Valiant grapes/New to making wine/fermentation questions :

[alan molstad]

This is my first try at making wine,
Grapes are 2 year old Valiant grapes.
I have harvested the grapes, de-stemmed ,crushed placed into buckets with lids, and added yeast to the grapes 7 days ago.
I push down the cap 3 times a day.

assuming that I don't have any knowledge of testing equipment, when can I tell when its time to press the grapes and start the next phase?

 

[Rice_Guy]

First of all normal is to test the gravity with a hydrometer about $7.00 and a cylinder about $5. We look fo 1.000 or 0.994 or maybe even .0.990. Note there can be a range here. Some of this is convenience as it is Saturday and I have time.

Second option is make a guess based on time and flavor. I will guess that you have extracted all the tannin that you need for flavor in seven days, taste to see if you like the skin flavors/ bitter dehydrating. Normal at a week at 75F it should be dry and from this point on you increase the risk of oxidation/ spoilage. IF you are running low temp as 65F it might take two weeks to become dry. , , , as long as CO2 is being actively released it is somewhat safe. When the rate slows down it should be under airlock or otherwise protected ex I will use a 120mm Big Mouth Bubbler ans have a stretch silicone cover.

welcome to wine making talk.

 

[LenoreFrost]

I'd love to hear how your wine turns out! I am new to this too and would love to make wine from Valiant grapes, just need to find someone local I can get them from.

 

[alan molstad]

UPDATE:

My wine is in the Carboy now over 2 weeks.
I have racked it one time.
Things have slowed down, and I really dont see much action going on with bubbles in the airlock.

I pressed the grapes without issue.
I ended up with enough wine to fill 3 carboys.

I have to now plan to move the 3 carboys into my basement as the weather in northern North Dakota is now starting to get colder at night.

I do not look forward to lifting the full carboys and dragging them into the house and down the stairs.
Im not sure if there is a more easy way to move the wine?

I have been thinking that the next time I rack the wine in about a week I will get extra empty carboys and then only fill each up 1/2 way to make it more easy to carry into the house, and then fill the 3 back to a full level once I get the wine into the basement??

will that work?

 

[Rice_Guy]

you can slow down a bit. An 11% alcohol wine in a glass carboy will survive 28F and should turn out to be a less acidic smoother wine after letting the tartaric crystallize. If it was in a plastic better bottle I would even consider letting it chill to zero/ form a slush.

I have to now plan to move the 3 carboys into my basement as the weather in northern North Dakota is now starting to get colder at night.

 

[jswordy]

UPDATE:

My wine is in the Carboy now over 2 weeks.
I have racked it one time.
Things have slowed down, and I really dont see much action going on with bubbles in the airlock.

I pressed the grapes without issue.
I ended up with enough wine to fill 3 carboys.

I have to now plan to move the 3 carboys into my basement as the weather in northern North Dakota is now starting to get colder at night.

I do not look forward to lifting the full carboys and dragging them into the house and down the stairs.
Im not sure if there is a more easy way to move the wine?

I have been thinking that the next time I rack the wine in about a week I will get extra empty carboys and then only fill each up 1/2 way to make it more easy to carry into the house, and then fill the 3 back to a full level once I get the wine into the basement??

will that work?

For your lifting, go to Amazon, eBay or just pain Google and search for "brew hauler." They are all I use. You're welcome.

 

[mainshipfred]

I can't tell what size carboys you are using so you may want to consider what size you are going to buy. You are already have too much headspace for long term aging. When you do your next racking you will have even less wine to fill them. You may want to consider buying a size down and a couple gallon or half gallon jugs.

 

[alan molstad]

I can't tell what size carboys you are using so you may want to consider what size you are going to buy. You are already have too much headspace for long term aging. When you do your next racking you will have even less wine to fill them. You may want to consider buying a size down and a couple gallon or half gallon jugs.

I have 3 five gallon carboys with wine in them
I have 2 more five gal carboys and 2 six gallon carboys empty.

Thats what I have to work with here.



The advice I received was to plan on the use of store bought wine to "top off" that carboy that ends up low level after racking
.

I was told this is a common thing that backyard wine makers do..

 

[alan molstad]

so....Im still not sure how Im going to get the wine into the basement?

I have a milk crate that should help me carry the carboys, but there is no way I can lift a 5 gallon carboy and carry it down the stairs .

This means I will have to rack each carboy into 2 carboys
Then carry the 1/2 filled carboys into the house/basement, then dump the 1/2s into each other to make full carboys.

That seems like a lot of work.....

 

[sour_grapes]

The advice I received was to plan on the use of store bought wine to "top off" that carboy that ends up low level after racking
.

I was told this is a common thing that backyard wine makers do..

Yup, all of that sounds right to me!

 

[mainshipfred]

I have 3 five gallon carboys with wine in them
I have 2 more five gal carboys and 2 six gallon carboys empty.

Thats what I have to work with here.



The advice I received was to plan on the use of store bought wine to "top off" that carboy that ends up low level after racking
.

I was told this is a common thing that backyard wine makers do..

Good that you already have a plan, that should work just fine. Just food for thought, if you bought a 3 gallon carboy and used another 5 and 6 gallon that you already have it would be 14 gallons. A box wine for topping up is about $15.00 and a 3 gallon carboy about $30.00. If you use the wine you get to drink it later but buying a carboy would give you something to work with in the future.

As far as getting it downstairs perhaps you could siphon it into a bucket then to a carboy. Might be a little easier to carry.