need wine making help

Hello, I'm new here and know nothing about making wine and could really use some help. Here's the situation, my dad passed away on mothersday last month and while we were going through his garage I found a big container of wine he was making. I would like to finish it and bottle it for him, but I don't have the first clue on what to do. I have no clue when he started it, the only thing I know about it is the air lock on top is EXTREMELY gross, from what I have read I believe there should be water in it? I don't think there is, and Im not sure when it dried out. Would this ruin the wine or make it go bad? I hope not bc I would really like to bottle his last batch. I would like to gather all the wine stuff and bring it to my house so I can keep a eye on it and make another batch of wine that he had just bought the stuff for.

Anyhow, like I said. I know nothing about this and I'm just wondering if anyone could help. Also wondering if it is ok or safe to move it, their house is about 3 miles from mine (all country roads).

Also, I cant really judge the fact that he had bought more wine stuff on the fact that it is close to being done, he has several empty jugs ready to be used.

im sorry to hear that, these guys here will def help you out to get your answer. good people on this forum! one question though, whats the approximate temperature in the garage you found it? and would you think that the temperature in that garage stays pretty constant or fluctuates alot?

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Scary prospect, but taste it - you'll know whether its still good or not but the airlock drying out could cause it to oxidize depending on how long its been sitting..

Definitely fill it up - but not over full - and put it back on top to protect the wine from the outside elements until you figure out where you're at.

Is there sediment in the bottom? I would siphon / rack it off the sediment before moving it but beyond that.. Just be careful on the roads so you dont break the.. Its in glass right?

And then do lots of reading here, and ask questions as they come up

Ok, if the wine is very close to the top of the vessel (carboy) its probably ok. First thing we need to do is clean and sanitize that airlock and fill it 1/2 way and get it back on there. What we as wine makers usually use to sanitize our equipment and also add to our wibe to keep it from going bsd is Potassium Metabisulfite "KMeta" Sodium Metabisulfite (Na Meta). Look for this in where your Dad had all his wine stuff. It can also be in tablet form called Campsen tablets but as a sanitiser you will need a lot. Like said above if there is sediment in the bottom of the vessel you will need to transfer to another carboy first by siphoning and not pouring especially since we dont know how long its been since sulfites have been used in this wine to protect it. Basically youll want to add 1/4 tsp of sulfite in powder form per 6 gallons or 1 campden tablet per gallon crushed verh well and and dissolve this powder into a little bit of wine or water and then add this to that wine before racking it.

Mamaderf, you have my sympathies for your loss.

As Manley points out, there is a chance that the wine has been exposed to air and is oxidized, particularly since you say that the airlock has dried out. There is also a chance, however, that there was enough CO2 on top of the wine between the surface of the wine and the airlock to protect it. Also, since you say that the airlock is "extremely gross" I am guessing that you mean that wine got into it. That is a good sign to me because it could mean that there was very active fermentation. Is the airlock a single piece S-shape or three piece cylindrical type? Clean out the airlock immediately with hot water and Oxyclean and add water. If you can find a chemical in your Dad's work area that is Potassium Metabisulfite, add about a half teaspoon to a cup of water to make the solution for the airlock. If you look closely on the airlock you will see a line molded into the body indicating the level the water should be. Also, add 1/4 teaspoon of Potassium Metabisulfite to the wine in the carboy.

Next, I would taste the wine to see if you can determine if the wine has oxidized. Is the wine red or white? Can you see any evidence of fermentation, i.e. small bubble rising from the wine to the surface? Rack the wine into a clean and sanitized carboy and attach an airlock. If you have to move it, do so very carefully. Check what your Dad had around the work area and give us a list of things that you find.

I think what you are planning to do is great and you will receive all the help you need on this site.

One thing, when you taste the wine, it will probably have a very dry, sour taste. When the wine ferments, it generally uses up most or all the sugar in it. Some wines need to have sugar added to them in order to taste good. Arne.

i would definitely taste it, it will be dry and probably acidic due to it not having any sugar left due to fermentation. make some notes of what your impressions are of the taste, smell, color, etc....all of these will make it easier to determine what you can do to salvage it. I also agree that if the "carboy" (the actual vessel the wine is in) is close to being full, O2 probably won't be an issue because of the carbon dioxide cloud that sits on top of the wine

Mamaderf, where are you located. I find that amateur wine makers are very nice people. In your situation, there might be someone close by who wouldn't mind stopping by, looking at your situation, and giving you some advice. They can also put you in touch with a supply house that could help you continue your father's hobby.

