Im freaking out. What have I done wrong?

[VinesnBines]

P.s. I think my wine will create 3 percent alcohol since the fermentations has ended this fast

You started with ripe grapes and finished at 0.993, so you most likely will have 10% to 12% alcohol. Length of time for fermentation is not an indication of alcohol level. Eight or nine days is pretty normal for a red fermentation. You should be just fine.

Read up on processes and gather some glass containers and listen to Winemaker81 and the rest of the posters.

 

[mainshipfred]

First of all I need to tell you that I didn't have anything sanatized or anything better than a ladle to take wine and pour it in the glass cylinder so I can check with hydrometer. I'm not sure if I damaged the wine by doing thism The ladle is made of steel I guess.
Ladle example

Second of all the number showed on the hydrometer was 0.993

Finally, my barrel has airlock,isnt airlock enough to not make me worried about the headspace?
By racking you mean I should pour everything (the juice,grapes,skin,seeds,etc) in another container that leaves less head space? Does the new container(barrel or whatever) needs an airlock too?

I would appreciate it if you could explain it to me.

P.s. I think my wine will create 3 percent alcohol since the fermentations has ended this fast

@VinesnBines beat me to it, it's not the time but the sugar level that determines the ABV. Please whatever you do don't leave the wine in that barrel.

I may not understand but you said you crushed the grapes yesterday. Most common is crushing prior to fermentation but there are all kinds of methods including uncrushed fermentation.

As @winemaker81 states your next step is to press the pulp. I'm not sure how you plan on doing this but the amount of wine you get will be dependent on the efficiency of you press. I would guess with 26 kg you might get 2.5 to 4 gallons depending on the efficiency of your press.

Good luck with it a keep the oxygen exposure to a bare minimum.

 

[Xerxwine]

The first step in preparing our equipment is ensuring it's clean, e.g., free of dirt and other foreign material. Honestly, that's often a sufficient step in sanitizing. The second step, which is strongly recommended, is to further sanitize with K-meta water, which is 2 to 3 Tbsp potassium metabisulfite (K-meta) and 1 Tbsp acid (citric, tartaric, blend) dissolved in 4 liters water. Splash or spray your equipment and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Keep the K-meta water in a sealed container (I use a 4 liter jug), and it's good for months. As long as it's clear and stinks, it's good. DO NOT breath deeply, as it will burn your lungs. [There are other sanitizing agents available, but we'll keep this simple.]

I think I'm past the sanitation process and I need to try that for the next time I'm making wine. Is normal acid citric OK? How long should I wait before pouring the grapes inside the container(barrel,etc) should I wash it with those ingredients? Is few hours OK? Since you say kmeta water stinks,is it gonna affect the taste of the wine?

Press the grapes, leaving the solids (skin, pulp, seeds) behind and put the resulting wine in one or more jugs, with an airlock

As for pressing,I checked the price for grape presser and it's a but expensive. I mean I have already spent a lot. I found a bag which is apparently suitable for pressing with hand. Here is the picture:

Bag with zip

The problem with pouring the wine in another container is that I have no idea how much litre I'm going to get. I've planned to buy two glass containers. One 10 litres and the other 6 litres. Here is the picture of the glass container.



I'm glad I have found a Iranian website that sells this stuff as the tools for making mint water,rose water,... Not sure if they are trying to circumvent the law.


I also think I can find food grade siphone so I can use it as the final stage for sucking the wine.

Thank you very much for you help. I appreciate it a lot. I'm glad I found this forum so I can ask masters of winemaking

 

[Xerxwine]

View attachment 80481

in the old days folks didn’t have sanitizers and red grapes worked well, white grape not as well.
Sanitizing, ,,, most microbial load is removed with soap and water.
For barrels the old way was to burn sulfur in the barrel which creates SO2 which is the active ingredient in potassium metabisulphite. A lot of this is creating a chemical which picks up oxygen and delays off flavor development, ,,, it tastes less good, ,,, but is not a food toxin.

Thank you for the information. Very interesting

You started with ripe grapes and finished at 0.993, so you most likely will have 10% to 12% alcohol. Length of time for fermentation is not an indication of alcohol level. Eight or nine days is pretty normal for a red fermentation. You should be just fine.

Read up on processes and gather some glass containers and listen to Winemaker81 and the rest of the posters.

Thanks. Yeah I'm gonna buy a glass container today

@VinesnBines beat me to it, it's not the time but the sugar level that determines the ABV. Please whatever you do don't leave the wine in that barrel.

What exactly iswrong with that barrel?just wondering. I think winemaker 81 also told me that I should not let my wine stay in that barrel.

