First batch of wine, got a few questions.

[stevolution]

I am new to the wine making world so I figured this was a good place to be. Me and my wife picked up our vintners best wine kit yesterday with a box of Island mist strawberry white merlot.. We started last night with cleaning all the equipment going to be used and sanitizing everything. Then mixed the needed ingredients, before adding the yeast we had a gravity of 1.050. Added yeast and air locked now just waiting..

First question. The guy that sold me the wine said that these kits can pretty much be drank straight after bottling. Is is true? Also I've been reading about people adding sugar ontop of the original ingredient .. Why is this done and is it neccarry? Also the instructions say to g straight from the primary fermentor to the carboy and that is where it will finish but im reading alot about people racking from primary to a carboy and then to another carboy. is this necessary or should I follow the instruction to a "T" I'm sure ill have more questions soon.. Thnx

 

[bakervinyard]

Stevolution, Welcome to WMT. I would suggest To just follow the directions if they are your first kits. Also people add more sugar up front to increase the alcohol amoumt. Yuo can drink these kits right away. I' ve made the strawberry merlot before used it as a sangria base wasn't bad . Bakervinyard

 

[stevolution]

Awesome thanks for the advice. I will be following the kit instructions then. I'm going to the shop Tuesday to pick up a degasser and auto syphon.. Also I was wondering although you can drink this wine right after bottling will it see any improvement with aging in a bottle??

 

[Abrnth3]

You can drink immediately after bottling. If you choose you can rack it into a second carboy and let it age another month then bottle or just do half and you can see the difference in taste between the two. Later you can try other experimentations. Some add more sugar at start up to increase alcohal and others will add sugar at bottling to sweeten the final product. If you choose to back sweeten besure you use sorbate to prevent refermentation. Good luck and keep us informed with your work.

 

[Tess]

you can drink the Island Mist right away..I add about 2 1/2 lbs of sugar to the primary to raise the alcohol level a bit in the Island mist. if you don't its more like a wine cooler. The reserve I would age as long as possible. Just me!

 

[stevolution]

Is there a general rule on how much the alcohol goes up by how much sugar. And I'm sure this is a newbie question but what do you mean by reserve?

 

[FABulousWines]

Here's a good link that relates SG, sugar, and potential alcohol:

Hydrometer/Sugar/Alcohol Tables

 

[stevolution]

Thnx for the link will take much studying to learn how to use it.. If I'm reading it now I think you should if I have a wine base with a SG of 1.05 it has a alcohol level of about 6.6 and if I where t add 2 lbs of sugar this would take the SG up to 1.145 and a alcohol level of about 19.2 witch seems like some strong wine lol.. Am I just reading it wrong .. I won't be adjusting my mixes for a while I just like to learn everything I can about the hobbies I enjoy.. So if it seems like I don't know anything about this because I don't and I Iam not trying it annoy anyone with my stupid questions..

 

[GaDawg]

I have made the Orchard-Breezin and I added 4 lbs of sugar to get an SG of 1.080

 

[FABulousWines]

Thnx for the link will take much studying to learn how to use it.. If I'm reading it now I think you should if I have a wine base with a SG of 1.05 it has a alcohol level of about 6.6 and if I where t add 2 lbs of sugar this would take the SG up to 1.145 and a alcohol level of about 19.2 witch seems like some strong wine lol.. Am I just reading it wrong .. I won't be adjusting my mixes for a while I just like to learn everything I can about the hobbies I enjoy.. So if it seems like I don't know anything about this because I don't and I Iam not trying it annoy anyone with my stupid questions..

No stupid questions my friend. I do think you may be misinterpreting the table though. What it is saying is that at an SG of 1.045 there is the equivalent of 1lb of sugar per gallon. If you want to get your SG to 1.085 you will need to raise that to 1lb 14oz of sugar per gallon. Then you have to take the difference since your must already has 1lb per gallon in it. So that would leave you with 14oz per gallon. For a 6 gallon batch that would be approximately 84 oz or 5 lbs 4 oz. I always put about half in first and remeasure to make sure I didn't screw up something. If it is where I expect it to be, I add the rest. Make sense?

 

[saramc]

stevolution....
Welcome to WMT! Might I recommend, if you have not yet found it, do some reading on Jack Keller's site, http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/, scroll to the bottom of his page and you can start reading thru the various sections which will explain the basics.
Also, as to why you commonly see people talk of transferring, aka racking, the wine from primary container to carboy and then another carboy a month or two later is because this is the process as wine is clearing. If you do not rack over a series of months then when you bottle you will likely end up with a lot lees in your bottled wine.
As you start building your batches, talking of alcohol content, you also need to know that different yeasts have different alcohol tolerances. You may want to bookmark this page: http://winemakermag.com/guide/yeast

And remember, patience will pay off; but you will be able to enjoy your chosen kit essentially once it is ready. That is the good thing about the 'mist-style' kits.

