Danger's lab---keep out!!!

[skor]

its good this one were just gonna leave, maybe on the next one we will flavor it i think we might try your dragon blood or some berry version

 

[loumik]

EASY PEESY (SKEETER PEE)

Ingredients: For a six gallon batch:

Step 1: To a cleaned and sanitized seven gallon primary, add---in this order:
2 bottles (48 oz) 100% Lemon Juice (ReaLemon in the green bottle): if you want to recude the acid level use one bottle.
Water to about five gallons
20 cups of white granulated sugar (looking for a SG btw 1.085-1.09): use less sugar for lower final ABV. Stir sugar until completely desolved.
1 tsp. tannin (stir)
4 tsp. yeast nutrient (stir)
2 tsp. yeast energizer (stir)
3 tsp. pectic enzyme (stir)
6 lbs. of Triple Berry Blend (raspberry/blackberry/blueberry--available in most grocery store freezer sections), frozen then thawed, in a nylon fine mesh bag (tied shut), placed in primary: Give the bag a couple of squeezes to work in pectic enzyme. May also toss fruit directly into primary, but this makes for a "messier" fermentation and subsequently will require more clearing time and racking.
Top water to six gallons
Cover primary
Place brew belt: Keep temp in 70F-80F range.
Let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours...

Step 2: To the primary fermenter, add:
1 packet of EC-1118 Yeast (starter, per yeast directions): Sprinkle yeast into one cup of warm water (100F), let sit for 15 minutes (no longer), stir and add to primary. Other yeast strains may also work well.
Stir Primary Vigorously!

Step 3: Each day, do the following, in this order:
Check temp
Check specific gravity
Squeeze juices from fruit pack into fermenter---remove friut pack: Temporarily place in sanitized bucket.
Stir primary vigorously: To introduce oxygen into must.
Replace fruit pack
Cover primary

Step 4: When specific gravity (SG) reaches <1.000, do the following:
Squeeze juices from fruit pack into fermenter---remove friut pack: Discard fruit.
Rack to cleaned and sanitized six gallon carboy
Degas very thoroughly: I cannot emphasize this enough!
Add 1 tsp. Potassium Metabisulfite (stir)
Add 3 tsp. Potassium Sorbate (stir)
Add Sparkolloid* (or other cleaing agent): *1 tbs in one cup of water simmered for about 30 minutes. Add hot mixture to carboy.
Allow to clear undistrubed for no less than 1 week

Step 4: When wine is clear:
Carefully rack off of lees into cleaned & sanitized six gallon carboy
Add 4-5 cups of white granulated sugar (stir until sugar is completely disolved): Add more or less sugar to taste. Remember! The sugars will blend with the berry flavors over time, and the sweetness will come forward. Do not over-sweeten!
Allow wine to clear free of all sediment: This may or may not require more racking over the next few weeks.

Step 5: When wine is completely clear:
Bottle in clear bottles
Note: Never bottle cloudy wine! NEVER!

Wine is drinkable right way, but may benefit from up to a year of aging.

Dave,
In step 4 you have noted that you added 1 tsp. of k-meta. Isn't that quite a lot for a 6 gal. recipe? Most recipes I have seen call for 1/4 tsp. in 5 - 6 gals. of wine. Is this a typo or am I wrong?
I'm enjoying your thread. Keep up the good work.

LOUMIK

 

[dangerdave]

Dave,
In step 4 you have noted that you added 1 tsp. of k-meta. Isn't that quite a lot for a 6 gal. recipe? Most recipes I have seen call for 1/4 tsp. in 5 - 6 gals. of wine. Is this a typo or am I wrong?
I'm enjoying your thread. Keep up the good work.

Excellent question! You can read up on the use of K-meta here: http://www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/so2use.htm

Jack Keller has a couple of good charts and info on additives here: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/measures.asp

Basically, the main purpose I use that much initially is to prevent bacterial contamination and inhibit oxidization. About half of what I add gets bound up right away in the O2 battle, and it also makes the sorbate work better. If you feel that is too much, by all means use less. It's your wine!

Using sulphite according to the pH of the wine is really the ideal way to go. If one does not have a pH meter (it's on my wish list), then it is better to err on the high side than the low. If I am aging my wine, I will add the 1/4 tsp every three months.

In home winemaking, we never come close to the amounts used by the commercial wine makers.

 

[dangerdave]

I've been way too busy (taking care of my lovely wife and installing/recovering my new pool table), so I had to let the wines sit. I've got five of six carboys ready to finish/bottle, but they do look nice just sitting there...

And the Lab needs cleaned and reorganized...

Not that one! This one...

 

[Dianna]

Dave,

I am very new to all of this and have my first batch of Triple Berry Skeeter pee clearing currently. Looking forward to taste testing for backsweetening purposes.
Here is a pretty lame question for you. What are you using for bags to put your fruit in? I bought cheesecloth thinking I could tie it up with the fruit in it. Not a chance. So first batch I did the harder way and just dumped all the fruit in. Makes it hard to squish the blueberries. Anyway looking forward to finding out and using bags for my next batch.
Thanks in advance.

 

[dangerdave]

The bags are much better. You will get more wine at the end, too, as you will have less lees to rack off of. I use fine mesh nylon straining bags I got from George at Fine Vine Wines. I have several of the small ones, and I can get 4-6 pounds of fruit in each one with room to squeeze. He has a lot of different sizes.

 

[Dianna]

sweet!!!! Thanks for the info. I have also read that people use paint straining bags (never even heard of them, and I have done my fair share of painting over the years). Anyway - pretty excited to check them out and buy something for the next batch.

now if only the bottle fairy would visit me.