I may not understand but you said you crushed the grapes yesterday. Most common is crushing prior to fermentation but there are all kinds of methods including uncrushed fermentation

No. Today is the 9th day. I'm gonna press the grapes today for the secondary fermentation

Edit: I just found another product. Apparantly it's some kind of paper filter? Should I use this instead of the bag? Ir this is for the final stage to get rid of lees? Unfortunately the picture provided in the website is not clear.

 

[franc1969]

l
What exactly iswrong with that barrel?just wondering. I think winemaker 81 also told me that I should not let my wine stay in that barrel.

Nothing particularly wrong with the barrel, as far as anyone knows. As mainshipfred said earlier "keep the oxygen exposure to a bare minimum". What that means is minimize the airspace at the top of the container. I have many sizes of glass carboys and bottles to take whatever i end up with. My batches are on the smaller side, so I have 7G, 24L, 20L, 12L, 4L, 3L,1.5L,1L, 750ML, 500ML, 350ML etc. Mostly juice bottles from things we drank- the biggest thing for me is lid size that matches. Some people here with bigger batches use a collapsible poly water carboy for the last few gallons and can top up rackings from that. If that is something you have access to, it could also hold the whole batch, and you'd be able to get two for racking from one to the other. Not as ideal as glass, but fine.
I yanked an image from ebay to show what I mean. Cubes, accordion, whatever. Main thing is to remove air while wine ages.

 

[Rice_Guy]

the collapsible carboy is LDPE (low density polyethylene). They produce a slow oxidation flavor like sherry. It is very drinkable but some folks don’t like any oxidation so not ideal.

. Some people here with bigger batches use a collapsible poly water carboy for the last few gallons and can top up rackings from that. If that is something you have access to, it could also hold the whole batch, and you'd be able to get two for racking from one to the other. Not as ideal as glass, but fine.

a basic air lock is a balloon over the mouth of a jug. I have some PET plastic with 120mm mouth and use silicone to cover/ prevent oxygen exposure. (PET has low oxygen transmission and is in many food grade containers). ,,,, I have not been able to get the lids on large glass as your photo to seal 100%. It is OK but not ideal.

 

[Xerxwine]

i forgot to ask another question about the pressing and pouring the juice itself inside the carboy.
Since I haven't used a yeast, do I still have to do this? Doesn't the second fermentation need the grapes,skins and seeds ? I mean if I filter it to a carboy by using that bag I told you people, will the second fermentation happen inside the carboy?

Nothing particularly wrong with the barrel, as far as anyone knows. As mainshipfred said earlier "keep the oxygen exposure to a bare minimum". What that means is minimize the airspace at the top of the container. I have many sizes of glass carboys and bottles to take whatever i end up with. My batches are on the smaller side, so I have 7G, 24L, 20L, 12L, 4L, 3L,1.5L,1L, 750ML, 500ML, 350ML etc. Mostly juice bottles from things we drank- the biggest thing for me is lid size that matches. Some people here with bigger batches use a collapsible poly water carboy for the last few gallons and can top up rackings from that. If that is something you have access to, it could also hold the whole batch, and you'd be able to get two for racking from one to the other. Not as ideal as glass, but fine.
I yanked an image from ebay to show what I mean. Cubes, accordion, whatever. Main thing is to remove air while wine ages.

Great information .

 

[mainshipfred]

i forgot to ask another question about the pressing and pouring the juice itself inside the carboy.
Since I haven't used a yeast, do I still have to do this? Doesn't the second fermentation need the grapes,skins and seeds ? I mean if I filter it to a carboy by using that bag I told you people, will the second fermentation happen inside the carboy?


Great information .

It will still ferment, there is plenty of yeast ( an you did use a yeast just native and not cultured) in the juice but at .993 there is not a lot of fermentation that will be going on, mostly degassing. It may start going through malolactic fermentation on it's own but that's different.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Edit: I just found another product. Apparantly it's some kind of paper filter? Should I use this instead of the bag? Ir this is for the final stage to get rid of lees?

* the traditional way to filter was to use a reed basket with 1 to 5 mm spaces, once the grape berries plug the space it is a fairly fast good wine yield filter
* the fabric/ bag filter is good since one can put pressure on it to speed the flow, PRESSING is always done. A simple way mom used to do was put the fruit solids in a cotton bread flour sack and twist it to apply force.
* a paper filter tends to be very slow on a fluid with high solids, they also need to be supported to prevent ripping. Paper could be used on a final filtration as with cooking oil or milk
* household window screen, about 1mm mesh is a good filter size, ,,, (do not use aluminum, metals catalyze oxidative reactions)

making wine is a cleaning process, the large material needs to be removed, sugars are removed with yeast, in between size solids settle with gravity

 

[gsorrells]

View attachment 80481

in the old days folks didn’t have sanitizers and red grapes worked well, white grape not as well.
Sanitizing, ,,, most microbial load is removed with soap and water.
For barrels the old way was to burn sulfur in the barrel which creates SO2 which is the active ingredient in potassium metabisulphite. A lot of this is creating a chemical which picks up oxygen and delays off flavor development, ,,, it tastes less good, ,,, but is not a food toxin.

