Kind of excited :)

[DageonYar]

Ok, just had to post... my 1gal batch of Anise/Potato has now been in the primary for 24hrs. When I opened it up to stir this morning, is smelled so good. Hints of citrus and ginger with a nice faint spice of anise. Gave it a quick stir and it sounded like pepsi fizzing. I'm guessing that'd be the fermentation starting

Temperature is holding steady at 73 with the heat belt (and a rag in-between the bucket).

Sorry if I'm sounding bubbly... my first ever batch I'm kinda excited lol

 

[arcticsid]

Excellent DY!! You're on your way

Just remember staring at for too long at a time may make you crosseyed!

Keep us posted.

Troy

 

[St Allie]

hehehe.. my first batch fascinated kids and adults alike.. they couldn't stop watching the airlock!

I'm quite keen to hear what the finished wine tastes like, so keep us updated.

Allie

 

[arcticsid]

I have 3 cats that in their younger years were facinated, I only had to convince them( hold their damn nose to the top of a wine vessel!!!!!!!) once.

Yeah, it's the curious adults I'm afraid we gotta watch out for.

Like to see the recipe again, using anise in a beer I would almost go with, but in a wine intrigues me.

Glad its going can hardley wait for you to tell us about it as it goes along.

Troy

 

[DageonYar]

I have about 3 more days left in my primary, and then the recipe calls for siphoning into the secondary and air-locking. Should I add a crushed campden tablet before racking? Also, if I measure before racking to the secondary, should I expect the SG to be at 990'ish, or still a bit higher at this point? I measured yesterday (day 3) at the SG was at 1.030'ish. Starting SG was 1.095.

The recipe is here: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4808

Any other chemicals I should consider adding at any stage? Like when he says 'stabilize'...

 

[Wade E]

Dont go by days when racking, use the hydrometer. There are a few houghts on this but Ill tell you my thoughts on racking. I either like to rack after its done fermenting or around 1.030 so that all the yeast are still in suspension.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

basically, racking is any time after 10% abv or basically 6.5~7 point drop from starting sg. i go by how the yeast is working. slow working yeast, leave it in primary till 1.005 or so. fast and i toss it in the secondary after 1.030. i like to keep the fermentation slow and steady with as much control on it as possible. target days to finishing fermentation? about 21~28 days sounds about good. starting at the day you put the first ingredients together, before pitching yeast. every batch is different. you have to be prepared to adjust ALL of the time. experience and patience are key.

 

[DageonYar]

Heh, well, I have the patience... somewhat. But the experience is lacking. To say I'm green would be an understatement lol.

Anyhoot. SG was 1.095 before I pitched the yeast. Tonight it is at 1.020-1.015ish. Bubbles make it hard to read lol. I'm just paranoid about letting it get oxidized. It's a 1Gal batch in a 6Gal primary.

A quick taste warmed the chest, so the yeast is definitely doing it's dirty work lol. It was fizzy to the tongue too. Been stirring once daily since day 1, but still quite a bit of gas in there I'm guessing .

 

[Wade E]

With that much space stir it up good and rack everything over to a glass jug with bung and airlock.

 

[DageonYar]

Took your advice and siphoned it over to a glass 1Gal carboy with an airlock (with an extra wine bottle/condom on the side lol Needless to say, wifey laughed her *** of at that) Air lock is bubbling pretty good with a bubble every 3 seconds or so. Will the stuff in the wine bottle ferment out at the same rate? I can use this for topping up later correct?

Should I add a campden tablet at this point? Or is that something I should do at the next rack? The recipe was rather vague about when and which chemicals to add beyond the initial ferment.

 

[Wade E]

Only add sulfites after fermentation is complete and that is checked with a hydrometer and making sure the gravity does not change at all for 3 days and it really should be 1.000 or lower. The wine in the condom bottle will ferment the about the same depending on how much yeast transfer made it to that bottle and typically most of it ends up there so it will probably ferment faster.

 

[DageonYar]

Day 10. Bubbles are slowed wayyyyy down. I thought this would be a white/clear style. I guess it's all the brown sugar making it dark like that. Any guesses to the finished colour? lol

 

[Wade E]

It might lighten up but probably not much.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

i just had some pear anise wine over the weekend. it was good!

the pic is worth a million words. many of which i won't say. rofl!

sounds like you're doing good. just remember, wine making isn't always easy, but with a little work and more experience, the wine gets better and better.

 

[DageonYar]

Just out of curiosity, should I be racking off the lees? Seems a bit thick at the bottom. If I follow the recipe, I still have like a month and a half to go before I rack. I'm guessing it's all dead yeast, as there was no fruit in the must lol

Oh, and wifey almost split a gut when she saw me pull out the condom lmao. She still bursts out laughing every time she sees it lol

 

[Midwest Vintner]

Just out of curiosity, should I be racking off the lees? Seems a bit thick at the bottom. If I follow the recipe, I still have like a month and a half to go before I rack. I'm guessing it's all dead yeast, as there was no fruit in the must lol

Oh, and wifey almost split a gut when she saw me pull out the condom lmao. She still bursts out laughing every time she sees it lol

i would wait for it to fully ferment dry. let it go to .096~1.005 and then rack. it shouldn't hurt anything. it's only day 11 now. relax. drink some wine. it can take longer than this. actually, i prefer a slow fermentation process. seems to let more of the original fruit flavor to come through.

remember the 3 p's:
patience
patience
patience

 

[Wade E]

I agree with above post unless you dont care if it stops fermenting a little early leaving some residual sweetness as racking offthe less can leave behind to much viable yeast also causing fermentation to either slow way down or stop or both. If you really want it to go dry leave it until finished and when done rack immediately and sulfite and sorbate.