My latest batch of Cab is on its way!

[Fedoradude]

Hmmm. I'm a little concerned....

How fast do the sulfite & fining packs "sink" into the batch?

I went to add my 3rd, 4th and 5th additive packs this afternoon and misjudged how much space I had to do so in the top of the carboy. In other words I didnt' thief out hardly anywhere near enough batch. So as I added the mixtures, I kept having to thief more out to create room to add more chem/fining stuff.

I just hope I wasn't thiefing out the very chems I'd just added in and inadvertently ruined the batch....

 

[Johnd]

Hmmm. I'm a little concerned....

How fast do the sulfite & fining packs "sink" into the batch?

I went to add my 3rd, 4th and 5th additive packs this afternoon and misjudged how much space I had to do so in the top of the carboy. In other words I didnt' thief out hardly anywhere near enough batch. So as I added the mixtures, I kept having to thief more out to create room to add more chem/fining stuff.

I just hope I wasn't thiefing out the very chems I'd just added in and inadvertently ruined the batch....

I did the same thing on my very first wine and was a nervous wreck. Relax, it'll work out. Im assuming you added KMS, sorbate, and chitosan.
If you dumped KMS powder, it sunk. If mixed with a liquid before adding, no worries. Other than that, nothing else will ruin your wine. If you're worried and can't sleep, add 1/8 tsp.
It's a red and will clear without fining agents......in time, that's not a recipe for ruination, just patience. If it was chitosan, that stuff is thick and probably sunk quickly to the bottom.
Sorbate floats some if added as powder, if your wine is dry, you don't need it anyway.

 

[Fedoradude]

I did the same thing on my very first wine and was a nervous wreck. Relax, it'll work out. Im assuming you added KMS, sorbate, and chitosan.
If you dumped KMS powder, it sunk. If mixed with a liquid before adding, no worries. Other than that, nothing else will ruin your wine. If you're worried and can't sleep, add 1/8 tsp.
It's a red and will clear without fining agents......in time, that's not a recipe for ruination, just patience. If it was chitosan, that stuff is thick and probably sunk quickly to the bottom.
Sorbate floats some if added as powder, if your wine is dry, you don't need it anyway.

Thanks for the reassurance. I did as the directions said and mixed packets 3 and 4 with water before I tried to add it.

 

[Fedoradude]

One thing though; I wasn't ever able to "fit" the thiefed out wine (& hopefully no newly added chems) back into the carboy.

 

[Johnd]

One thing though; I wasn't ever able to "fit" the thiefed out wine (& hopefully no newly added chems) back into the carboy.

Keep it in a properly sized vessel with little headspace (maybe put a little pinch of KMS in it) until your next racking and use it as top up wine.

 

[Fedoradude]

Keep it in a properly sized vessel with little headspace (maybe put a little pinch of KMS in it) until your next racking and use it as top up wine.

Should've thought of that, but...we tossed it out.

 

[Boatboy24]

Should've thought of that, but...we tossed it out.

You should have at least drank it!!

Waste not, want not.

 

[Fedoradude]

You should have at least drank it!!

Waste not, want not.

I know! What the hell wuz I thinkin'>

 

[Fedoradude]

Gotta admit, i'm still worried if I have the right amount of sulfites etc going in this batch based on my faux pas.

UPDATE: Stopped by the local winemaking shop and talked to the experts. They felt like I hadn't hurt anything, which was a relief.

 

[Fedoradude]

Well, I'm encouraged. Racked this batch tonight and before I did, took a tasting. Here's my thoughts:

• Smells like wine but not as prominent
• Clear when glass held up to light
• Taste is a bit flat where fruit is concerned.

Here's a couple of iPhone pics. Seems to be fining nicely, too.

 

[Fedoradude]

Well, I bottled the batch tonight. All things considered, it turned out ok. Notes from the samples:

Good color but seems a little cloudy (unfortunately shook it around a little moving carboy into bottling position.)

Faint to medium Cherry nose

Tastes a little softer, smoother and more fruit forward throughout the taste than at last racking.

