jeff

[cosmyccowboy]

thanks to everyone for the advise! i took the plunge and called up Jody at homebrewery.com (thanks for the link) and ordered enough to get me started!
k-meta
star san
yeast
1-7 gal plastic large mouth carboy
1- 6.5 gal small mouth glass carboy, with airlock stopper
hydrometer
racking equipment
1- large nylon mesh bag for straining
1 bottle brush for the carboy
will this get me started?
for a smaller container can i use a 1/2 gallon mason jar?

i don't have a press. my plan is to use a large storage container and milk crate to bust the grapes up and de stem. i have a large collender that will fit on a 5 gallon bucket to strain with. i plan on using the nylon mesh bag to further force juice from the grapes. (i realize i will be not getting all the juice out but the remainder will be going in the chicken pen and they love grapes!)

 

[winemaker81]

i can't seal until after the fermentation process is over correct? else i get some exploding carboy's!?

Use an airlock or vented bung. An airlock lets gas in and out (mostly out) with no problems. A vented bung lets gas out and prevents anything from getting in. I don't believe there is an easy way to "seal? a carboy.

OTOH, you can put a screw cap on many bottles, and that is the problem IF the wine is still emitting CO2.

I like vented bungs for wine past fermentation as I don't have to monitor the water level in the airlock.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Thanks

Use an airlock or vented bung. An airlock lets gas in and out (mostly out) with no problems. A vented bung lets gas out and prevents anything from getting in. I don't believe there is an easy way to "seal? a carboy.

OTOH, you can put a screw cap on many bottles, and that is the problem IF the wine is still emitting CO2.

I like vented bungs for wine past fermentation as I don't have to monitor the water level in the airlock.

View attachment 76576

 

[Sailor323]

thanks to everyone for the advise! i took the plunge and called up Jody at homebrewery.com (thanks for the link) and ordered enough to get me started!
k-meta
star san
yeast
1-7 gal plastic large mouth carboy
1- 6.5 gal small mouth glass carboy, with airlock stopper
hydrometer
racking equipment
1- large nylon mesh bag for straining
1 bottle brush for the carboy
will this get me started?
for a smaller container can i use a 1/2 gallon mason jar?

i don't have a press. my plan is to use a large storage container and milk crate to bust the grapes up and de stem. i have a large collender that will fit on a 5 gallon bucket to strain with. i plan on using the nylon mesh bag to further force juice from the grapes. (i realize i will be not getting all the juice out but the remainder will be going in the chicken pen and they love grapes!)

I would steer away from using mason jars, they expose too large an area to air. It's important to limit exposure to air after fermentation is complete. Small neck jugs are best. I have a variety of 2, 3, 4 liter jugs and 1/2 and 1 gallon jugs. Sometimes when I end up with smaller quantities I use 750ml and 1 liter wine bottles. Depending on how far along the wine is I may cork these bottles and mix with the larger quantities when racking or bottling. On another note, building a press is fairly easy. I built a small one for use with small amounts of grapes. Basically it's a box with spaces between the slats and a heavy duty "handle" under which I place a small bottle jack. The jack rests upon a square, slatted pressure plate. I place the whole thing in a plastic lined container to capture the juice. I'll post a picture later

 

[cosmyccowboy]

thanks, I will have to buy some smaller small mouth carboys it seem, looking forward to the pictures of the press. Due to a tip from here i have spotted some presses on Facebook marketplace also

 

[Sailor323]

thanks, I will have to buy some smaller small mouth carboys it seem, looking forward to the pictures of the press. Due to a tip from here i have spotted some presses on Facebook marketplace also

 

[Sailor323]

thanks, I will have to buy some smaller small mouth carboys it seem, looking forward to the pictures of the press. Due to a tip from here i have spotted some presses on Facebook marketplace also

All of the smaller jugs that I use are recycled wine jugs and maybe a couple of one gallon cider or vinegar jugs. The latter are probably no longer available since those things are now packaged in plastic. Actually, some of the plastic jugs would be acceptable for relatively short periods of time

 

[cosmyccowboy]

View attachment 76593

Awesome, I may be able to get enough scrap to build something like that! Thanks

 

[heatherd]

thanks, where do you get your supplies from? i have been on a website called midwest supplies

I get things from them as well as Label Peelers and Presque Isle.

