Mosti Mondiale Nero d'Avola

[PolishWineP]

You need a primary bigger than 6 gallons. Standard bucket for primary fermentation for a 6 gallon batch is 7.9 gallons. It allows for the fermentation process bubbles, stirring and moving without spilling.

 

[Dominick]

this is the 6 gallon the juice came in.

this is the fermenting bucket (where the juice is right now)

Edited by: Dominick

 

[geocorn]

That bucket holds 7.9 gallons. If you look on the bottom, it says 6 Imperial gallons and there are 1.2 U.S. Gallons in animperial gallon. The 6 gallon mark is the lip on the inside of the bucket.

 

[Wade E]

Looking at your previous pics it looks as though you have a 7.9 gallon primary bucket. The point at where the first ridge is is 6 gallons and filled to the very top would be 7.9. You should have room for all the juice with room for fermentation in there. The bucket that the juice came in is not big enough to ferment 6 gallons in as it is just at or a little over 6 gallons but is great for fermenting smaller batches such as country wines from fruits or for 5 gallon of beer or what I did was make a cork humidor out of it to prevent the corks from drying out and keeping them sanitized by having the NA-meta in there.
Looks like George beat me to it.

Edited by: wade

 

[Dominick]

thnx for confirming.. i just saw the 5gal mark so figured it was a 5g.

would be ok to add the rest of the juice at room temp into the fermenting bucket now?Edited by: Dominick

 

[Wade E]

Yes, please do so and see if you can get an accurate SG also.

 

[Dominick]

The rest of the left over juice was put in the fermenter this morning.
It fit with no problem.

I slowly dropped in the hydrometer and took another SG reading here are the numbers.

11% by volume
20 balling
80 SPGR











Thanks again guys for guiding and helping a newbie out!


Wade - is there a mathmatical equasion that you do to get the SG number from the numbers that I provided? I guess this way I can learn to calculate my readings. Thanks again.Edited by: Dominick

 

[uavwmn]

Dominick, thanks to reading directions on these kits and the help here, I surprisingly have made good tasting wines!! It is fun and it is nice to hear your friends tell you your wine was "wonderful". Enjoy the process.

 

[Dominick]

uavwmn, im having a blast. it is alot of fun....my natural growing grapes and my kit wineare on my mind now 24/7 this cant be good.. heheehehe

 

[Wade E]

Dominck, there is no mathematics in reading your hydrometer for getting a SG reading. If you look at the top of your Hydrometer scale you will see it starts at .990. That is basically as dry(fully fermented) as a wine get. The scale then goes up in value and hits 1.000 and then you will just add the decimal to it. It other words you were reading 80 on your wine which is 1.080. If it were a Port wine which has more alcohol you will notice that the scale keeps going until it reaches 1.100, after that it would read 1.110, 1.120 and so on. At 1.080 and you probably have started fermenting so you are right in the ball park with your wine. Right that # down so when you are finished fermenting you have a number subtract the lower SG(finished Fermentation) from. When this wine is done you will have a SG somewhere around 0.994. You will take the Starting SG of 1.080 and subtract the fin. SG of 0.994 and get the answer 0.086. You then multiply that # by 131.4 and this # 11.30 is your abv of your wine. In other words your wine has a proof of 22.6 Hope that helps you understand. I copied and edited a picture for you to better understand. The liquid level is reading at 1.071 but I have drawn an arrow to where the liquid level would be on your batch.

Also, when taking an SG reading there is a chart that should have come in the tube with your hydrometer that tells you how much to adjust for different temps. In example your hydrometer is calibrated to read correctly at 60* and your wine was most likely at around 75* when you added the yeast and took your 1st reading. At 75* you would have to .001 to your reading which would give you a reading of 1.081.If you didnt get a chart with your hydrometer here is 1 for you.
<a name="Hydrometer_Temperature">Hydrometer
Temperature
Correction Table</font></a></font>

</font>
<table ="../s_B/bkgd-wmarb.jpg" border="1" width="600">
<t><tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">Degrees Fahrenheit</font></td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Adjustment to
Reading</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">40</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Subtract .002</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">50</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Subtract .001</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">60</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">CORRECT</font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">70</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .001</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">80</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .002</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">90</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .004</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">100</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .005</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">110</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .007</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">120</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .008</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">130</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .010</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">140</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .013</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="50%">150</td>
<td align="center" width="50%">Add .015</td></tr></t></table></font>


Edited by: wade

 

[Dominick]

Awesome thanks!! Now I understand about the hydrometer and how to calculate the abv of your wine. It did come with a little sheet but it was not clear to me it was just a lot of numbers(PAC/DEGREE/SPG TABLE). It also has how to estimate your alcohol content but the examples threw me off.

example:

INITIAL SP.GR 1.090 = 11.8 (before ferment)
FINAL SP.G 1.010 = 1.3 (after ferment)
ALCOHOL CONTENT IS = 10.5%
VOL ALCOHOL (= 11.8 - 1.3)

- As per my instruction sheet it says to rack when SG reaches 1.040-1.050 so when it sinks to 1.05-1.04 in between there I should/will start racking. -

When you are in the end of your first racking in the carboy, you use your hydrometer to test stability of the SG, do you stick the hydrometer in the carboy? or syhpon some out and test from a jar/tube/glass whatever to hold the wine sample in?

Edited by: Dominick

 

[uavwmn]

Dominick, what I usually do is tie a piece of floss stringat the top of the hydrometer and lower it down in the carboy and get a reading. Works like a charm!!

 

[Dominick]

lol i was thinking that... but didnt know if that was the proper way rotfl.

sounds good

 

[uavwmn]

We are a proper bunch in here!!! hahahaha

 

[Jack on Rainy]

Wade,
Nice job of explaining the hydrometer. Wish I could do that!

 

[uavwmn]

Wade is the hydrometer expert here!!

 

[Wade E]

Dom, if you have a thief or test tube jar for the wine then that is the best way to do it. If not you could use the floss method but i dint recommend it as it might fall in and you would be able to get it out very easy at all. Check gravity every 2 days as it goes fast with a kit as compared to country(fruit) wines. Dont go by the # of days in the instructions as they are just a reference and wines usually ferment faster then that. By the way, the proper way to use a hydrometer is to spin it while slowly lowering it in to prevent air bubbles from giving a inaccurate higher reading.

 

[Dominick]

im baking a cake heheheEdited by: Dominick

 

[Wade E]

That looks awesome and I bet it smells as good.

 

[uavwmn]

dominick, that looks yummo!!!!! On the Floss string, wade is right, it could fall in and be hard to fish out.


I have used this method almost everytime and have not had it slip off in the carboy. Beginners luck, I guess.