a newbies chokecherry wine

[fabrictodyefor]

My first time making wine...we have a shop in the nearest town, 40 miles away and did get some help, but.....The recipe: 13 lbs choke cherries, 5 campden tablets, 11 lbs sugar, 3 frozen cans apple juice concentrate, 1 TBS yeast Energizer, 3/4 tsp pectic Enzyme, 5 tsp acid blend, 1 pkt Red Star Pasteur Red yeast. Per instructions I covered the cherries with reconstituted apple juice and slowly simmered. I was told to simmer until the cherries burst, they never did. I mashed them often with a potato masher, then poured berries into a mesh bag into fermentation bucket and hung the bag overnight to drip into bucket. I then added the crushed campden tablets, sugar and additional water to make the 5 gallon of wine, and let set for 24 hours with lid on. At the same time I mixed the energizer, pectin enzyme and acid blend with 1 cup warm water, 2 tsp sugar and the yeast in a sterilized quart jar, also let that sit for 24 hours. Then mixed the yeast mixture into the must, tested with the hydrometer, replaced the lid, set the airlock and left it alone. The wine making shop told me to leave it for 10 days, then begin checking with the hydrometer and when the hydrometer reads the same for 3 straight days to rack it. So the very first time I checked it with the hydrometer...(right after I mixed everything together)it floated so high that the reading was no where close to a line, by that I mean all the lines on the hydrometer were above the "wine". I asked said wine making shop people about this and got a non-committal answer. So it has now been 2 weeks, the air lock is still very active. I tested again with the hydrometer and got pretty much the same answer....it floated too high to be close to a line. Should I still just rack into a carboy? Do I leave it for longer?

 

[Loner]

I would vote for a new hydrometer. I used more sugar than that on my latest batch and didn't quite get to 1.090

 

[fabrictodyefor]

So...have a new hydrometer ordered, but decided to rack my wine into a carboy. When I get the new hydro next week, I may check it, but I may just wait. I've been reading how oxygen is not such a good thing. BUT, I'm happy with my wine so far! It is still cloudy and a lot on the sweet side, but very tasty none-the-less. I called a friend who came and tasted the wine with me and it was right down her taste buds! She likes sweeter wines. But she did notice the "champagne" taste to it, no doubt because it is still fermenting! I've read a lot on this web site and it has really helped me know I don't know near enough!

 

[Arne]

You can check your hydrometer with water. Distilled water is the best as it should give you the right reading, but your tap water should read close to 1.ooo. Way high or way low, you have a problem with the hydrometer. Arne.