Leelanau's Winery

Here's my Muller Thurgau (white wine) 48 hours into fermentation and winemaking area pics. My 1st batch ever. note: see need assurance post in the wine making section of the forum. I made a small winemaking area in my unfinished basement with some old paint, a fold up table, and new equipment from George's store.I hear some light sizzling and see light bubbling action so far. Constant 70 degrees in my "area." Here's a pic or two or three. I'll post more later. Look ok???

You are using the towel as a cover for your fermenter? I've heard
people say it's good and I've also heard it's bad. I personally use the
plastic lid. I feel the hastle of opening it daily for stirring
is better than the chance of contamination. I've never had a foam over
problem before although I'm sure it's just a matter of time. You have a
nice little set up there and I'm sure in no time you will expand out
past the folding table. I myself am stuck with a couple closets so I am
very jelious



Pete

Leelanau,
Looks very similar to how I started. I still use the basement and love the consistant temp I get down there. Great job!

Paubin, I have the lid on loose and the towel on the top of the lid just to cover the hole in the lid, per George's instructions in the papers that came with the kit.I don't see any foam on the surface, just the elderflowers and yeast doing it's job. Should I be seeing foam? Should I also be stirring?
PKCook, Thanks, also for the comments.

Leelanau,


Check the instructions on the kit, does it say stir? If not, don't. The lid sitting on loosely will provide more than enough oxygen, even with the towel drapped over it. I've used the lid sealed with airlock and loosely layed the lid on the bucket with a paper towel over the hole to keep anything from falling in. Both did fine! I commonly use a kitchen towel and large rubber band on my 2 gallon bucket for my 1 gallon batches.


The yeast will determine how much foam you get. Montrachet will foam quite a bit, but the premier cuvee will look like the top of a freshly opened and poured glass of soda with little eruptions on the surface, but with practically no foam.

Leelanau,
You are doing well! I love your set up area! If that is what you have done for your first batch, it shows dedication to wanting to do things well and hints strongly to further expansion in the near future!
Sizzling sounds are good sounds! The foaming may be taking place under the flowers, but as PKCook says, check your instructions about stirring.
We've been using the towel/string w/rubber band/lid combo for years now. We use a dish towel though, and the picture will show you why. You should be okay with a white wine, but I don't think you'd like the results of a vigorous fermentation w/a red wine! I just turned around and took a picture of our current fermenting batch to illustrate the point.





Keep us posted on your progress and contratulations! Welcome to the world of home wine making and the forum!

Congratulations, leelanau!


It looks like we've got another one bit by the winemaking bug!


Your setup looks great! I started out on a card-table too, and then I switched over to something more stable. 50+ pounds of carboy (filled) mightbe something you might want to consider.


I flip-flop with the towel-over-primary method. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It all depends on the temperature, the amount of headspace in the carboy,and if I predict a vigorous fermentation. If the temp is above 70 degrees, if I have 3-4 inches of headspace in the primary, or if I have added quite a bit of sugar, I do what PWP/DBF ( ) does. Anything else, I usually just check on it and try to catch a disaster-in-the-making on time. haha


Looks great. How does it smell? As pkcook says, read the instructions: You will make great wine if you follow them to the letter. If you have any questions about it, keep on asking.


Welcome to the great world of winemaking!

So cool to be part of this forum. Everyone is great and I can count on friendly advice. Nice to know that different yeats produce different fermentation styles (mine is the premier cuvee - little blue packet with the kit) and also nice to know red vs. white can be extremely different. I plan to do only whites for now. I have a paper towel under the oddly turned spigot to catch any possible drips but they have appeared to slow down and the spigot is stable for now. I'm glad the sizzling sounds are good sounds - the smell is good, fruity and pleasant. I'm not sensing any off-smells. The instructions do not say to stir, just to let set for 5 - 7 days in the primary. I feel honored to have messages from some names I have seen a lot on this forum. MedPretzel/Martina, always enjoy your posts. How's Vern (or Vernon?)? I was actually going to mention I am namingmy wine "she" simply because I think of the wine as a woman. Complex, hard to figure out, etc. Teasing... Men are just as strange. Oh, if all goes as planned and I follow the instructions to a tee, can I still end up without wine, and something other, like vinegar that I have seen mentioned?
P.S.Good thing I do have a rubbermaid container under the table just in case any of my fermentations go nuts! And my basement is concrete so it doesn't matter much. Clean up would not be fun, though!Edited by: leelanau

