jeff

[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!

Edit I added the sugar and immediately added the yeast

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Edit I added the sugar and immediately added the yeast

I was told that my 90- 95 degrees in the un air conditioned garage would be to hot?

 

[cosmyccowboy]

By the way I have ordered a 3 and a 5 gallon small mouth carboy to add to the 6.5 gallon I’ve got

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Next thing you know I’ll be bought a nice storage shed with a window unit!!!!

 

[cosmyccowboy]

One more thing, the guy I follow on YouTube says that with red wine he leaves the wine on the skins until dry and ready to press. Someone else told me that was way too long and would press after 2 or 3 days. What do y’all think? It seems to be to be simpler just to wait until dry? Thanks again!!!

 

[winemaker81]

with red wine he leaves the wine on the skins until dry and ready to press

More time provides for more extraction from the skin and pulp. DO NOT press after 2 or 3 days unless you're trying to make a very light red or rose.

Some folks are doing extended maceration (EM), sealing the fermenter when the SG is around 1.000 and leaving it for weeks. I haven't been confident enough to do that, so I ferment to ~0.998 and press when there is just a bit of activity.

My grapes arrive by refrigerated truck on a Friday, we crush Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon the pomace is at 65-67 F. Last fall I added Scottzyme Colorpro at crush time, which greatly increased color and body extraction. This coming fall I'm considering other enzymes, and am thinking of freezing gallon jugs of water to enable an extended cold soak, prior to fermentation, for at least a few days. The options seem endless.

 

[JustJoe]

When it is actively fermenting, stirring provides more oxygen and the yeast uses oxygen to multiply. Keep stirring and by Monday you should have plenty if busy little yeast cells. If you want to add another packet, it won't hurt anything but it's probably bot needed at that point.

 

[mainshipfred]

One more thing, the guy I follow on YouTube says that with red wine he leaves the wine on the skins until dry and ready to press. Someone else told me that was way too long and would press after 2 or 3 days. What do y’all think? It seems to be to be simpler just to wait until dry? Thanks again!!!

Timing is a factor for me but I usually press when dry. Even after it's dry there is plenty of CO2 present to preserve the wine for a few days. I don't mean to be rude to the person making the 2-3 day recommendation and people's approaches are sometimes different but 2-3 days is kind of silly.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Timing is a factor for me but I usually press when dry. Even after it's dry there is plenty of CO2 present to preserve the wine for a few days. I don't mean to be rude to the person making the 2-3 day recommendation and people's approaches are sometimes different but 2-3 days is kind of silly.

Thanks! The guy saying press is the same guy that recommended I double the SO2 so I think I’ll stop asking him for advice!

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Wow, you wouldn’t believe what happened... at least the second part anyway! To begin with it looks like my yeast starter felled! Y’all warned me that the tablespoon of SO2 might cause that to happen. Plus I only had the one small pack and that was only enough for 5 gallons according to the instructions not the 10 plus gallons of must I have!
So I frantically start doing web searches for brewing supplies near me. I saw a Susiana winery not to far from me and gave them a call... no one answered! Maybe 15 minutes later a guy named Ray called me back and has some particular strong yeast he says and will be here at 2 to see if he can save my must!!!!
Can you believe it????!!!!

 

[winemaker81]

Can you believe it????!!!!

There are many decent people in this world -- you are meeting yet another one today!

 

[cosmyccowboy]

There are many decent people in this world -- you are meeting yet another one today!

On a Sunday too!

