# My new batch!



## Dend78 (Aug 21, 2012)

Okay got tired of having an empty primary while waiting on my skeeter pee/dragons blood variation to finish

Plans are this

Apple Pie Wine (2 gal)

6 cans apple juice concentrate
2tsp pectic enzyme
2tsp yeast nutrient (added 1/2tsp at first slow down 1.085ish giving me 2 1/2tsp total)
2tsp energizer (added 1/2tsp at first slow down 1.085ish giving me 2 1/2tsp total)
7lbs of sugar (im going to go for rocket fuel here) 
water top up to 2gal mark
Lavlin 1118 (i know this probably isnt the right yeast for this but its a test)

heated up water and juice added in yeast nutrient, and enzyme until it all disolved. with this configuration gravity should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.080ish depending on the juice and total water content, i over shot a little bit say 1-1.5L. I then added sugar to get to my desired level of 1.140.

once this ferments dry i plan to backsweeten with more juice concentrate, brown sugar, white sugar, and a few undecided spices for an apple pie flavoring.

my thought is if i see the yeast starting to slow down before my desired gravity of 1.000ish is reached i will toss in yeast energizer and possibly more nutrient. I also was thinking of stirring to introduce more O2 during primary, good idea/bad idea?

thoughts, comments, concerns, additional ideas, criticisim??



i will keep this updated with progress


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## Ernest T Bass (Aug 21, 2012)

I used apple pie spice in some apple wine, a little bit of it goes a long way and it gets stronger the older it gets. Bench test.
Semper Fi
Bud


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## winemaker_3352 (Aug 21, 2012)

Ernest T Bass said:


> I used apple pie spice in some apple wine, a little bit of it goes a long way and it gets stronger the older it gets. Bench test.
> Semper Fi
> Bud



You are right - spices added to wine goes a long way. Especially cloves - do not use much at all.

I take a tea bag - empty it out - place my spice in it - tie with a string and dip it into the carboy - makes it easier to completely remove all spices..


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## southlake333 (Aug 21, 2012)

Ha, I just finished posting my Apple Pie Cider recipe in another thread. You have a basic apple wine going already so I'll focus on the backsweetening part. In order to get a good apple pie flavor (for 6 gallons of wine) use the following:

Cinnamon solution = 2 cups of water, 2 cups of light brown sugar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon - heated until everything is fully dissolved.

Mix all of the cinnamon solution into wine in a bottling bucket. From there sweeten to taste using additional apple juice concentrate.

Obviously you'll want to cut that down since you've got 2 gallons. Cinnamon goes a long way so if anything, use less, not more.


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## Dend78 (Aug 21, 2012)

thanks for the quick responses, and idea's. i love the teabag idea thats great! would it be wiser to have the cinnamon in a tea bag to remove since it wont actually disolve? im not scared of floaters, (i grew up drinking well water ) but some people dont like to see things floating in their drinks, especially a wine


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## winemaker_3352 (Aug 21, 2012)

Dend78 said:


> thanks for the quick responses, and idea's. i love the teabag idea thats great! would it be wiser to have the cinnamon in a tea bag to remove since it wont actually disolve? im not scared of floaters, (i grew up drinking well water ) but some people dont like to see things floating in their drinks, especially a wine



I use cinnamon sticks - not the powder...


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## Dend78 (Aug 21, 2012)

i was thinking about sticks as well still undecided there.


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## Dend78 (Aug 22, 2012)

well tested temp today, gravity and stirred it up, gave it a taste

temp around 70% and fermenting nicely

gravity here is where the weird part comes in my SG was 1.140, this morning i check it and wow *1.155* only thing i can think of is possibly the sugar since i didnt use warm water in a pan to heat it up it didnt all disolve, but im pretty sure there wanst any left in the bottom of the primary. my other thought on this the pectic enzyme broke out more of the sugar from the juice either way im kinda like 

so i went from roughly 18% to 20%

foamed up nicely on the stir

tastes like super sweet apple juice

anyone have any thoughts on the gravity?


