First batch of pee questions

[Arne]

Wait I am confused. When it hits 1.050 I have to add the last bottle of lemon juice and yeast energizer and nutrient according to the recipe. Now it's ok to rack it into a Carboy when it hits 1.020? And what wine do I top it off with if it's skeeter pee?

If you rackit at 1.020, you will probably have some left over in the primary as you do not want to fill the secondary too full at this time. Put the leftovers in another bottle or two and after the ferment settles back down, you can top off with this. Racking this early can add lottsa oxygen to it and it can really ferment heavily, leaving more headspace in the secondary until it settles down if it gets to fermenting heavy will give it room to expand some and will not erupt out of the airlock.
If you wind up with 5 gal. buckets to use for primary and they are not big enough, split your batch in two and use two buckets. Especially when using fruits you will find your primaries can get too small as the fruit takes up a lot of room. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[rosa6329]

If you rackit at 1.020, you will probably have some left over in the primary as you do not want to fill the secondary too full at this time. Put the leftovers in another bottle or two and after the ferment settles back down, you can top off with this. Racking this early can add lottsa oxygen to it and it can really ferment heavily, leaving more headspace in the secondary until it settles down if it gets to fermenting heavy will give it room to expand some and will not erupt out of the airlock.
If you wind up with 5 gal. buckets to use for primary and they are not big enough, split your batch in two and use two buckets. Especially when using fruits you will find your primaries can get too small as the fruit takes up a lot of room. Good luck with it, Arne.

So I took a reading today and I swore I saw it at 1.050 So I went ahead and added the remaining yeast energizer and nutrient and 1 bottle of lemon juice. Stirred up pretty damn good and put the lid back on the bucket. I went back to the hydrometer and realized it read 1.054/1.056. Whoops!! I hope this is ok! I Decided wait until it hits 1.000 or .995 to rack it into my secondary. Is that okay??

 

[Arne]

So I took a reading today and I swore I saw it at 1.050 So I went ahead and added the remaining yeast energizer and nutrient and 1 bottle of lemon juice. Stirred up pretty damn good and put the lid back on the bucket. I went back to the hydrometer and realized it read 1.054/1.056. Whoops!! I hope this is ok! I Decided wait until it hits 1.000 or .995 to rack it into my secondary. Is that okay??

You shouldbe fine, just keep stirring a couple of times a day, sit back, have a glass of wine, watch the airlock. The first wines always seem to take longer when you are waiting and wanting it done so you can try it. Arne.

 

[rosa6329]

You shouldbe fine, just keep stirring a couple of times a day, sit back, have a glass of wine, watch the airlock. The first wines always seem to take longer when you are waiting and wanting it done so you can try it. Arne.

When do you recommend I should rack it?

 

[hobbyiswine]

So, my first batch-o-pee has been clearing nice for a little more than one week. At first glance it is sparkling clear but if you turn out the lights and shine a beam through it from back to front you can see some suspended particles. At first I thought it was sediment on the glass so I gave it a couple twists. Couple days later I still the suspended particles but again only with the small flashlight. Should I add more sparkolloid? Seems if I let it keep sitting those suspended particles won't settle. If you watch them close some actually float up in the carboy, not sink down. Will adding the sugar and more sorbate after racking help to clear any? I also tasted it and am still not sure I will like it after I sweeten. Suggestions???

 

[Minnesotamaker]

So, my first batch-o-pee has been clearing nice for a little more than one week. At first glance it is sparkling clear but if you turn out the lights and shine a beam through it from back to front you can see some suspended particles. At first I thought it was sediment on the glass so I gave it a couple twists. Couple days later I still the suspended particles but again only with the small flashlight. Should I add more sparkolloid? Seems if I let it keep sitting those suspended particles won't settle. If you watch them close some actually float up in the carboy, not sink down. Will adding the sugar and more sorbate after racking help to clear any? I also tasted it and am still not sure I will like it after I sweeten. Suggestions???

First off.... in my experience, Sparkolloid will continue to drop light sediment for a couple of weeks. I like to give my SP 3+ weeks before bottling. If you're seeing particles moving up in the carboy, it could be that you still have dissolved CO2. Or if the temperature is uneven, it might be slowly flowing inside the carboy based on temperature density. Or if you have a real slow ferment still going on, that too could cause particles to move. I think I'd give it a couple more weeks to settle. If you have a vacuum pump, you could try to pull any residual CO2 out of suspension.

 

[rosa6329]

My pee is at 1.005 right now I think by tuesday it should drop below 1.000. Cannot wait to rack it into my secondary!!

 

[hobbyiswine]

Went out of town for a few days. Conveniently I managed to stop by a few winerires.

One of the first things I did when I got home was check on the sleeping little carboys. The skeeter is clearing nice. Still has a few floaters but less than before I left. Guess I will keep waiting. On the bright side I gave it a taste test (had to find something to play with) and it is much improved. Not loving it but think I might end up with something I can drink. Good deal since I will have 30 bottles In a few weeks!

 

[rosa6329]

Went out of town for a few days. Conveniently I managed to stop by a few winerires.

One of the first things I did when I got home was check on the sleeping little carboys. The skeeter is clearing nice. Still has a few floaters but less than before I left. Guess I will keep waiting. On the bright side I gave it a taste test (had to find something to play with) and it is much improved. Not loving it but think I might end up with something I can drink. Good deal since I will have 30 bottles In a few weeks!

