................................................


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## Wade E (Mar 25, 2008)

Great to hear that buddy, I havent seen you on here in awhile.


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## jobe05 (Mar 25, 2008)

I have a lot going on right now....... Tax season....... we are trying to start our own business that my wife will run till it gets going then I will join her in a year or so. Freedom from "The Man" is a life dream of ours and it's coming to fruition, with a tremendous amount of cash out lay and hard work, but the hard work has just begun I suspect.............

We get away on weekends as much as possible to get away from it all. We go out to the mountains and while there, we caught the bug........ the log cabin in the mountains bug that is....... so we are dreaming of buying land in the mountains to start our investment in our retirement. So thats were we have been spending our weekends for the past few weeks or so. Then theres the kids with flight lessons and the other one turns 21 this weekend and is leaving for Las Vegas on business......... Not sure what I think about that yet..........

To steal a phrase from a very wise person........ Life is good....... just to darn good to just sit here and miss it.

*Edited by: jobe05 *


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## scubaman2151 (Mar 25, 2008)

Glad to see everything is coming along for you so well.


Side note,


When you guys shake the bottles up to get the lees to the bottom do you guys wear any face protection? I have heard of people doing that from other forums.


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## Wade E (Mar 25, 2008)

I did not use protection but then again i live dangerously!


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## jobe05 (Apr 5, 2008)

Well.......... What a shocker............ sigh........






A week later, I decided to go ahead with the rest of the sparkling watermelon merlot.

For a refresher: When I started this, I did up 3 bottles, added flavor pack tp sweeten back to 1.005 (or so) added yeast and corked them. I let them sit for a few days to see if pressure was building, and it was, and it was getting bubbly..................

SOooooo.............

I decided to do 9 more bottles........ along with 5 bottles of the Chardonnay and 5 bottles of the Piesporter.

Last week I decided it was time to finish the rest of the bottles after the first one was so good, so I put them all in the freezer.

During degorging, the first 2, from the original batch shot off like a rocket, the rest of them......... NOTHING....



Flat!

Why? Exact same yeast bought at the exact same time, done the exact same way just one week apart.

I was out of champaign yeast so I took a little from each bottle, added EC1118, let it start for a couple of hours, added some yeast energizer and topped off each bottle. I just checked one of them by opening it and it is building pressure and bubbly. Dunno

I haven't done anything with the Chardonnay or the Piesporter yet, but I just put a bottle in the freezer so I'll let you know in a couple of hours.


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## NorthernWinos (Apr 5, 2008)

We usually let ours sit for 2 month after adding the dosage of Champagne yeast and sugar....then dégorge.

*Maybe*.... if there was some k-meta it hindered the growth of the yeast....*Maybe.*..it just needs more time.


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## jobe05 (Apr 5, 2008)

I just opened one of the Chardonnay's after freezing.

Same thing......... Flat! I few bubbles, kinda like a wine that wasn't degassed well.

Must be the yeast. I did all 3 batches at different times, the exact same way. One is great and 2 batches are not.

I'll have to re-do them also, but I'll stick with the EC-1118 as well with these.


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2008)

Sorry to hear that buddy. I will be back sweetening my Plum today and i have my keg and C02 tank now and just pressure tested it so Im ready to back sweeten and force carbonate these puppies.


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## NorthernWinos (Apr 5, 2008)

We had a batch awhile back that wasn't very bubbly [almost flat] at dégorging, but we topped it off and let it sit as usual and over time it came out good.

Then toward the end of consuming the last batch we came across 2 bottles that were flat...then the last two were fine...go figure? ....I came to the conclusion that we had used some really old stoppers, even tho they were very tight and needed a pliers to remove them...perhaps used too many times.

Once a batch during the riddling stage 2 bottles leaked.....maybe I was too aggressive during riddling...the plastic stoppers were split....*Need to get a riddling rack built so not dropping the bottles onto the stoppers*.

Now we reuse plastic stoppers during the fermentation in the bottle, then use new stoppers after dégorging and are throwing the old ones away. We do reuse the wires maybe one time if they appear stable enough to get tightened again.

Also...have found some times the stoppers slip a little too easily into some bottles...so we try another stopper. All bottles and plastic stoppers are not equal....We are using recycled bottles and some are imported others are not...also the stoppers sometimes have a little degree of difference....So make sure the stopper goes into the bottle very tight, if not try another stopper.

So...when you get a flat bottle, and if the stopper is really tight but the wine is flat...check out the bottle and stopper. *I think the stoppers Jim uses the pliers on should get thrown away..... that might also crack the stopper.*

Just a few thoughts.


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## joeswine (Apr 5, 2008)

well that sound like my asti all over,the process was right the forced carb was enought but know bubbly,how ever the taste was all asti just great and refreshing,so back to the drawingboard,went to beercrafters and had my vessels pressurize couldn't find anything wrong,well some time this month i'am going to try my blurberry wine and see what happens,only this time i got a beer person to guide me through the carb process,,stand by wade will keep you informed//as promised


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2008)

I am going to force carb my Plum wine in the next day or so. I think its the stoppers that mainly cause the problem. I had lost quite a few and probably still have a few dead bottles in my cellar that I wont find out till I open it. When I put 1 bottle on my rack it actually had a very fine mist leak that was hard to find as it was spraying ever so slightly and those were all new plastic stoppers. This is why I eventually will get the Champagne corker and use real Champagne corks if I get this force cabonating down to a science where it is worthwhile.


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## joeswine (Apr 6, 2008)

you know last time i use plastic stoppers,is there a champain cork? or is it just the normal ones we alluse?and the cage stops the pop and allows for the expansion,wade your going to like this I,am going to take a scherider access fitting which i use in my HVAC work and glue it to a carboy seal cap i found. i have a 6 cfm vacume pump and gauge manifold on one side placed myvac/on the other dry nitrogen,pull a vacume to 30inchs. and cap it off with nitrogen,what do you think?//jp


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## Wade E (Apr 6, 2008)

I think 30 might be a little too much but not sure what a carboy can take. I have my vacuum up to 25 and thats all it needed ever. Sounds like a great idea, just be careful as I wouldnt want you to implode a carboy and get hurt. I would set it to a max of 25". Would like pics of the apparatus also when done. Im pretty sure there is a considerable difference between regular corks and champagne corks as champagne corks are very flared out at the bottom where they must be compressed into the bottle plus I dont think the wire hoods would work with a regular cork as the champagne cork has that big bulb on top like a plastic stopper that makes the wire hood higher on the bottle to be tied at the spot on the bottle where the neck groove is.


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## NorthernWinos (Apr 6, 2008)

The wire stoppers that come on store bought sparkling wine seem to be about the same as the ones we buy....some do have a tin disk on the top, but think that is mostly for advertising....or maybe to prevent the wires from cutting into the cork. We have reused those wire hoods off the real corked bottles on our plastic stoppers with no problem.


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## jobe05 (Jun 1, 2008)

Update:



The sparkled Piesporter and Chardonnay are still sitting on their second fermentation (as well as the Watermelon Merlot).



I froze a bottle of the Piesporter a couple of weeks ago, degorged,
re-corked (re-stoppered) and put it in the fridge to try. We tried it
last night and it is pretty good, very bubbly. I guess some wines may
take longer to sparkle than others. This was bottled to start the riddling process on 1/29, 5 months it took to get sparkled. But it was worth it.

Now I want to try a white Zin kit, and sparkle it.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 1, 2008)

Sounds good to me....anything bubbly sounds good to me....


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