Thread for questions and discussion on new winemaker series

[lockwood1956]

its so you can find it in the dark

regards
Bob

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Very nice; although a little too yellow for my liking, if you get my (blinded) drift?



Owl.

[lockwood1956]

Accoriong to Jack Kellers (excellent) web site, (where there's a section on blending) if i have a "base" wine of 10 % ABV and add that to a "fortifier" wine of 13 % ABV (both 1 gallon volumes) his majic computer tells me i will get an adjusted alcohol of 11.5% ABV.

I love Jacks site (he is a member here, a great guy...I met him in 2006)

but you could also have used this:

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/downloads/calculator.htm

regards
Bob

[owlwithoutfeathers]

So,

Emergency bottling session over i've liberated a demijohn.

Stuck to the same recipee - Morrisons "The Best" White Grape Juice x1 litre, Morrisons own brand Apple juice from concentrate, 1 tsp citric acid, 1 tsp yeast nutrient, water.

Now then. The sugar.

I'm hoping to blend the original apple WN1 that had a SG of 1091 to this apple WN1 upon completion of fermentiation to produce something less "hot".

Accoriong to Jack Kellers (excellent) web site, (where there's a section on blending) if i have a "base" wine of 10 % ABV and add that to a "fortifier" wine of 13 % ABV (both 1 gallon volumes) his majic computer tells me i will get an adjusted alcohol of 11.5% ABV.

All good so far.

So, the "Base" apple WN1 i have made to SG 1060 theoretically giving me 10% ABV if it ferments out to .990

The "fortifier" apple WN1 started at SG 1091. So thats where im getting the rough equation of 13% ABV.

I added sugar to the Base Apple WN1 in stages, allowing for settiling time (introduced each batch of sugar dissolved in wam water); i eventually stopped at 400g of sugar to get SG 1060 on the nose.

I've now pitched the yeast from the original apple WN1 and its slowly bubbling away under airlock. Fingers crossed. Its not a meaty ferment so far; certainly not compared to the original applce WN1 that went off like an exocet with 2-3 hours. This is more like driving miss daisy . . . Perhaps because of the sugar(less) environment? Then again, ive had beers that have started around SG1055-1060 that have locked on straight away . . .

Fingers crossed.

Owl.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Hmmm; i feel an "emergency bottling session" coming on tomorrow then, as i'm clean out of demi's!

If i was to leave it, any advice on blending with a completed, weeker WN1? Or is this crossing-the-streams a-la Ghostbusters?

Owl.

[goldseal]

1.091 will probably give you 13 - 13.5%, which would be at the very upper range for Wine No.1. Making a lower alc WN1 would work.

If you have the ingredients and DJ to hand, you could make up another WN1 to around 1.070 as you said (EDIT: minus yeast), then basically mix the two now, 50/50. If it has been going a few hours or even a day, you have basically made a giant yeast starter, so it should be OK to mix 50/50 with another gallon of must. If you leave it a day, you should have enough of a yeast colony to run both DJs easily.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Hi there - thanks for the reply.

I did give both a damn good thrashing in the demijohn before taking the SG readings and pitching the yeasties. Like you said, 13g isnt really that much of a difference is it?

Im confident that the Gervin D yeast will munch up the sugars, i just dont want a "hot" wine number one. Is SG 1091 still tolerable? Or will this need more than the 4-5 weeks time to "smooth" out? Should i consider using the SG1091 wine as a mixer for another Apple WN1 with less SG - say 1070?

Thanks. And thanks for the reply on the airlock!

Its about 3 three hours in and all is going good!

[goldseal]

That doesn't sound enough of a difference in sugar to make that much difference in SG.

Are you sure both are mixed very thoroughly? You can sometimes get false SG readings if not.

Those airlocks are OK to use. The top bit doesn't seal the airlock. You should add a few ml of water to the main bit, making sure the bottom rim of the top bit sits below that level.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Addendum (?)

