What's my next step.... when?

[bover907]

What's my next step.... and when?

Here's where I'm at....

Welch's concord grape from concentrate, 6 gallon batch 3cans/gal. My first batch.

9/17/12 Starting SG 1.090
9/18 day2 Pitched EC 1118 yeast, about 18hrs later signs of life
9/19 day3 really good fermentation going. (I was afraid the 7.9gal bucket was going to overflow)
9/20 day4 SG was 1.044, still going strong.
9/21 day5 In the morning, the SG was 1.023
By Evening, was down to 1.015, Racked to Carboy,
added 1/2 cup of med toast oak chips, and fixed air lock
9/22 day6 Fermentation seems to be winding down over course of
the day.
9/23 day7 (today) air lock slowed down to about 4 bubbles per minute. No more significant foam on top of wine, just a little ring around the edge. So I'm guessing it's pretty close to dry, right?

So, at this point, I'm wondering, should I take an SG reading, and perhaps taste the wine, or leave mother nature take over for a few days? I've read a ton of threads, and some seem to leave it alone, while others seem to check SG almost daily. I hadn't tasted this at all yet.

I read that you should taste it when racking out of primary, but I only found that out today, 2 days after I'd racked it. It never occurred to me to go tasting an actively fermenting wine, lol. When you do taste wine that's still actively fermenting, do you actually drink a sip, or just taste and spit it back out? (you know thought of a zillion yeasties, lol)

So, should I check sg and taste it, or wait until it's been in the secondary container for a week to 10 days?

 

[cpfan]

Well I wouldn't have checked the sg as often as you already have. Started on Monday the 17th, I would probably have checked the sg for the first time today (Sunday 23rd), or tomorrow depending on my availability.

Once the sg was definitely below 1.005, I would move the wine from primary to carboy.

Steve

 

[SBWs]

What you should be looking for now is a readings below 1.000 that doesn't change for 3 days. Than it's time to stabilize and degas so the wine can start clearing.

I'm a little confused why you put the oak chips in when you did. It won't hurt anything, but you will most likely have to rack off the sediment in the next week or two and the chips will be lost. This is all part of the learning curve, like I said it would hurt anything, and you can always add more later.

 

[bover907]

I'm a little confused why you put the oak chips in when you did. .

What I'm looking for is this wine to be ready around mid to late December. I know that's pretty quick on the wine scale, and hopefully with some back-sweetening, I can accomplish this. I'm guessing if kits can be ok in 4 6 or 8 weeks, that I can have this acceptable in three months, start to drinking. I figure if I get a batch or two of cheap juice decently drinkable in short order, I can leave the better more $$ stuff age appropriately.

With that said, My plan was to have this stuff oak for this 10 days or so before I do a fining (if needed), and bulk age until bottling around the 2nd week of December. Otherwise I wouldn't care how long it took.

One of the reasons I started making this, is to not have to give the state store my $$ all the time. Additionally I want to being able to make different wines that my wife and I (differing tastes) will enjoy, and we can have fun making.

Yes, I definately have some learning to do. BTW, Scott, I checked Pete's store out and it's definitely nicer than the other store I mentioned in the PM.

Thanks!

 

[winemaker_3352]

3 months is rather early - it might be drinkable - but probably better if you let it go another 6 months to a year or longer if you have the patience...

 

[Thig]

Brian, I have a batch getting close to the same point you are at so I hope you don't mind me jumping into your thread to ask a similar question "what's next?" I plan to bulk age in the carboy, so if I plan to do the following when should they be done:1. sulfite, 2. adjust acidity if needed, 3. backsweeten, 4. stabilize.

I know number 1. should be done as soon as fermentation is over to protect the wine, number 2 I am not sure about but I would think along with number 1, and 3 and 4 Iwas hoping to do right before bottling. Am I on the right track here?

I have not tasted mine yet either.

 

[bover907]

Well Thig, we can compare notes, that's for sure, so I don't mind you jumping in at all. What's the sense of two of us at the exact same stage making two side by side threads, right?

What I'm gathering is we should be patient, and let mother nature do her thing at this point. The reason I checked the SG and racked, was because I did notice the action had peaked and was starting to slow down a bit. Since I was stirring twice a day, I figured what would it hurt to take an SG reading.

I noticed some people transfer to carboy at around 1.020, some much closer to 1.000, etc and I think that's largely a matter of personal preference. My take on that is I'm guessing that transferring when there's still some fizzing going on, as opposed to when it's done is that the CO2 will naturally purge the air out of the head space in the carboy. Then we can leave it ferment to dry, and settle out some naturally.

To do the last week over, I probably would have waited one more day to transfer mine, because it still foamed up pretty good for the next day or so, and I was kind of afraid it'd foam over. Luckily it didn't.

