critterhunter
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Since this pear wine we are making is our first attempt at making wine, we didn't use a Hydrometer because we figured we had plenty to learn yet without also tackling that info.
Our primary was 7 to 7 1/2 gallons. Our Secondary might be 6 but I think it's 6.5 gallons. Anyway, our initial primary ingredients were 37 pounds of pears (before being cut up), 10 pounds of regular store bought sugar, and 6 pounds of white rasins. We also used Champain yeast.
It fermented well for like 6 to 8 days but when we racked it into the secondary we no longer saw any fermation (bubbling) taking place. With our third racking the other day we tasted it and it was good but dry, with no hint of sugar really. Does that mean then that all that sugar was made into alchohol? If that's the case, then does that also mean we should have a pretty high alchohol content? Is that how it goes- more sugar equals more alchohol? After all, how else would you increase the amount of alchohol in the wine I guess?
Also, the next batch we plan to use a Hydrometer. Should we lower the sugar content to like 6 pounds and the adjust with the meter? I would figure besides knowing alchohol production the key feature of those things is that they tell you how much sugar you need to add without being wasteful by using more? I could use any info in general on all the above, in particular how can you shoot for a higher alchohol. Not liquor strong, but as strong as you can get while still calling it "wine" and not something else.
Also, off subject, but we put a breather on the primary while fermenting. Some people are saying never to do that because you starve the yeast of air? Even if we were stirring it twice a day, and even if we used Champain yeast which I hear is much more robust? If we shouldn't use a breather then what can we put over the bucket to allow it to breath? Our mesh bag this next time will have the fruit in it (we didn't use a bad the first time), so I'd prefer to use something else over the bucket if we can't use a breather. How about plastic cling wrap rubberbanded around the top with some pin holes poked into it that are too small for fruit flies?
Our primary was 7 to 7 1/2 gallons. Our Secondary might be 6 but I think it's 6.5 gallons. Anyway, our initial primary ingredients were 37 pounds of pears (before being cut up), 10 pounds of regular store bought sugar, and 6 pounds of white rasins. We also used Champain yeast.
It fermented well for like 6 to 8 days but when we racked it into the secondary we no longer saw any fermation (bubbling) taking place. With our third racking the other day we tasted it and it was good but dry, with no hint of sugar really. Does that mean then that all that sugar was made into alchohol? If that's the case, then does that also mean we should have a pretty high alchohol content? Is that how it goes- more sugar equals more alchohol? After all, how else would you increase the amount of alchohol in the wine I guess?
Also, the next batch we plan to use a Hydrometer. Should we lower the sugar content to like 6 pounds and the adjust with the meter? I would figure besides knowing alchohol production the key feature of those things is that they tell you how much sugar you need to add without being wasteful by using more? I could use any info in general on all the above, in particular how can you shoot for a higher alchohol. Not liquor strong, but as strong as you can get while still calling it "wine" and not something else.
Also, off subject, but we put a breather on the primary while fermenting. Some people are saying never to do that because you starve the yeast of air? Even if we were stirring it twice a day, and even if we used Champain yeast which I hear is much more robust? If we shouldn't use a breather then what can we put over the bucket to allow it to breath? Our mesh bag this next time will have the fruit in it (we didn't use a bad the first time), so I'd prefer to use something else over the bucket if we can't use a breather. How about plastic cling wrap rubberbanded around the top with some pin holes poked into it that are too small for fruit flies?