Very first Apple Cherry wine

[cajunlte]

Seems I made a rookie mistake and decided to not check his starting SG I have my very first batch of Apple Cherry going right now in a 6.5 gallon Carboy and put in 5lbs of sugar in about 6 gallons of liquid. I have no idea where the original reading was, but after 7 days of fermenting the SG current sits at 1.060. I am using 71B-1122. I was planning on racking at 1.010 to the secondary and allow to continue to ferment to at least .995 before stabilizing. Is it safe to assume that when the alcohol content hits 14% that pretty much all fermenting will slow down rapidly?

 

[Julie]

I would safely say if sg has not moved in a week it is probably done. And shame on you for not taking a hydrometer reading. After seven days and your reading is down to 1.060, you had to have a very high sg and you will probably have a very sweet wine.

 

[Arne]

What did you use for the apple cherry base? 5 lbs of sugar in 6 gal. is not very much. If you used a cherry and apple concentrate, there mite of been a bunch of sugar in that. You are down to 1.060, think I would add some nutrient and maybe energizer to try and help it along. Arne.

 

[cajunlte]

Old Orchard Concentrate... It's still fermenting but slowing down it seems as the alcohol content increases and smells very good.

 

[Arne]

How many cans did you use? Arne.

 

[cajunlte]

15 12 oz cans Old Orchard 100% frozen Apple Cherry juice concentrate
5 lbs granulated sugar to start then test SG and adjust to 1.080 to 1.090 (Did not follow I know!
7 tsp acid blend (or if possible test and add acid blend to TA .60)
5 tsp pectic enzyme
7 tsp yeast nutrient
2 1/2-tsp bentonite (only if you will be doing the fast clear method)
water to make 6.5 gallon
wine yeast Lalvin Wine Yeast 71B 1122

I plan on testing SG tonight to see if I am at the 1.010 level so that I can rack to secondary and allow to finish fermentation to at least .995 before stabilizing. Is 71B known to have been taken past 14% alcohol?

 

[cajunlte]

Down to 1.040 today. May add a little nutrient to help it along to 1.010 before racking.

 

[cajunlte]

Added a couple of teaspoons of yeast nutrient yesterday while the fermentation is still active. I am getting a bubble in my double bubble airlock almost every second. What I did notice though is the smell has changed for the worse coming from inside the carboy. Is this mainly from the dead yeast and to be expect towards the end of the ferment? I am at 1.035 this morning and went ahead and racked to my secondary to aerate and top off almost to the top. Will leave it be in the fresh secondary until it drops under .995 and stays there before I rack again and stabilize.

 

[cajunlte]

Well it seems I may have hit the 14% before getting to .995. The ferment seems to have stalled at 1.030 so I racked to aerate and pitched some more yeast because I failed to transfer over the bottom Lee's from the primary when I racked at such high levels. This is turning into a very good lesson in wine making.

 

[dralarms]

I would not have pitched more yeast. I would mix up some concentrate and add a little at a time to get the sg down to where it's not super sweet, my wife likes sweet wine but I keep mine at 1.015 to 1.020. Some I make at a lower sg simply because it's something she won't touch and I get to make it to my taste.

 

[dralarms]

Btw, this will lower your alcohol level as well but @14% it could stand to come down some.

 

[cajunlte]

So concentrate would have lowered the SG? Didn't know that. I will keep an eye on it for the next week to see where to go from here. This is why I went the Old Orchard Apple Cherry route so that I could learn a few of the fundamentals before moving to alternative grapes or fruits. I already know next time that I need to check not only the beginning SG, but PH, TA and SO2 levels before anything starts so that I know exactly where I start and can control the outcome.

 

[cajunlte]

Well fermentation has started back at a good rate with bubbles through the airlock at around 1 every 7 seconds. Going to let this run for a couple of days before checking. Should I just let this run until I see no more bubbles even though the SG doesn't drop or should I see drops in SG because of the continuing ferment?

 

[dralarms]

If its fermenting you will see drops in the sg, if not it's just gas. (Co2). By all means if it's still fermenting let it go.

 

[cajunlte]

Checked yesterday evening. No change in SG. I am using 71b. Could it be I hit 14% alcohol and cannot go any higher?

 

[dralarms]

Sounds like the yeast is doa. Has it started clearing yet? If so let it clear, rack it into another container. Then mix up some juice as if you were just going to drink it and add some and see what it does to your sg, it won't lower it as fast as if you were using water to dilute it but doing it this way you won't loose flavor. If you're working on a 5 gallon batch, I'd add a quart of juice, taste it, and measure sg. If still "harsh" I'd add 1 pint at a time after that. Bear in mind if you add 1 gallon of juicd you will lower your alcohol content by about 22% which would be closer to 10.8 (assuming 14% starting point)

 

[cajunlte]

I went ahead and added the recommended amount of Campden and sorbate to the carboy and will start to degas. Unfortunately, I don't have one of those fancy carboy degassing rods yet so I will have to figure out some alternative way of stirring to degas.

 

[cajunlte]

Bottled for about 4 weeks now and very drinkable. I decided on starting a new batch with the knowledge gained from this first batch. Confirmed 1.090 SG and awaiting the 12 hours before pitching the yeast. I can tell you that this is a very easy to make wine and everyone that I have given a bottle to loved it.