No.. if it's a juice wine start in secondary ie demijohn and leave to ferment till finished topping up at the later stages, then rack leaving the sediment / lees behind, a short period ie 2 to 4 weeks on fine lees won't harm.
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Thread for questions and discussion on new winemaker series
Collapse
X
-
Discount Home Brew Supplies
Chairman of 5 Towns Wine & Beer Makers Circle!
Convenor of Judges YFAWB Show Committee
National Wine Judge
N.G.W.B.J Member
-
Just as a point of note
I have tweaked Bob's Number 1 table wine again this evening and used Welch's white grape and Peach Juice with the Apple juice
I will keep you posted on the results
Smell's lush like!
And bottled the rose twist this weekend, again this is a really pleasant dry rose
Comment
-
Originally posted by Jekteir View PostI think I will try multiplying the starter recipe to my container size, but probably increase the proportion of juice and also throw in some tannin at the beginning to make a bit of a heavier wine.
Originally posted by JekteirI now have a 5 gal bucket with lid, and a 5 gal 'barrel'-like thing with a bung and airlock stuck in the top. So I guess I will do the primary ferment in the bucket, either with the lid just resting on the top, or with a towel (that I've just finished running through the washer+dryer, to sterilise it a bit), and stir twice a day. I was thinking about a starting SG of 1.080, maybe. The temperature there moves between 60F-70F night/day, which I think should be OK?
Originally posted by JekteirI'm surprised you say that the must should be moved to the secondary at 1.020 - that sounds like it would be later than 2 days in, if the wine usually stops around 1 or 0.990! Incidentally, between the primary and secondary, no racking occurs, right? Everything gets moved?
Originally posted by JekteirI hope my plan doesn't sound too foolish/ambitious/misguided!
hope this helps
regards
BobN.G.W.B.J.
Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
Wine, mead and beer maker
Comment
-
Originally posted by kerosine View PostJust as a point of note
I have tweaked Bob's Number 1 table wine again this evening and used Welch's white grape and Peach Juice with the Apple juice
I will keep you posted on the results
Smell's lush like!
And bottled the rose twist this weekend, again this is a really pleasant dry roseDiscount Home Brew Supplies
Chairman of 5 Towns Wine & Beer Makers Circle!
Convenor of Judges YFAWB Show Committee
National Wine Judge
N.G.W.B.J Member
Comment
-
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the comments. Maybe I should ferment entirely grape juice, then, to get a heavier wine worthy of adding a bit of tannin? Or...heck. I could always buy a few additional red grapes and mush them up and throw them in with the skins too, just to add something!
I did have one other query about sanitising: since I'm just using the supermarket juice, presumably I can skip putting campden tablets in before fermentation, since there shouldn't be any wild yeast/bacteria in the juice (assuming I pour it straight from the carton)? I'd prefer not to spend a day at the start waiting for the tablets to do their thing if there's no need!
Jek
Comment
-
Originally posted by Jekteir View PostHi Bob,
Thanks for the comments. Maybe I should ferment entirely grape juice, then, to get a heavier wine worthy of adding a bit of tannin? Or...heck. I could always buy a few additional red grapes and mush them up and throw them in with the skins too, just to add something!
I did have one other query about sanitising: since I'm just using the supermarket juice, presumably I can skip putting campden tablets in before fermentation, since there shouldn't be any wild yeast/bacteria in the juice (assuming I pour it straight from the carton)? I'd prefer not to spend a day at the start waiting for the tablets to do their thing if there's no need!
JekDiscount Home Brew Supplies
Chairman of 5 Towns Wine & Beer Makers Circle!
Convenor of Judges YFAWB Show Committee
National Wine Judge
N.G.W.B.J Member
Comment
-
My best advice here is to stick to the recipe, if you want to dabble then do it on the next batch, at least you'll get an idea of what went wrong, if that happens. Also if you're dabbling keep notes so you know for next time what you added and what benefit/problem it caused.Discount Home Brew Supplies
Chairman of 5 Towns Wine & Beer Makers Circle!
