Wtf???

[chasemandingo]

So my first skeeter pee is clearing in my closet. I added the Sparkolloid on Thursday and now on Saturday morning it looks fairly clear. Before I had even stabilized my pee I started a dragons blood. This was on Tuesday. I pitched the Yeast on Wednesday and squeezed the bag and vigorously stirred on Thursday. Last night rolled around and I ended up drinking a bottle of red raspberry and not doing my stir. I had planned on taking my first s.g. reading then but didn't ( I blame the wine! lol). Anyway I stir it up this morning and take my s.g. and it is reading .990! I started at 1.09! That is a complete fermentation to dry in 63 hrs! Is this unheard of? Should I stop worrying and just bask in my own glory?
Thanks for any thoughts or advice.

Chase

 

[jamesngalveston]

I just started 5 gallons of dragon blood, if it does the same thing and taste good, I am going to buy a biggest plastic container and biggest barrel i can buy.lol

 

[chasemandingo]

I am not even using the recommended yeast. I am using Red Star Montrachet. Perhaps that has something to do with it? I also make a strong starter over the coarse of a day and add that to the must. Anyway, I transferred the DB into a secondary and stabilized. I am going to wait a few days then rack off the lees add my Sparkolloid and wait. Does anybody have any recommendations as to a good s.g. to back sweeten to? For both skeeter pee and DB? Also what range would you categorize dry, semi-sweet and sweet? Thanks for all the knowledge and experience that everyone seems so willing to share!

 

[wineforfun]

Mine usually runs dry in about 5-7 days, so I would say you are good to go.
As far as backsweetening, I usually go with the 5c per 6 gal. recommendation. I haven't taken a SG reading in the end, so not sure exactly what it is, but between 5-6c is to our liking.
I have read alot of people like to backsweeten to around 1.010.

 

[dangerdave]

That is remarkably quick, Chase. You may be setting a new DB record!

Like DJ said. I run mine up to about 1.010 after backsweetening. Perfect!

 

[chasemandingo]

Thank you very much for the compliment Danger. I am a complete beginner and sometimes have a hard time believing that it can be this easy lol. Although when I move on to more complicated wines and recipes -- as well as begin taking TA and Ph readings -- im sure ill run into headaches. My SP is very clear and will be racked and sweetened soon. Checked on my DB last night and it is dropping sediment but is not clear yet. But I just added the sparkolloid on Monday. It is funny that you are down in Chillicothe as I am from Lancaster. Good job on keeping Ohio on the map! Cheers!

 

[Tess]

Taste it after 4 cups of sugar. I back sweetened with 5 cups and its just a little to sweet for me. Then you can decide if you need that last cup

 

[dangerdave]

It is funny that you are down in Chillicothe as I am from Lancaster. Good job on keeping Ohio on the map! Cheers!

Keep at the winemaking, and perhaps in the coming years we can swap some wine. That would be great!

You could even become a full fledged member of SOWMUG! It's the Southern Ohio Winemakers Unofficial Group. We currently have two (maybe three) members. Me and my lovely wife (plus one possible other from near Piketon---unofficially). Since home winemakers in southern Ohio are exceedingly rare, having you nearby is awesome!

We're all just a mass of uncultured, hill-billy, undignified, red-neckedness down here...and we love!

 

[chasemandingo]

I would be honored to become an official member of your unofficial club lol. I have a question regarding a clearing issue. I know that there are many threads on clearing pee open right now but I figure why not ask it here in my own thread. I checked on my pee that was looking quite clear today and for the first time I very carefully -- so as not to disturb the sediment -- removed the gallon jug from my closet. To my dismay, the bottom 1/5 of my pee that is above some very fluffy looking lees is cloudy with particles swirling around as if a current of some kind exists in my pee. It has only been one week since adding my sparkolloid but I was hoping to partake in my pee over memorial day weekend. I did try my best to degas the pee but I only have an awkward ladle handle to work with. So I am wondering if I should let it sit for a longer period of time or perhaps I should rack it off the fluffy lees as best I can in which case I would definitely be taking some floating particles with it. After racking I could try agitating the pee to degas it better and then maybe cold crash it in the refrigerator. I'm just worried that my pee wont be done in time for the holiday lol. It will still need back sweetened but since it will all be consumed in a quick fashion I figure there will be no need to worry about fermentation restarting. Anyone with advice let me know. Also was hoping to drink my dragons blood over the holiday but with the amount of sediment in suspension in that jug I have all but given up hope

 

[chasemandingo]

I know that time will heal all wounds and clear most wines but after careful consideration I have decided on the following coarse of action. I will Rack off the lees as carefully as possible and then add to my pee 1/4 tsp. of pectic enzyme and one half tsp. of properly prepared sparkolloid. This was my first pee and I had only put 1/4 tsp. of the pectase to begin with. The directions on the package say 1/2 tsp per gallon. Also seems as though people are recommending a full tsp. of the Sparkolloid and I only used 1/2. The wine will be degassed as best as I can before these are added. If no progress is noticed in a day or two it is going into the frig in the garage for a cold crashing session. What do you guys think?

 

[chasemandingo]

Well as a final update, I checked my pee and dragons blood this morning and couldn't see any floaters at all. Either I was seeing things or I had disturbed the lees as I was moving the jugs. Anyway, I will be racking and back sweetening tonight or tomorrow!

 

[dangerdave]

Great to hear, Chase! Sparkolloid, while great at clearing wine, does produce very fluffy lees. You have to be careful when racking or moving to make sure you don't stir things up. The lees do become more compact over time, but we're not giving the DB time, are we. The point is to be able to make good wine very fast.

In the future, if you intend to bottle any for a length of time, you might want to consider a low cost filtering system.

Cheers, my man!

Edit: Oh, and consider yourself a member of SOWMUG, with all of the rights and privileges thereof (none).

 

[chasemandingo]

Very fluffy lees indeed! I was racking today and ended up disturbing the lees so bad that I lost about 12 ounces of pee. It is alright though since I accidentally used lime juice instead of lemon and the taste was a bit much so the added water helped. I over sweetened it as well ended up around 1.018-1.02. It is now in the frig so as to guarantee fermentation will not start up again. I don't have bottles, corks or a corker so I may be drinking straight from the jug come Memorial Day lol. I also started a lemon lime cherry pee today. 4 oz lime juice 6 oz. lemon, 12 oz. of unsweetened tart cherry juice and a pound of sweet black cherries in a nylon bag. S.G. was 1.01. A little high I know but that way it balances out when racking lol. If it works out I will post a recipe here with brand names and everything.

 

[dangerdave]

Out of my six gallon batches, I always put several gallons into gallon jugs and store them in the fridge. If not, then I would be doing a whole lot more bottling. It's a favorate at my house.