I agree with what Lon said. I know if you're in Central Ohio I'd come over in a heart beat.

Thank You for all of the wonderful replies! I will try and answer all the questions I can (I was sick with the flu for the last day and a half so I have some catching up to do here).

"whats the approximate temperature in the garage you found it? and would you think that the temperature in that garage stays pretty constant or fluctuates alot?"

I'm not too sure about the temp in the garage, it is a detached garage that was only built about 2 years ago, so possibly in the 80's. I know before he passed he kept it air conditioned on warm days, but since he passed it has been turned off.

"Is there sediment in the bottom? I would siphon / rack it off the sediment before moving it but beyond that.. Just be careful on the roads so you dont break the.. Its in glass right?"

I will be over there tomorrow and I will check for sediment. It is in glass.

"What we as wine makers usually use to sanitize our equipment and also add to our wibe to keep it from going bsd is Potassium Metabisulfite "KMeta" Sodium Metabisulfite (Na Meta)"

I will also look for this or the Campsen tablets, he has a bag of new stuff sitting on the counter and a bunch of stuff in the cupboard.

"Is the airlock a single piece S-shape or three piece cylindrical type?"

I believe it is the 3 piece cylindrical type (I don't remember seeing anything s shaped).

"Is the wine red or white?"

It is red, my mom believes it is merlot he was trying to make for her.

"where are you located"

I am in NW ohio, My dad bought all of his stuff from a place in michigan (I'm not sure what the name of the place is)

Thanks Again for all the replies!! I will be going over there tomorrow afternoon, I will look for all the things listed and clean out the air lock. I do believe it may be the wine that has gotten into the airlock. I know I saw a siphon on one of his shelves, I am assuming to try it I would just siphon a little out? I will also make note of how much space is between the wine and airlock and if I remember I will take some pictures if it would help.

Michelle

Yea take some pictures and take a turkey baster with ya to pull out a sample taste. Or even a straw, dunk it, plug it, then put it in your mouth and slurp it up. Don't be surprised and DONT dump it if it taste real dry or not very good. It may be great and just need some time

I cleaned the air lock, there was liquid in it, yay! But it smelled terrible, ack. I also grabbed a turkey baster and both me and my mom tasted the wine. When we smelled it we were expecting merlot, then we tasted it and it was more like a berry. We did find a old tag on the jug labeled blackberry, but it was dated from 2010, so I am almost positive that it was a old label (especially after looking at his other jugs and they all had old labels on them too). As far as the taste, both me and my mom agreed it was probably the best wine my dad had ever made. All this made us both think, we have never really liked his wine and now we do, and we will never know for sure what it is or how he made it, so we will never be able to recreate it, figures. I did get a few pictures, but I will have post them from my phone later.

I then went through his cupboard and made a list of everything he had, maybe someone can figure it out from the list (or at least you will know what I have so you can help me know what to do next, if there is anything I need to buy, or if anything should be stored differently). The things I label as new were found in a bag on the counter he had just bought in the week before he passed, the rest of the stuff I am not sure how old it is (if it matters)

LD Carlson Co. Yeast Nutrient
LD Carlson Co. Potassium Sorbate (Stabilizer)
LD Carlson Co. Pectic Enzyme
LD Carlson Co. Acid Blent
LD Carlson Co. Campden Tablets (sms)
LD Carlson Co. Easy Clean
3 Air Locks (Not including the one on the jug, one was new in the bag he just bought) on the top they say Boun Vino MFG.
Vinometer (Which out of fun, I tried to figure out how to use, I'm sure someone would have been rolling on the floor laughing at me)
Lalvin wine yeast, 5g, 2 packets (one is new)
Small Baggie of Merlot Acid, stapled closed, New
New Large bag of 6 lb sugar (also found another unlabeled bag in the back of the cupboard that looks similar, only writing on it says 5 lb? I figured I could taste it to find out, but I wasn't sure if there is a possibility it could be something I didn't want to taste)
Home Winery Supply LLC Merlot, makes 5 gallons, new
2 older small baggies of merlot acid, one is stapled closed and doesn't look to be opened, the other is opened
Small baggie of Sodium Bi-Sulphite, 4 oz. stapled closed
Blackberry Acid, also small baggie stapled closed
Tanning, small open baggie, he had hand written on it "f merlot 1/2 tsp" there is at least one more word after that I couldn't read.
There is also a large scrub brush, a bunch of tube stuff (I took a picture of the tubes so maybe someone can tell me what they are when I get them uploaded from my phone), and large spoons.

