First time wine making a questions on blueberry wine

[KCCam]

I actually got very lucky and found a guy who is willing to sell me a bunch of his stuff for super cheap. He’s getting out of making wine. Right now I only have (2) 1g Carboys (1) 2g primary fermenting bucket and all of my powders. Definitely going to be an upgrade. Picking all of that up after the Labor Day weekend.

Oooo... exciting! You're in trouble now. haha.

 

[Alexey]

Oooo... exciting! You're in trouble now. haha.

I hope you were able to see the pictures I loaded. Got any cool recipes that I need to try other then DDDD?

 

[KCCam]

I hope you were able to see the pictures I loaded. Got any cool recipes that I need to try other then DDDD?

Saw the pictures, yup. Dragon Blood and Skeeter Pee are all I've tried. I had trouble with the SP and "converted" it into DB.

 

[Alexey]

Saw the pictures, yup. Dragon Blood and Skeeter Pee are all I've tried. I had trouble with the SP and "converted" it into DB.

So DB is SP but with fruit?

 

[KCCam]

So DB is SP but with fruit?

Basically, and less lemon. DangerDave explains in his recipe that Skeeter Pee was his first home-made wine, and:

"I was amazed that anyone could make a good cheap wine so quickly. After varying degrees of success, I went about modifying Lon's recipe into a process that reflected both my own desires for my wines, and the processes I had come to understand."

​

And the rest, as they say, is history.

So the SP that I converted into DB had twice the lemon juice (96 oz) and 3/4 of the berries (4 1/2 lbs) that the DB recipe calls for. I added some raisins and bananas to help make up for it, and I very much liked the result.

 

[Johnd]

Basically, and less lemon. DangerDave explains in his recipe that Skeeter Pee was his first home-made wine, and:

​

And the rest, as they say, is history.

So the SP that I converted into DB had twice the lemon juice (96 oz) and 3/4 of the berries (4 1/2 lbs) that the DB recipe calls for. I added some raisins and bananas to help make up for it, and I very much liked the result.

Occasionally, folks struggle with the Skeeter Pee, I always think it's due to the timing of the addition and quantity of lemon juice that is used. Dumping all of the lemon juice in the original must drives the pH down, making the environment for the yeast to get going strongly much less hospitable. If folks that like the lemon flavor in the finished product would stagger the addition of the lemon juice during AF, I'm betting that there would be a lot less fermentation struggles. When I say stagger the addition, I'm thinking over the first few days that fermentation gets going strongly, slowly step feeding it in, and allowing the yeast to slowly acclimate to the ever lowering pH. Just my thoughts.............

 

[KCCam]

Occasionally, folks struggle with the Skeeter Pee, I always think it's due to the timing of the addition and quantity of lemon juice that is used. Dumping all of the lemon juice in the original must drives the pH down, making the environment for the yeast to get going strongly much less hospitable. If folks that like the lemon flavor in the finished product would stagger the addition of the lemon juice during AF, I'm betting that there would be a lot less fermentation struggles. When I say stagger the addition, I'm thinking over the first few days that fermentation gets going strongly, slowly step feeding it in, and allowing the yeast to slowly acclimate to the ever lowering pH. Just my thoughts.............

That’s what I’ve read since my first attempt as well. I will definitely give it another go. Also, I’ve read that using the slurry from a previous fermentation (of anything) can help too, as you’re starting with a large, healthy, acclimated, colony. The recipe calls for a slurry, but says you can use EC-1118 just as well, but I think the slurry would have a much better chance of success.

 

[Scooter68]

If EC-1118 can't get started either the yeast is very old or the must has something major out of balance. K1-V1116 and EC-1118 are both solid performers for me even with Blueberry wine sitting at a pH below 3.25.
A slurry may help but if you are struggling repeatedly I'd check your processes to make sure you're not missing something or getting bad readings with the equipment.

 

[cmason1957]

FWIW, I have made skeeter pee several times, I have family members that love it. If you read the original recipe from skeeterpee dot com, it very clearly states at the outset add 2 bottles of the lemon juice, then when the sg gets down to about 1.050 add some more yeast nutrient and the third bottle of lemon juice. I always have done it this way and never had an issue with getting it to start or making it to the finish. I also, have never added a yeast slurry, I always just rehydrate my EC-1118 with a little sugar water and pitch that.

 

[KCCam]

FWIW, I have made skeeter pee several times, I have family members that love it. If you read the original recipe from skeeterpee dot com, it very clearly states at the outset add 2 bottles of the lemon juice, then when the sg gets down to about 1.050 add some more yeast nutrient and the third bottle of lemon juice. I always have done it this way and never had an issue with getting it to start or making it to the finish. I also, have never added a yeast slurry, I always just rehydrate my EC-1118 with a little sugar water and pitch that.

Thanks. Good to know. I’ve only tried once. I did follow directions, 64 oz to start, etc. I hydrated the yeast. I did just use generic nutrient & energizer from my home brew store, so not sure how good or even what exactly it was. Fermentation started OK but got stuck a couple times. Eventually it made it to 0.996, and then I got impatient trying to get it to clear. I was doing a DB at the same time and it went fine, done and bottled. I figured I liked the DB better anyway, so I threw in a bunch of sugar and whatever berries I had handy in the freezer, another pack of yeast, and it took off, fermented, and cleared with no further issues. I am looking forward to trying another SP, I’ve learned a lot since then.