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## winemaker_3352 (Aug 22, 2012)

That is what it sounds like - the sugar added was not dissolved yet - over nite more of it dissolved raising your SG.


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## Dend78 (Aug 22, 2012)

winemaker_3352 said:


> That is what it sounds like - the sugar added was not dissolved yet - over nite more of it dissolved raising your SG.



oh well wont need to backsweeten so much


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## Dend78 (Aug 23, 2012)

*8/23/12 Update*
headed in the right direction now 1.130
added some yeast energizer to the mix to help out


*8/24/12 Update*
opened it up checked 1.119+
put the stir to it everything is moving along great, again going for dry here


*8/26/12 update*
checked it out shes still going like a beast, 1.102 this morning down from the high end of 1.155 im guessing by mid week it will be done and ready to move into secondary, which means....empty primary!!!!!! WOOT WOOT


*8/27/12 update*
going like a champ 1.092 this morning, one thing i have noticed this batch has a lot more CO2 much more spinning of the hydrometer to get it to set in, at this rate this should be done once it gets to around 1.015+ so at that rate 8 more days probably 9 to be safe, which would toss out my above guess of mid week, but it could suprise me and make a jump, i hope so, i need more blueberry wine stat!!


*8/28/12 update*
hit a little slow down today 1.085 tossed in a 1/2tsp energizer and 1/2tsp yeast nutrient to help it along the yeast has been working hard but im still not quite where i want to be to transfer to secondary.


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

I am also doing the apple pie. I wonder if I should add some energizer? Yeast has been in for 24hrs and not much bubbling going on. Starting SG of 1.090, and today it is 1.120. Normal? Or is something wrong??


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## Dend78 (Aug 28, 2012)

i would say give it another 24hrs it sounds like you have the same issue i had with the sugar not being fully disolved and causing the SG to jump faster than the yeast could take it up. 

a shot of energizer might not hurt due to the higer SG now. i added more last night because im shooting for dry which according to lavlin is 18% for the EC-1118 so im going to push that limit then back sweeten. which my guess puts me at 1.020ish roughly.


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

Thank you


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## Dend78 (Aug 28, 2012)

your welcome hope that helps, keep me posted we can compare notes at the end


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

Will do! This is my very first batch, so I'm sure I'll have more questions haha.


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## Dend78 (Aug 28, 2012)

what is your recipe if you dont mind sharing?


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

I am using Southlake333's recipe...

Apple Pie Cider

15 Cans of Apple Juice concentrate
Sugar to an SG of 1.080 (didn't measure but it was over 4lbs)
3 tsp Pectic Enzyme
3 tsp Yeast Energizer
6 tablets Campden - crushed up.
1 packet Red Star Pasteur Champaigne Yeast
Water to 6 gallons

Mix all ingredients (including Campden) and let sit a day.
Pitch yeast and ferment in primary until 1.020 then rack to secondary.
Ferment dry, then rack onto campden and sorbate. Mix in sparkolloid solution for clearing. (follow qty directions on packages of all of these).
Once clear, rack to bottling bucket prepare the cinnamon solution by heating all ingredients until nothing is left suspended.

Cinnamon solution = 2 cups of water, 2 cups of light brown sugar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix all of the cinnamon solution into bottling bucket. From there sweeten to taste using additional apple juice concentrate.
The result will taste like a liquid apple pie.


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## Dend78 (Aug 28, 2012)

should be a winner just yours will end up either a touch dryer in need of some back sweetening or a touch sweeter depending on when you stop it or the yeast just cant take it anymore.

i would for sure toss in the engergizer especially if you go for dry thats a pretty good haul for the yeast from the 1.120 to reach 1.020 im not sure on the Red Star yeast as to what it can take before it chokes itself out.

i to plan to use something close to southlakes cinnamon solution im gonna have to cut it down for my 3gal batch, and i thought i would need white sugar as well but being as it is i should still have plenty of sugar left after my yeast kills itself off. i will post up exactly what i do when i get to that point


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## southlake333 (Aug 28, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> I am also doing the apple pie. I wonder if I should add some energizer? Yeast has been in for 24hrs and not much bubbling going on. Starting SG of 1.090, and today it is 1.120. Normal? Or is something wrong??



