Eclipse Barbossa Valley Shiraz

[dcbrown73]

So, this is my first (well actually second) attempt at making wine. My first attempt ended in in a belt of rushed stupidity. (a painfully expensive mistake)

I'm a huge fan of the Barbossa Valley and of course Shiraz, so when shopping for a wine kit, this one was screaming at me!

I would like to thank everyone here for their advice so far. I've learned alot (including in the first mistake) I bought a 7.9G bucket rather than attempting to use the Big Mouth Bubbler again. I hope Master Vintner moves away from that to the larger buckets in their kits. The extra room in the bucket makes the first fermentation less risky over bubbling over. My closet has purple splash dots from where the heavy fermentation blew the cap off. (again, thanks for teaching me NOT to seal and use the airlock on first fermentation. The directions do tell you to)

Anyway, my GF and I setup the first fermentation last Saturday. The closet and near the closet smell incredible!

Here is a few pictures of the work.

Mixing the Bentonite

After adding the grape juice and oak wood shavings.

Right after I pitched the yeast. (it turned dark immediately and looks like black pepper floating on top!)

I'm super excited (though I forgot to check it before I left this morning)

Couple of other things that changed since my first failed attempt. (besides the 7.9G bucket)

After reading the "All In One Pump" thread, I immediately bought one. I did this because when I was tossing the first batch, OMG that was a pain! It's very difficult to siphon liquid that is bubbling like champagne! (too much air in the hose)

I purchased a small dolly to place my bucket/carboy on. This makes moving the big heavy containers around extremely easy! (you can sort of see in the pictures above)

Since I got the "All In One Pump" I bought another carboy. Some users here suggested I should go ahead and buy 3-5 more because I will end up doing it anyhow! (I figured I will wait till after my first batch so I know I'm not completely godawful at winemaking first!)

One bad thing happened in this though which I'm extremely disappointed about. I decided to support my local homebrew shop rather than buy everything on line (after my screw up) Anyhow, I called and asked how much a 7.9G bucket was and was quoted $8.99. I thought, wow that's great! So I went to get one and bought a few other items too (carboys etc) and I didn't realize till I got home that he didn't charge me $8.99 like he said. He charged me $21. ($14.99 + $5.99 for the lid) I'm extremely annoyed about that and probably ended my support for the local homebrew store. I'm definitely going to asked him why that occurred.

I want to thank Steve (All In One Pump guy) for calling me and verifying I understood what I was getting and had any equipment I needed for it before just filling my order) He definitely isn't my local homebrew store guy )

Wish me luck!
Dave

 

[AZMDTed]

Dave,

Good luck. I'm glad you got the bucket, though I'm sorry about the price. That seems steep to me. Like you I like to support my local stores for such things, but when it comes to kits Label Peelers has been great to me and a great savings even after shipping. BTW, I'm up to 7 six gallon carboys and 2 three gallon ones. Wait for a sale and then do get some more.

I've made the Eclipse Shiraz twice and it's great, good choice. It looks like you have things well under control. You know we're all here for you if you have any more questions.

Enjoy,

Ted

 

[AZMDTed]

BTW, good decision on the AllinOne. Much wiser to buy it up front that waiting a year or two. It certainly makes racking and bottling easier and less messy. It's not a magic bullet for degassing, but it's a huge help. Good job.

 

[dcbrown73]

BTW, good decision on the AllinOne. Much wiser to buy it up front that waiting a year or two. It certainly makes racking and bottling easier and less messy. It's not a magic bullet for degassing, but it's a huge help. Good job.

So pumping the wine back and forth around four times doesn't degass it properly? My kit came with one of the drill degassers bits. Maybe I will just use that as suggested then pump it four times back and forth heh.

 

[AZMDTed]

Dave,
That will generally do it, but that gets to be a chore when you rack from secondary to a clean carboy, then clean the secondary carboy, then continue racking a couple more times to get to four. Some WE kits have you add KMeta, Sorbate, and Finings without racking from Secondary, so that takes a bit of figuring out too about degassing before doing that. Time and the AllInOne will do a great job degassing, but it takes some time. I've also found that the headspace eliminator will allow you to pull a vacuum and racking to get some more gas out.

For some reason my two batches of Eclipse Barossa Valley Shiraz have been extremely gassy. So much so that even after 2 rackings with the AllInOne and 15 minutes of a wine whip on a drill, the fining agents got caught up in the residual CO2 and looked like the wine curdled. After many months of trying to figure it out, I found out it that it was just remaining gas and all you have to do is stir the fining agents back in, but it's nasty looking and scary when you don't know that.