How long has it been since you first started to now?

 

[hobbyiswine]

rosa...I started it on December 28. I don't remember the exact day I moved it into the carboy but it was on or around Jan 6. I guess it has only been clearing for about 10 days but I just checked it tonight and dang!!! She's amazingly clear!

Going to leave it until this weekend and give it a look again. maybe I will rack it off and backsweeten. Or maybe I will try to keep my hands off of it and wait until the weekend after (uuuggghhhhh...more waiting).

I had my doubts but I think it might turn out after all.

 

[rosa6329]

rosa...I started it on December 28. I don't remember the exact day I moved it into the carboy but it was on or around Jan 6. I guess it has only been clearing for about 10 days but I just checked it tonight and dang!!! She's amazingly clear!

Going to leave it until this weekend and give it a look again. maybe I will rack it off and backsweeten. Or maybe I will try to keep my hands off of it and wait until the weekend after (uuuggghhhhh...more waiting).

I had my doubts but I think it might turn out after all.

Am I able to back sweeten at anytime after it ferments dry? Also the instructions on skeeterpee.com says when back sweeten slowly add 6 cups of sugar into the Carboy while stirring. Wouldn't that cloud it back up?

 

[Arne]

rosa...I started it on December 28. I don't remember the exact day I moved it into the carboy but it was on or around Jan 6. I guess it has only been clearing for about 10 days but I just checked it tonight and dang!!! She's amazingly clear!

Going to leave it until this weekend and give it a look again. maybe I will rack it off and backsweeten. Or maybe I will try to keep my hands off of it and wait until the weekend after (uuuggghhhhh...more waiting).

I had my doubts but I think it might turn out after all.

You can drink some of it right away, I know I would. But if you can save some of it, after just a couple of months it gets lots better. Next thing is, get another batch started, it is really hard to get ahead of this stuff. Arne.

 

[Arne]

Am I able to back sweeten at anytime after it ferments dry? Also the instructions on skeeterpee.com says when back sweeten slowly add 6 cups of sugar into the Carboy while stirring. Wouldn't that cloud it back up?

Add the sugar as simple syrup. If you slowly warm the simple syrup up, it stays clear. If it is clear when you add it to it, it should stay clear. When adding it, I would add about half, stir it up good, taste it, then add more to taste.. Some folks like it without as much sugar, some need a little more. Make it like you like it. If others need a little more sugar, you can add it as you drink it. You can bottle it dry and just add sugar when you are ready to drink it too. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[hobbyiswine]

Arne, I think I might bottle some dry. I actually have the batch split between two 3g carboys. I am thinking I might bottle 3g dry as it sits now, then sweeten the other 3g and let it sit and bottle that in a couple weeks. then I can see how the dry and sweet age a little in the bottle and be ready for sippin' this summer. Plus I figured if i have some dry skeeter laying around I can use it to blend in with other wines if I make a cranberry or blueberry or something.

 

[Sammyk]

To my raspberry wine I add 2 cans of frozen Welch's white grape/raspberry juice to back flavor.

Now I know for sure I will add some of same to a gallon of SP. I will add one can and taste and then add the 2nd if needed. I will wait and add sugar if it needs it after I add the juice. Awesome flavor.

 

[hobbyiswine]

To my raspberry wine I add 2 cans of frozen Welch's white grape/raspberry juice to back flavor.

Now I know for sure I will add some of same to a gallon of SP. I will add one can and taste and then add the 2nd if needed. I will wait and add sugar if it needs it after I add the juice. Awesome flavor.

Do you need to do anything special before adding the cans of concentrate before bottling or just mix it in? Do you let it sit for a couple weeks like you would if you sweeten? Ever have any problems with color change or anything if it sits on the shelf for a while?

 

[Sammyk]

I put the concentrate in a pail and then siphoned to the pail. Then siphoned again to carboys. It mixed as it siphoned. I keep everything in 1 gallon or 1/2 gallon carboys. Then I capped the bottles with screw on caps.

 

[hobbyiswine]

I have pee in the bottle!!! I sweetened 3g with simple syrup and have it sitting. The other 3g I sweetened with a can of welches concentrate per gallon. I made some white grape/cranberry and some cran/raspberry. The rest I left dry and bottled. We drank a bottle of the skeeter/cran/razz tonight! It also happens to be our 9th anniversary and we spent it bottling skeeter pee. Good times! I went into this batch trying to follow the recipe and ended up with one batch and no less than 4 different flavors!

 

[Sammyk]

That is what I love about the SP, you can flavor so many different ways. After much experimenting we have narrowed it down to our favorites.

I looked at a lot of different items in the grocery and tried a few, frozen strawberry bacardi, frozen peach bacardi, different kinds of jam (plum), jello, extracts. The first batch was a huge experiment with different types of flavorings. And because I used 1/2 gallon carboys we were not out a lot to throw out the ones we did not like.

 

[hobbyiswine]

Have a couple of questions about backsweetened wine and ABV. My starting SG was 1.070 and final SG when fermented dry was .990. I sweetened to an SG of 1.008. How does this affect the ABV?

1) do I go by volume and since I added 12 ounces of sweetener to 1g (128 ounces) do I just reduce the total ABV by about 1%?
2) since the SG raised about 2% on the hydrometer did I reduce the ABV by 2%?
3) what % of "residual" sugar do I now have?
* I did a little research and think my residual sugar is about 5.7%