It could be that the yeast got going already. Right when active fermentation starts, its hard to get an accurate SG reading. So it could just be that your SG reading is off now. Try it again in another day. If its still over 1.1 then maybe you added too much sugar that was sitting on the bottom when you first measured.


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

Ok, so if I did add too much sugar, how do I fix that?


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## southlake333 (Aug 28, 2012)

Dend78 said:


> should be a winner just yours will end up either a touch dryer in need of some back sweetening or a touch sweeter depending on when you stop it or the yeast just cant take it anymore.
> 
> i would for sure toss in the engergizer especially if you go for dry thats a pretty good haul for the yeast from the 1.120 to reach 1.020 im not sure on the Red Star yeast as to what it can take before it chokes itself out.
> 
> i to plan to use something close to southlakes cinnamon solution im gonna have to cut it down for my 3gal batch, and i thought i would need white sugar as well but being as it is i should still have plenty of sugar left after my yeast kills itself off. i will post up exactly what i do when i get to that point



Robin's should ferment dry, then she can backsweeten to taste. Even if the initial SG truly was 1.120 (16% ABV), that's the rated limit of Red Star Champagne yeast so it should go all the way. 

Usually you ferment dry, stabilize and backsweeten as it is a more accurate way to get the exact sweetness level you want. Adding too much sugar initially and hoping it stops where you want it will end up with a much wider variation from batch to batch.

I would not suggest adding more energizer. You already have 3 tsp initially which should be more than enough for this wine. Even skeeter pee which is kind of hostile to yeast only calls for 2 tsp. Honestly you could probably ferment this without any energizer but the variation I took my original recipe from called for it. Only add more (along with nutrient) if fermentation totally stops (which it should not).

As for white vs brown sugar...brown is what will give it that apple pie flavor so be sure to include it in your backsweetening at some level.


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## southlake333 (Aug 28, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> Ok, so if I did add too much sugar, how do I fix that?



You can either let it go as is and end up with a higher alcohol content or you can dilute it down with straight apple juice which would reduce the SG and make a larger batch than the original recipe.


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

Ok, I will just take a deep breath and relax lol. And wait.  I will check again tomorrow morning & keep you posted.


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## Dend78 (Aug 28, 2012)

southlake333 said:


> Robin's should ferment dry, then she can backsweeten to taste. Even if the initial SG truly was 1.120 (16% ABV), that's the rated limit of Red Star Champagne yeast so it should go all the way.



awesome i wasnt sure on red star ive only used the bakers yeast 



southlake333 said:


> Usually you ferment dry, stabilize and backsweeten as it is a more accurate way to get the exact sweetness level you want. Adding too much sugar initially and hoping it stops where you want it will end up with a much wider variation from batch to batch.



this is why ima let mine choke itself out, the lower the gravity reading the better, as you said its easy to sweeten in the end.



southlake333 said:


> I would not suggest adding more energizer. You already have 3 tsp initially which should be more than enough for this wine. Even skeeter pee which is kind of hostile to yeast only calls for 2 tsp. Honestly you could probably ferment this without any energizer but the variation I took my original recipe from called for it. Only add more (along with nutrient) if fermentation totally stops (which it should not).



maybe i missread her original post on page 2 i think she said she didnt add any.

**edit**yes i misread**edit**
if it has 3tsp in it you should be fine


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

Well I decided to go ahead and check it now. The SG is at 1.095.


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## Dend78 (Aug 28, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> Well I decided to go ahead and check it now. The SG is at 1.095.


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## snowgirl812001 (Aug 28, 2012)

I know, I've been freaking out lol. I just don't wanna mess it up, as I don't really know what I'm doing yet. Thank God for you guys!


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## southlake333 (Aug 28, 2012)

If you're at 1.095 either you just got a more accurate reading or fermentation has started and your yeast has already eaten .035.

Patience truly is key in this hobby. Of course patience is easier to come by after you have a few batches bottled.


