Yes, I've been lucky, until now!! HELP!!!

JohnT said:

Greg,

Wouldn't it be best that he lower at least some of the acid using k-bicarb, then sweeten to compensate for the remaining high acid?

Just wondering if there was a reason for just using a back-sweeten and not using k-bicarb also?

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Mainly because it would be the only option to do without having to uncork and empty all the bottles. I don't know that I would want to put my wine through that if the benefit wasn't a great bottle of wine in the end.

But I suppose you could add bicarb to each bottle as you open and serve them too.

jensmith said:

Instead of a simple syrup use frozed juice conventrate. Way better flavore profile for backsweetning. Especially when trying to fix a problem. The grape concentrate is very lacking in acid. It should balance out the raspberries better then simple syrup.

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Thanks! I will give this a try, I had been wondering if this was a possibility.
Thanks again!

GreginND said:

Mainly because it would be the only option to do without having to uncork and empty all the bottles. I don't know that I would want to put my wine through that if the benefit wasn't a great bottle of wine in the end.

But I suppose you could add bicarb to each bottle as you open and serve them too.

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OH, OK, makes sense.. thanks.

Today I finished off a bottle of this wine, Wow!! 13 months ago I was ready to toss it. I tested it after it had been bottled for a short time, the pH was actually 2.9 and the TA 10. g/L. Sg. 0.992

It was adjusted to 3.4 pH with a 6.9 g/L TA backsweetened to 1.006 and it is pretty good. Really glad I didn't give up.

Thanks guys!!!

Ok, so I know this thread is old but I am totally confused (I'm new so forgive me). When making wine from frozen fruit like blackberries (for instance, the blackberry wine recipe from Jack Kellers site), there is no mention of checking ph, TA (whatever that is), adding K-Meta, sulphites, sorbates, etc. Is there a method/plan I should be concerned with? I hear all the time about bottle bombs and wine gone bad and I'm having too good a time making and drinking the wine I make to have it go sour on me in the long term. Can someone give me a rundown on what to add and when and why? What effect will these added chems have?

Eager to learn and not make bad undrinkable wine.

Keep things clean
Read lots of differant recipes compare the amounts of things like Kmeta and sorbate per the amount and type
Bottle bombs for me and it seems im not alone are the aftermath of being impatient.
Never bottle until you are certain fermentation is done and then wait 2 months.K sorbate if back sweetening. And wait after sweetening
If you are following a recipe as closely as you can and trust it, some readings are probably assumed, id trust that as well. Knowing these helps reproduce or adjust. Knowing S G for monitoring purposes helps track progress
And get to making wine. Things will make more sense once you are under way.

Keith, I appreciate all the info and I have been following most all the recipes I've tried to the letter with slight variations like dbl fruit in the primary. I guess my concern would be more towards the long term, making sure that when I either bottle or bulk age, I have all the appropriate chemicals in the wine so say 6-9-12 months from now, my wine is 10x better then when I set it aside. Also, what is TA?

For example, I started last weekend, making a batch of cherry wine using Vintnors cherry wine base (supposed to be 5 gal) and I followed all the directions on the container and the yeast (EC-1118). The only exception is I cut it down to 4 gallons not 5 and had a real hard time getting the fermentation to start. Temp was 72, SG was 1.10, PH was 3.5. It took 2 full days before my yeast took off. It's been 4 days now and I still get a foam cap after I stir (everyday), SG has only dropped to 1.07.

My end game with this batch is to split it up. 2 gallons wine, 2 gallons a cherry vanilla port. I'm hoping for at least 14% when fermentation ends so I can calculate how much brandy I will need to make my port. I don't want to pamper this batch for a whole year only to find out I have crap in my carboy. Suggestions? Tips? Any/all advise is always welcome.

sg1strgt said:

Ok, so I know this thread is old but I am totally confused (I'm new so forgive me). When making wine from frozen fruit like blackberries (for instance, the blackberry wine recipe from Jack Kellers site), there is no mention of checking ph, TA (whatever that is), adding K-Meta, sulphites, sorbates, etc. Is there a method/plan I should be concerned with?

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I've spent a lot of time on Jack Keller's website. He's pretty up front in some sections that he doesn't mention all the things you should be doing to make sure it's "good." I think he's pretty explicit that sulfites should be added every 3 months, sorbate before back sweetening, adjusting acid based upon your particular fruit, etc.

He talks about the difference between being a cook and being a chef. Following the directions verbatim makes you a cook. But by knowing the rest of the story, you can become a chef by making the adjustments you need to take his recipes and make them work for your fruit, etc. The recipes are simply what worked for his fruit in that particular batch!

(Me, I prefer being a cook most of the time. It's a lot of work to make the adjustments. And my palate isn't that refined that I'll catch the difference between good and great at this point.)

James, like you, I prefer to be a cook but aspire to be a chef. My goal is not only to keep my wife happy with an endless supply of good wine, but for me, I want the long term results I hear everyone talking about. Aging their wines for 12+ months and then being rewarded with an incredible bottle. I have a batch of cherry wine fermenting right now, 4 gallons from a Vintnor cherry base (I know, the container says for 5 gallons) that I want to split. 2 gallons for wine and 2 gallons to make a cherry vanilla port. My goal? To age the port for at least 1-2 years. I want a bottle that when I open it and take a sip, I have a religious experience (lol). That's what I want so I want to make sure I get it right.