We have several Pindo Palms on our property. Last year I made enough jelly to keep the neighborhood in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a couple of years. If you don't clean up the fruit as soon as it falls off the tree the backyard will smell like a brewery so I thought why not wine?
I have never made wine in my life nor have I ever seen anyone make wine other than my grandfather when I was a small child and I never knew anything after the grape juice was extracted so I don't have a thing to go by. I ordered a kit from EC Kraus that you use your own fruit. I also ordered an extra bucket with tap and lock. Although they sent a book , I need to be treated like I am in Kindergarten with step by step on what to do.
I picked, washed, pitted and froze the fruit a couple of weeks ago. I started with 15 pounds to hopefully make 5 gallons of country wine. Last night I cleaned my fermenting bucket, laid out the fruit to thaw and this morning I started. This is what I have done.
I put about 2 1/2 pounds of fruit at a time in the bag and squeezed until the 15 pounds was done. After completing the squeezing I did an acid test. I am thinking this fruit is high in acid to begin with. It took 4cc of the sodium hydroxide to make it change colors and stay. Is my thinking right and this is high acid or I may not have known what I was doing and got it all wrong to begin with. I did not add any acid when I mixed the other indredients.
I next poured in 10 pounds of sugar and then added my water up to the first ledge of the fermenting bucket. I think it is a 7 gallon bucket so I am assuming I guessed the 5 gallon mark more or less correctly.
I crushed and added 5 campden tablets, 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient and 1 1/8 teaspoon of pectic enzyme. I did not add any acid (should I?)
I stirred all of this up. There are gobs of un-melted sugar in the bottom. Is this normal?
I pulled the Hydrometer from it's case. First time I have ever seen one in my life. I did not have anything tall enough to float the thing in so I just stuck it in the fermenting bucket. My reading is in the red on 70 where it reads "Start Wine". Is this right? I noticed most of the recipes has a start reading of 1.080 or more. How do I increase or decrease a reading and since I read 70 what is the actual reading?
I just placed the lid over the top of the fermenting bucket (did not screw it down) and placed a clean towel over the top where the hole is for the air lock. Did I do right by this? Speaking of air lock. I just examined that thing and it has a cap like a medicine bottle over the top and no directions either. When I get to the point where I use an air lock do I remove the cap or not.
Please let me know everything I have done wrong and what to do to correct it before I add the yeast tomorrow.
Sorry my first post is so long and thank you for reading this far!
Brenda
< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" =""><div id="ref">< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" =""><div id="ref">
I have never made wine in my life nor have I ever seen anyone make wine other than my grandfather when I was a small child and I never knew anything after the grape juice was extracted so I don't have a thing to go by. I ordered a kit from EC Kraus that you use your own fruit. I also ordered an extra bucket with tap and lock. Although they sent a book , I need to be treated like I am in Kindergarten with step by step on what to do.
I picked, washed, pitted and froze the fruit a couple of weeks ago. I started with 15 pounds to hopefully make 5 gallons of country wine. Last night I cleaned my fermenting bucket, laid out the fruit to thaw and this morning I started. This is what I have done.
I put about 2 1/2 pounds of fruit at a time in the bag and squeezed until the 15 pounds was done. After completing the squeezing I did an acid test. I am thinking this fruit is high in acid to begin with. It took 4cc of the sodium hydroxide to make it change colors and stay. Is my thinking right and this is high acid or I may not have known what I was doing and got it all wrong to begin with. I did not add any acid when I mixed the other indredients.
I next poured in 10 pounds of sugar and then added my water up to the first ledge of the fermenting bucket. I think it is a 7 gallon bucket so I am assuming I guessed the 5 gallon mark more or less correctly.
I crushed and added 5 campden tablets, 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient and 1 1/8 teaspoon of pectic enzyme. I did not add any acid (should I?)
I stirred all of this up. There are gobs of un-melted sugar in the bottom. Is this normal?
I pulled the Hydrometer from it's case. First time I have ever seen one in my life. I did not have anything tall enough to float the thing in so I just stuck it in the fermenting bucket. My reading is in the red on 70 where it reads "Start Wine". Is this right? I noticed most of the recipes has a start reading of 1.080 or more. How do I increase or decrease a reading and since I read 70 what is the actual reading?
I just placed the lid over the top of the fermenting bucket (did not screw it down) and placed a clean towel over the top where the hole is for the air lock. Did I do right by this? Speaking of air lock. I just examined that thing and it has a cap like a medicine bottle over the top and no directions either. When I get to the point where I use an air lock do I remove the cap or not.
Please let me know everything I have done wrong and what to do to correct it before I add the yeast tomorrow.
Sorry my first post is so long and thank you for reading this far!
Brenda
< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" =""><div id="ref">< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" =""><div id="ref">