jeff

[mainshipfred]

After rereading the notes of your first attempt I think there may have been another reason it didn't take. First if the water was taken directly from the hot water tap it may have been too hot and killed the yeast. It's not absolute but the temp of the rehydration water should no more than110* with 104* being optimal. Second depending if it was a 5 or 8 gram packet it was too much water and probably not enough sugar. If it was an 8 gram packet you used almost twice the recommended amount of water. If a 5 gram packet a lot more than that. I don't use sugar although it can be used but rather GoFerm which has nutrients to help enable growth.

As far as the acid goes it was more of an assumption. Without taking a pH reading you had no way of telling. I'm assuming the water was added to reduce the acid but if the acid levels were in line they are too low now, as are the tannins, and out of balance. You can always add acid and tannin later but in my opinion too much added post fermentation leaves a funny taste.

From what I can tell the sugar addition was correct so I'm not sure why the brix is so low. 15 brix will leave you with an 8.2-8.5 abv.

You're second attempt should ferment just fine though I would definitely add more sugar and you can always tweak it after fermentation.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

After rereading the notes of your first attempt I think there may have been another reason it didn't take. First if the water was taken directly from the hot water tap it may have been too hot and killed the yeast. It's not absolute but the temp of the rehydration water should no more than110* with 104* being optimal. Second depending if it was a 5 or 8 gram packet it was too much water and probably not enough sugar. If it was an 8 gram packet you used almost twice the recommended amount of water. If a 5 gram packet a lot more than that. I don't use sugar although it can be used but rather GoFerm which has nutrients to help enable growth.

As far as the acid goes it was more of an assumption. Without taking a pH reading you had no way of telling. I'm assuming the water was added to reduce the acid but if the acid levels were in line they are too low now, as are the tannins, and out of balance. You can always add acid and tannin later but in my opinion too much added post fermentation leaves a funny taste.

From what I can tell the sugar addition was correct so I'm not sure why the brix is so low. 15 brix will leave you with an 8.2-8.5 abv.

You're second attempt should ferment just fine though I would definitely add more sugar and you can always tweak it after fermentation.

Good luck and keep us posted.

The 15 brix was the sugar level of the Welch’s grape juice that was added. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[cosmyccowboy]

It looks like we have liftoff! It’s been almost 24 hours and I’m getting a head on the must! Thanks everyone

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Good day everyone , I’m still punching must, I get lots of bubbles when I punch. Do I understand correctly that when the bubbles are gone the wine is more or less dry?

 

[mainshipfred]

The only sure way to tell is by using a hydrometer. If you don't have one they are pretty inexpensive.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

I have one, thanks

 

[sour_grapes]

As Fred says, bubbles are not the best indicator. Even when the wine is finished fermenting, there will still be lots of dissolved CO2.

I have one, thanks

Excellent! What is your SG now?

 

[cosmyccowboy]

I hadn’t thought about checking it, it’s 4

 

[cosmyccowboy]

1pm today will be 3 full days

 

[mainshipfred]

Congrats on the progress, it must be a fairly aggressive fermentation considering it's only been a couple days.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Congrats on the progress, it must be a fairly aggressive fermentation considering it's only been a couple days.

I have rechecked multiple times because I wasn’t comfortable with my first answer of 4 actually it’s 1. So I can press this afternoon or in the morning?

 

[mainshipfred]

Hydrometers usually don't lie so I would say you are good to go. I have to say it again though, 3 days (really 2-2.5 because the yeast had to start) is extremely fast even for a powerhouse yeast like EC1118 and Premier Curvee. Curious to see how you like it.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Thanks! We will let you know!

 

[cosmyccowboy]

I have pressed the wine, my 7 gallon large mouth carboy is full and the 3 gallon small mouth is over half way full. I understand that the process is to leave the wine alone for a day or two to allow the gross lees to settle in the bottom? After that I rack into my small mouth carboys for long term clearing of the wine... other than clearing further it is done now?

 

[mainshipfred]

I have pressed the wine, my 7 gallon large mouth carboy is full and the 3 gallon small mouth is over half way full. I understand that the process is to leave the wine alone for a day or two to allow the gross lees to settle in the bottom? After that I rack into my small mouth carboys for long term clearing of the wine... other than clearing further it is done now?

Looks good, I'm sure you will put an air lock on the carboys since it is still fermenting. As long as you see activity in the air lock your wine is still protected. You can probably wait as much as 4 days before racking off the gross lees. It's all in the timing but I usually wait 3 days to allow for more fall out.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Edit to remove

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Thanks, yes I did install the airlocks. I will wait the 4 days before racking. Once it stops fermenting, the wine is basically finished? All the aging in the small mouth carboys is just letting the wine clear ( since I don’t plan on adding any oak)? I can leave it in the small mouth carboys for a week or two or 8, 9 months if I want to but all I’m doing is letting it settle? Thanks again!

 

[mainshipfred]

Thanks, yes I did install the airlocks. I will wait the 4 days before racking. Once it stops fermenting, the wine is basically finished? All the aging in the small mouth carboys is just letting the wine clear ( since I don’t plan on adding any oak)? I can leave it in the small mouth carboys for a week or two or 8, 9 months if I want to but all I’m doing is letting it settle? Thanks again!

Yes, letting it settle, degas and allow all the profiles to meld together. FWIW and IMO, your next grapes are more of a wine varietal. These I believe are more of a table grape. I think when it's all said and done you will like the next one better. Congrats!

 

[cosmyccowboy]

There is one thing for sure and that is I have learned what not to do! I would like to say “I’ll never make those mistakes again “ but knowing me like I do that probably wouldn’t be true! I can’t wait until this next crop comes in. I plan on buying a refractometer so I can monitor the sugar level on the vine better! After that I will be out of bz for a whole year!

 

[winemaker81]

There is variation on how long to let the wine to settle, post fermentation. Some folks will let the wine settle a month or more, while I watch the sediment and let it start to compact. The level of the lees will increase, and then decrease slightly over a 4 to 10 day period. This varies from batch to batch.

I pour the loose sludge (leave the really thick stuff) into tall bottles and refrigerate for a week. Depending on the situation, I often recover half the container in good wine, which I carefully pour off the settled sludge. Note: sometimes the amount recovered is trivial and not worth trying to pour off, but I usually recover some.