You'll be fine, but expect that sometimes it will take more than just the AllInOne to completely degass some wines.

 

[dcbrown73]

Umm. That isn't helping my confidence. hah.

All I have to do is stir in the fining agents. The clear liquid that came in two packages? You didn't do that before? I think I'm a bit confused. Maybe I just don't understand the timeline you're talking about. You're talking before you added the clear liquid?

Also, I was also thinking. Once I rack this after the fermentation, I believe I need to add the oak cubes. Do I add that to the Carboy? I'm guessing I don't put that in a mesh net like the grape skins.

 

[AZMDTed]

Dave, I'm sorry that I was confusing. I gave out too much information. After primary in the bucket you will rack the wine to a carboy for it to finish fermenting in secondary. When that is done the next steps are: rack to another carboy, degas, add kmeta, and sorbate (if you wish), stir, then add the clear liquid and stir it in. The clear liquid is Chitosan, it is a fining agent, also called clearing agent. That's what will bind with the solids in your wine and cause them to fall down so that when you rack later most of the solids are left behind.

After you add the chitosan and stir, you will then add your oak cubes directly into the carboy with everything else you just added. No need to rinse the cubes, sanitize them or bag 'me, just put them in and they will float all by themselves.

Eight days later you will rack again and leave the oak cubes and droppings behind.

I hope that helps.

 

[dcbrown73]

So, I'm guessing everything is okay, but just looking for a bit of confirmation.

I started the batch last Saturday. It measured 74F and 1.078.

Today, it's 75F (I've turned the AC down 2F to try and get it closer to 73F) and the hydrometer is now reading 1.035. Is that a good number for three days of fermentation?

Also, I was thinking. I see these refractometers that measure the sugar content. If these can only be used before fermentation and you need to use a standard hydrometer for afterwords. Why would you purchase one of these unless you were say growing your own grapes? (when to pick I would guess) If you were a kit maker (like myself I suppose) I wouldn't purchase one of these right since a hydrometer does the same thing, but before and after fermentation?

This image was from yesterday's stir.

 

[AZMDTed]

Yes, you're doing fine, that's a good number for day three.

As far as refractometers go I don't use one for the reasons you mentioned. The hydrometer will do all you need.

 

[dcbrown73]

So, after stirring last night, the SG is down to 1.014. (temp down to 72F) I still have a few more days based on the instructions. (wait 7 days before first racking) Most people say always follow the kit's specific instructions, but if it reaches the expected SG before 7 days, should I go ahead and rack it? (one thing that concerns me if it does is the fact that it isn't sealed with an airlock now and no CO2 forcing its way out means oxygen can get in) So, if it reaches the correct SG before 7 days, do I rack it or wait the full 7 days? (After last nights stir, there was some, but very little fizzing left) If I'm doing this right, I think my wine will be weak since it had a starting SG of 1.078. If I have any idea what I'm doing, am I looking at 10-11% alcohol?

Second, I was looking at my carboys which I will need to clean for the first time. Do you hang them to dry like say you do with a decanter drying stand? Also, do you flush them with distilled water as the last rinse (if you're about to let it dry which is what I do with my decanter to prevent water spots / mineral deposits inside the decanter)

Anyway, I was looking at how I could hang dry it upside down like the decanter and I found I can balance it on a 1G Rubbermaid pitcher. The spout gives it room for air to flow. It's not very stable, but if I drop the pitcher / carboy in the box the carboy came in and sit them together and near a wall with something on the side. They are stable enough not to fall over and can drip dry and the water is caught inside the pitcher. (I love engineering!)

This is the pitcher I'm talking about:

My question is, is that even necessary? I know people do it with their wine bottles they clean in preparation of sanitizing them just prior to bottling.

I don't have my instructions, what is the SG level I should be looking for in my Eclipse Shiraz? I've read stuff like 0.998 or something. I'm not sure what that is as I thought 1.000 was no sugar or something? Clearly, I still have a lot to learn!

 

[AZMDTed]

Dave,
Your wine is fine. Your initial specific gravity didn't account for all the sugar in the grape pack. It takes up to 12 hours, or more, for that sugar to mix with the juice to give you your actual initial SG. My Shiraz kits all got up to 1.095 or 6, after about 6-8 hours. Others wait longer and it goes to about 1.1. Your reported initial SG is typical for the juice only part.

As for cleaning carboy. I don't worry about them drying. I clean, rinse three times, add a quarter cup of sanitizer, put in a solid bung and wait. When I'm ready to use it I just dump the kmeta out, i don't worry about it drying. A little sanitizer is fine in the wine, or at least mine is as I use kmeta.

