So far so good????..Help!!

[cmcca27966]

I have had a batch of welch's concord in secondary fermentation for about 12 days. My starting SG was 1.110 at 73 degrees F. and for the past 3 days my SG is .990 at 73 degrees F. I would like to rack the wine and top it off at this point and move it into a 63 degree F. room to begin the aging process(hopefully 8 or 9 months). I have Bentonite, Potassium Sorbate and Campden tablets and I have used nothing up to this point. I read so many conflicting ways to use them that I don't know where to begin..
Can someone tell me what my next move is going to be??

 

[Arne]

Sounds like your ferment is about over. Rack it over, add a campden tab. for each gal. crush them up well before adding. Let it sit, after a month or two, it will be time to rack it off the fine lees again. Add a half tab per gal and rack. Let it sit. Should clear after a few months. Oops, degas after racking. After it clears, add campden and sorbate if you are going to sweeten. If not, you do not need the sorbate. Now you can either let it sit in the carboy or bottle. Don't forget to sample along the way. Arne.

 

[djrockinsteve]

You may rack to clear now. Use your bentonite, if you need guidance let us know. Add the sulfite, degas and let it clear a month to 6 weeks with airlock on. After then rack to clean Carboy and age. Keep wine topped off. Sample only if you have enough.

 

[cmcca27966]

do i have to degass it or can i let it go naturally? I plan to age it for 8 or 9 months..Do I have to add bentonite at this point or can i see if it clears on its own?

 

[Loner]

I would degas for a bit to get the biggest part out of my wine. It's not a must to use bentonite .. It will aid in clearing but is not a "must do".

 

[Loner]

This is a Welch's batch that just started its fourth month .. I didn't use bentonite on it. It's clearing nicely

 

[cmcca27966]

Awesome color!! why does the color come out so light?
I just racked my second and last batch for now. It's a White grape peach. SG started at 1.120 and ended at 1.000. I had my wife taste it and she said Ohhhh my God you can taste the alcohol in it!!! I am hoping maybe it will mellow out with time. Moved them both into my cellar. My temps are 65 as opposed to 74 that i used for fermenting. I plan on bulk aging both until November. Any suggestions???

 

[Loner]

I back sweetened with strawberry breeze concentrate. I too have a pretty good alcohol bite. I expected that with a 15% abv. It should smooth out a bit over the next few months.

 

[cmcca27966]

I am a little uneasy about back sweetening is there a way to do it or a method for a beginner? Oh your from Jackson Ms. I hunted there some years back with This guy who owned Moses Electric. I love Ms. and would love to live there some day!

 

[cmcca27966]

Hunted on some land along the pearl river I think...

 

[Loner]

Mississippi is a great state for an outdoorsman. I hunt and fish (a lot) and spend hours with the GrandKids on the pontoon.

It's no big deal to back sweeten. On a 5/6 gallon batch I add a couple of cans of concentrate or mix 1 cup of sugar to 2 cups of liquid and stir it into my wine. Taste it and add more as needed. On the batch I pictured above I added four cans of concentrate to a six gallon batch. The sweetness should come forward even more over time as the wine smooths out. My bunch tends to like sweet over dry.