 

[heatherd]

Thanks for all the info! Sorry about the lingo difficulty! Every time you get into something new there is a language problem even though we were both speaking English! It’s the small mouth aging carboy I was thinking of, I would need at least 2 of them... correct? From watching a YouTube video i saw where he racked from one bottle to another after letting the “stuff “ settle (I forgot the correct term) he also had a smaller jar he had saved of the press to top off with! Thanks for sharing your knowledge

I ferment in buckets like this with the lid on loosely, and lots of headspace, to a specific gravity of 0.995 or less, when testing the same SG three tests in a row, and then rack to a carboy to stabilize/ bulk-age/clear/degass. Top up the carboy with similar wine to about 1 inch below the bottom of the airlock.

 

[winemaker81]

I buy Carlo Rossi Burgundy and Chablis in 4 liter jugs. I decant each into five 750s + one 375, and use for cooking. I can get plastic screwcaps that fit the thread pattern at my LHBS, so I toss the metal caps and use the plastic. I'm looking at other sizes of jug wine -- be nice to have and 2 and 3 liter jugs.

Side note -- the Carlo Rossi wines are not bad, but neither are they good. An AWS group I belonged to conducted a Lambrusco tasting, just for the heckuvit. I can't remember the AWS scoring system, but let's say that scores between 9 and 11 were "average', no significant flaws, but nothing exceptional, either. All scores for all Lambrusco averaged between 9.5 and 10.5 for the 12 people at the tasting. It was surprising, as most of us though of Lambrusco as junk -- it's not. It's simply unexceptional in any way, good or bad.

The Carlo Rossi wines are mediocre, not good or bad.

 

[Jovimaple]

Universal bungs should fit most wine bottles if you turn the bung upside down. Then you can still use an airlock for the sludgy leftovers or whatever didn't fit in your carboy while there is still fermention going on.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

What I’ve done today!
i harvested 95 pounds of black munkka grapes
De stemmed and crushed (by hand so I’ve got purple hands)
I added 1 tablespoon of potassium meta sulfate
Initial reading with the hydrometer was 15
I added 5 cups of sugar bringing it up to 20
I have poured into 3 5 gallon buckets (about 2/3 full each)
I have not pitched my yeast yet, how long can I wait?
How much will my mush rise?

 

[mainshipfred]

What I’ve done today!
i harvested 95 pounds of black munkka grapes
De stemmed and crushed (by hand so I’ve got purple hands)
I added 1 tablespoon of potassium meta sulfate
Initial reading with the hydrometer was 15
I added 5 cups of sugar bringing it up to 20
I have poured into 3 5 gallon buckets (about 2/3 full each)
I have not pitched my yeast yet, how long can I wait?
How much will my mush rise?

If you ferment it to .995 you will have 11.5% ABV. You have plenty of space for the cap and 1 tsp is a bit high I think but it shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't wait more than a day to pitch the yeast.

 

[JustJoe]

Did you add 1 tablespoon of kmeta or did you mean 1 teaspoon? 1 tablespoon would be a lot more than needed and possibly too much for the yeast .

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Thanks, it was one tablespoon. I was advised to double it. There was a lot of must, at least 12 gallons. I hope its ok!!! I only have one pack of yeast (another to be delivered tomorrow, I don’t know why I ordered just one pack it’s not expensive) can I add one pack, wait a day and add another?

 

[JustJoe]

The usual dose of kmeta is 1/4 tsp for a 5 gallon batch. If you haven't added the yeast yet, I would suggest stirring it and waiting another day before attempting to start fermentation. Stir it several times even.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Thanks.... live and learn

 

[mainshipfred]

The usual dose of kmeta is 1/4 tsp for a 5 gallon batch. If you haven't added the yeast yet, I would suggest stirring it and waiting another day before attempting to start fermentation. Stir it several times even.

When I responded I didn't realize it was one tablespoon. I agree with stirring and waiting another day.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Today I stirred my must multiple times. I waited until 4pm to pitch my yeast (hoping UPS would show up with my extra packs cause I only had the one)
I took my 1 1/2 cup of hot water straight out of the tap, I like hot baths and showers and figured that was hot enough)
I added a big table spoon of sugar to the water and waited 15 minutes. It was looking good so I got a soup ladle out of the kitchen and added some must to it. Waited another 30 minutes and it was still looking good so I divided it up between all 3 buckets of must.
I’m starting to smell grapesin the house, as of 6pm there is bubbling action going on in all 3 buckets where I pitched the yeast ! (Y’all had me worried about that tablespoon of SO2 i added!)
Should I leave it alone or continue to stir?
Should I add more yeast Monday when it gets here or just leave it alone?
Thanks everyone!