First Batch

[Lizerdking]

Getting ready to start the first batch (5 gallons)... I've been reading extensively, I'm going to list out what I'm planning and let you all chime in and tell me what i'm missing or can expect


Starting with a banana slurry/soup:

I'm going to boil down 5# of banana's using the recipe on here, the only modification i'm planning is adding a couple pounds of raisens and a dozen peppercorns to give it more flavor.


My Must:

10 Cans Welches concord
mixing with 3 gallons of water and stirring to aerate it out a bit
Mixing in the banana slurry and an additional 2# of blackberries
Then adding the remaing 2 gallons (having inverted 6# of sugar in it) until i get a sg of 1.095-1.105 (a little plain water here as well to get up to 6 gallons of must)
Then mixing in 1/4 tsp potass metasulfite and 5 tsp yeast nutrients
Letting it sit about 12 hours and adding in the activated yeast mixture

@ 3 days i plan on stirring it up and pushing down any sort of fruit cap i accumulate

and around 5-7 days start checking sg to see if it gets to about 1.02, once it does it gets strained into the secondary

secondary it stays in until sg is <= 1.0 and fermentation has stopped, then it gets racked.

re-rack every 30-60 days or so until it stops leaving lees, add extra potass metasulfite every other racking...

once it's clean, do a final rack and add 2.5 tsp potass sorbate and 1/4 tsp potass metasulphite, and bulk age it for a month or more.... then move to bottles for final aging...


Anything I'm missing, screwed up, should watch out for?

I'm looking for a deeper red with some berry/peppery undertones... I like red zins, malbec, cabs, syrah/shiraz, and any blend of the above... Am i going to wind up with anything similar when this finishes?

I'm thinking about adding some oak chips to the must to get some woody flavors, but i haven't decided on that for sure yet...

 

[chachi44089]

I made a welches batch without any extras "banana and such". I started with a sg of 1.100 and ended up with too high alcohol content in the end. About 14.7 I think. The alcohol reallly overpowered the wine. I would shoot for about 11-12 abv. I also used 3 cans per gallon as recommended by others on here. Others on here with more experience may correct me as I am still a beginner.

 

[robie]

Be sure to rinse the raisins, if they are not organic. They might have been soaked in sulfites.

Good luck.

 

[Lizerdking]

Thanks Chachi, I might up the rasberries to compensate then.... Consider the raisins rinsed and soaked.

Anyone Else?

 

[Lizerdking]

Well it's all in the primary....

Instead of raisins i mushed up 4 bunches of store grapes and 2 14oz bags of frozen blackberries....

Added in the straining from the banana soup with peppercorns

Inverted a little over 5lbs, 10 cans of Old orchard grape, and water to get up to the 6Gal mark, initial SG was around 1.1 (hard to tell with the bubbles and pulp)

5tsp of yeast nutrient and 1/4 tsp phosphate and let it set overnight..


Warmed the yeast in some water with a tsp of the sugar mixture in for about an hour this morning, and pitched.

 

[djrockinsteve]

After mixing everything up add your k-meta then wait 12-24 hrs. and add some pectic enzyme for 24 hours before adding your yeast.

Yes that may be too high a abv, but whatever you want. May be better around 1.080-1.092

 

[chachi44089]

You should add pectic enzyme to the must as prescribed. It helps break down the fruit pulp and aids in clearing later. A must of 1.100 is pretty high consideding the fruit will add even more as it breaks down. You may have focket fuel I feel. You may finish over 14%.
Addiing more fruit will be adding more sugar..

 

[Lizerdking]

Wasn't going for rocket fuel.... A small amount of Table grapes and frozen store blackberries... I measure sg after mashing and letting it sit overnight... meh, if it comes out too strong, can i start another batch at 1.06 and then blend?

 

[chachi44089]

Add pectic enzyme..Wait 24 hours, then measure.. You added 5 pounds bananas, twp pound blackberries, 4 bunches grapes and then measured at 1.100..The fruit is still holding a bunch of sugar. Dont blend. no need to. just let it run. It will dilute a bit when back-sweetening. That worked fine for me. The pectic enzyme helps break down the fruit so it can release its sugar. You will get a more accurate sugar reading if you do this. I think you will be ok, you can fix it all in the end if needed. I would f-pack at the end, it will sweeten and dilute the alcohol content down to a more reasonable level. Let -er-rip! I am still new, but I hope others will chime in

 

[Lizerdking]

Well, I lifted the lid and stirred it tonight. It's bubbling like a fresh poured warm coke, smells yummy, and SG has dropped to 1.055 or so...

 

[chachi44089]

Sweet..Let it go till below 1.010 and transfer. I think you are well on your way to wine! Keep us posterd as you progress..

 

[Lizerdking]

Ok, so probably tomorrow, we're at 1.01 now.... 2.5 days? Too Fast?

 

[chachi44089]

All sounds good. Its not too fast. All batches seem to ferment at different speeds for me. Some go fast, others just chug along slowly. Let the wine tell you when to go to the next step. Just let it finish to dry in the secondary untill the sg is the same level for 3-4 days. Then rack, degass, stabilize and add fining agent. Then wait some more....