something not right

[697713132]

this was my first attempt at wine making,
I cleaned everything using one step,
I used a recipe for blackberry wine, a known recipe,
i used fresh berries and every thing the recipe called for,
after 9 days in primary i racked over to clean carboys
after 7 more days it quit fermenting or at least bubbling,
I've waited 7 more days, today i cleaned my wine thief and that glass thing that checks content, i inserted my thief into a carboy, the top third looks like wine the bottom 2/3s is kinda milky looking, i dropped the glass deal in and it sunk almost all the way, i tried a small taste, tasted kinda slightly like vinegar.
anyone know what i did wrong,

 

[Turock]

Vinegar production is due to two things--not enough sulfite and too much headspace allowing too much surface area of oxygen to contact the wine.

 

[cpfan]

this was my first attempt at wine making,
I cleaned everything using one step,
I used a recipe for blackberry wine, a known recipe,
i used fresh berries and every thing the recipe called for,
after 9 days in primary i racked over to clean carboys
after 7 more days it quit fermenting or at least bubbling,
I've waited 7 more days, today i cleaned my wine thief and that glass thing that checks content, i inserted my thief into a carboy, the top third looks like wine the bottom 2/3s is kinda milky looking, i dropped the glass deal in and it sunk almost all the way, i tried a small taste, tasted kinda slightly like vinegar.
anyone know what i did wrong,

Except for the "slightly like vinegar" everything sounds good to me. It sounds like the wine has stopped fermenting (no bubbles and hydrometer sank), and is now clearing (wine is stratified).

Did you happen to record the reading from the hydrometer?

Steve

 

[DoctorCAD]

Raw blackberry wine tastes pretty bad. Make sure it is done by hydrometer, stabilize and back sweeten to taste.

 

[697713132]

1 inch head space, in neck of carboy,
no I didn't take that reading, just got in the meter glass thing,
but like I said when I put it into the wine thief it sank except for about 3/8 inch, I'm not sure of the vinegar taste but for sure not good funny taste, and what about it being milky looking in 2/3 of the thief, my carboys are food grade 5 gallon jugs but not clear, I start with a blue 12 gallon barrel food grade, then I have these, to which I then have 5 gallon pony kegs set up to accept stoppers and airlocks for my longer term fermenting, I've tried to do right to make red type fruit wine,, at least I hope I have, so I need to let it set for a month to clear then maybe rack, or do I add more sugar and attempt a restart, sorry for these questions, I spent weeks reading up on this before trying, but as is seen I'm no where even close to prepared,, not even close, any advice would be greatly needed, I'd sure like to make this work,

 

[BernardSmith]

What do you mean by the "meter glass thing"? Is this an hydrometer or is it something else? What was your recipe? And were the barrels and buckets all new or had they been used for storing food? If the latter, what kinds of food?

 

[697713132]

yes hydrometer,
barrel I don't remember the food product it had, but was bagged and never came in contact, the 5 gallon containers had syrup in them, the 1 gallon and 2 half gallon carboys were new, all containers were soaked in one step, each their own batch, none reused, then dried for 5 days then redone again the same way,

 

[olusteebus]

It sounds to me that your wine is dry -through fermenting. If you can, take a hydrometer reading. If it is at or below 1.000 and stays that way for three days it is done fermenting. If so, a potassium meta bisulfide (kmeta) and sir ate. I bet your wine is ok. Give it a month back sweeten. Let us know the sg and how sweet you want it and someone will tell you how much sugar you will need.

 

[697713132]

my hydrometer sinks past any marks, the wine is between 2/3 and 3/4 milky, if I let this settle then rack off, then will my hydro meter float like I see in pictures, the recipe I used called for 20 lb blackberries and 10 lb sugar, the nutrient, pectin enzyme ad a couple other things, i did adjust the recipe to fit 12 gallon instead of 5, i live down south and pick my own, after i get this going i hope to then start with the elderberries i picked and now have in the freezer,,,

 

[697713132]

another thing is this hydro meter, it has 3 scales on it, ABV, BRIX, SPECIFIC GRAVITY, do i read the SG, for this reading

 

[Turock]

specific gravity

 

[697713132]

am I better off to try super kleer or something like that or wait,

 

[DoctorCAD]

Whst is the SG reading? And 3/4 under is NOT a reading.

