a real wine dummy

[tnterryt]

hello folks you are lookin at a complete dummy when it comes to wine making. i have a old recipe that is only half bushel of grapes bunch of sugar twelve pounds i think anyway and alittle water i did how the hand writen recipe said to do it turned real sweet. Just recieved a wine making kit that come with a hydrameter, 5 gallon better bottle , bucket and other things i think im reading almost off the scale at the bottom i have 1.100 then below that 10 and so on untill it floats at 42 does mean 1.142? is there any thing i can do to make this stuff not as sweet ?

im tring to get more smarts about this stuff
thanks terry in middle tn

 

[dessertmaker]

Add a wine yeast and let it ferment. Premier Cuvée by fermentis is a good yeast to start making wine with. It's what I made my first batch with. I dont know how well it will work with Blueberry though.

Blueberry's a hard wine to get started from what I understand so you may want to read up on it before you add anything

Once it ferments it won't be as sweet.

 

[Duster]

1.142 is too sweet for the yeast to start. You will need to dilute it down. Assuming started with about 40lbs of grapes (1/2 bushel) and assuming you haven't added anything but sugar, I would add about 4 gallon of welch's grape juice then recheck your SG. this should put you in the 1.085 to 1.100 range.
I would also add pectic enzyme wait a day, add K-meta, wait a day, then pitch the yeast.
If you do not have a large enough carboy, you can split you current must into two batches and freeze one for a while. Just make sure it is up to room temp before adding anything to it when your ready to use it.

 

[tnterryt]

since I put this recipe to use i see that the ingredents are way off from what i am finding here i am guessing that the large amount of grapes where used to get enough "wild yeast" to fermet? by addind the "wine yeast " you dont need as much friut. with a reading of 1.142 does this mean that i have 4gallons of sweet crap with a Alcohol level better than 15 percent? yea i know i need to get a good book. I have a long way to go to be a winemaker

 

[Itch]

Would like to see a picture of the reading.

 

[tnterryt]

i tried to get a photo but my cheep camera blurs everything that close if this helps the tube floats very high in the jar about 3/4 inch above where the tube starts to get larger

 

[Ernest T Bass]

Duster, I've been doing this wine making wrong since I started 3 years ago. I have always added the k-Meta on the first day, let it work for 24 hours and then add the pectic enzyme and other stuff and let it soak for 24 hours, then add the yeast. Did I misunderstand what you are saying or does it make any difference in the order that you add K-Meta and other stuff??
Thanks
Semper Fi
Bud

 

[loumik]

Duster, I've been doing this wine making wrong since I started 3 years ago. I have always added the k-Meta on the first day, let it work for 24 hours and then add the pectic enzyme and other stuff and let it soak for 24 hours, then add the yeast. Did I misunderstand what you are saying or does it make any difference in the order that you add K-Meta and other stuff??
Thanks
Semper Fi
Bud

Ernest T,
You have been doing it correctly. K-meta first to kill off or stun any wild yeast, then the pectic enzyme, then yeast.
LOUMIK

 

[tnterryt]

ok i followed Dusters advice added 2 gallons of welchs juice to two gallons of this mess and the SG came to 1.100 i added 4 crushed campden tablets. tomorrow i will add pectic enzyme and the next day the yeast thanks to yall maybe this ole man from middle TN will make some drinkable wine

 

[tnterryt]

1.142 is too sweet for the yeast to start. You will need to dilute it down. Assuming started with about 40lbs of grapes (1/2 bushel) and assuming you haven't added anything but sugar, I would add about 4 gallon of welch's grape juice then recheck your SG. this should put you in the 1.085 to 1.100 range.
I would also add pectic enzyme wait a day, add K-meta, wait a day, then pitch the yeast.
If you do not have a large enough carboy, you can split you current must into two batches and freeze one for a while. Just make sure it is up to room temp before adding anything to it when your ready to use it.

i pitched the yeast this morning and it is bubbling along this evening should i put this under a air lock or just cover the airlock hole with a towel?

 

[Dend78]

just cover to protect from dust and bugs