 

[jamesngalveston]

everything that people have replied back to you is good advice..

you can find wine degass tools all over. there is choices.
vacuum degasing is by far the easiest.
its expensive but well worth it, you can make your own if your handy but i would buy one if your going to do more wines.
you can buy a brake bleeder and convert it, but it is very time consuming.
I use egg white in my blackberry wine, and it is excellent.
I have tried sparkoloid in my dragon blood, and for me its way too slow.
I have used super kleer 4 times and its just about overnight.
Again...do some reading, there is tons of finning/clearing agents.

 

[stevolution]

Thnx for all the great advice . This is why I love forums so much help and not the "oh another newbie" Attitude with. I just got home from my local home brewing winery. Picked up a whip style deggasser, bottle drying tree, auto syphon and a water blast bottle cleaner. Looking into buying another complete setup so I can make two batches at once.. After I get a couple under my belt with the kits ill start trying to add some sugar and trying from juice.

I guess my next set of questions has arrived lol
-can the primary fermenter be opened at any time? I know I I need to check the gravity before first racking but will opening to check it mess up the process at all if its not time?
-do I need to sanitize my drying tree and water blast cleanser?

Can't wait to transfer this into the carboy so I can at least see it hahaha..

 

[saramc]

I guess my next set of questions has arrived lol
-can the primary fermenter be opened at any time? I know I I need to check the gravity before first racking but will opening to check it mess up the process at all if its not time?
-do I need to sanitize my drying tree and water blast cleanser?

Can't wait to transfer this into the carboy so I can at least see it hahaha..

I do not seal my primary, regardless if using a bucket or carboy; but your kit may tell you to use airlock immediately (follow instructions of kits). My primary bucket just has lid resting on top or a thin towel covering (to keep debris out, but allow oxygen in). But if you have your primary container under airlock and it is still fermenting, there are no worries about opening to stir 1-2x/day, add nutrients, etc. There is a layer of CO2 covering the liquid since it is still fermenting. But of course you do not want to go nuts opening a sealed primary repeatedly on any one day, make the most of that opportunity.

Anything touching your must/wine needs to be cleaned and sanitized. They are two distinct, necessary steps. Establish the good habit now.

 

[stevolution]

Well today is day 5 of primary fermentation and my kit says to check after 5-7 days.. Still deciding if I want to check the gravity tonight or wait it out.

 

[saramc]

Well today is day 5 of primary fermentation and my kit says to check after 5-7 days.. Still deciding if I want to check the gravity tonight or wait it out.

What is the next step after this? Does it give you a target SG for day 5-7? If you check it tonight, and it is 'on target' are you prepared for next step?

 

[robie]

Well today is day 5 of primary fermentation and my kit says to check after 5-7 days.. Still deciding if I want to check the gravity tonight or wait it out.

Doesn't the kit say that at a specified SG, to transfer the wine from primary fermentation bucket to a secondary carboy container? If so, you do need to check it. It won't hurt anything to open the container and check the SG.

One thing to consider is - when a kit says something should take a specified number of days, sorry to say that is really more of a ballpark number. Each fermentation is different and time can very a lot, based on factors like temperature and several others. So, go by what the hydrometer says... but you do have to check the SG in order to know.

Waiting it out won't work. I suppose you mean to wait until the air lock stops bubbling??? Because the wine is going to be blotted with CO2 gas, it may bubble out slowly for weeks after fermentation is completed. You really do need to check the SG to know what is really happening.

Stress not! We all have gone through exactly what you are experiencing. It's a fun learning experience and you WILL get it!!!!

 

[jamesngalveston]

i cover primaries with muslin and secure with rubber band..I check it daily.
just to make sure its working , and to get that good yeasty smell of fermentation..

 

[stevolution]

That really answers my main question. I was afraid that the fermentation would be disrupted by opening it. I did know not to rely on the bubbles in the airlock which stopped or slowed way down a couple days ago. My kit calls for it to be in the primary fermenter for 5-7 days and should have a SG of 1.010 or less and then to proceed to racking into carboy..

Next question is how long does sanitizer last once mixed. I'm using the easy clean that cam with my kit..

I will be checking the SG here in a couple minutes.. Ill keep everyone posted
Thong again everyone

 

[jamesngalveston]

do not rely on the bubbles in air lock...first thing i was taught here.
rely on your hydrometer, and check your temperature, it does have an effect....it can throw you off, and their is a thread here on how to calibrate
your hydrometer....its not hard.