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## Dend78 (Aug 28, 2012)

southlake333 said:


> Patience truly is key in this hobby. Of course patience is easier to come by after you have a few batches bottled.



ill let you know when that happens


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## Dend78 (Aug 29, 2012)

well kinda suprised this morning 1.081 really expected it to be lower, its still going but its slowing down


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## southlake333 (Aug 29, 2012)

Stir it up vigorously to add in more oxygen. That should help.


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## Dend78 (Aug 29, 2012)

southlake333 said:


> Stir it up vigorously to add in more oxygen. That should help.



yup i do that every morning and sometimes in the evenings, i did notice its not foaming up as much now the bubbles disipate before it even gets done swirling.

**edit**

any suggestions on when to move this to secondary? generally i would wait till 0.995 -1.030 or something like that im not totally sure it will be able to go to 0.995 i havent tested the end limits of EC1118 but guideline says 18% whats the choke and die limit?


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## Dend78 (Aug 30, 2012)

well we have hit the breaks here 1.079, would i am thinking i may need to rack it to my carboys but i could be mistaken here. i stirred it this morning and practically no foam formed on the top what was there was there and gone very quickly. i still hear it fizzing slightly but its for sure slowing down. actually from about .010 per day down to .003 or less per day.

thoughts?


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## southlake333 (Aug 30, 2012)

Well, lets see. You're using Lalvin EC-1118 which has an alcohol tolerance of 18% per Lalvin's website.

http://www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp

You started at 1.140 which would be 18.5-19% if fermented dry and that falls within the realm of what that yeast could handle. Since fermentation is occuring (slow and steady), you didn't kill off the yeast right off the bat due to all the sugar. So my suggestion is....STOP PLAYING WITH IT...lol! Leave it in the bucket and let it go for 3 or 4 more days before testing it again. 

Since I have never started with such a high SG and subsequently seen a slow,steady fermentation, I can't provide any insight on when to rack to the secondary other than an educated guess. My educated guess would be when it gets below 1.040. That would be a full .1 SG worth of sugar fermented out but still less than the yeast's capability. The idea of racking to the secondary is to prevent oxidation from extra oxygen in the headspace that occurs when your yeast isn't producing enough CO2 to produce a protective blanket. But, during primary fermentation the yeast need the oxygen to reproduce so racking too early could inhibit the yeast and stop fermentation.


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## Dend78 (Aug 30, 2012)

southlake333 said:


> The idea of racking to the secondary is to prevent oxidation from extra oxygen in the headspace that occurs when your yeast isn't producing enough CO2 to produce a protective blanket. But, during primary fermentation the yeast need the oxygen to reproduce so racking too early could inhibit the yeast and stop fermentation.



right this is what im nervous about, also don't forget it jumped up to 1.155 (which is believe to be the sugar wasn't fully dissolved when i first set my SG) so i could be getting close and who knows it could have been as high in my guess as 1.160 but by the time i got to it the yeast was already dragging it down. it tastes really good now and i would really be upset if i left it in there for a bit to long and it oxidized on me. if you insist though i will let it sit till say sunday (cmon will power )


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## southlake333 (Aug 30, 2012)

Even if it started at 1.155, that yeast should get it down to 1.020ish. What temp are you fermenting at?


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## Dend78 (Aug 30, 2012)

its holding around 70-75* F

usually about 72*


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## Dend78 (Sep 3, 2012)

9/2/12 

well the latest, 1.160


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 5, 2012)

Everything seems to be going fine with mine, I currently have it clearing. I have tasted it and tasted pretty dry but good. I added some brown sugar and cinnamon to the sample and man..... did that make a difference! I can't wait to drink it  How long should I let it clear for?


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## southlake333 (Sep 5, 2012)

Clear for 2 weeks, then add the cinnamon solution and let it clear some more until you feel like its ready to bottle. 

Basically the longer you wait to bottle, the less sediment you'll end up with in the bottles. But its totally drinkable after you add the cinnamon solution.