That is the defining number to know what the next step will be?

 

[Thig]

I know we all started somewhere and I am still learning, but I think some time reading the basics of making wine would help.

 

[697713132]

I didn't give 3/4 under as a reading, I said 2/3 to 3/4 was milky and that the hydrometer sank except for the last 3/8 of clear glass, so after getting your question I refilled my thief, but to day their was no milky looking stuff and the SG reading is 990 which it the very top number on the SG side of my hydrometer, I hope I explain this correctly, this is new to me but I do wish to learn,
I can an do raise fruit, vegetables, several kinds of meat, I can and I did till my health went down hill make some killer well clear drink, which the tech for that was shaking the jug to check bead, so these terms and all this adding and doing and use this and don't do that will take my awhile to learn so I don't sound as stupid as I really am,
when I frist seen what was going with the must I started to pour this out, i' glad I didn't and ask instead, that 40+ pounds of hand picked black berries would have made my jam for the year,,,lol
but I would very grateful to know how to continue even if I do take baby steps, and get my hand spatted now and then, thank you all,

 

[BernardSmith]

Given what you say it sounds like you are on the right track and perhaps you simply need to be patient and allow your wine to age a little.
A reading of .990 suggests that for all intents and purposes there is no sugar left in the wine because all the sugar that was in the fruit has fermented and what you have is now wine. Not sure what the look of milkiness might be except that I would expect any fruit particles to slowly fall out of suspension as the yeast stops producing CO2 and as the yeast itself slowly flocculates and drops out as sediment and lees.
My guess is that the wine may need to age to allow the fruit flavors to push forward but it may also need to be sweeter than a reading of .990 suggests. I would not stabilize the wine yet but allow the wine to clear and all the sediment to drop. That may take many months. My approach - for what it is worth - is to rack your wine every 2 or 3 months into a clean and sanitized carboy into which you have added the equivalent of 1 Campden tablet for each gallon of wine. (I would crush and dissolve the tabs in water). This will help the wine degas and clear. When it has stopped dropping sediment I would stabilize the wine (using more Campden tabs - or the active ingredient - K-meta and I would add K-sorbate. The latter inhibits yeast from reproducing but it is only really effective if you have a few stragglers and not a whole colony of healthy yeast). Stabilization will prevent any refermentation from occurring. This is an issue if you add sugar to sweeten the wine -

 

[697713132]

thank you, then I will now wait, and rack a few times,

 

[Arne]

Try drawing a bit of your wine, maybe a small glass. Add a little sugar, stir and taste, add some more, stir and taste. If t hat helps your flavor, you are going to have to learn a bit of patience. You have a very young wine and some of them taste well, not very good. As they age, the flavors tend to come out and the wines usually taste better. The three hardest things to learn in winemaking are patience, patience, patience. This is a quote directly from Tom, not from me, but I have learned to live with it the hard way. Once you get several batches under your belt, the patience is easier. That first one is tough, you want it to get done so you can drink it. Been there, and good luck with your project. Arne.

 

[697713132]

thank you arne,
hehe you are dead on,
I have always been the patient type,
but in this case it is tuff, so like the seemingly addicted on here (lol)
i'll just start me a new batch of something else, shoot with keeping a empty carboy for racking I can do 4# more 5 gallon batches,
so i'll just practice my patience by making more,
it's as easy to wait on a total of 6 as is will be on these 2 alone,
so just as you say I will be very patient ,,,
I wish to thank all ya'll for your time and advice,,,

 

[LoneStarLori]

It does sound like you have done everything right. You mentioned using Super Kleer. As bernard said, you certainly could let it settle naturally. If you're wanting to see more immediate results, you could use the super kleer. I use it quite often. Keep in mind it will not help your wine age or bring out the flavor any faster, but it won't look as milky and can help the mental process of hope. Follow the directions to the letter by adding side A then waiting AT LEAST an hour before adding side B. Be sure to stir it in really, really well after each addition.
Here are some pictures that might help.


This is about 30 minutes after adding Super Kleer. You will immediately see it starting to flocculate and settle to the bottom.

Hydrometer reading at a dry red wine. This is almost .994. You should't include the small part the started to climb up the sides of the hydrometer