Frozen berries help

[Tony2945]

Hi all, this is my first of no doubt many questions to be raised,
I've attempted my first brew and I used 700g of frozen berries.
2 weeks later I have a demijohn with an inch of sediment in the bottom and a load of floating mushed berries at the top.
The bubbles have stopped entering the air lock and the liquid is a nice clear colour.
At what stage should I add the crushed Camden tablet- before I syphon into a new demijohn or after.
Also, should I add a finnings to the wine and if so, at what point.
Last one- should I stir the Demi john to to disturb the sediments prior to adding any of the above.
Thanks

 

[dralarms]

You need to rack the liquid out into a clean container, check sg, and if it's finished fermenting then you can add the kmeta, but it needs to be finished before adding.

 

[Tony2945]

Thanks. I was told to leave it for 4 weeks but it completely settled now and I've read it can create foul tastes if left.
Ill rack today and check

 

[Turock]

You shouldn't have fruit floating in it. Is this in the secondary? How did you do this ferment? It sounds like you didn't use pectic enzyme on the fruit to break down the pulp.

 

[Tony2945]

I mixed sugar with boiling water and poured it over the frozen fruit, left it for 24 hours and mushed it, left for another 24 and tipped into a demijohn with yeast.
Just racked it.
Now thinking I'm way of the mark

 

[Turock]

OK Tony let's talk about this. Here's how it should go. Take all the frozen fruit and get it into a vat. Sprinkle sulfite on it and add about 1 cup of water over all the fruit to get the sulfite to dissolve. You need the sulfite to protect the berries from mold as they thaw. A large amount of fruit can take 2 or 3 days to thaw, and you need that biological control. Put a lid on it. Stir it around once in a while to get it to thaw faster.

After they've thawed out pretty good, get a dose of pectic enzyme on it to start breaking down the fruit. When it all reaches room temp, then adjust your brix and PH and then pitch the yeast. Most ferments take about 5 days. Don't forget to step-feed nutrient. Take the entire dose of nutrient and divide it half. The first half goes in when the yeast becomes active, and the other half at 50% sugar reduction. This for regular yeast nutrient such as DAP. Fermaid K has a little bit different protocol--second dose at 1/3 sugar depletion.

Don't use water on fruit--all it does is dilute the flavor. There are only a few fruits that need water dilution. What kind of fruit are you using? You should always give more detail about what you're using so we don't have to guess.

If you're interested, you should visit www.morewine.com They have some good beginner's books that will help you get a handle on how to do ferments. They also have free downloads of info in their MoreManuals section.

 

[Tony2945]

Thanks for the advice, think I'll bin this attempt and start again.
Maybe at the bottom with an easy recipe and get some experience.
It seemed too easy which I suppose to most it is.

 

[dangerdave]

Ok, Tony, now that you know what's going on, I'm going to suggest (no surprise to anyone here! ) you try the Dragon Blood Recipe posted here: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f2/dangerdaves-dragon-blood-wine-41825/

It is detailed and easy to follow, step by step. If you do what's listed there, it is virtually fool-proof, and will help you to learn the process of wine making. If you join in the conversation on that thread, there are a lot of people (myself included) who will be glad to help you with any questions.

Good luck!

 

[jkrug]

Dragon blood rocks! First batch OK. Second batch was blackberry and Damn it rocks! Just make sure you take everyone's on this forum. Best one I have found to date.

 

[BernardSmith]

Thanks for the advice, think I'll bin this attempt and start again.
Maybe at the bottom with an easy recipe and get some experience.
It seemed too easy which I suppose to most it is.

Tossing a batch should be the last thing you do. You might want to taste what you have at this time to see what it tastes like. It may suggest that it might be drinkable or it may taste too diluted to taste anything. You might be able to save this batch not so much as wine (although it may be just this side of blah) but as the basis for topping up a second batch or as a "flavor pack" where you might reduce the liquid by say half or 3/4 by boiling and so concentrate the fruit flavor (and use the concentrated liquor to add more flavor to a second batch).