Used synthetic corks this time around and not the traditional corks. Still have a lot to learn about corking properly for resulting in an astheticly corked bottle.

I didn’t take a specific gravity reading tonight just before bottling, but I did have 2 full glasses after bottling and it gave me a healthy buzz.

 

[cmsben61]

nice labels

 

[JohnT]

If you do not mind, Here are some tips...

- IMHO, the best fill line is a finger's width up from the neck of the bottle.

If you level is too high, the cork will not go in all the way (or you will have a squirt of wine in your eye.

Too low and you introduce too much air into the bottle and with too much head space. This can lead to oxidation and cork failure.

- You want the cork inserted into the bottle to be 1/8" below the bottle's rim (or countersunk). IMHO, this maximizes the seal of the cork.

- I hate synthetic corks. IMHO, they are FAR inferior to natural corks. Here is why

1) Too much micro-oxidation: meaning that they allow too much oxygen to penetrate into the bottle. I believe that there are two grades of synthetic corks. One is meant to last 3 year and one is meant to last 6 years. I do not believe that there is a synthetic cork that is meant to age wine for, say, 10 years or more.

2) Too expensive: Unless the price of them has come down over the years, I believe that there are many natural cork options that are far cheaper than synthetic cork.

3) Insertion and Extraction Too Difficult: This could explain why you were having so much trouble corking. Synthetic corks have far less "give" than natural cork. This makes corking difficult as well as opening the bottle afterwards.

 

[Fedoradude]

Thanks for those tips. I'll more precisely aim for that "finger's width" distance next batch. The local brew/vinter shop told me today to hold the corker for a 5-count at the bottom of the stroke (regardless of cork type) to force the air out without moving the cork.

Fortunately, the kit wine I made wouldn't begin to last 10 years no matter what cork I used.

But thanks again for those tips. I've saved them to be used next batch (probably late summer).

 

[jgmann67]

Do you have a floor corker? If not, and you intend on staying with this hobby, it's a worthwhile investment.

I'm with John, an inch and a half between the wine and the bottom of the cork is about as far as I go.

The AIO makes it easy to get an identical fill for every bottle. Also, a good investment if this is something you plan to continue doing.

 

[Fedoradude]

I'm learning a lot as I go. (This being only my 2nd batch.) Both times I had a lot of grief keeping the siphon going the last 1/4 of the carboy. So, Friday I bought me a hand-drawn siphon pump for my next batch (whenever that is).

I did traditional corks on my first batch. But, looking back, we think we oversoaked them which created some problems. I don't know what an AIO is, but I do have a bottling wand.

 

[jgmann67]

I'm learning a lot as I go. (This being only my 2nd batch.) Both times I had a lot of grief keeping the siphon going the last 1/4 of the carboy. So, Friday I bought me a hand-drawn siphon pump for my next batch (whenever that is).

I did traditional corks on my first batch. But, looking back, we think we oversoaked them which created some problems. I don't know what an AIO is, but I do have a bottling wand.

Okay - a couple things:

* Don't soak corks. Ever. You can corkador them if you're concerned about sanitation. Think big pot with a good bit of KMeta at the bottom. Drop in a strainer (it should be above the water level at the bottom) and place your 30 or so corks in the strainer. Cover the pot and wait an hour or more. Done. Now you're ready to bottle.

* Search All-In-One Vacuum Pump. Steve has a website with videos (http://www.allinonewinepump.com). It's pretty brilliant...

 

[Fedoradude]

* Don't soak corks. Ever.

I probably shouldn't have said "soak." The local vintner shop told us to boil them for 15 minutes in hot water.

I'll check out that pump.

 

[cmason1957]

I probably shouldn't have said "soak." The local vintner shop told us to boil them for 15 minutes in hot water.

I'll check out that pump.

Certainly don't boil them.

 

[JohnT]

+1 on the others..

Boiling corks does not really help in sanitization and only weakens the corks structural integrity.

What I do is to just given them a quick rinse with k-meta and in they go.