If it helps, my mom loves merlot, but my dad could never get it to her liking, but he was determined to. My dad loved sweet berry type wines.

Oh yea, I also looked for sediment, I didn't see any, but the wine is dark and I was in the back of his garage.

So I guess my next question is, what do I do now?

Thanks for all the help!
Michelle

mamaderf said:

I cleaned the air lock, there was liquid in it, yay! But it smelled terrible, ack. I also grabbed a turkey baster and both me and my mom tasted the wine. When we smelled it we were expecting merlot, then we tasted it and it was more like a berry. We did find a old tag on the jug labeled blackberry, but it was dated from 2010, so I am almost positive that it was a old label (especially after looking at his other jugs and they all had old labels on them too). As far as the taste, both me and my mom agreed it was probably the best wine my dad had ever made. All this made us both think, we have never really liked his wine and now we do, and we will never know for sure what it is or how he made it, so we will never be able to recreate it, figures. I did get a few pictures, but I will have post them from my phone later.

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Glad to hear there was some sort of liquid in there, then there's hope it was protected from the outside elements. If it is indeed the best wine you've tasted of his, there's a chance it really is from 2010 & may be close to being done/bottled.

mamaderf said:

I then went through his cupboard and made a list of everything he had, maybe someone can figure it out from the list (or at least you will know what I have so you can help me know what to do next, if there is anything I need to buy, or if anything should be stored differently). The things I label as new were found in a bag on the counter he had just bought in the week before he passed, the rest of the stuff I am not sure how old it is (if it matters)

LD Carlson Co. Yeast Nutrient
LD Carlson Co. Potassium Sorbate (Stabilizer)
LD Carlson Co. Pectic Enzyme
LD Carlson Co. Acid Blent
LD Carlson Co. Campden Tablets (sms)
LD Carlson Co. Easy Clean
3 Air Locks (Not including the one on the jug, one was new in the bag he just bought) on the top they say Boun Vino MFG.
Vinometer (Which out of fun, I tried to figure out how to use, I'm sure someone would have been rolling on the floor laughing at me)
Lalvin wine yeast, 5g, 2 packets (one is new)
Small Baggie of Merlot Acid, stapled closed, New
New Large bag of 6 lb sugar (also found another unlabeled bag in the back of the cupboard that looks similar, only writing on it says 5 lb? I figured I could taste it to find out, but I wasn't sure if there is a possibility it could be something I didn't want to taste)
Home Winery Supply LLC Merlot, makes 5 gallons, new
2 older small baggies of merlot acid, one is stapled closed and doesn't look to be opened, the other is opened
Small baggie of Sodium Bi-Sulphite, 4 oz. stapled closed
Blackberry Acid, also small baggie stapled closed
Tanning, small open baggie, he had hand written on it "f merlot 1/2 tsp" there is at least one more word after that I couldn't read.
There is also a large scrub brush, a bunch of tube stuff (I took a picture of the tubes so maybe someone can tell me what they are when I get them uploaded from my phone), and large spoons.

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Yeast nutrient, wine yeast, pectic enzyme, potassium sorbate, acid blend, campdem tablets, tannins - these can all go bad, but they're cheap to replace... Can find them at the local wine supply store, no problemo.

The air locks make me wonder if theres more wine around, or did he get it bottled? Just kinda implies theres more containers for those airlocks to go on-to.

I'm not sure about the 'merlot acid' or the 'blackberry acid' myself..

