Degassing

[Grancru]

Welcome everyone. I am new to this forum.

One week ago I bought 7 cases of Cabernet grapes, had them crushed/destemed and are now fermenting naturally in two 15 gal. mini brew fermentors.

I push the cap down three times daily but am not sure if I should be activley mixing to degass on a daily basis. I have a mixing unit I made for my drill that works great. Should I use this? If so when and how often? Took a reading yesterday of 1.2 so still a ways to go for dry.

I have successfully made many meads/molemels but this is my first attempt at grape wine. I would like to complete the wine with no additives if possible.
Any direction for success is greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately my photos are to large to post here.

 

[AlFulchino]

first off...welcome

second...reduce the photo size via many of your programs on your computer and they will fit here...pics are worth a thousand words


as far as no additives....do you call sulfite one? if so, then just realize you run the risk of long term spoilage..maybe even short term..sulfites are not necessarily the bad thing they are often made out to be...and teh grape that you chose, the cab, is one of those wines that like and benefit from time in a tank or bottle

as far as degassing goes...your pressing of the grapes will take care of most f that...as also will any rackings...and of course...simple time

kits are the degassing king

i have never once in all my years ever needed to degas wine made from grapes via a manual method such as w a drill or vacuum assist

 

[Grancru]

 

[ibglowin]

Hi John,

First, welcome to the FVW forums!

Glad you found us. Love the Mini Brew set up.That is pretty neat.

Couple of questions. Was wondering where you got the grapes from that came so nicely boxed? Did you check the pH, TA etc before hand?

So, you are letting this ferment with just natural yeast that was on the grapes? Your not worried about off flavors, a stuck fermentation etc from using "natural yeast"?

Are you saying your not going to add any sulfites? Or are you just going to manage them closely?

Once again, welcome!

 

[Grancru]

Thanks for the welcome.

The grapes came from a company in Detroit called California Wine Grape Co.
http://www.californiawinegrapeco.com/

I am following the direction of a friend who makes wine every year and to be honest I was quite amazed by the lack of sanitation in his process compared to what I am used to with my meads but it has been successful.

I did no pH or TA only because I was not aware I needed to. Speaking with the folks at California Wine Grapes I was told to ferment using the natural yeasts and would get a great flavor. This was hard to sink into my head and I asked multiple times to be sure I was hearing it correctly. I am into it this far so I will let the fermentation go and deal with a stuck product should it happen.

I do not use sulfites in my meads but if it is highly recommended with grape wines than I will add it. This is a learning process for me right now so any suggestions are welcome!!!

Here is a little journey through California Grape Wine Co.

 

[ibglowin]

Sulfite is a good friend that will protect your "investment" from spoiling and turning into brown vinegar. It is a necessity unless you like drinking green wine and plan on drinking every bottle in 12-18 months.

pH and TA need to be checked on all fresh grapes. Too low a pH and your wine will make your lips pucker, too high and it will turn brown and not be able to age well. Most Cali grapes tend to fall with in a normal range for pH and TA so your more than likely OK. Chemistry is just something you have to do when working with fresh grapes. Even a kit has been balanced by an expert so you (the winemaker) don't have to worry about it, but someone did worry about it before it got to you.

The reason you add sulfite immediately to your grapes is to stop the "wild yeast" from fermenting your grapes. Yes, they will go to work on it if you let them but the problem is you have no idea what type of yeast is sitting on your grapes. Could be a pretty good wild yeast, could be just a mediocre one. Do you really want to roll the dice with $200 of grapes? Some wild yeast are really good at producing hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) making your wine stink to high heavens........

Cultured yeast do a much better job of pulling out color and flavors as well as tolerating tough conditions (such as high temps, high alcohol, low O2, low pH) and will work like a trojan to finish off your wine to dry every time.

Remember you will have to feed your yeast some nutrient along the way or you really will be looking at a stuck fermentation.

Good luck and keep us posted! Looks like you have a nice setup!

 

[robie]

Welcome!

You said your reading was 1.2 yesterday. What is 1.2? Do you mean an SG of 1.020, since an SG of 1.2 is not practical? At 1.020, fermentation is well underway, so you couldn't do much about the yeast now, anyway.

 

[Grancru]

Yes, you are correct 1.020 is the correct reading. I feed it some nutrients this morning to prevent it from getting stuck and will pray to the yeast God for a flavorful outcome.

 

[robie]

Fermentation is well underway and you are getting closer to the time for pressing your wine. At what point do you plan to press?

At this point don't worry, if the grape supplier said to go the natural route with the yeast, one has to assume they know where the grapes came from and what to expect.



It will be fine and you will be a happy camper, I'm sure.

 

[Grancru]

I plan to press when the OG reading is around 1.000 or slightly less unless someone has a better idea.

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome to the forum. I am glad you found us as there are many knowledgeable people here that will steer you in the right direction. I enjoyed your pictures and reminds me of my trip down to the strip in Pittsburgh last week. They have several produce companies that do the same thing.

 

[ibglowin]

So these guys sell grapes AND crush and press for you onsite..........

So not fair!

What do they want for cab per lb?

 

[Grancru]

Yeah, these guys will do EVERYTHING for you if you like from selling just the grapes to the final product (wine). You can see all the carboys and oak barrels in my photos of those that chose to have them make the wine for them.

I paid $36 a case and the cases say 36 lbs on the side. $2 a case to crush and de-stem. Don't know what they charge for the rest.

 

[ibglowin]

Thats a pretty darn good price for Cali grapes shipped to Detroit.

Were they in good condition?

Just saw your sig,

 

[Grancru]

The grapes were in excellent shape. We spent about 3 hours there eating grapes of every kind trying to decide which ones to buy. The shipment had just come in. Good supply of each grape from multiple growers (Cali and Chilean) to choose from and what a difference there was in taste, sweetness, size, ect. Never washed my hands so many times...sticky!

Crapped like a song bird for days.