Beginner Here.

[Czaccary]

I currently just started my journey and very excited for the future! I have my primary fermentation going at the moment with a tight lid and a airlock- that’s what the instructions told me so that’s what i did. ( however i have seen a lot of debate on whether to not have a airlock or keep a loose lid. So I’m currently on the research of that myself)
If in theory i did go my air lock with a tight lid i wouldn’t want to open it at any point of the next 14 days correct? I’m assuming that’s the idea of keepin it all locked up in the first place? I do see people seeing after 5-7 days the primary is ready to go and they measure the stuff but would i want to open my tight air lid to check or just continue the 14 days?
Also going into my secondary fermentation I’m determined I’m going to add the same wine to fill the head space so I’ve seen is a pretty good .

 

[Rice_Guy]

Welcome to Wine Making Talk

Fermentations are fairly forgiving, you can thumb your nose and it still works.
Yeast need to reproduce and build a population to quickly/ safely do their job. Yeast budding requires oxygen so it is useful to be oxygenated when starting. (FYI your package mixing whips in oxygen) ,, At about 1/3 sugar reduction the density of yeast is high enough that they stop budding and switch to consuming sugar mainly producing alcohol and CO2 . ,,,, As a fruit wine maker I try to filter out any fruit pulp at about 2/3 sugar reduction and put under air lock, ,, knowing that outgassing will create a safe reductive environment again. ,,,, If I was a red wine maker I would know that the polyphenols are antioxidants so I could thumb my nose at RiceGuy and run an open primary down to 0.991 safely.

So-ooo ,,, Fermentations are fairly forgiving, you can thumb your nose and it still works.

 

[winemaker81]

Most of us cover the fermenter with a towel to keep "stuff" out.

Kit instructions are designed for a beginner, who has no experienced helpers, make a successful result. As such, the instructions are simplified and will produce a good result. Not necessarily the best, but one that you can be proud to serve.

If you're making a juice-only kit (no skin packs), you can do your first racking between 1.010 and "done", where "done" is when the SG <= 0.998 and is stable for 3 days. As I said in the other thread, use your hydrometer, not a calendar. Yeast refuse to use a calendar -- they are stubborn like that.

After the first racking, then put the wine under airlock. If there is activity, I leave a bit more headspace for 7-14 days, or until the ferment finishes.

Alternately, some vendors that include skin packs (including Finer Wine Kits - FWK) say to seal the fermenter and put under airlock at 1.010, and leave it for 2 weeks. This allows the ferment to finish and is a short Extended Maceration (EM), in which the skin packs soak in the wine, which extracts more tannin and constituents from the pulp.

Topup wine should be a similar or compatible wine, e.g., if you're making Merlot, topup with Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

[BigDaveK]

The recipes for my first wines (5 months ago) ALSO mentioned lid and airlock from the get go.
But then I also opened it up and stirred the crap out of them twice a day because I knew they needed oxygen. So what's the point of an airlock, I asked myself.
I started to use just a towel (still stirring the crap out of it) after the first couple wines.

Welcome! You've come to the right place. Definitely some wine making gurus here. (And I'm certainly not one of them. Maybe some day?)

 

[Czaccary]

The recipes for my first wines (5 months ago) ALSO mentioned lid and airlock from the get go.
But then I also opened it up and stirred the crap out of them twice a day because I knew they needed oxygen. So what's the point of an airlock, I asked myself.
I started to use just a towel (still stirring the crap out of it) after the first couple wines.

Welcome! You've come to the right place. Definitely some wine making gurus here. (And I'm certainly not one of them. Maybe some day?)

so now do you use a towel over the bucket during primary fermentation? do you stir still daily even with the towel? im assuming once measure it and have the right # it goes into secondary/

 

[winemaker81]

so now do you use a towel over the bucket during primary fermentation? do you stir still daily even with the towel? im assuming once measure it and have the right # it goes into secondary/

I use old beach towels, which will cover a 32 gallon Brute. [Rubbermaid Brute trashcan, purchased new for winemaking.]

