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?
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?
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