New To Winemaking / Saying Hello

Hello everyone,


My wife bought me a winemaking kit for my birthday on Sunday and I started my first batch of Shiraz that night. While it looks like I may need to add a bit of sugar at some point (initial SG = 1.07), so far I haven't blown anything up.


Anyhow, I'm VERY excited about learning more and producing some great wines (with any luck).


Cheers!


DJ

Welcome to the forum DJ. What kind of kit was it? If it is a good brand it will come with the proper SG for beginning with. If it is an Island Mist type kit, they run low for a summertime beverage.


Again Welcome, Have Fun and Stay a while and share your experiences.

Welcome DJ..hope you stay awhile and share your fun times...

Hi DJ and welcome to a very friendly and informative forum. You can
bump up the SG but it will void your warranty but lots of us do it all
the time at our own risk. Dont be afraid to ask any questions even if
theyve been asked before but do use the search option also as there
will be alot of questions that were answered that can save you time on
waiting but we are very quick to answer. This is a great hobby. Enjoy!

Welcome DJ, I think you are going to learn quite a bit here...

Welcome DJ,


This is the Ultimate site for info!!! We started out slowly this winter and now we can't stop. Once you get your feet wet ...the sky's the limit!


For us its 5 kits in 5 months! and counting...


Mr & Mrs Chevy

Welcome to the forum dj. Glad to have you onboard

chevyguy65 said:

Welcome DJ,

Once you get your feet wet ...the sky's the limit!

For us its 5 kits in 5 months! and counting...


Mr & Mrs Chevy

Click to expand...

You know you dont have to use your feet anymore, they have presses to do that!

Welcome TJand good luck on that first batch. We have all had our rough times but this is the best place to get all your winemaking questioned answered. Everyone is SUPER nice with us newbies asking questions. I am only on my fourth batch but have been very happy with the results. But watch out ... before you know it those carboys multiply and you are searching for wine bottles for all that wine. Have fun
Cindy jo

Welcome Aboard DJ, as a relative newcomer , I as well will tell you that you have chosen the best forum out there. You will learn as much as you can possibly imagine here, as the folks are extremely knowledgeable and very nice to boot.

Dont forget that this is also the best place to buy winemaking
supplies. George (the owner of Fine Vine Wines) is eager to accomodate
just about anything you need whether it be kits or chems and he backs
everything up. Service and delivery here is top notch!

Wow, thanks for all the support! I'm sure I'll be back when my must starts smelling foul.


George is actually the one who really convinced me to get into the hobby. Off the street he was willing to spend about 30 minutes talking to me about wine. No matter where I am geographically, he has me as a customer for life.


So I actually have a very simple followup question. I spray down all of my equipment with K-Meta before it touches the wine. Do I need to rinse the K-Meta solution off before I put it in the wine (i.e., thief, etc) or will it not harm my wine to introduce a tiny bit of K-Meta?

The tiny bit will not hurt it. Just make sure to let the K-Meta do its
thing for a few minutes as its not an instant sanitizer.

Alright, posting this just as a sanity check.


Yesterday I had quite a bit of foam at the top of my must (betwen 1and 2 cm) during primary fermentation. I took a sample SG that came in at 1.043 (started at 1.070).


I took a quick peek a couple hours laterand noticed that my thick foam was replaced by a thin layer of foam covering about 20 - 25% of the surface of the must. It kind of looked like it slowed down.


Today I took another quick reading (same foam condition) and it came in at 1.020. So it looks like it's still fermenting.


So here are my questions:


First, is this fermenting too quick? Seems like 72 hours to go from 1.070 to 1.020 is pretty quick based on the other posts. My instructions say to wait 5 - 7 days ... and unless fermenting is going to slow (not linear) then I'm going to be at 1.010 tomorrow.


Second, should I be concerned that while I keep the house at around 73 - 75degrees, my must is around 82 degrees? Do I need to find a better way to cool off the must so that it falls in the proper 65 - 75 degree range?


Third, how quickly will I know if I screwed anything up? Would a contaminant start affecting the wine immediately (i.e., 1 or 2 days) or would I find out later down the road?


Thanks for the help with the newbie questions!


DJ

DJ,

You have a vigorous fermentation going there! If the room is 75 and the must is 82 the additional temp is the result of the yeast activity. I don't think this will be a problem.

It sounds like you are nearing the end of primary fermentation. The times listed in the instructions are just guidelines, sg is the real determining factor.

As far as how soon you will know if there is a problem, it depends. Some problems become obvious very quickly, and some are more subtle and take longer to manifest themselves. I'm willing to bet we have all screwed up more often than we think. For example, the presence of Acetobacter sp., the bacteria that turns wine to vinegar, may be in many of our wines, but as long as we maintain free SO2 in the wine and rack gently to minimize oxygen intrusion, it will be asleep and harmless.

DJ,
Welcome to the forum! It sounds like your wine is really kicking there! Especially in the warm weather the yeast can really go into high gear. Every time I start to worry or doubt myself, I think of all the wine that was made before climate controls and everything else. Sounds like you'll be fine there. Keep us posted!

Welcome DJ to the forum......We love pictures and stories so have your digital ready!!! Your wife gave you a great present and we all will be happy to encourage you along the way!!!!


Ramona

yes 1 carboy is not enough I have tthe cleanest hands always cleaning bottles and carbys and prim fermenters hoses racking tubes My goal to wear this things out. Welcome to the best hobby

Is there such a thing as enough of anything this good

LOL -- so last night (4 days after starting this hobby) I tell my wife, "Hon, I may need another carboy." She said, "You JUST started this!" I can tell this is going to be expensive, but probably much less than I usually spend on wine.