I'd ran out of my normal "bubbler" type airlocks, so i used an old boots cylindrical airlock (as per the picture supplied by Grumpysod in Celler Rats Yeast trials posting):

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=5172&highlight=airlock

I've not used one of these cylindrical ones before. Do i add water to it? Will the top bit not blow off and oxydise my young fermenting wine?

I've added a little bit of sanitised water to the main sectionand then carefully placed the top bit over it to provide some sort of air barrier . . .



Owl.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Hi Guys,

Forgive me if this is not the right area to post my question to, but here goes.

I've just gone and made 2x 1 gallon wine number ones (first time yey!) and followed the recipe to the letter.

x1 gallon with 1 litre morrisons own pure apple juice (and x1 litre of white grape juice from morrisons "The Best" range)

x1 gallon with 1 litre morrisons own pure orange juice (smooth, from concentrate and x1 litre WGJ from morrisons "The Best" range).

All the usual recipe rules followed; including adding 700g of sugar . . .

So, testing SG before pitching the yeast (using Gervin D in both) i find that the SG of the Orange WN1 is 1082 - more or less spot on to the desired 1080, right? However, the SG of the Apple WN1 is 1091. Is this too high? Will i get a "hot" wine at the end?

Im guessing that there are more fermentable sugars in the Apple juice than the Orange Juice. Looking on the back of the pack confirms this: Orange 9.1g of sugar per 100ml; Apple 10.4g per 100ml. So in effect, there is 13g of sugar in solution more in the Apple WN1 than in the Orange WN1. Would this really lift the SG to 1091 as opposed to 1082?

Its all an experiment - and im really looking forward to the end result!

Thanks for the recipe.

Owl.

[goldseal]

A pleasure

[billymateless]

Oh! My goodness!

What a little bit of advise & a smear of vasaline will do.

Airlock bubbling away now.

Thank You 'Pete The instructor'
BillyM

[goldseal]

Hi Billy,

I wouldn't worry. It sounds as though your plum wine is fermenting. I think the SG readings should be 1.090 and 1.050.

Dropping Sg means ongoing fermentation. You already have over 5% alcohol. That sound like decent progress in 3 days.

I suspect you have an air leak (more accurately, your fermenting kit has an air leak!). Air is probably escaping around the lid rather than via the airlock.

If you can find and plug the leak, great. If not, don't worry too much. The positive pressure of the CO2 will keep the bugs out, and when the sg drops to below 1.010 you'll need to rack the fermenting must to a demijohn, where it will be protected by an airlock.

[billymateless]

Hello,
I have reached my 50th decade & have never, until this week, attempted wine making!
Having been given pounds and pounds of plums & got sick of making plum jam, plum chilli jam & plum chutney I thought I would have a go at wine. I looked on You Tube & followed a video - I hadn't found this forum then.......

Now I realise I shouldnt have been so adventurous, my plum wine seems to be very lazy or I suppose it could be dead!
This is what I've done & would appreciate some advice. (Apart from Don't start with plums & don't watch You Tube)
I sterilised everything.
Washed the plums in cold water.
Then liquidised 12lbs of them with 18ozs of sultanas, I put these in a fermenter bucket and added 2 crushed campden tablets & 2 tsp of pectose. I put in 10 pints of water & left everything for 24 hours with the lid on.

24 hours later I put the plums into a second bucket with 6lbs of sugar dissolved in 2 pints of water a sachet of wine makers yeast (from Wilkos) & 2 tsp of yeast nutrient.

I tested the SG which was 100.90 put the air lock in the lid & three days later I am waiting for the first bubble to appear in the airlock. I have stirred the mix a couple of times & its seems to be fizzy but not really doing much. I have tested this morning & the SG is reading 100.50.

Am I being impatient or are the ingredients/recipe wrong?

I have started wine#2 in the beginers section with my Lidl bought juice & that is fair bubbling away, so looking forward to trying that, but living in 'Gods own Country' where Bilberries, Blackberries & Apples are on every bush nearly I would like to get the hang of fruit wine.
Thanks for making it to the end of this post!
BillyM

[unklep]

thats great thanks