The 6lbs of sugar, you could use in a new batch of wine... The Merlot, 'makes 5 gallons' sounds like a wine kit... I'm not sure about the other unlabeled 5lbs bag though, might just toss it and not worry? Dunno..

Never used the Easy Clean or a Vinometer myself, i'd probably make people laugh trying to figure it out as well so dont feel bad

The big scrub brush is to clean the carboys or jugs - depending on the size of the brush, theres a few sizes.. the hoses are for "racking", siphoning the wine from one carboy to another... the spoons are to stir the 'must' (what they call the wine, before its wine but after its juice) during fermentation

The sodium bi-sulphite is most often used for sanitizing because people like to watch their sodium intake - but it does do the same thing as potassium bi-sulphite or campdem tablets... which are all added to help protect the wine for oxidation by putting off a gas that pushes the oxygen/air away from the wine... Usually occupies the small area between the wine itself, and the airlock, inside the carboy..

mamaderf said:

If it helps, my mom loves merlot, but my dad could never get it to her liking, but he was determined to. My dad loved sweet berry type wines.

Oh yea, I also looked for sediment, I didn't see any, but the wine is dark and I was in the back of his garage.

So I guess my next question is, what do I do now?

Thanks for all the help!
Michelle

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Was there a hydrometer around? A foot-long-ish glass instrument with numbers on the sides, its put in the liquid to test the amount of dissolved solids (generally sugar, in wine) to see how much alcohol it could potentially generate... Would be good to learn to use a hydrometer if you wanna keep on with the winemaking tradition.

Another thing to learn to use is an acid testing kit.. The litmus/paper tests are pretty inaccurate but the Titret kits take one or two mistakes to learn to use right - but they work alright.

No sediment is a good sign; can you shine a flashlight through it & see it from the other side? That'll give you a decent idea of how clear it really is... If there is sediment on the bottom, just need to 'rack' off the sediment - oh, did he have a racking cane? Long hard piece of plastic with a nub on the end so it doesnt pick the sediment right off the bottom of the carboy.. It's curved on the other end to keep the hose from kinking as it goes into the clean carboy..

Thats probably enough steps to scare the hell out of you though, so i'll let you read that a few times & ask some more questions (please, if you have them).. Dont be scared, 2 sentences ago was just my sarcastic humor..

We'll do what we can for ya, just keep us up to date when ya can

Dif you find a notebook with his recipes in it? Alot of wine makers keep a log of every step they do so they can redo them if something is wonderful. With him trying to find something that your mom liked so bad, he most likely has the recipe wrote down that you can repeat.

Lol. Yes, I will probably have to read that through a few times, process things, look things up, then read it again. Good news is, it looks like I have a excuse to go shopping, yay!

I looked up what a hydrometer looks like and I didn't see anything like that. I did notice that there are hydrometers and thermohydrometer, would one be better than the other? Also noticed the hydrometer test jar looks like a big test tube (I've been homeschooling for so long I have several big test tubes and I would hate to just buy another).

I didn't even think about grabbing a flashlight, duh, lol. To make it worse, I just realized it was on a cart with wheels, I could have easily and smoothly wheeled it to more light.

I forgot about the other carboys he had (hey I finally figured out what those "jugs" are really called, I feel so smart now). He had another empty one in the garage and several empty in the shed. I always joked he looked like he was going to go into business.

And for the pictures.
I forgot to take a pic before I cleaned the airlock, so this is after.


and now here are a few pictures of things I wasn't quite sure what they are.

keena said:

Dif you find a notebook with his recipes in it? Alot of wine makers keep a log of every step they do so they can redo them if something is wonderful. With him trying to find something that your mom liked so bad, he most likely has the recipe wrote down that you can repeat.

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I hate to say it, but my dad wasn't that organized, he was the type of person who thought he could remember everything (unfortunately I am similar, I am always coming up with a awesome new recipe and my husband is always asking "now you did write it down this time, right?" answer is always no). But my dad had a list of every tool in his garage, completely organized with it's location, go figure, lol.

I will keep a eye out for something written down.

If you are pretty sure where your dad was buying his supplies, you might call them and explain the situation and they may be able to give you a copy of his last few years of orders. That could point you to which kit he was making and when he started it.