 

[dangerdave]

After bottling up some strawberry white zin for my lovely wife, I got busy with the lemon-lime. I racked and back-sweetened with sugar to my taste. It's very good! I used my Easy Peesy Recipe, making Lon's original lemon, and flavored with lime zest in Everclear. I've already got another batch going to which I will add my orange zest. So far, the zesting has worked out great (thanks, joe!). Note to self: Make more zest!

 

[ICELIA]

Beautiful color to that Carboy danger Dave.

 

[DirtyDawg10]

Looks great!!

 

[oldwhiskers]

Sparkling clear, looking good!

 

[keena]

Lookin great as always Dave!

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Great job Dave !!
I wish I could find more time to play with my wine - work has me way too busy.
Looking foward to making some of that triple berry pee soon !

 

[dangerdave]

Great job Dave !!
I wish I could find more time to play with my wine - work has me way too busy.
Looking foward to making some of that triple berry pee soon !

Good to hear from you, Steve! The triple berry seems to be a hit. At least at my house!

 

[skor]

Per Sammy's request, I am posting my Peach Mango Wine recipe ("Heidi's Uberraschung"), and the data from my wine log...enjoy!

I started with a six gallon peach wine recipe.

Nov 17, 2011: To the 7 gallon primary fermenter, I added the following:
192 oz of peaches in peach juice (two 96 oz cans): fruit placed in fine mesh bag; juice added to primary
11 lbs of white table sugar
3 tsp acid blend
4 tsp yeast nutrient
3 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp wine tanin
6 liquid tsp of Solution of Bisulfite (5 tsp sodium or potassium bisulphite in 1 cup water) or 6 crushed Campden tablets
SG=1.090 @ 80F
Let ingredients sit undisturbed for 24 hours.

Nov 18, 2011: Sprinkled packet of Bourgovin RC-212 (Austrian) yeast on top.
Nov 19, 2011: SG=1.075 @ 80F Active fermentation noted
Nov 22, 2011: SG=1.040 @ 78F Racked to secondary 5 gallon carboy
Dec 1, 2011: SG=1.010 @ 78F Treated with Sparkolloid (1 tbsp boiled in 1 cup water)
Dec 16, 2011: Clearing nicely. Racked off sediment. Tasted: slightly sweet but lacking desired depth of fruit flavors. Added 1 oz natural peach flavor and one ounce natural mango extract.
Feb 7, 2012: Racked off fine sediment.
March 3, 2012: Added 2 tsp potassium sorbate
March 4, 2012: Bottled 25 @ 750ml. Tasted. Very earthy fruit flavor.

Heidi loves it! Success! If I could change anything, I would cut the fruit flavorings in half (0.5 oz of each).

2 questions are the peaches you used the normal Dole peaches in syrup you can buy at costco? Would a Lavlin EC 1118 yeast work or would i want to try something different? Thanks

 

[JoshDivino]

Dave, I am such a fan of your studies! It's so cool to see this post and see how far you've come in a year of wine making, from not knowing what to buy to your bentonite experiment. So cool, I hope in a year I'll have learned as much as you!
Your Fanboy,
Josh

 

[dangerdave]

2 questions are the peaches you used the normal Dole peaches in syrup you can buy at costco? Would a Lavlin EC 1118 yeast work or would i want to try something different? Thanks

I'm sorry I didn't see this post, skor. I get kinda busy with other stuff (besides winemaking) sometimes. I not only have the responsibility of caring for my disabled wife, but I also manage my family's estate (we are not rich---yet), along with my work schedule as a firefighter, and my other hobbies...it's a wonder I get anything done!

I looked for peaches in peach or pear juice, not in syrup. You could use the peaches in syrup, but you'd have to watch the SG and add a lot less sugar (if any).

I'm sure the EC-1118 would work fine. That's all I use now.

 

[dangerdave]

Dave, I am such a fan of your studies! It's so cool to see this post and see how far you've come in a year of wine making, from not knowing what to buy to your bentonite experiment. So cool, I hope in a year I'll have learned as much as you!
Your Fanboy,
Josh

You humble me, Josh. A year in and I still feel very noobie at this. All I can say is, if you want to get good at it, make a lot of wine. Use this web site to avoid mistakes and solve problems. These folks are great!

Thanks, Josh. I wish you the best of luck with your wines. If you need any help, ask away.

<ps---Have you tried any Dragon Blood yet?

 

[JoshDivino]

You humble me, Josh. A year in and I still feel very noobie at this. All I can say is, if you want to get good at it, make a lot of wine. Use this web site to avoid mistakes and solve problems. These folks are great!

Thanks, Josh. I wish you the best of luck with your wines. If you need any help, as away.

<ps---Have you tried any Dragon Blood yet?

Yeah I'm already loving this forum, such a great group of people. I'm a bit limited to making lots of wine, because I only have 6 1 gallon carboys and 6 1/2 gallon carboys.
Dragon Blood is actually next on my list, as soon as I clear out fermenter the Dragon Blood goes it!

 

[dangerdave]

This week, I've been cleaning and reorganizing my Lab for the upcoming flood of bottles. I have about 450 bottles to clean and delabel, and I hope to get those done soon. Needless to say, I had to clear some shelves.

I have four carboys waiting to be bottled, all which should be in clear bottles, I think, to show off their individual beauty.

Here's the line-up...from right to left...cherry-lemon (Le Mon Cheri), blueberry-lemon (Jet Blue), raspberry white zinfandel...and...what?

What is that orange one, you might ask?

Well, guess then! What do you think it is?