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 5, 2012)

Thanks!! You're definately a lifesaver


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## Dend78 (Sep 6, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> Everything seems to be going fine with mine, I currently have it clearing. I have tasted it and tasted pretty dry but good. I added some brown sugar and cinnamon to the sample and man..... did that make a difference! I can't wait to drink it  How long should I let it clear for?




wow!!! that looks awesome!!!!! mine is still chugging away i was at 1.055 the night before last so a few more days, this has been the longest ferment yet! but its coming down from the roof

did you add any clearing agents to it? it looks like its clearing really well but from the bottom up rather than the top down. at least thats how it looks in the pic either way it looks good!!


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 6, 2012)

Thanks. I did, super kleer I believe it was. I followed the directions, it's a two step clearing agent. I also bought isinglass that I'll try next time, my store here only carries those two. You're getting closer and closer.... Won't be long.


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## Dend78 (Sep 6, 2012)

im ready it really tastes good now, i may try isinglass now and see whos clears quicker. our recipes are different but from looking at your carboy pics and lookin in my primary it all looks about the same aside from i havent added any extra spices yet so i dont have that reddish orange tint to mine yet.

that makes me think, i know this is a dangerous thing me thinking but ....since i am running my yeast to its end limits would it be a bad idea to add the spices and brown sugar to it while its still in my primary? since there isnt much of a chance my yeast can finish off what it has adding in brown sugar and stuff shouldnt hurt it at all correct? just thinking of saving a step once i transfer to my 1gal carboys, instead of add k-meta, clearing agent then back sweeten in the carboys, just add k-meta and clearing agent and leave it alone.


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 6, 2012)

Lol, I haven't added any spices yet. I don't know about that, I'll let someone more experienced answer that one.


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## Dend78 (Sep 6, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> Lol, I haven't added any spices yet. I don't know about that, I'll let someone more experienced answer that one.



really? wow i hope mine gets that color/tint to it that looks great!


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## southlake333 (Sep 6, 2012)

Dend78 said:


> im ready it really tastes good now, i may try isinglass now and see whos clears quicker. our recipes are different but from looking at your carboy pics and lookin in my primary it all looks about the same aside from i havent added any extra spices yet so i dont have that reddish orange tint to mine yet.
> 
> that makes me think, i know this is a dangerous thing me thinking but ....since i am running my yeast to its end limits would it be a bad idea to add the spices and brown sugar to it while its still in my primary? since there isnt much of a chance my yeast can finish off what it has adding in brown sugar and stuff shouldnt hurt it at all correct? just thinking of saving a step once i transfer to my 1gal carboys, instead of add k-meta, clearing agent then back sweeten in the carboys, just add k-meta and clearing agent and leave it alone.



I would wait. Once yours is done you may find its sweet enough as is and the addition of brown sugar might be too much. My latest batch of Apple Pie Cider is only sweetened to around 1.006 WITH the brown sugar and apple juice concentrate. You're most likely going to be way over that before sweetening.


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## Dend78 (Sep 6, 2012)

very true, my addition of brown sugar would be minimal if at all since im gonna be around 1.020 if it can even get there. i am looking mainly at apple pie spice as my primary addition, im not even sure i want to add apple concentrate to it as it still has a hint of apple now but its being masked by the overwhelming young alcohol.

im going to check my SG again tonight and see where I am at since when i last checked it i gave it a good stirring. I may even look into suspending a teabag of apple pie spice in it. think that would be okay?


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## jswordy (Sep 6, 2012)

Dend78 said:


> oh well wont need to backsweeten so much


 
I'd let it ferment back dry.


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## Dend78 (Sep 9, 2012)

okay i racked it to carboys it was at 1.051 on 9/7/12 so i just racked it lees and all. i feel safer with it under airlock now


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 10, 2012)

Here is the half gallon I had in addition to the 6 gall carboy. I decided to play with it. I sweetened it with the brown sugar/cinnamon and by the time I decided I liked it, I had added a whole can of apple juice concentrate. I did 1 c. water, 1 c. brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon. Then added a bit more brown sugar. In my opinion that's a lot for just a half gallon, right? I'm worried that I will add too much trying to get over the very strong rocket fuel taste lol. What's the best way of doing this? And does the cinnamon still float around? Or maybe I didn't heat it long enough?


