Wild plum juice wine.

[Scooter68]

Don't sweat it right now. Just remember that the next time you need to order something else - add in another hydrometer. Nothing more frustrating than breaking one as you are preparing a batch for fermentation. I did break one and I was lucky because it was while the fermentation was going on so it only kept me from checking the progress until my replacement arrived. The things are sorta fragile.

NO that's not too hot. Now if it got over 80 then it might cause some issues. The only thing is that at that temp. the ferment will move a little faster. For a plum wine that's not a problem. For a white wine, lower temps are better for keeping the essences like aroma intact. But 70-75 is about perfect.

 

[hounddawg]

Two hydrometers? No, never thought of that. I have one and I also ordered a pH meter. I'm so eager to get started, but as I have read on other threads "patience is a virtue." I just moved a small desk to my utility room. Adjacent to that room is a boiler that heats the house. It stays really warm in there. It's probably about 75 degrees in there right now, maybe more. How hot is too hot for fermentation?

you need two, they break easily,, i keep 7 in my prep table drawer, but supplies, are all ordered online,,,
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

Two hydrometers? No, never thought of that. I have one and I also ordered a pH meter. I'm so eager to get started, but as I have read on other threads "patience is a virtue." I just moved a small desk to my utility room. Adjacent to that room is a boiler that heats the house. It stays really warm in there. It's probably about 75 degrees in there right now, maybe more. How hot is too hot for fermentation?

with EC-1118 & K1V-1116 THEY ARE WORKHORSES
Dawg

 

[Ivywoods]

I racked this batch of wine today. Wow! There was a lot of sediment. I went from a 3 gallon carboy that wasn't quite full down to 2 one gallon jugs. I need to top off one of the jugs a bit as well. I have a little in a quart jar, but there is so much sediment I am not sure how I would get it out of the jar without getting into the lees. I'm thinking I will let that quart jar settle a little and then just pour off what I can. I'm sure I will have to top off one jug a bit. What would be best to top off a batch of sandplum wine? Purchase some sort of plum wine?

Anyway, I checked the SG and it was 0.998. I started at a an SG of 1.096.

 

[Scooter68]

That quart will settle a bit faster in the fridge. I use a turkey baster to pull the wine off the top without sucking up the sediment. As far as wine to top off that's up to you as to type. Doesn't have to be an exact match, perhaps go with a wine you like be that a rose, White wine, I'd just avoid any big strong red wine.

So your current ABV is at about 12.86%

 

[hounddawg]

@Scooter68 ,, off topic,,,,, bad week i broke 3 hydrometers and my nephew broke a test jar, some of my hydrometers have a larger diameter then the rest and them don't fit in my wine thief,
Dawg

 

[Jovimaple]

Sounds good. I have a few flea markets around the area I will scour for those odd sizes glass containers. It looks like it might be a few days before I'm ready to start this batch since some of the essential additives will take a little over a week to arrive. I tried to shop for the best price I could find, and free shipping makes a BIG difference.

For future amounts that are less than a gallon, I found tops with airlocks that fit (wide mouth) mason jars. I now have 4 sets so 16 total. The airlocks are frosted which is good because they're a little different size than the ones that came with my 1 gallon carboys, so I learned to keep them separate when cleaning/sanitizing (the top cover is not interchangeable between the clear and the frosted plastic).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B088BMPFMY/ref=psdcmw_979850011_t1_B08F7X7GCL
I have quart jars, too, but the pint jars are easily reachable from my work area and since I am horrible at judging how much will fit while leaving the lees behind, I would rather have a several full pints than quart jars with too much headspace. I then keep them right alongside my carboys so they finish fermenting.

 

[Ivywoods]

I just topped off the one gallon jugs. I used a white zin. It used to be one of my favorites but over the last 2 years I have started liking a little dryer type wine. Anyway, what I tasted of this wine I would call it "drinkable." Not really a lot of flavor, but I am hoping this develops over time. I haven't added anything to kill the yeast yet. It seems to be bubbling ever so slowly. I don't know if this is still a little fermentation or if it's just CO2 coming off. I'm happy with how it has gone so far!

 

[hounddawg]

time does flavor plum among all the rest,,,
Dawg

 

[Ivywoods]

Here is my hand showing how this sandplum wine is clearing.

 

[Ivywoods]

Gewurztraminer kit and sandplum clearing nicely! I love the flavor of the sandp

 

[hounddawg]

Here is my hand showing how this sandplum wine is clearing.View attachment 72238

OMG, you need a finer filter, how'd that hand make it into your wine, tisk, tisk,
Dawg

 

[cmason1957]

Gewurztraminer kit and sandplum clearing nicely! I love the flavor of the sandpView attachment 72239

Nice clear looking wine and even better looking granite. My wife and I have the same countertops.

 

[KCCam]

OMG, you need a finer filter, how'd that hand make it into your wine, tisk, tisk,
Dawg

Hahaha, I've heard of a worm in bottle of tequila, but a hand in a carboy of wine?? Cool.

