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[not-so-Highborne]

Okay. I'm having trouble here. I mix a batch of 2 gallons of grape juice. 20 lbs of sugar and topped of with hot water to mix and dissolve. Maxing 5 gallons.

Added my tannin, citric acid ann Campden tablets. Let it cool and pitched my yeast. Waited 5 day for it to settle down. Transferred it to a glass carboy degassed. At this point it's purple and cloudy. I topped it off with cool water. Added my gelatin, bubbler covered with black plastic to block out any light. In ten days I checked it again and settled a bunch but still cloudy. Transferred again and topped off and capped with bubbler.

HOWEVER IT DOES NOT SEEM LIKE WINE! Did I miss something? Does it still need more time. I understand it needs to clear more but, it should still seem like it resembles wine, right?

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!


From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[Dale1978]

The recipe you posted seems light on juice and you wound up with grape flavored water

 

[not-so-Highborne]

Even with the amount of sugar?


From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[Dale1978]

the sugar you add is for making alcohol - I am assuming this was grape juice you buy in a bottle - it has a lot of water in it - if you are going to use ready made juice you do not want to add any water to it at all

 

[Dale1978]

what was your starting SG - you may have a alcohol level and some grape flavor - but will not be a good wine

 

[not-so-Highborne]

So basically what I got is 5 gal of grape flavored fermented sugar water?



From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[Dale1978]

thats what it sounds like to me - like I said if you are going to use ready made juice - do not add any water - if you use frozen concentrate - I use 3 cans of concentrate per gallon that I want to make - fill fermenter with water for the number of gallons you want to make and the add number of cans of concentrate - some folks on here use 4 per gallon - I made them with 3 and turned out really nice - it would be 18 to 24 cans for 6 gallons - depending on your taste

 

[not-so-Highborne]

Sweet. Thanks for your time.


From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[user 31015]

Soda water and fruit juice time for that stuff by the sound of it!

 

[not-so-Highborne]

It should have a bit of alcohol to it. I used 5 kilos of sugar and champaign yeast.



From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[Dale1978]

you might make some sort of fruit pak to add some more flavor to it - might can add some raisins to add some body - but I think I would just start over

 

[not-so-Highborne]

Now what do the raisins do? I see people using them. But I don't fully understand their purpose yet.


From the not-so-Highborne.

 

[Dale1978]

they will add some body to a lacking wine - they will also add tannin to a wine - I have made a couple of wines that turned out flat or flabby and put raisins in carboy for a week or so and it brought the wine to life - I am not sure if adding raisins to your wine will help - but might be worth a try before you just pour it down the drain - you just have to weight your options at this time and make a decision of how much time and money you want to spend on this wine and what this wine is worth - again it may be just best to chalk this one up and start over

 

[artifaxiom]

Hi all,

I'm having trouble interpreting an instruction from The Home Winemaker's Companion. Making strawberry wine, after the primary fermentation (but before racking) it instructs:

Stir the must daily. In 5 to 7 days, the specific gravity should read 1.040 or lower. When it does, press out the fruit pulp and strain the wine.

What does press out the fruit pulp mean? Push it against the sides of the bucket with the spoon? Am I missing some equipment? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Loner]

If the fruit is in a bag (in the primary) you should squeeze it gently to extract the juice. If the fruit is not in a bag you should strain your liquids through a cloth etc to capture the solids. Squeeze gently to extract the juice and discard the solids that remain in the cloth.




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[artifaxiom]

Thank you for the (impressively quick!) reply. My fruit is not in a bag.

To clarify: when the primary fermentation is complete, I should siphon off the must, then gather the sediment+fruit into a cheesecloth and gently squeeze, collecting the juices into the carboy (or a larger mouthed container, to then be transfered into the carboy)?

Thanks again!

 

[user 31015]

Pretty much. I put the bag of must in a bucket with an upturned bowl at the bottom and let it drain out before giving it a squeeze or two. If you don't have any muslin to hand, I figure waving the sieve through the wine, giving what is caught a gentle press with a spoon (then discard fruit) until the wine is clean is fine. Then run all your wine over the sieve as you rack and collect any bits you miss.

 

[Loner]

You are spot on Artifaxiom. Pressing the fruit in this case simply means getting rid of the solids while keeping as much juice as possible by whatever means you are comfortable with. I wouldn't get too aggressive when squeezing the solids to extract the juice. It won't hurt you to lose a couple of ounces.


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[GT21]

My Pinot noir wine, that has been clearing for 15 days now, developed a red film on the surface when it should have dropped to the bottom by now. It looks like sediment or yeast, but I could be wrong. The wine smells and taste good. Is it bacteria? What should I do?

 

[mcb95x]

Very new basic questions (black spanish grapes)

I really planted my vines as a test run, but got a reasonably large yield this year. I decided that I might have enough to give wine making a try. My questions stem from what can I do with what I have.

1. I have about 40-50 healthy bunches, is that enough to do a small trial batch?

2 how large a yield might I expect?

3. Do black spanish grapes do well for wine.

4. when they finally turn color and the yeast starts to take effect, when should I pick them and how long before I juice them?

5 are there inherent problems with starting with a small batch?