Thread for questions and discussion on new winemaker series

[lockwood1956]

Note to self:


Grow a beard!

[Leon]

Pants! One Damson Sherry fermenting. Can you buy patience from a good homebrew stockist?

If I was to add damsons, to my next number 1, in what form? Pulp them *starts singing at a damson: "You want to live like common fruit?"? And would it matter what base juices I used, all white grape or grape and apple seems to volunteer itself to me.

Also, there's always an also with me, if I was to make a yeast starter to last a year, as per the tutorial, would it matter that the base juice in that might keep changing? It suggests using the must of the wine you're going to ferment, but obviously this would change as you made different wines. Would you need two, one designed for red wines and one for white?

All that, and I haven't even got started asking questions about acidity.

Diolch am yr help.

[goldseal]

Grape, or grape + apple would make a good base, I think. I wouldn't bother pulping them (or even singing to them ), I'd take the stones out and left the ferment do the rest.

I'd make up two starters, one for red, one for white. Maybe white grape juice or apple juice as the base for the white, and red grape concentrate for the red. You'll probably be wanting to use different yeasts for red and white anyway, so two starters would be my choice.

[Leon]

And to cap it all off..

As I'm approaching the bottling stage for the first time I was wondering about caps. I intend to use screw top bottles, because I have forests of them in the shed/brewery; you'd think I was drinking to feed the hobby, not starting the hobby to slake the thirst. Am I right in thinking a wine won't change once it is bottled in screw lids, as opposed to cork lids which mature the wine? Something to do with the porosity of the substance? Or is that just baloney and hokey?



I can't wait to try my first wine #1

Oohh! Ohhh! I've just thought of another question. Could I make a nice red using the wine number 3 technique but with red grape juice and a red fruit, like cherries? Or should I just stop asking questions and try?

I hear taklk of 'Big Reds' that take an age to, well, age. Are these of a similar recipie to the wines we have been making and just left longer. Is this pretty much the template for wine making?

Thank you kindly.

[Leon]

..............

And. It's just occured to me. For wine number two, were we supposed to de-gass the same way as wine number one, all that arm dropping off shaking mallarkey? Because I was quite literal in my following of the instructions, I didn't let common sense have a say at all, and there was no mention of the shaking. If there should have been shaking involved at what point? Before or after the Stabilising and sweetening? And if our wine number two is on the shelf aging nicely, how do I degass it now? Just by waiting?

Cheers.

[Cellar_Rat]

............ Can you buy patience from a good homebrew stockist? .............

Sod patience I think Karl should get a stock of beards !

[goldseal]

..............

And. It's just occured to me. For wine number two, were we supposed to de-gass the same way as wine number one, all that arm dropping off shaking mallarkey? Because I was quite literal in my following of the instructions, I didn't let common sense have a say at all, and there was no mention of the shaking. If there should have been shaking involved at what point? Before or after the Stabilising and sweetening? And if our wine number two is on the shelf aging nicely, how do I degass it now? Just by waiting?

Cheers.

Yes, you should degas.

Don't worry if you have already bottled - you can get that CO2 out when you open the bottle - just pour it into a jug, and back into the bottle; alternatively, remove a little wine from the bottle and give the bottle a couple of good shakes with your thumb over the end (prepare to get covered in foam ).

[Leon]

So if its still in the demijons can I shake? Is there any difference between degasing a white and a red?

Is there any difference between clearing a white and a red? Would you use finings on a red? What was the reason for not mentioning them in the wine number two tutorial?

My first wine number one hasn't cleared yet and I'm torn between my desire to address the issue for experience sake, or drinking it for, well, drinking's sake. Does the cloudiness affect the taste? Is it safe to make the logical conclusion that you didn't mention pectinase in the wine number one tutorial because there is a minimal amount of pectin in supermarket juices and therefore my cloudy issue is propably CO2.

Sod patience I think Karl should get a stock of beards !

I have a good recipie for beards:

Jam,
Sawdust,
A kitten's fear,
And any decent yeast, I use KVC34353788292.27668.

Smear it all on your face, and rub it down with a brillo pad. My beard number 1 is fermenting nicely.

Thank you kindly.

[Cellar_Rat]

My beard number 1 is fermenting nicely.

I find if you omit the yeast, you can get a crust but a beard in much harder

[goldseal]

So if its still in the demijons can I shake? Is there any difference between degasing a white and a red?

Yes, and not really .

If there is already a sediment, I would rack first, then degas. Remove at least 1 litre before shaking, and degas that separately. I usually split it equally between 2 DJs. Remember to release the gas pressure after a couple of seconds for the first couple of shakes, because it can build up really quickly (don't want cracked DJs).

Your cloudiness is probably CO2. If it hasn't begun to clear a week or two after degassing, or has cleared to a point where there is a haze but won't clear further, you normally have two choices with Wine No.1: a) patience; b) finings.

You don't normally get pectin issues with Wine No.1

EDIT: I think it is important to get ALL the CO2 out of a red, but not necessarily with a white. Some whites deliberately have a bit of CO2 left in, to lift the fruit flavours a bit.

[owlwithoutfeathers]

Yes, and not really .


EDIT: I think it is important to get ALL the CO2 out of a red, but not necessarily with a white. Some whites deliberately have a bit of CO2 left in, to lift the fruit flavours a bit.

Hmmmm. Like a lovely spanish Alborino . . .Brings wonderful memories of Galicia flooding back to me on this cold wet august evening.

[Leon]

:

Your cloudiness is probably CO2. If it hasn't begun to clear a week or two after degassing, or has cleared to a point where there is a haze but won't clear further, you normally have two choices with Wine No.1: a) patience; b) finings.
.

I racked and the sediment at the bottom was almost of a jelly consisntencey, quite floaty, a bit like an albino sea anenome. I'll probably give it a week and then bottle it, I had a taste and was good It's my first wine, so aesthetics isn't that much of an issue. I've only just discovered how much easier degassing with a bored stopper is, the first one I tried with my palm over the demi john opening. It's a good workout too, I'll either get a six pack or an injury.

Thank you kindly.

[spritzer]

So, if I grow a beard, will my wine making improve ?

[goldseal]

Mine didn't. Mind you, Mrs.G told me to get rid of it before it was fully developed.

[Leon]

You need to preach to Mrs G the virtue of patience, just as you have taught us; that beard could have matured into something wonderful, the colours, the flavours...