Hello,
I received some red grapes from a friend. I have no idea what kind they are but they did taste like what I think a wine grape would taste like. For sure it was not a table grape. The vines were not kept care of like a typical wine producing vine would.
Anyway I thought I would give it a try. I crushed them and while I was waiting for the campden tablets to do their thing I took a sample of the must and got an acid test done. It was a little low so added some tartaic acid. The hydrometer reading was pretty low, 18 brix, and after some research I added sugar.
Well I think the grapes were not ripe yet, hence the low brix, and therefore the juice I tasted last night, from a hydrometer sample, fermentation almost done, was super tart. I have two ounces of oak chips in the must now.
Can anybody please tell me how, or if, I can get the wine from the point of puckering to what a nice dark red wine should taste like?
I received some red grapes from a friend. I have no idea what kind they are but they did taste like what I think a wine grape would taste like. For sure it was not a table grape. The vines were not kept care of like a typical wine producing vine would.
Anyway I thought I would give it a try. I crushed them and while I was waiting for the campden tablets to do their thing I took a sample of the must and got an acid test done. It was a little low so added some tartaic acid. The hydrometer reading was pretty low, 18 brix, and after some research I added sugar.
Well I think the grapes were not ripe yet, hence the low brix, and therefore the juice I tasted last night, from a hydrometer sample, fermentation almost done, was super tart. I have two ounces of oak chips in the must now.
Can anybody please tell me how, or if, I can get the wine from the point of puckering to what a nice dark red wine should taste like?