Towels and stirring are not related. The towel keeps "stuff" out. Stirring and/or punch down the cap keeps the cap wet and introduces O2 the yeast needs to reproduce.

@BigDaveK, you don't to stir hard. I scrape up the lees back into suspension and ensure any bubbles or residue on top are mixed in.

 

[Czaccary]

I use old beach towels, which will cover a 32 gallon Brute. [Rubbermaid Brute trashcan, purchased new for winemaking.]

Towels and stirring are not related. The towel keeps "stuff" out. Stirring and/or punch down the cap keeps the cap wet and introduces O2 the yeast needs to reproduce.

@BigDaveK, you don't to stir hard. I scrape up the lees back into suspension and ensure any bubbles or residue on top are mixed in.

I like the idea of the old beach towels, and the brute. do you fill that 32 gallon up? thats alot of extra substances im assuming right? then you transfer all of that into multiple carboys?

also when referring to the cap youre meaning the top of the surface of the wine correct?

 

[winemaker81]

I purchased the Brutes for grapes, putting 4 or 5 thirty-six lb lugs in each. Each will hold nearly twice that, but they are difficult to move. Last fall I made 2 triple FWK batches, and that filled them 2/3. For protection against overflow, never fill a primary more than 3/4 full. I make regular kits in 7.9 US gallon primaries.

One triple batch went temporarily into three 19 liter and one 3 gallon carboy. The other went into a 54 liter demijohn and a 19 liter carboy. After clearing, they went into 54 liter barrels, 3 gallon carboys, and various smaller containers.

Must - wine before it's wine, either juice or juice + fruit solids.

Cap - fruit solids floating on fermenting wine, held up by CO2.

Pomace - fruit solids after pressing.

Gross Lees - fruit solids that have sunk to the bottom of the fermenter.

Fine Lees - yeast hulls that have sunk to the bottom of the fermenter.

 

[BigDaveK]

I use old beach towels, which will cover a 32 gallon Brute. [Rubbermaid Brute trashcan, purchased new for winemaking.]

Towels and stirring are not related. The towel keeps "stuff" out. Stirring and/or punch down the cap keeps the cap wet and introduces O2 the yeast needs to reproduce.

@BigDaveK, you don't to stir hard. I scrape up the lees back into suspension and ensure any bubbles or residue on top are mixed in.

I admit what I said was vague. When I say "stir the crap out of it" I meant the time it takes to get a homogeneous solution not an action that would require taking a mop to the floor and walls. I'll need to choose my words more carefully.

 

[winemaker81]

I admit what I said was vague. When I say "stir the crap out of it" I meant the time it takes to get a homogeneous solution not an action that would require taking a mop to the floor and walls. I'll need to choose my words more carefully.

Communicating via text is really hard, isn't it?

I add glycerin at bottling time, and getting it to dissolve is a PITA. I have a measuring cap that looks like a heavy drinking glass -- makes measuring ounces easier. I add however much glycerin to the cup, then hold it low in the primary I'm racking into, and direct the hose into cup. Even after a minute of running the wine into the cup, the glass will have a noticeable sheen from the glycerin.

About half way through the rack, one of us will use the drill-mounted stirring rod to stir the wine from the bottom, at a lower speed than for degassing. We use the same method as degassing, just slower speed to ensure the glycerin dissolves (change direction every 30 seconds for 3 minutes). Once the rack is complete, we stir again.

We don't go to quite this much effort when backsweetening, as sugar dissolves much easier, and our version of "sweet" is a LOT less than most folks so we use a lot less sugar. But it's best to ensure it's well dissolved.

 

[wineview]

so now do you use a towel over the bucket during primary fermentation? do you stir still daily even with the towel? im assuming once measure it and have the right # it goes into secondary/

I typically place a loose lid on the bucket and cover that with a towel moistened with Star San. The towel is squeezed out of course.