Anybody use wild yeast method??

[Turock]

Ohhhh---How did I miss that? Good point, Stressbaby!! Talk about REAL rocket fuel if that's correct!!!!

 

[grapeman]

I know I am checking in here a bit late, but I think you mistyped your stating specific gravity at 1.190. You would have needed to add a LOT of sugar to get it that high. Chances are good it was 1.090, which is a good beginning SG. Even at that wild yeast might not be able to eat all the sugar so all the recommendations are probably good. If it had been that high to start you would have about a 25% ABV sweet alcohol and I know no yeast that would live to go that high. Most hydrometers only go up to 1.160 or about 20% ABV.

Remember a lot of good wines have been made with wild yeast, but the batches can vary a lot. You can increase the odds of a good wine by starting with a $1 packet of yeast (or less).

P.S.- I see now that Stressbaby also caught this. I really do think it was not read or typed correctly.

 

[Turock]

That HAS to be it--or you really couldn't even ferment such a thing!!! Many new people leave the "0" off their readings when typing SG. Not a good thing--those "0's" are important!

 

[nayrea143]

Sorry so late !!!!crazy holiday stuff!!! Okay so it's still in the original 6 gallon Carboy. My friends said to leave it alone and not rack it till January. Obviously since then I want to tweek the methods a bit. And that is the number my hubby gave me. Sooooo who knows what we did!!! Geez. I am off to a slow start!!! It's still bubbling!!!!! And a bit foamy too!!' Help!!!' Rack then degassing (and how?) then sulfite?? ( how much? ) then bulk age in a say 5 gallon Carboy bc there is too much airspace in it as it is I think.

 

[nayrea143]

And how back is it that I use a clean but not actually sanitized baster type of thing to get my sample???

 

[nayrea143]

* bad. Not back. Geez. Auto correct!!

 

[Pumpkinman]

It is tough to try to make wine both the traditional and the up to date way on the same wine, at some point you are really going to have to decide which way you want to make wine, this way we can actually guide you from the Crush/destemming to bulk aging, part of this is taking detailed notes.
I admire you for hanging on to old school traditions, I had the opportunity to make wine in Tuscany when I lived there, my friends father had a vineyard, we helped him harvest and crush one year, a few months later he brought us the biggest DemiJohn of rocket fuel Chianti that I've ever seen...lol
I had a friend that made wine like this as well, it took me about 6 months to totally convince him to try making wine in the 21st century, he won't go back to the traditional ways of no gravity reading, not stabilizing and so on, you can still make a fantastic wine using current techniques and be able to recreate it year after year.

 

[nayrea143]

I want to do it the new up to date way I broke the news to them today. And turns out my friends and curios about new techniques but they won't break the tradition. So where and what should I do from here??? I really don't want to loose this batch. I will be following the new way in the spring when I do Chilean grapes.

 

[nayrea143]

My sg reading right now is 1.010. So it was sg 1.020 on 11-9
1.010 on 12-1

So I am still fermenting then!!???
Taste kinda nasty
And taste a bit metallic?
Slight rubbing alcohol like?
Waaaaaaaaa

 

[nayrea143]

Will pictures help

 

[nayrea143]

More pictures!!!! Help!!!!

 

[nayrea143]

6 gallon Carboy Italian merlot

 

[novalou]

My sg reading right now is 1.010. So it was sg 1.020 on 11-9 1.010 on 12-1 So I am still fermenting then!!??? Taste kinda nasty And taste a bit metallic? Slight rubbing alcohol like? Waaaaaaaaa

Sounds like you are still fermenting.

It will taste better once fermentation stops and the yeast drops out.

If you have sediment buildup on the bottom, rack to a smaller carboy if you have one. Otherwise, you can top off with wine.

 

[Turock]

You really need to top up that carboy. Get some marbles, sanitize them in meta and add to the carboy. That much headspace allows too much oxygen exposure which can favor vinegar production.

 

[Turock]

Oh wow--I went back and read page 5 and see you now have off flavors. Well, that may be from the wild yeast. You see why many of us don't favor unknown cultures. Sometimes, you get a bad surprise. The other thing that may contribute to the off flavors is lack of nutrient--I'm sure you didn't use any on this ferment.

Well, I would let this age for 9 months to 1 year. Rack off the sediment as needed. Be sure to get the gross lees off the wine in a couple weeks because those lees are real nasty and the product of the ferment and they are often stinky. You want your wine off of those initial lees. It sounds like the ferment is finishing, as you are close to 1 SG. Bulk aging will drop out sediments and some off flavors and offending esters. Given enough time, they will drop out of the wine. Just be patient with it. Damn--it's just so much easier using known cultures!!!

 

[HillPeople]

Nayrea143, Turock and Pumpkinman have given you some very valuable and sound advice and I can't add anything to what they have already written.
Sounds like the wine bug bit you pretty bad, so I can only assume that your production will increase over the years. What this means is that you may have more drinkable wine, but I can guarantee you will also be pouring a lot of it out if you stickk with a "totally natural" production method. Dumping wine is not a very uplifting experience!

 

[seth8530]

Yup, just be patient with this wine. I feel like we have made you a convert.... But, take what you have learned from this batch and apply it to your next. Juice buckets from this fall's harvest are still on sale! If not, you could play around with some fruit wine.. Those are fun too!

 

[nayrea143]

Oh wow--I went back and read page 5 and see you now have off flavors. Well, that may be from the wild yeast. You see why many of us don't favor unknown cultures. Sometimes, you get a bad surprise. The other thing that may contribute to the off flavors is lack of nutrient--I'm sure you didn't use any on this ferment. Well, I would let this age for 9 months to 1 year. Rack off the sediment as needed. Be sure to get the gross lees off the wine in a couple weeks because those lees are real nasty and the product of the ferment and they are often stinky. You want your wine off of those initial lees. It sounds like the ferment is finishing, as you are close to 1 SG. Bulk aging will drop out sediments and some off flavors and offending esters. Given enough time, they will drop out of the wine. Just be patient with it. Damn--it's just so much easier using known cultures!!!

Ok so should I add sulfite now or wait to 1 sg rack and add then. Or should I just leave this alone?? And I am thinking I will buy a smaller Carboy to rack it into to remove the head space and add marbles as needed.

Thank thank u thank u!!!

Yes I will use known cultures and preservative next time!!!! I am way too OCD for this crap shoot method!!! Lol lol

 

[novalou]

Ok so should I add sulfite now or wait to 1 sg rack and add then. Or should I just leave this alone?? And I am thinking I will buy a smaller Carboy to rack it into to remove the head space and add marbles as needed. Thank thank u thank u!!! Yes I will use known cultures and preservative next time!!!! I am way too OCD for this crap shoot method!!! Lol lol

Wait until your SG stops changing, whatever the number might be.

Yes, at some point, rack to a smaller carboy.

 

[Turock]

You are SO close to dry stage---I think I'd get some meta on it. Rack it first if there are alot of lees at the bottom. Add about 50 PPM of SO2 to it, and in a couple months I'd add some more because a good portion of the initial dose will become bound. Too bad we don't know a PH on this wine because that's how you determine how much meta your wine needs.