 

[mikewatkins727]

OMG, you need a finer filter, how'd that hand make it into your wine, tisk, tisk,
Dawg

DAWG! You're back!

 

[TD Fermenting]

Hi folks. This looked more appropriate to tag onto than to start my own thread. @Ivywood, how is your plum wine doing? I'm a relative newbie and have made about 8 batches of grape wine from kits and then frozen grapes/juice over the last 18 months. I got tired of cleaning up my neighbors’ plums that fell onto my deck so collected them this fall along with some random but good quality leftover CSA stone fruit from my neighbor and made some “plum” wine. 14 lb pitted, frozen fruit, 1.5 gallon water, 6 pound sugar, pectinase, yeast nutrient, tannin, acid blend and 3 campden tabs to start with EC1118 yeast. 10 days later I have some ‘plum wine’.

My question really is about how to finish it. I now have 3 1/2 gallons that started at 1.100 specific gravity and is now down to 0.990. pH is 3.6 and titratable acid 7.0g/L. SO2 was only 4 ppm so I added some potassium metabisulphite aiming for free SO2 of 30 ppm, stirred and am letting it settle before racking to a glass carboy. I can certainly taste how the sugar has disappeared. There is some plum flavor, not quite medicinal, not too tart. I’d probably like it to have a little more body. I believe that aging helps most wines but am looking for thoughts on any possible additions at this stage. Oak cubes? Tannin additions? Other weird, nontraditional stuff? Any use for clarifying aids, or just time and gravity and racking? I might back sweeten at the end, not yet sure, and have the ability to sterile filter if I do that. Appreciate anyone’s thoughts and ideas. Thanks very much!

 

[hounddawg]

Hi folks. This looked more appropriate to tag onto than to start my own thread. @Ivywood, how is your plum wine doing? I'm a relative newbie and have made about 8 batches of grape wine from kits and then frozen grapes/juice over the last 18 months. I got tired of cleaning up my neighbors’ plums that fell onto my deck so collected them this fall along with some random but good quality leftover CSA stone fruit from my neighbor and made some “plum” wine. 14 lb pitted, frozen fruit, 1.5 gallon water, 6 pound sugar, pectinase, yeast nutrient, tannin, acid blend and 3 campden tabs to start with EC1118 yeast. 10 days later I have some ‘plum wine’.

My question really is about how to finish it. I now have 3 1/2 gallons that started at 1.100 specific gravity and is now down to 0.990. pH is 3.6 and titratable acid 7.0g/L. SO2 was only 4 ppm so I added some potassium metabisulphite aiming for free SO2 of 30 ppm, stirred and am letting it settle before racking to a glass carboy. I can certainly taste how the sugar has disappeared. There is some plum flavor, not quite medicinal, not too tart. I’d probably like it to have a little more body. I believe that aging helps most wines but am looking for thoughts on any possible additions at this stage. Oak cubes? Tannin additions? Other weird, nontraditional stuff? Any use for clarifying aids, or just time and gravity and racking? I might back sweeten at the end, not yet sure, and have the ability to sterile filter if I do that. Appreciate anyone’s thoughts and ideas. Thanks very much!
View attachment 81887

more plum, less water will give you more body in the future, from your FG of .990 your ferment is done, potassium medisulfate and sorbate, per package instruction ,allow for degassing and for clearing,, i love the soup outta plum wine,
Dawg
you might wanna check out www.colomafrozen.com very good concentrates

 

[TD Fermenting]

Thanks Dawg, always room to learn, appreciate the thoughts.

 

[Ivywoods]

Hi TD Fermenting! I have made two batches of wild plum wine now. The first batch cleared well with time. The second batch I just finished bottling this week. (see the thread titled "Well that made a mess!". That was one bottle of my plum wine! Anyway, I think you have done more wine than I have. My first batch turned out nice. Dry, plum flavor was very apparent and it too was light bodied, but I like a light bodied wine. The second batch is light bodied as well, perhaps doesn't appear as clear (I used no additional clearing technique other than time.) This batch calculated out at 12% ABV. Light plum flavor, very dry. Overall I like the second batch better, so I am eager to see how it does with further aging. I'm not a fan of much tannin or oak so I did not add any of this. I may try that in the future.

 

[hounddawg]

Hi TD Fermenting! I have made two batches of wild plum wine now. The first batch cleared well with time. The second batch I just finished bottling this week. (see the thread titled "Well that made a mess!". That was one bottle of my plum wine! Anyway, I think you have done more wine than I have. My first batch turned out nice. Dry, plum flavor was very apparent and it too was light bodied, but I like a light bodied wine. The second batch is light bodied as well, perhaps doesn't appear as clear (I used no additional clearing technique other than time.) This batch calculated out at 12% ABV. Light plum flavor, very dry. Overall I like the second batch better, so I am eager to see how it does with further aging. I'm not a fan of much tannin or oak so I did not add any of this. I may try that in the future.

i have never used tanning nor oak, that being said I've never done a grape ,,
Dawg