Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Last Years (2013 harvest) frozen grapes started.........

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Last Years (2013 harvest) frozen grapes started.........

    Frozengrapes.jpg

    Merlot, Primitivo (Primotivo - can't remember which is the correct spelling),Shiraz and Cabernet.........

    The 2012 grapes, were, as I mentioned to many, done as a pyment/grape mead. This batch I'm just gonna make as a straight wine.

    I know there'll be lots of things I've forgotten, and haven't got round to reading up on yet.

    So far, they were defrosted, transferred into the fermenting buckets, then the yeast was made into a sort of starter/larger than usual rehydration with a couple of teaspoons of honey, water to 400mls, 4 tsp of GoFerm and 4 packs of BDX, all of which was well shaken.

    2 or 3 hours later, I just pitched 100mls of it into each bucket and it got a good stir.

    Yesterday morning, an "emergency" run to the HBS as I'd found that I didn't have enough airlocks and had just bunged the hole/grommets with a tight twist of kitchen roll to stop any bugs.

    Got campdens so I can put a half tablet into each airlock, plus a new (and clean, unstained) stirring paddle, 2 tubes of Rohapect.

    The rohapect was added (fag packet calculation of 5tsp per bucket) and stirred in. Each new airlock filled and a half campden per lock, then all buckets airlocked.

    I know that BDX is a little needy with nutrients etc, but left it till this morning - on the basis of the Lalvin guidance for using GoFerm and FermaidK i.e. rehydrate with water and GoFerm, then nothing else until there are signs of fermentation having commenced. I could see the bubbles forming among the floating skins last night, so this morning, I've just punched down the cap, then added 1 tbsp of FermaidK per bucket and that in turn has been well stirred in.

    I have some recollection of other stuff that could/should be done at this stage. I'm not bothering with gravity per se, other than when it slows down bubbling I'll see where it's got to.

    I don't envisage adding any further nutrients (don't recall whether inorganic nutrients needing to be in by the 1/3rd sugar break or not, like it would be with a mead), but will keep an eye open for any obvious issues like H2S etc - in which case, I'll likely add some boiled bread yeast and maybe a Vit B1 tablet or two........

    The intention is for this to be done in a basic way, so I can sort of learn about how it develops as a wine, not having made much "real" grape wine........

    Gonna go and have a read about what else you lot have done with your grapefest grapes etc to see what else I should be thinking of, but in the meantime, if you think of anything that is essential that I do, please point me in the right direction.

    I will be oaking later on, but I'm not intending on putting anything into the primary, as that only simulates making wine in barrels IMO. I'll do that later as that simulates barrel storage (well that's how I understand it - and equally I understand that most of the oak flavour would come from the barrel during storage anyway).........
    Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

    Some blog ramblings

  • #2
    You might find the airlocks are superfluous, because you will be in there twice a day, pushing the cap down. And the water becomes a PITA.

    You might find a loose cover - maybe at the tail might prove better.

    Do not fret over your yan-available-nutrients levels "generally" grapes on skins provide enough. They have a unique way of letting you know if there's a problem.

    Oaking is a whole separate subject :-) I am a bung it in as soon as possible man, which gives better combining and more structure--- but no more than 4 g to the litre. This is a subject I am focusing on this year - I will keep you posted.

    Hope that helps...
    Gluten free, caffeine free, dairy free, fat free – you gotta love this red wine diet!

    Comment


    • #3
      Been thinking' about that Brian. What with those bags of oak dust that Sharpie and Bob were lugging around at GF last year........

      Might just get some from a stave, clean it up then plane it into shavings and bung some in........
      Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

      Some blog ramblings

      Comment


      • #4
        Damn, this is turning into a bit of a horlicks !

        The ferment seems to have pretty much finished now, but I've got to go and get one of those dremel type drill things, because when my small press was made, the swines never fettled the sheet that was used to make up the inner basket once it came off the punch/laser cutter (likely punch), because when I use a pressing bag, as the plunger is pressed/turned down, the bag catches on small metal burrs on the inside (maybe they just made it the wrong way round and the smooth bit should have been on the inside of the pulp basket) anyway.........

        So, I'll get round to testing it to see what is going on later on, but in any case, I don't seem to have any glassware to put the wine into once it's been racked/pressed etc. Bu99er!

        How long can it last in the primary bucket ? Obviously it's protected by a layer of CO2 at the moment, while I go looking for something to rack/press into. Container size is likely to be a snag, as it looks like I'll get something like 3 gallons from each type. I can get 5 gallon glass easily enough, 3 gallon glass or even the 15 litre size carboy (basketed type) would be harder to find.

        Is it likely to be an issue ? If not, then what is the sort of time frame that I need to sort glass etc ? I've got plenty of 1 gallon glass but it's all full up, and to bottle something like 12 to 13 gallons of mead could be a bit of a time consuming nuisance......

        Bu99er (mark 2)! Didn't think this through very well did I.........

        Ideas/suggestions etc ?

        Well, it looks like it might be a little bit less painless, as the home brew shop has some 11 litre glass in stock - I suppose I could fill one each of the individual grape type, then if there's a bit of whatever left over either into a 1 gallon size or just do a bit of a blend....... So that is less of a crisis.

        Still wondering how long I've got before I have to press/rack, as it'd be handy if I can leave it until next weekend......... Maybe just give the skins a bit of a stir to keep the top moist and sulphite might be the answer for the immediate future......
        Last edited by fatbloke; 19-07-2014, 12:43 PM.
        Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

        Some blog ramblings

        Comment


        • #5
          John,

          I never use a bag - Red skins don't need it. Just put a seive under the outflow for the odd stray.
          Gluten free, caffeine free, dairy free, fat free – you gotta love this red wine diet!

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Cellar_Rat View Post
            John,

            I never use a bag - Red skins don't need it. Just put a seive under the outflow for the odd stray.
            OK Brian. I'll probably do that. Still gonna have to get the machine though, as the press basket will be more usable if it's not rasping the hell out of bags when I do need to use them. I should be able to pick up the extra glass stuff tomorrow (whether I end up carting them around for a day or two, is a different question)........

            I'm not planning on keeping any of the skins, after all, grapefest is too close to worry about that.......
            Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

            Some blog ramblings

            Comment

            Working...
            X