What I've decided to do from here, based on feedback and reading, is give this stuff about 10 days to two weeks, Rack with sulfite addition, degass if necessary, and top off and leave it until about the Beginning of December. Then I'll clarify only if needed, Stabilize, Back-sweeten, wait another week, and Bottle.

Someone correct me if this is out of sequence, please. Again, Thanks to everyone here for this great community and all your help!

 

[Thig]

Sounds like a good plan to me, are you going to test/adjust acidity. I have an acid test kit and I was going to check that. Checking the SO2 level before I add sulfite sounds a little more complicated and from what I read the test kits are not that good for red wines. I will probably just add a "standard" amount of sulfite for 5 gallons and hope that does it.

 

[robie]

So, should I check sg and taste it, or wait until it's been in the secondary container for a week to 10 days?

The tasting is just a learning tool. It is good but necessary to taste as you go so you can begin to develop an understanding of what each phase does for the taste. Once you have done this for a few batches, you will know and won't have to taste it so often in the future.

As was mentioned, you don't need to check the SG that often. However, it is a similar learning tool, so checking it often on your first batch or two will help give you a better idea about the rate of fall of the SG as the bubbling in the air lock slows. Anymore, I check the SG before I pitch the yeast, then don't check it again until the bubbling in the air lock slows considerably.

Just know that each time you open the wine to check the SG, you are subjecting the wine to oxygen, which can oxidize the wine over time.

 

[Thig]

Bover907,how is yours coming along? Mine is in the carboy with the airlock bubbling about once every 5 seconds. I suppose when the bubbling stops I will add Kmeta and reattach the airlock and let it age some. It has only been in the carboy 3 days but seems to be clearing very slowly. Impatient but just from not knowing what to expect.

 

[bover907]

I was out of town on a long fishing trip yesterday, so I didnt' see this until today.

Mine went into the carboy on the 21st, and all I've really done is let it sit there under airlock since. It's still bubbling the airlock ever so slowly. I'm guessing that's the last bit of fermentation going on, more-so than just gas naturally escaping. There's still bubbles sliding up the side of the carboy, but they're really small and much less concentrated than before. I don't think I've had any appreciable sediment come down yet. The color still looks consistent from top to bottom.

Not sure what my next step is going to be, but either way it goes, it's probably not going to be until around Oct. 1st (10 days in the carboy). Then what I do next is going to depend if there's lees settled out, or not.

The most confusing part to me, is I read so many conflicting opinions on what order people degas, stabilize, and clarify. I'm still researching that, but I still have a little while to decide.

 

[SBWs]

After the wine is done fermenting it is important to get the SO2 levels up to keep the wine from oxidizing and bad things from growing in your wine. This is where the k-meta comes in 1/4 tsp for 6 gallons of wine.

If you plan on backsweetening before the next 90 days then you would also want to add the sorbate (yeast birth control) at this time. This stops the yeast from multiplying anymore and keeps if from starting to ferment the sugar you add when backsweetening. I wait 90 days (after degassing and clearing) and then add the next dose of k-meta along with the sorbate and then backsweeten. I feel I can adjust my sweetness level better at 90 days, than when the wine is still green.

After you have the wine safe from oxidizing it can be degassed. (Safe may not really be the right word here, but it's safer than without k-meta.)

Easy way to remember the order here is if gas is going up it carries partials with it making the wine a lot harder to clear.

Once the wine is degassed you should see it start to clear within hours. If it doesn't clear on it's own, or you are in a hurry, you can add a clarifier.

 

[bover907]

Thanks, Scott. And that's what I think I'm going to do. I want to have this done by the holidays. I know that's kind of young, but we're talking Welch's here, and I know that especially the first few bottles I drink are going to be young wine, but I'm ok with that. Just want to get a little cheap stuff done to hold me over so I can leave the better stuff I make later age properly.

Here's my plan and if anyone sees anything wrong, or if this is out of sequence, please let me know.

1. Oct 1st (10 days in secondary) rack with K-meta, and degass, and top off.
2. Leave it settle out until around 1st week of December. If it's clear, rack off sediment with k-meta and sorbate. If it's not clear, add sparkalloid, and let it settle out, then rack with the k-meta and sorbate
3. Then about a week later, I'll backsweeten
4. If all's well about 3 days after backsweetening, I'll bottle.

 

[bover907]

Racked the wine after the Eagles game Sunday night. Vacuum Degassed after racking and topping off.
SG had been .098 for the past couple days. There was somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2in of tightly packed lees at the bottom of the carboy. The wine was starting to look a tiny bit clearer each day, but it still has a good way to go. Hopefully the degassing helped.