My first batch.....

[SamWar]

Hey all !!
Sam here and I decided I wanted to learn to make wine. I purchased a 5 gallon kit last Saturday. I picked up the ingrediants... Here's what I have in the Primary Fermenting Bucket
20.75 #'s of Black Plums
14#'s of cane sugar
5 campden tablets
5 tsp Fermax Yeast Nutrient
7 1/2 tsp Acid Blend
1 package Redstar Cote des Blanc active dry wine yeast
I added water to the 6 gallon mark to compensate for the fruit weight.
The plums were split in half, stone removed, the I used a fruit juicer to grind the pulp out. I used a pairing knife to place multiple slits in the skins. All is in the mesh bag.
I waited 17 hours to add the yeast.
(I was not staying up till 1am to make it 24 hours)
The pre-yeast readings were as follows....
Potential Alcohol by volume-- 17%
Percentage of Sugar (Balling) -- 30%
Specific Gravity--- 1.128

And that is where I am at so far... Sunday evening after I added the yeast I stirred it several times. One Monday morninf and again several times last night.
Last night it had a good head of foam and the air lock was perking along at roughly 1-2 times per second.

So tell me what you all think I am doing right or wrong. I am all ears.

 

[dralarms]

Other than high sg, it looks good. Not sure if that yeast will hit the potential alcohol content. You may have residual sugar once its finished.

 

[Deezil]

Where's the SG at now? Have you tested to see how far its moved?

I'm imagining that your ferment wont go "dry" - to an SG of <1.000
Thinking its gonna stop in the 1.020-1.030 range, which is fairly sweet

Post-fermentation, stabilizing would be smart since this is your first batch - adding k-meta & sorbate to keep fermentation from starting back up

I would 'bulk age' it for a while before bottling to make sure it doesnt decide to start up again anyways

The residual sweetness might make this easier to drink, earlier but the 'recipe' sounds decent so i dont see why (sanitation practices assumed) it couldnt stand up to some age.

You didnt really do anything wrong, just made wine one out of several different ways to do it... Alot of people here are fans of fermenting 'dry' then stabilize & 'backsweeten' to bring out more of the original fruit flavors... Just keep reading here, and you'll find all kinds of ideas & tweaks to work into your process

& keep us updated

 

[SamWar]

Will do and thank you !
I am not sure where the sg is at now as I have not tested it. I did not know if you could do that during fermentation or not.
If I have residual sugar will stabilizing it prevent it from kicking back off ? I had planned on racking it at least three times.
If it winds up being daily sweet that is good as that is what we like. We are not fans of a dry wine as of yet.....
What do you mean by "bulk aging"??
Thanks again,
Sam

 

[SamWar]

I just got home and took readings......
Specific Gravity-- 1.090
Percent Sugar (Balling) -- 28
Potential Alcohol-- 12%

So I've dropped the following...
Specific Gravity .037
Percent Sugar -2
Potential Alcohol - 5%

 

[kashew201]

Pm sent hope it helps

 

[SamWar]

Thank you very much !!!
It is nice to have found a group who is willing to answer questions !!

 

[Deezil]

Will do and thank you !

Notta problem

I am not sure where the sg is at now as I have not tested it. I did not know if you could do that during fermentation or not.

Sure can, i do it daily on most ferments - but i like good notes

If I have residual sugar will stabilizing it prevent it from kicking back off ? I had planned on racking it at least three times.

When fermentation is done, the lees have fallen, its been degassed and it's basically clear... Stabilizing at that point will keep any yeast still hanging around, from getting active again

If it winds up being daily sweet that is good as that is what we like. We are not fans of a dry wine as of yet.....
What do you mean by "bulk aging"??
Thanks again,
Sam

Bulk aging is a term used for leaving the wine to age in a larger volume than bottle-size - most times its a jug or carboy. It's fermented, cleared, stabilized, and aging all-together in 'bulk'.

 

[SamWar]

Gotcha. That is what I thought stabilizing meant. As I said I am planing on racking it at least 3 times over a period of 6 months. But I am anxious to start a new one !!
Seeing the change overnight from a "Funky" smelling mess to having a sweet plummy smell with a noticable alcohol smell was amazing. Then I did have a taste last night as well. Very neeat to see, smell and taste the changes that are happening.

Thank you all again for your help !!

 

[SamWar]

When I got home this evening the airlock was perking a bit slower. It is plucking along at once per second. I've stirred the tank twice and it smells about the same as last night. Maybe more of an alcohol smell... I tasted it again and it was not as strong tasting. When I had a nip last night I could feel the alcohol in my mouth. Tonight it was there but not as strong. I could taste the plums more so. The bubbles in the tank are very fine ones not like the larger ones I had last night. I am hoping to be able to rack it into the carboy this weekend. We shall see.

 

[Deezil]

Just rely on your hydrometer to tell your where the ferment is.. The airlock will continue to bubble even after fementation, because the liquid is still saturated with co2..

The smells usually change as the fermentation progresses - but again, rely on your hydrometer..... Pay attention to all the changes your seeing, but dont rely on them - they're important but the hydrometer has the final say.

Fine bubbles are usually co2, sometimes MLF but thats usually innoculated (started on purpose) - large bubbles are air thats been mixed in, or large/excessive amounts of co2 (like you'll see in the very first couple stirs after fermentation's really kickin)

 

[SamWar]

I follow what you are saying about the hydrometer.
I just stirred again and tasted it again. This time I paid more attention to the flavor and how it ended. It is sweet on the front then in the middle I can taste the plums. On the end it was dry. I looked up the term and I lerned that dry in my case indacates tannins. That would make sense with all the plum skins I put in there.

 

[SamWar]

Hey all, I've been stirring the primary ferment tank several times a day. Since it is slowing down and will be ending in several more days do I need to stop stirring the tank so the lees settle to the bottom ?

 

[cpfan]

a current sg would be nice to know. The ferment may be finished, and the wine is just out-gassing.

Steve

 

[SamWar]

Thanks Steve, I will get one tonight when I get home.

 

[Thig]

Thanks Steve, I will get one tonight when I get home.

Sam, I am sort of struggling with the same problem right now. Not really knowing what I was doing with my first try, I started with an SG of 1.110 and I am now down to 1.036 but I think it has stalled out. I am going to measure the SG for a couple more days in a row and see if it has in fact stopped. If it has I will try to decide what to do with a wine that is too sweet.

 

[SamWar]

See I actually want mine to be a bit sweet. So I am hoping it stays that way. My starting SG was pretty high.

 

[Thig]

See I actually want mine to be a bit sweet. So I am hoping it stays that way. My starting SG was pretty high.

Just checked my SG again and it is down to 1.032 so there is movement, just very slow.

 

[SamWar]

Hey all, I just got home a bit ago.... The airlock is bubbling at once every two seconds.
The readings are as follows....
S.G. 1.042
P.S. 11
P.A. 6%

I have tasted it again and it is not as sweet as yesterday still fruity in the middle and not as dry on the end. There is a bit of a spicy after taste.
So far so good ? ?

 

[dralarms]

1.04 is still pretty sweet. Of course I like sweet wines

I just checked your starting sg and it may stop around 1.025 maybe down to 1.020 but with a starting sg of 1.128 it may not go much farther.