Yep, same experience here. Gotta wait for the foam to settle to get a good SG reading.
WineXpert Eclipse Lodi Cab - calling all tweakers!
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Yep, same experience here. Gotta wait for the foam to settle to get a good SG reading.
Tonight's stir included a temp check and gravity reading. So, 4 full days later and the wine is a solid 76* with an SG of 1.030.
This weekend promises to be a busy one.
This weekend promises to be a busy one.
You probably also have a nice dedicated wine area. I work on a smooth topped dining room table. The bucket slides pretty easy.
I do have a dedicated space. The kids call it the mad scientist's laboratory.
To stop (or at least substantially decrease) your slide, you might want to put a bath towel (folded in half) under your primary. Weight and friction - resistance against the smooth tabletop. If your table is metal, a rubber mat would work great for that, too.
Snapping down a lid and putting an airlock on it is really a personal preference. Some do... Some don't. Both have good reasons. For me, I like knowing that debris can't fall in to the wine while unattended. And, I like watching the bubbler during fermentation - makes me feel like good stuff is happening.
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It's funny that your kids call it that!! When we look at our production areas, all we see are the potentially awesome wines we have in the works, some with active bubblers, some inactive, perhaps some solid stoppers, tubes and racking equipment, filters and chemicals, tools of the trade.
I've had lots of folks over for dinner parties and the like, friends and fellow employees, we pop some corks, do some carboy and barrel sampling, they all seem pretty awestruck by the ability to do this at home.
In the end, they all refer to my production area as "The Meth Lab"
Another two days gone. The temp is a nice 74* and the current SG is 1.005. Tomorrow is a full week. So, this weekend will be racking from the bucket to the carboy. Need to stop at the LHBS and get that extra bucket and straining bag.
I may enlist another set of hands to hold the new bucket and the bag while I pour. This one is too good for the floor.
I may enlist another set of hands to hold the new bucket and the bag while I pour. This one is too good for the floor.
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joeswine
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In the mix
if you have an open fermenter to get the most out of the surface area is to use it to the wines advantage, for oxygenation to adding enhancement's let it flow ,its the work that makes you a better wine maker like working smarter -not harder, on the other hand sometimes to extract what we need out of a fpac or homemade fpac you need the surface area to work with you/ not for you,....
if you have an open fermenter to get the most out of the surface area is to use it to the wines advantage, for oxygenation to adding enhancement's let it flow ,its the work that makes you a better wine maker like working smarter -not harder, on the other hand sometimes to extract what we need out of a fpac or homemade fpac you need the surface area to work with you/ not for you,....
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I'm going to pull the plug on the brew belt tomorrow and start thinking about the transfer.
Craig - thanks! It's a long haul from East Berlin for something simple though. Afraid SWMBO didn't budget for much downtime this weekend.
Craig - thanks! It's a long haul from East Berlin for something simple though. Afraid SWMBO didn't budget for much downtime this weekend.
Joe - this one is moving along very well. I enjoy working the wine twice a day. Makes a huge difference, if only in my head.
The Selection Amarone is up next. There, they gave me two RC 212 yeast packets... Wondering: pour both at once, or hold one back in case the first one needs help kicking the fermentation home?
Isn't it nice when people invite themselves over!
Turns out oldest boy works with wife, next in line has an all day tournament she has to be at in Wyomissing, so I couldn't come even if you had invited me, can't trust the 10 and 8 yr olds to not burn the house down trying to cook lunch or something.
Plus, I would rather bring a few full bottles in the nice bag I'm holding hostage of yours. Yell if you need it now, was waiting for some wine worthy to send back with it.
I'm good for now. Between the 4 kids living here now (1 out of college, 2 in college and 1 in high school) we're hopping most days. Keeps us young, I guess.
We will need to put together a face-to-face soon.
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Tonight is moving day for the Cab. It's nearly dry, if not all dry. Will test after straining out the fun stuff.
Got a good nose of it last night. I've got high hopes that its even better than the RJS WS Aussie Cab after it ages.
Got a good nose of it last night. I've got high hopes that its even better than the RJS WS Aussie Cab after it ages.
Nominal spillage. I'm waiting till after the game to clean up the carboys and straining bag. SG is down to about 0.992.
Love my AIO pump, btw...
Love my AIO pump, btw...
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Cleaning up after was interesting... Anyone who uses a straining bag have any tips for cleanup in the future? That was a bit of a pain.
I just dump the refuse, turn the bag inside out and spray it clean in the sink. Throw it in the washing machine with the next load, let it air dry. Pretty simple.
I wondered that while I washed it by hand with oxyclean green... once the bits and pieces are gone, could I just throw it in the washer. Good to know for next time.
Joe - I did put every thing in loose on this one. But, I poured from one primary container to another with the straining bag in it. I got more extraction from the grape pack, for sure. And, was able to salvage more juice than skimming off with a colander (or something similar).
I just took it one step further, received today, a small stainless steel fruit press. As you noted, I too was getting lots more juice extraction from wringing the bag, I still felt like I was leaving something on the table. I've got the WE Eclipse OVZ in the fermenter right now, and when the time comes, will go through the normal process of bagging and wringing the grape pack leftovers. I'm then gonna put that ball of stuff into the press and see what additional goodies I can get out of it. I hope it to be substantial.
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