All of my kits hit about .996 after 5-6 days. That's when I rack to secondary. Follow the instructions SG guidance for when to move at primary and secondary. After those events use the calendar.

 

[cmason1957]

I agree, no need to worry about drying them. If you decide you do want to care, don't try to balance them on something like that pitcher. They will fall over and break, maybe not right away, but at some point. Invest in some carboy dryers. Here is one from one of the site sponsers. I used to have a few of these and gave them all away.

http://labelpeelers.com/carboy-drye...OJIyWIxhRS8pRg6nvqc1IdWx6KVtHPfnqkaAqbN8P8HAQ

 

[dcbrown73]

Okay, so the first fermentation is done and I pumped it into the carboy. (oh man, I love the AIO pump!)

My buddy Dan is holding the racking cane while I take the picture.

Here it is in the carboy, it doesn't reach that last ring, I guess because I couldn't get all the wine out with the gunk in the bottom.

My question is, is too much missing or is that what's expected?

Here is what was in the bottom of the bucket. I'm holding it on it's side a bit. I couldn't get any of that out with the pump / racking cane. Even if I stuck it in what I thought was just juice, it would immediately clog up and no juice would rise in the cane.

My instructions do not say to top it up, so I'm guessing I don't. I just know I've read in places to do this or fill with argon (or some other inert gas).

 

[Brian55]

Okay, so the first fermentation is done and I pumped it into the carboy. (oh man, I love the AIO pump!)

My buddy Dan is holding the racking cane while I take the picture.

Here it is in the carboy, it doesn't reach that last ring, I guess because I couldn't get all the wine out with the gunk in the bottom.

My question is, is too much missing or is that what's expected?

Here is what was in the bottom of the bucket. I'm holding it on it's side a bit. I couldn't get any of that out with the pump / racking cane. Even if I stuck it in what I thought was just juice, it would immediately clog up and no juice would rise in the cane.

My instructions do not say to top it up, so I'm guessing I don't. I just know I've read in places to do this or fill with argon (or some other inert gas).

Next time use a funnel with a strainer and pour the rest of the liquid from the bucket into the carboy. No need to top up at this stage. Wait until after you stabilize.
Make sure you look into the extended process if you want top quality results. The instructions have you rush through the process as quickly as possible, which doesn't help the end result. No need to sweat the degassing part if you plan to bulk age for an extended time.

 

[sour_grapes]

Here is what was in the bottom of the bucket. I'm holding it on it's side a bit. I couldn't get any of that out with the pump / racking cane. Even if I stuck it in what I thought was just juice, it would immediately clog up and no juice would rise in the cane.

If it is not too late: I would take that leftover slurry and put it into a few smaller containers. I use wide-mouth Mason jars. Then put this in the fridge, and the clear wine will separate out after a day or two. You can easily pour the clear wine out of the jar into the carboy (using a funnel).

 

[dcbrown73]

This weekend I'm moving from secondary fermentation to the clearing stage. I know this requires topping up. Given that this is my first winemaking experience. Exactly how far should I top up too on the carboy?

I know temperature can affect expansion, plus I will be using the carboy handle to move the carboy which causes it to slightly tilt sideways when lifted. Then of course the bung takes up a bit of space. Where do you usually top-up too in your carboy that leaves the least about of air space and is safe to prevent wine spillage?

 

[Boatboy24]

Use the handle, but also lift from the bottom. You don't want all the weight of that full carboy on the neck. Fill up to about two inches from the bottom of the bung.

 

[dcbrown73]

Use the handle, but also lift from the bottom. You don't want all the weight of that full carboy on the neck. Fill up to about two inches from the bottom of the bung.

Umm, not sure how to do that. (lifting with handle and bottom) Maybe those carboy straps I see for sale are in order.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Boatboy24]

Umm, not sure how to do that. (lifting with handle and bottom) Maybe those carboy straps I see for sale are in order.

Thanks for the input.

I use the handle to tilt the carboy and get a hand underneath. Then I use my other hand to grip the ring (or just below it) that attaches the handle to the carboy. I never carry a full carboy with one hand.

If the carboy is empty, I'll carry by the handle only.

 

[dcbrown73]

I use the handle to tilt the carboy and get a hand underneath. Then I use my other hand to grip the ring (or just below it) that attaches the handle to the carboy. I never carry a full carboy with one hand.

If the carboy is empty, I'll carry by the handle only.

I ordered some straps. They are probably safer for my back than trying to pick up full carboys.