Recent content by broy

I think I'm ready to bottle a batch of red. Although I added K-meta tablet I'm seeing white spots and patches on the surface. It's not foam and I hope not a fungus of some sort. Should I be freaking out?

I'm not sure if I should add sugar. It does taste pretty dry right now. If I can wait a while I can pick up some supplies in a couple of weeks including the sorbate. Are you saying that if I don't sugar then I can skip both the k-meta and the sorbate? I've got about 3 or 4 gals. in a carboy...

I don't have any sorbate and live a long way from supplies so I'll disolve a Campden tablet and call it good. I also don't have a vacuum pump or wine whip. Is there a home remedy? Thanks again for the help.

No, we didn't this time. Is it necessary and if so can it still be added? What about peptic enzyme which we also didn't use this time? Thanks for the help-enjoyed the "Thought for the day".

now what We racked the wine and the S.G. is now a bit less than 1. I'd say .997. I still hear the occasional bubble come up through the lock. There was some white scum on the surface before racking but we left this behind with the sediment. Are we still o.k.

scum I brought the carboy upstairs where it's warmer and fermentation has restarted. I've noticed a bubbly scum on the surface which didn't occur with last year's batch. Is this a bad sign?

Never checked the SG at the beginning but used 2 cups of sugar for 20 lbs of grapes and 2 gal. water. It's in the basement so nowhere near 75 degrees. I'll bring it upstairs but here in Idaho in November it's hard to find a room that's 75 degrees. If degassing means removing the airlock there...

We did our second batch of Dry Concord this fall and after 5 weeks (three in the fermentor and two in the carboy we've got a SG of 1.000 and there does not seem to be any activity. Tastes good, though. Do I need to add more sugar; should it be more active? Thanks for any help.

Sorry, let me convert that for Luc. I added about 400 grams this morning. I just checked it tonight and it's at 1.020. Originally there were about 9 Kg of grapes and 8.2 liters of water.

Is there a limit to when I shouldn't be messing with the sugar anymore? For some reason your latest suggestions didn't show up this morning so I took mmadmikes advice and added 2 cups. That raised it to about 1.030. It also says that after 5or 6 days (it's been 7 days) when the SG reaches 1.030...

specific gravity Thanks. Let me clarify. The recipe I followed says that the SG should be at least 1.095 in the beginning and that it will drop to 1.030 after 5-6 days. So if it was only at 1.050 to start and it's 1.02 now after 6 days, should I try to bring it up to 1.095 now or to 1.030 or what?

My first try is a Concord grape wine. One week ago I followed a recipe for Concord grape wine. After a week it seems to be progressing but I learned that I should have added more sugar. The starting SG was only about 1.050. I think it should have been around 1.1. After a week it's down to 1.2...