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Ray, just left... what a guy! He came by with 3 packs of Lalvin EC 1118, one for each bucket. He says if anything will save it that will! He was amazed at how thick my juice was, he couldn’t get his hydrometer to float in his tube. Ray had a commercial winery, where he made muscadine wine. He has sold his vines and moved to town now. So he’s out of the business, I showed him my vines, i have another large batch that will be ripening in a couple of weeks. They were sold to me as Thompson seedless but they are a dark purple/black grape with small seeds. I was guessing that they are black Spanish but ray thinks they are Concord! They will be ready in a week or 2

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Its confirmed, after Herculean efforts the patient is dead! It died of a self inflicted SO2 overdose. I had some 2.5 gallon feezer bags so I froze 3 pacs of juice and am going to go back to making jelly out of the rest.
Question, I have another crop of grapes coming on in a week or 2. Instead of adding SO2 to the new must would it be safe to just add one or two of the bags of juice I have in the freezer? It seems to me that the UN treated new must I would have would dilute the SO2 in the bags in the freezer?! I hate to throw it away but don’t want to hurt the new must either. The grapes are very similar

 

[JustJoe]

I would guess that it would be safe but I have no idea how to determine if it is still too much or just fine or not enough. If it were my grapes I would mix it all together and not add any more kmeta. I would us a good, strong yeast like EC1118 and would hydrate it as you did and then add some of the must to the yeast and give it time to get started and add some more and give it time and do that as many times as my patience lasts. Then mix it all together and pray a little.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Th

I would guess that it would be safe but I have no idea how to determine if it is still too much or just fine or not enough. If it were my grapes I would mix it all together and not add any more kmeta. I would us a good, strong yeast like EC1118 and would hydrate it as you did and then add some of the must to the yeast and give it time to get started and add some more and give it time and do that as many times as my patience lasts. Then mix it all together and pray a little.

Thanks, that’s my plan, from what I see on the vines I should have another 70,80 or 90 pounds of grapes or another 10 gallons or so of must. So I’m praying the 5 gallons I got in the freezer will be just right since the original advise was to double the recommended amount of kmeta!

 

[DizzyIzzy]

One more thing, the guy I follow on YouTube says that with red wine he leaves the wine on the skins until dry and ready to press. Someone else told me that was way too long and would press after 2 or 3 days. What do y’all think? It seems to be to be simpler just to wait until dry? Thanks again!!!

Be cautious following You Tube advice...............................................................DizzyIzzy

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Its confirmed, after Herculean efforts the patient is dead! It died of a self inflicted SO2 overdose.

It's probably a bit late now but it is possible to rescue a massive SO2 overdose by (carefully) adding hydrogen peroxide (see here for an example protocol). I have done this (both the overdose and the rescue ) on a small commercial scale (a few hundred gallons) but I don't see why it wouldn't work for a smaller batch. It's the same chemistry that is used in the aeration oxidation method for determining SO2 levels in wine. One challenge might be that you have to measure SO2 a few times as you titrate in the H2O2 to make sure you don't overdo it.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Tuesday I halted the procedure and declared the patient dead of a SO2 overdose. I froze half my must (that was all I had room for) and made jelly out of the rest. The plan was when the new crop of grapes i have coming on that I would add the 5 gallons of must to the fresh grapes hoping to dilute the So2 enough to save the 5 gallons!
Update after speaking with Todd at Homebrewey.com we decided to go a different route. Todd thought that in addition to a SO2 overdose I may have a problem with it high acid content. I thawed out the must and found I had 5 gallons left.the brix on the 5 gallons was 25
I separated the 5 gallons of must into 3 5gallon buckets.
I added to the must...
7 pounds of sugar dissolved into 2 1/2 gallons of water
1 1/2 gallons of 100% pure Welch’s concord grape juice
9 1/2 teaspoons of yeast enrichment
With the use of a 4th bucket I continually poured the must back and fourth between the 4 buckets until I thought It was good and mixed.
I ended up with 9 1/2 gallons of must in 3 5gallon buckets each day about 3/4 full
Upon the top of each bucket I sprinkled 1 pack of Premier Cuvée yeast for a total of 3 packs at 1 pm eastern time Friday
Wish me luck! thanks everyone, especially Todd

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Opps I forgot to check the brix before adding the yeast. Todd’s calculation was that with the 2 1/2 gallons of water, the 7 pounds of sugar and the 1 1/2 gallons of Welch’s grape juice that the brix would remain at 25 (the brix on the grape juice was 15)