Convenor of Judges YFAWB Show Committee
National Wine Judge
N.G.W.B.J Member
Comment
-
Tannin will help red wine, but not white...tannin adds astringency, which has no place in white wine, but in red, it would likely be a good addition, just be judicious with the amount
to be honest , if I were you I wouldn't be starting with a 5 gallon batch, you need to do some winemaking skill building followed by some experimenting, and I think that would be best served with several 1 gallon batches. to much embelishment of recipes in the early stages of learning your art is likely not a good thing, it is something new winemakers tend to want to do (i know i did) but really, its best to learn your art making easy to make easy to drink wines, and develop your skills as you progress, best to have the first batches totally drinkable and shareableLast edited by lockwood1956; 15-01-2008, 12:14 AM.N.G.W.B.J.
Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
Wine, mead and beer maker
Comment
-
Well, I was going by what DuffBeer said:
Supermarket red grape juice should give the effect of a light red, the lack of tannin from the skins will prevent it being any more substantial.
Comment
-
Confusing ain't it Jektair?
I think the best thing you can do is follow the recipe as is. As you're doing a 5 gallon batch, perhaps you could split off a gallon and try your variations on that. That way you have something to compare and can then see if your idea worked.
Welcome to the Forum BTWLet's party
AKA Brunehilda - Last of the Valkaries
Comment
-
Originally posted by Jekteir View PostI thought that by adding tannin I could additionally overcome the problem described above.
it takes more than tannin alone, you need phenols (flavour and bouquet compounds) that just aren't present in the juice..
don't get me wrong, it will make a reasonable quaffing wine, but attempting to turn it into a "big red" will result in disappointment, and frustration, and in the early days this should be avoided.
the white in wine No1 will make a very decent dry white table wine, the recipe for No 2 is a light bodied semi sweet wine, and because of the lightness of the ingredients, cannot produce more, however the purpose of these wines is to build winemaking technique, and as such are worthwhile exercises, I'm hoping to achieve good basic technique, to allow you to move on to more complex wines, remember once you manufacture a big red (later in the series) you wont be able to drink it for at least a year!. these wines give you something you can drink immediately, and can be replicated easily, while your big red ages.....but you need to develop good winemaking skills for now.
see I sound head-masterly again now....EEK
were are you located Jekteir?
we import winemaking grapes from Italy each year in September, take some of those ( £7 per box 1 box=1 gallon~) they make fabulous wine and we are having a grape-fest this year in West Yorkshire, you can come up, process grapes, stay over and drink the 06 vintage, you are most welcome
or we culd meet you somewhere onthe way back up north...we get them from LondonLast edited by lockwood1956; 15-01-2008, 11:51 AM.N.G.W.B.J.
Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
Wine, mead and beer maker
Comment
-
OK, thanks. I will experiment a little and try to find a half-way house : ) To be honest, anything which tastes good and is drinkable, alcoholic and kind of red, I will be happy with! I'm very much a glass- (demijohn?)-is-half-full type of person so I'm guaranteed to be pleased with myself, no matter what foul concoction I might actually end up creating : )
I actually live in London, so it might be really good to join you and collect some grapes if possible this september, if I've perfected my skills to the stage where I'm capable of leaving a wine to age for a few years! Coming up north could be fun -- will have to see closer to the time, of course, as where I'll be then is less-than-certain!
I will definitely let you know how the wine goes: perhaps I will document it with some photos and a forum thread!
All best,
Jek
P.S. One last newbie question: if I crush a campden tablet into water and dissolve it, and spray it onto the surfaces of my barrel/swill some around a bit so it gets on all of it and pour it out, then let it dry for 15 mins -- can I put my must in and add the yeast straight away? Or will I still need a grace-period before the yeast, just from the small amount of sulfites dried on the walls of the barrel?
Comment
-
generally you would add yeast 24 hours after sulphite, but if you rinse it should be fine.
using sulphite solution is easier, and cheaper (a lot)
see here
Beginners thread, build your skills over a series of wines, a step by step guide, to better winemaking
best of luck with your brew I'm sure it will be fineN.G.W.B.J.
Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
Wine, mead and beer maker
Comment
Comment