Glad to have you aboard and looks like you have everything under control. The lid on or off, snapped down or not is not really important to the fermentation. Personally I choose to snap the lid down and attach an airlock. What is important is that you prevent anything from getting into your wine and fruit flies would be one major unwanted pest getting into your batch since they can containment the wine with vinegar-causing bacteria carried on the feet or antennae.

Stirring of kit wines during the primary fermentation is not necessary unless you are making a Crushendo.

As Martina mentioned, I would be very careful with the folding table.
They are not rated for weights such as 50 lbs. over such a small area.
Maybe a pce. of plywood or particle board over the table would be a
good idea to span the weight out a little. There would be nothing worse
than losing that precious wine and the glass carboy. Nice job though, it looks awesome and sounds great! Wade

Leelanu here, 72 hours into this batch now. Still active as stated above. OK for it to stink a little? I can't describe the smell - not real strong - just when you get up to it and lift the lid. There is a wine smell in there somewhere but just stinky, too. Elderflowers on top,sizzling with active yeast, and it is a greenish looking wine as Muller Thurgau. Smells kind of like it looks;wierd looking. Just curious... Leelanau

leelanau
It is doing GREAT! Keep it up.


earl

It sounds like things are just as they should be at this time!

One more quickie question from Leelalnau: I'm at 5 days fermentation tonight and have to head out of town until Sunday. Being the 1st batch, I don't have cleaning solution set up to clean a hydrometer for checking the SG. I got rid of the cleaning solution last Sunday during setup before I realized I could have used it to clean my equipment after I was done preparing the batch. So, I just have the equipment used rinsed after used but not cleaned and sanitized. Thought I would do all that when I clean the carboy, etc. for step 2. OK to leave the batch until the 7th day, Sunday, w/out checking it? I plan to rack the wine to the glass carboy for 2nd ferm. on Sunday afternoon. Can someone let me know if this is ok? Thanks! Leelanau

Leelanau,
You should be fine waiting until Sunday. The directions say 5-7 days so 7 is within that range. You have your setup in the basement so the temps are probably at the lower end of the scale, which gives a longer ferment time. Probably in the 65 - 75 degree range. If it was 80, then it might be ready sooner. Just check the SG when you get back to make sure it is a little above 1.0 range and if it isn't too high, rack then to secondary. Ift it is still above 1.010, I'd wait a couple more days and check again.

looks like home there but i bet there will be cousins
soone more primary and more carboys. They just seem to
mulitply.

Leelanau - QUESTION! Just racked above wine to primary - working on loading pics now - racked the wine myself and only got enough wine to get up to the where the carboy curves at the top.Over 3/4's full in the secondary/glass carboy. Is that enough??? Should I have my better half hold the primary tipped and try to retrieve more? I would say the primary has a 1/2 gal to 1 gal left in it of sediment and wine. This wine has an F-Pack to add and had elderberries along with yeast on top. Some sediment has come into the wine already. I have the airlock in place and have C02 bubbles. Leelanau Edited by: leelanau

Sounds like you did things right. I would say leave it where it is as long as it's fermenting(bubbles). You are pretty near the top- you never get all the wine out of the primary, but you want to leave most of the lees behind at this point with most kits. You will be adding things later in the process and will need room for them as well as for degassing. When you have racked and stabilized later, then you could top up with either water or preferably a similar wine.

Here's a pic of where the carboy is filled to.

That does look a little on the low side. When I rack I put a small block of wood under one side to tip the carboy, That will allow you to get more of the wine out. Don't worry about getting a little of the yeast in at this point. By the looks of it you should have gotten about a quart to a quart and a half more.


I think we need Masta's help on this one.