First bucket of must.

[Charlesthewino]

I have a 5 gallon bucket of pear must fermenting since 3-22. I have a lid, stopper & air lock on it. It's bubbling pretty regularly so it appears to be fermenting fine. How long do I leave it in the bucket before I rack it to a carboy?


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[chris400]

Keep a check on your sg and i would probally rack it to a carboy at a sg of 1.015 or lower...what was your starting sg

 

[Charlesthewino]

Started @ 1.043. I stir it every 3-4 days. I also have not retested. I will check it this weekend.


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[chris400]

1.043 seems kinda low to start was u wanting a sweet wine

 

[Charlesthewino]

I found out after I mixed it that I needed more juice and no water. It's low because it is too much water. I'm actually thinking about racking half off and adding pure juice to the mix.


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[Charlesthewino]

I racked off 3 gallons and replaced it with 3 gallons juice/sugar mix. The new SG is 1.140. Both the carboy and bucket are rapidly bubbling the airlock so apparently fermentation continues. In fact, the bucket airlock burbs nearly every second so there is a lot of gas being released. It's very active. Is that normal? Since this is my first bucket fermentation I was not sure if I needed a lid and airlock. Sounds like some folks just cover the bucket with cloth. Looking for any feedback. Thanks.


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[sour_grapes]

That starting SG is now a bit high. You are aiming at 19% ABV, which few yeasts can handle. Thus, you will likely wind up with some residual sugar after an incomplete fermentation. This is not terrible, depending on your desires.

At this time of year, you can just leave your bucket lid loosely on top of the bucket, without snapping it down. During summer, when fruit flies abound, you will have to do something with cloth or keep it snapped down to keep the critters out.

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Charles, that 19% is on top of the probably 5% alcohol the 2 gallons already had so near 21%. Also, you have 3 gallons in a bucket that is about 5.6%. I would blend the two again which would get you 8 gallons near 15% +/- after all fermentation was complete. That may be a little hot for what most desire.

 

[peaches9324]

I racked off 3 gallons and replaced it with 3 gallons juice/sugar mix. The new SG is 1.140. Both the carboy and bucket are rapidly bubbling the airlock so apparently fermentation continues. In fact, the bucket airlock burbs nearly every second so there is a lot of gas being released. It's very active. Is that normal? Since this is my first bucket fermentation I was not sure if I needed a lid and airlock. Sounds like some folks just cover the bucket with cloth. Looking for any feedback. Thanks.


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yes just a cloth on fruit wines I found out with the peach a lid brings the temp up too much and too fast, this was my first fruit wine from a kit always made my own fruit and placed a cloth over the primary I used a lid on the peach cuz it was in the directions I have always had an sg of 1090 and always had great reviews so I have always used this sg for my pear

 

[Charlesthewino]

Looks like this one is going to be an interesting experiment. I like dessert wines so a sweet wine at the end is ok with me. I guess I'm going to see how far I can push this yeast. I'm using Red Star Montrachet.


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