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## Dend78 (Sep 10, 2012)

that looks good, almost a cider. only thing you can do is you can let it age longer to round of the sharp edges on the alcohol. check your SG see what you are sitting at, plus remember you are setting it to your taste so what i may think is to sweet maybe just right for me, and when it gets right down to it whos drinking most of your stash?  

as for the cinnamon does it ever dissolve? its a bark so i dont believe that it ever actually dissolves.

i racked mine and its bubbling like a beast im just gonna leave it alone and let it do its thing. the yeast will die someday. one thing i noticed mine is very light yellow, almost a post-it note color. i will leave it alone until i no longer see action in the airlock then i will test it and see where i am at.


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 10, 2012)

lol, i believe i will be drinking most of it. SG is at 1.045 right now.


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## Dend78 (Sep 11, 2012)

that is high from what i have seen but if its good to you thats what matters


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 11, 2012)

Tastes good now, but I'm worried after alcohol smoothes out maybe it will be too sweet.


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## southlake333 (Sep 11, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> lol, i believe i will be drinking most of it. SG is at 1.045 right now.



WHOA! That must taste like syrup...lol.

To answer your question, yes that was too much sugar. Wait as long as you can to sweeten because the young wine taste encourages you to oversweeten. Basically it takes a lot of sugar to overcome the harsh characteristics that wine has early on. By the time you overcome that flavor, you've made syrup.

By waiting a few weeks, the young wine taste will settle down a bit making it MUCH easier to properly sweeten to taste. Then when you sweeten, you want to go only to the point where you feel like it needs just a bit more sweetness but isn't quite sweet enough, then stop. Over the next month it will become exactly what you had hoped for.

The cinnamon won't dissolve so just let the wine sit on it for a week or two. Then when you rack, leave the sediment behind and bottle. If you want, you can mix it all in, then bottle so the cinnamon sediment ends up in each bottle. It won't look good but it will taste great. Both ways work.


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## snowgirl812001 (Sep 11, 2012)

Good thing it's just the leftover portion! Haha. Thanks for the advice. I still have the carboy sitting till at least next week.


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## Dend78 (Sep 12, 2012)

wow 22 days and still fermenting!!


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## Dend78 (Sep 14, 2012)

1.043 it just keeps creepin!


 9/17/2012

well I took a look at it last night its working the airlock but its super slow like 1 bubble every 5+ seconds, I need to check it again and see where I am at with it


 9/18/2012

still letting it set and do it thing, took another visual inspection while i had the closet/lab  door open, actually this stuff has almost cleared on it own still havent check SG


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## Dend78 (Sep 19, 2012)

well checked it out last night 1.040 that's a whole .003 in 4/5 days  this is a super long ferment, action in the airlock is super slow once ever 20-30 seconds maybe 29days and counting i dunno if 1.020 is going to be possible. tasted it, tastes really good apple flavor is pretty well gone or masked by the alcohol, but its drinkable now. still gonna give it a few days and see what it does.

if it stalls out im going to rack off the lee's and stabilize it.


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## Dend78 (Sep 23, 2012)

well I checked my partial gallon i had left over, looks like i ended up with more than 2 gallons like i was initially going for. It was still at 1.040 so i racked it off the less, added k-meta and sorbate. let it sit over night then added in 1 can of apple juice concentrate, 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon, and sparkolloid. will take pics and start drinkin.....errr uhh tasting once it clears


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## Dend78 (Oct 8, 2012)

well update here, it all cleared nicely, the apple flavoring was weak so i added in more brown sugar and another can of juice concentrate, young alcohol is still pretty strong so im not adding anymore to the initial jug. however I am ready to rack off my other two gallons because they have completely stopped fermenting, so i plan to add k-meta and back sweeten once I check the SG. the yeast is supposed to be good up to 18% here so im guessing thats about where its sitting right now. if so I plan to back sweeten with 6 cans of apple juice brown sugar cinnamon and nutmeg. Pics to follow, had anyone told me 6 months ago that I would have had 2 gallons of apple wine going, 4 gallons of banana wine going, and 4 gallons of pear wine going I would have laughed at you because I had no clue even how to make this stuff....look at me now i have all of that going and I still have no clue what im doing 

as someone said to one of my first post's, im gonna need a bigger closet


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## Dend78 (Oct 9, 2012)

before and after back sweetening, and my new carboy!!!!!


