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[basicbob101]

Hi all,

found this site while surfing for answers to a problem. I am about 65 miles SW of Houston. I don't make wine but bought a wine making kit for my son who has been making Dewberry Wine.

Was looking for an answer for hiim. He made his first "batch" which was fantastic! On the second (he says he followed the same recipie faithfully...sorrry don't know any of the tech specs such as requested) and the second group popped all the corks and was more bubbly like champagne...he says the fermenting process was complete...so where do we start looking for solutions for the 3rd go round?? any help appreciated. thanxz, basicbob

 

[olusteebus]

Hello Basic, welcome. The fermentation may not have been over actually and/or the wine was not degassed. A simple way to degass is using a long wine makers spoon and stirring a good long while. It is best to do this in a carboy or gallon jug with the small end of the spoon so as not to introduce too much oxygen into the wine.

I suggest measuring the specific gravity with a hydrometer and once you have a steady reading for 3 days (hopefully below 1.000). I would then add potassium sorbate to prevent further fermentation in the bottle.

 

[sour_grapes]

I can't add much to Olusteebus's good answer, but just wanted to say "Welcome to the WMT forum!"

 

[Thig]

I think a lot of people are just not patient enough when making wine. I may be an exception but I usually let my wine age at least 1 year in the carboy before bottling. If I want something to drink while that is aging I just buy it.

 

[olusteebus]

"I think a lot of people are just not patient enough when making wine"

Count me in in that group. I have a plan to start making lots more wine next year so that I can grow an inventory that will allow me to age longer.

 

[Julie]

Is this a wine from scratch? If he didn't take any notes and didn't use a hydrometer it is difficult to replicate a previous wine.

 

[basicbob101]

Thanxz all for the responses...checked with him today, he started with fresh berries and told me the hydrometer read 1.0 so he thought the fermentation process was stopped since 1.00 indicates all sugar has been used....fermented...or whatever the correct term is. Also I found out that only about 6 bottles of 30 popped the corks, the others are fine.

He says he sterilized the bottles and did all the same a the previous batch and added the ingredient that you do when fermentation is complete. sorry, I am not proficient at this...I just like to drink it! His thoughts are some type of cross contamination in the 6 bottles that popped the cork. Will pass along the above excellent suggestions and see how he does on the next batch. This time he will have to use frozen berries though.

 

[richmke]

At 1.000, there is still potential fermentation left. Many wines finish around 0.994.

The better test is 2 days of unchanged SG.

> added the ingredient that you do when fermentation is complete.

That helps prevent fermentation from restarting, but will not stop an active fermentation.

> some type of cross contamination

How do the bottles taste that popped their cork? If they taste normal (other than fizzy), then not likely to be cross contamination.

 

[corinth]

Hi basicbob101,
First welcome to the forum.
I am still new to all of this but I would just like to echo what olusteebus said "A simple way to degas is using a long wine makers spoon and stirring a good long while"

If others think that is a good action to take, then do it slowly! I have in the beginning stirred to fast and there was a volcano of gas spilling all over the place.
Just a thought.
Regards,
Corinth

 

[bkisel]

Hi! Welcome aboard!

Looks like you're already getting an education, with respect to the second batch, from the good folks here on the forum.

 

[winesilly]

Hi basicbob101,
First welcome to the forum.
I am still new to all of this but I would just like to echo what olusteebus said "A simple way to degas is using a long wine makers spoon and stirring a good long while"

If others think that is a good action to take, then do it slowly! I have in the beginning stirred to fast and there was a volcano of gas spilling all over the place.
Just a thought.
Regards,
Corinth

This is what I am going to use.

http://noblegrape.ca/resource-centre/wine-whip/