What R you doing today?

[Sirs]

we got a late start, didn't worry about an early dinner cause daughter had to work today everything is right on the verge of being done. house is smelling so good with ham and turkey both goin.

 

[saddlebronze]

Smoked a turkey out in the smoker and put on a ham. All gone now except for leftovers. Then I went down to the basement, looked at the wine and as the airlocks were bubbling I whispered "go baby, go!" weird obsession of ours, isn't it?

 

[Tom]

Now you are talking to your wine?

Soon you will be will be calling it by its name.... LOL

 

[jtstar]

I worked last night so I got up late this morning my wife had the turkey in the oven and she put on a very good dinner for me after dinner I put started my wild plum wine using a recipe I found on our forum the only way I could have had a better Thanksgiven is if my kids could have made it home

 

[Wade E]

Woke up this morning to a freezing house. Turned out to be the circulator pumpo which with labor would have been $340 but he left with a few bottles of my wine and only charged me $270!!! Now, I worked on the furnace a little last night so obviously guess who was to blame this morning when the furnace wasnt heating the house. Man did I rub t in her face when the teh said I did everything right last night and nothing I did had anything to do with what went wrong and the poart was just verty old. I believe that part was original and around 1960 or older!!

 

[ffemt128]

Worked 14 hours yesterday on a project for work and I anticipate at least 6 hours today. So much for enjoying the weekend.

Update as of 3:32 pm
Well the 6 hours has turned into 8 so far. Should hopefully be done soon.

 

[Wade E]

Did some OT myself today, 5 hors which sure does help with the Cgrismas coming up and the furnace breaking down. The huge stair Im working on is a big rush and is way behind schedule due to ***** managment having no idea what was entailed in it so hopefully they throw some more OT at me to get it done. They anticipated it being a week and a half job and were surprised and horrified whn I told them its more like a 3 - 3 1/2 week job!!!!! They have been in this business since 1975 so youd think they would start getting a clue by now!

 

[Runningwolf]

Today I racked and back sweetened (10) six gallon carboys. Last night I took all the sg readings and calculated the amounts of sugar needed.

 

[Rocky]

Been busy with the wine the past two days:

-Bottled 11 gallons of Pinot Grigio, 10 gallons of Ricetta di Stefano and 5 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon.
-Moved my Rosso Fortissimo from 2 6 gallon barrels and a 5 gallon carboy to a 15 gallon demijohn and 2 1/2 gallons worth of jugs.
-Moved 12 gallons of Old Vine Zinfandel into the barrels.
-Moved 18 gallons of Brunello from primary to secondary in 2 six, 1 five and 1 one gallon carboys.

Still to do this week end:

- Bottle 5 gallons of Rosso Fortissimo and 5 gallons of Super Tuscan
- Move 12 gallons of Verdicchio from pirmary to secondary. SG currently at 1.032.

 

[Wade E]

What is "Ricetta di Stefano"?

 

[Runningwolf]

Holy Smokes Rocky, I thought I was busy! Are you using a pump, vacuum pump or just siphoning?

 

[Rocky]

Wade, my Father-in-Law was named Steve (Stefano in Italian) and I make a wine that he did (a blend of Zinfandel and Muscat) and call it Ricetta di Stefano (Steve's Recipe).

Dan, I have a vacuum pump set up but I do not have confidence in using it yet for bottling. I fill the bottles using a racking cane with a stopcock and I use an auto siphon for transferring and racking. I have got to find a better alternative because lifting a full barrel is getting harder and harder for this old body.

 

[Wade E]

Rocky, you have a vacuum pump set up and are not sing it to rack your wine?????????????????????????????????????????? Are you in need of a part to complete it or something?

 

[Rocky]

Yes, Wade. I bought this pump on e-Bay and it seemed to work okay except the pressure gauge did not move at all. There is a thumb screw by the gauge mounting and turning it does nothing. I was concerned that I did not know the correct pressure and could have a problem if it were too high. I think I even asked you if you had a gauge and you did not at the time, so I found one on eBay. I will never understand the "npt" measures. I thought I was ordering the right part but is has a larger mounting thread on it. I was goint to look for another or find an adapter that would go from the large thread on the gauge to the smaller hole on the pump. Just have not done that yet. I put the old gauge back on with pipe tape but have not tried it yet.

For racking, it is not too bad. I have the fermenters on a table about 2.5 feet off the floor and all my fermenters have a spigot, so I fill directly into the secondary via gravity. I then life the secondaries to the table and use an auto siphon for further rackings. I skip the gym on the days I do this.

 

[Wade E]

Rocky, this is the gauge yo most likely need if it looks just like yours!! Some stems come out from the back of the gauge instead of the bottom like this one. This is the correct size thread for you though and I have bought many many parts from this place!! If you need any hoses this is the place to get them also. Email me a pic of your unit and everything you have and I can make sure you have everything you need in one stop. These prices are some of the best out there as are the parts and service from them! I pmed you my email addr. PS, getting a vacuum gauge gauge off of Ebay is risky!!!!! There are vacuum gauges designed for electric units and then there are gauges designed for non electric units the ones for non electric units will not work for these pumps as they will just bounce all over to the point where you cant even read the gauge nit to mention the problem you had with 1/4" NPT vs 1/8" NPT
http://www.mountainside-medical.com/products/Vacuum-Gauge-For-Suction-Machines.html

 

[shoebiedoo]

Been busy with the wine the past two days:

-Bottled 11 gallons of Pinot Grigio, 10 gallons of Ricetta di Stefano and 5 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon.
-Moved my Rosso Fortissimo from 2 6 gallon barrels and a 5 gallon carboy to a 15 gallon demijohn and 2 1/2 gallons worth of jugs.
-Moved 12 gallons of Old Vine Zinfandel into the barrels.
-Moved 18 gallons of Brunello from primary to secondary in 2 six, 1 five and 1 one gallon carboys.
at 1.032.

WOW, My Brunello just now went below 1.020 What was yours down to when you racked it?

 

[Rocky]

Hi Steve, my Brunello was just below 1.020 when I racked it. The Verdicchio was at 1.030 this morning so I will rack it in the next day or two.

 

[shoebiedoo]

I racked the the Barolo today ad it got down to 1.02. I was a little worried about the Soave Classico as it smelled a little different. Not knowing exactly how it's supposed to smell, I drilled the top so I could put an air lock on it. I've been fermenting it with just a loose lid on top. wasn't sure if I should splash rack it in to another fermenting bucket or just wait a couple days for it to get to 1.01 or less to rack it to a carboy. I chose to just be patient

 

[Rocky]

When you say the Soave smells "a little different," how is it different? Do you detect an H2S smiell? Soave normally has a very nice sweet smell. Have you been stirring the wine daily in the primary? I would give it a good stirring with your spoon for about two minutes and then put it back under airlock.

 

[shoebiedoo]

That's what I was trying to ask myself!! I figured there was probably a good reason I was asking myself this. so to error on the side of caution I gave it a good 3 minute stir which seemed to mellow everything out. I'll check it tomorrow and splash rack it If I's still questioning it. I didn't really realize whites (from juice buckets) need string as well. I never stirred ANY of my kit wines unless there was a grape pack. I treated these the same. I must have lucked out with the Riesling as its turning out fine. Thanks for the input Rockey.

Steve