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 9, 2012)

Looks good!!


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## Dend78 (Oct 9, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> Looks good!!




how did yours turn out?


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 10, 2012)

So far so good! I bottled on the 22nd. Had a hard time corking them though. A few didn't get pushed all the way in and are sticking out of bottle top a bit. I even had a helper lol. Ended up with 31 bottles total. (Now at 28 since I have drank 3 already haha). Haven't tried any since that weekend, trying my best to leave it alone.  As soon as I get another printer cartridge, I will do the labels.


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## Dend78 (Oct 10, 2012)

NICE!!! that is awesome, just from looking I would say its differences with the necks of the bottles, I see some that were driven way deep and the few that are up, i dont think you could do anything to help that, possibly a different cork but i dont know that that would even fix the problem there. other than that everything looks great, I wish you luck on leaving it alone thats the hardest part of this addictio.....errr hobby yeah hobby


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 10, 2012)

Lol, well thanks. I figure wasn't too bad for first try. The ones that are messed up I plan on drinking here at house hehe. I put the corks in dry also, dunno if that makes any difference, but that's what I got from all the info on here. Just straight outta the sealed bag. Maybe next time it will be easier. Addiction... Yes... Hahaha. Or obsession? Either way, I'm hooked lol


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## Dend78 (Oct 10, 2012)

you know corks are overrated anyway, one more thing to worry about when trying to get my drink on hahaha


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 11, 2012)

Currently drinking a bottle..... It's good


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## Dend78 (Oct 11, 2012)

hey great job on the leaving it alone! 

hahah just playin im gonna bottle mine tonight woot woot!


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## southlake333 (Oct 11, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> Currently drinking a bottle..... It's good



Glad you like it! I let mine sit a while after sweetening and more sediment fell out (probably just all the cinnamon). So I racked it off, tasted and found it had lost most of the cinnamon flavor so I threw in a cinnamon stick and let it sit for another 2 weeks. Just bottled last weekend and its perfect. Just in time for the holidays.


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## Dend78 (Oct 12, 2012)

its all in bottles now will get pics up later, and snowgirl just so you know i over sweetend mine as well, but i must say its really really good.


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 16, 2012)

Lol, well as long as we like it right?


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## Dend78 (Oct 16, 2012)

thats right i had another hill jack friend try it, being green he said he really liked it, so thats a wine....errr uh win!


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## Dend78 (Oct 16, 2012)

all bottled up - 2 corks didnt fully seat like yours snowgirl











screw tops are for quick access for ummm tesing purposes


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 17, 2012)

Yeah, I'm gonna have to work on the whole corking thing lol. Looks good! I tested another one on sat night, really gonna try hard to leave the rest alone. Hehe


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## Dend78 (Oct 17, 2012)

yeah i gave away the frosted bottle, and ive about over tested the other bottle in front, just leaving me with the 1.5l bottle in the back lol


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## bchoate (Oct 17, 2012)

My first time bottleing I had the same problem. Its not the corks fault its the corker. The two lever corkers are good. But spend the extra money for a portugese or Italian floor corker. Well worth the cost.


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 17, 2012)

southlake333 said:


> Glad you like it! I let mine sit a while after sweetening and more sediment fell out (probably just all the cinnamon). So I racked it off, tasted and found it had lost most of the cinnamon flavor so I threw in a cinnamon stick and let it sit for another 2 weeks. Just bottled last weekend and its perfect. Just in time for the holidays.



Do you think the sticks work better? Maybe less crap in the bottles?