You would have to have extremely high SO2 levels before they would interfere with taste. We bottle around 25-40ppm and that generally protects our wines for 5-7 years, at least. I believe that 300-350 is the legal maximum (in the US), but I have never seen any wines that high. Even then, you could just let the wine breath for an hour and it would degas.

 

[winemaker81]

@Xerxwine, read the MoreWine! red wine manual. It will set your mind at ease. You are asking good questions and I expect your wine will turn out fine.

 

[Xerxwine]

Urgent.

Is this headspace enough for the second fermentation ?

 

[Xerxwine]

It will still ferment, there is plenty of yeast ( an you did use a yeast just native and not cultured) in the juice but at .993 there is not a lot of fermentation that will be going on, mostly degassing. It may start going through malolactic fermentation on it's own but that's different.

Thanks a lot

* the traditional way to filter was to use a reed basket with 1 to 5 mm spaces, once the grape berries plug the space it is a fairly fast good wine yield filter
* the fabric/ bag filter is good since one can put pressure on it to speed the flow, PRESSING is always done. A simple way mom used to do was put the fruit solids in a cotton bread flour sack and twist it to apply force.
* a paper filter tends to be very slow on a fluid with high solids, they also need to be supported to prevent ripping. Paper could be used on a final filtration as with cooking oil or milk
* household window screen, about 1mm mesh is a good filter size, ,,, (do not use aluminum, metals catalyze oxidative reactions)

making wine is a cleaning process, the large material needs to be removed, sugars are removed with yeast, in between size solids settle with gravity

Great information as always. Thanks a lot

@Xerxwine, read the MoreWine! red wine manual. It will set your mind at ease. You are asking good questions and I expect your wine will turn out fine.

I'll read it as the second fermentation is going on. I posted the picture. The temperature in the room is 29 centigrade btw

 

[mainshipfred]

Urgent.

Is this headspace enough for the second fermentation ?

For any length of bulk aging it is too much headspace. Your fermentation is done so if you see any activity in the air lock it's just degassing which will protect your wine for a little while. After that it really needs to be topped up to nearly no headspace, especially with the wide mouth vessel.

 

[Xerxwine]

For any length of bulk aging it is too much headspace. Your fermentation is done so if you see any activity in the air lock it's just degassing which will protect your wine for a little while. After that it really needs to be topped up to nearly no headspace, especially with the wide mouth vessel.

I saw no bubbles when i installed the airlock so I topped it up. It leaked when I moved the glass but at least I won't be worried it gets oxidized. Thanks

I have about a glass of wine left which I don't know what to do with. I guess I should throw it out. Is it drinkable?

 

[mainshipfred]

I saw no bubbles when i installed the airlock so I topped it up. It leaked when I moved the glass but at least I won't be worried it gets oxidized. Thanks

I have about a glass of wine left which I don't know what to do with. I guess I should throw it out. Is it drinkable?

Heck, I'd drink it. Might not be the best right now but it will give you some indication of the finish product.

 

[sour_grapes]

I always drink the young leftovers.

 

[Xerxwine]

Heck, I'd drink it. Might not be the best right now but it will give you some indication of the finish product.

I always drink the young leftovers.

Awesome. I'm gonna drink it then.

It took me more than two hours(maybe 3 hours) to press it with the zipped bag. I hope it's not oxidized!?!

Next time I'm gonna save money to buy grape crusher to do the pressing.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I have about a glass of wine left which I don't know what to do with.

One should always test the batch to see if sugar hepls, if a drop of glycerin helps, if there is volatle sulfur compounds VSC that you can smell, if it is a good one which the wife likes. . . . . there is a lot to learn . . . . 5000 years ago the whole tribe would have a wedding and drink it all.

The least aggresive I have done is to vacuum package and hold for the next vinters club meeting to show Brad what his yeast sample could do.

 

[Xerxwine]

One should always test the batch to see if sugar hepls, if a drop of glycerin helps, if there is volatle sulfur compounds VSC that you can smell, if it is a good one which the wife likes. . . . . there is a lot to learn . . . . 5000 years ago the whole tribe would have a wedding and drink it all.

The least aggresive I have done is to vacuum package and hold for the next vinters club meeting to show Brad what his yeast sample could do.

Thanks you so much.

My question is how do you guys control the temperature? Do you have a specific refrigerator that keeps the temperature at 70 f? Current weather temperature of my country is 22° and the best room temperature I can get is 23-25 with opened windows.That's it.