The original post is here: Plum wine: EC-1118 seems slowThought I posted a much more detailed thread but now it's gone.
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The original post is here: Plum wine: EC-1118 seems slowThought I posted a much more detailed thread but now it's gone.
Inspired by your example, I bought some 2" PVC pipe. Now I just need to cut it and drill some holes...That is normal. Any fruit solids will float high due to the CO2 emitted by the yeast. Read the Grape Winemaking forum, you'll see comments about punching down. When fermenting grapes, I push the "cap" down 2 or 3 times per day.
Pouring the wine through a bag will work. You can also wrap a bag around the cane to keep chunks out.
Below is a very high-tech jig I constructed at little expense. ( ) I wrap it in a fine mesh bag and put the racking cane inside the jib to filter everything except really fine sediment.
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Everything is looking great!I do have more bags but they fill with gas and float to the surface so I am concerned that will cause problems. I have been pushing them back under twice a day. My plan without bags, would be a two step process. When it is time to rack, I will put a bag in another bucket, pour the must into the bag in the second bucket, then lift that bad out, and only then siphon into the secondary. Basically just use the bag as a filter just before racking.
Here are a couple of photos of my must in buckets with bags. First is actively fermenting. The second, I just added yeast
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and here is a batch I started last night with no bag
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I can now say I am a "starter solution believer". I've had a chance now to compare dry-casting, OEM rehydration, and starter solution. Maybe not surprisingly, OEM rehydration works almost as well, maybe the same. Rehydration per the EC-1118 data sheet added in the morning was starting to ferment by the time I got home after work and was clearly going the following morning. I added starter solution last night to two batches, one new (24 hours after K-Meta and one that I accidently dosed with K-Meta again at 24 hours and I added Starter at 48 hours. Both were clearly fermenting this morning so about 12 hours.I've been doing this for 2 years and am sold on the technique. When I inoculate, I can smell fermentation within 6 hours, sometimes sooner. I may not see any activity, but my nose knows. By the next morning, the fermentation is visibly under way.
For 5 gallons 1 tsp of sugar is recommended.added 6tbsp of sugar,
That is very different that the reference in post #22. I understand this is the nature of forums once you diverge from the manufactured TDS. Five mpeople with have five different response.For 5 gallons 1 tsp of sugar is recommended.
FWK says 18-24 hours.One thing I am not clear about is the long wait before using the starter.
I get the idea for sure. Hard to know how many live vs dead cells are in there at any given time. I guess my concern was that I see the activity (foaming) slow down after a few hours. My worry was that if you wait 12-24 hours, all the sugar has been used up and the yeasts might be dying off. Hard to tell if that is happening or not. I've done a few batches this way. I add the yeast when the boiled water/sugar cools down to 98.6. I have now added the starter after a couple hours and also after about 8 hours. It didn't seem to make much difference. I added the 8 hour stuff to a pail last night and could see some fermentation in about 2 hours. It was solid this morning I started two jars this morning which I will add when I get home to a couple of pails I set up yesterday afternoon. Those two starters will have been working for about 10 hours.FWK says 18-24 hours.
I start around 6 pm and inoculate the following day at 7am. As Joni said, it gives the colony more time to grow, so the initial colony is a LOT larger so fermentation takes off faster.
I would add the starter to the wine when the yeast are at peak activity, not when they are slowing down due to lack of sugar or nutrients. At that point, they are already starting to go dormant. In my opinion, if the starter is fermenting vigorously, it is time to add it. For a batch of peach wine that I started this week using K1-V1116, the starter was clearly fermenting 20 minutes after I hydrated the yeast using 96 degree F water and Go-Ferm. Then I added an equal volume of must, and 20 minutes later it was again fermenting vigorously, so I added it to the must. But on other occasions it has taken several hours to get to that point.I guess my concern was that I see the activity (foaming) slow down after a few hours.
See that is what I was thinkingI would add the starter to the wine when the yeast are at peak activity, not when they are slowing down due to lack of sugar or nutrients. At that point, they are already starting to go dormant. In my opinion, if the starter is fermenting vigorously, it is time to add it.
I'm glad it worked out - though for future reference that temperature at which you dissolved the GoFerm is a bit high. Here is the protocol from Scott Labs ( though much larger scale than most home winemakers!):I started a batch yesterday and used Go Ferm for the first time.
OK thanks for that. I thought I saw somewhere it said to add Go Ferm while "hot". Probably got that wrong.that temperature at which you dissolved the GoFerm is a bit high.
This does not make sense to me. I add pectic enzyme to my fruit before freezing, to give it the maximum time to work. Once the yeast start to produce alcohol, the pectic enzyme becomes less effective.My bag from LD Carlson says to wait until 1 hour before yeast.
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