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 18, 2012)

& by crap I meant the cinnamon that settles to the bottom lol


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## Dend78 (Oct 18, 2012)

i actually think it does but at the same time i think its worth having the floaters in the bottles, my partial gallon test batch i used from this actually didnt retain a lot of the spice flavoring after a couple of weeks. for sure though if you dont want anything hangin around in the bottle go with the sticks


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## snowgirl812001 (Oct 22, 2012)

eh, floaters don't bother me (as long as I know what they are) hahaha.


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## Dend78 (Oct 23, 2012)

snowgirl812001 said:


> eh, floaters don't bother me (as long as I know what they are) hahaha.



for sure!


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## snowgirl812001 (Nov 5, 2012)

Got capsules on, next are labels


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## Dend78 (Nov 5, 2012)

ewww thems purdy!!


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## DirtyDawg10 (Nov 5, 2012)

They look great!!


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## snowgirl812001 (Nov 8, 2012)

Opinions? I think I need better paper, they are not looking as nice as I had hoped:/. I even tried a different pic, but seem to still be getting faint lines on them both.


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## DirtyDawg10 (Nov 8, 2012)

They look great from here. The faint lines are probably due to an inkjet printer. If you have access to a laser jet printer give it a try.


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## Dend78 (Nov 8, 2012)

looks great, for sure im thinkin thats printer like DD said, regardless still looks great!


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## southlake333 (Nov 9, 2012)

I use photo paper. The labels require a bit more glue to keep them stuck to the bottle, but they look beautiful.


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## snowgirl812001 (Nov 9, 2012)

southlake333 said:


> I use photo paper. The labels require a bit more glue to keep them stuck to the bottle, but they look beautiful.



Do you use glue sticks?


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## snowgirl812001 (Nov 11, 2012)

Ok, I tried photo paper. They look so much better but now the glue stick doesn't seem enough to hold it on. Should I use something else? Hot glue? Also, the ink is rubbing off wherever I touch it. Please help :'(


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## Dend78 (Nov 12, 2012)

label quality looks much better for sure, you may try some liquid latex glue or even a little super glue, i dont know for sure because ive never labeled anything but that may be worth a try. I use masking tape and a pen


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## DirtyDawg10 (Nov 12, 2012)

I use regular paper and glue sticks for mine. I think the photo paper may require special inks and/or extra drying time. As far as glue I'm not sure what works because I haven't tried the photo paper but it looks like Southlake333 may be able to help.


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## DirtyDawg10 (Nov 12, 2012)

Oh...I forgot to ask...what does it say on your coaster in that pic?


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## snowgirl812001 (Nov 12, 2012)

DirtyDawg10 said:


> Oh...I forgot to ask...what does it say on your coaster in that pic?



Lol, an interesting coaster set I found. There's also a drunk, wasted, hungover, tipsy one


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## snowgirl812001 (Nov 13, 2012)

ok, i read a thread on here where someone suggested spray polyurethane to keep ink from running.


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## DirtyDawg10 (Nov 13, 2012)

lol...I like the coaster. 

The spray could work but it seems like a lot of work. I would check kinkos or staples and see how much it would be to have laser color prints done.


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## Dend78 (Nov 13, 2012)

yeah it shouldn't be that difficult i wouldn't think, thats a lot of work just to get a label to stick and the ink not to run


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## Tom_S (Nov 13, 2012)

In the past when I first tried making labels for my wine, I actually just used some white Elmer's glue. I'd put a bit on my finger, rub it all over the back of the label, and carefully stick it on and let it dry. The good part is that label removal was a breeze by just soaking it for a bit. But now I use the Avery 8164 stick on labels which work like a dream. They're also not hard to remove by soaking. There's also a no-run label in the same size which is made of some kind of vinyl. They're actually easier to remove than the paper ones, and the colors don't run on a sweaty bottle.


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## snowgirl812001 (Nov 13, 2012)

Yeah I guess that is a lot of work. I guess I'll try Elmer's & check into kinko's. Thanks guys

And the Avery labels sound like a good idea now too


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## Javila (Nov 14, 2012)

You best bet is a laser printer , color or Black n white. Then I use Elmer's spray adhesive because easy to use and it also resists moisture.


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