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[Tom]

1st I would stabilize after you rack from primary providing it fermented dry.1 week later I would degas aftrer you add fining agent.

What is the best time to add fining agent? Should I clarify my wine before degassing and stabilizing or after? I need to know the proper order of these steps. Can someone please put degassing, fining, stabilizing, and bottling in order for me.

 

[klutz]

I started some must 6 days ago. I can't tell you the name of my grapes, since I don't know. At the start, SG was 1.050. I added sugar according to the tables to bring it up to 1.090. I have kept the must in plastic pails at between 19 to 21 degrees celsius. Now, 6 days later, I have separated the liquid from the grapes and put the liquid in a carboy, adding some of my own raw table-grape juice (about 1 quart) and water to make sure the carboy is full. SG is now 1.000 (before adding the juice etc.) Is my wine done? Why is it already so low? Should I be adding more sugar? I am not interested in high alcohol content, except if that is necessary to keep the taste perfect.
Also, I forgot to make sure the table-grape juice was at room temp. when I added it, though the water I added just after was tepid. Don't know if I didn't anything bad there. My second try only. Please help!

 

[sour_grapes]

I think you will be fine. I do not think you should add any more sugar. As it stands, your wine will be about 12.5% ABV. Unless you know that this will be a bold wine (and you don't), this seems about right.
As far as the time frame, I don't see anything unusual here. 6 days is not particularly short to go from 1.090 to 1.000.
And I would not worry about the temperature, either. Room temperature and/or tepid will not make much difference. I think you should relax and enjoy a glass of wine!!

 

[klutz]

Thank you, but now I have another question...then I will relax I just racked the wine, because there was so much stuff on the bottom. Now, nothing is happening at all by the looks of it. Should I not have done this thing? or will it go on fermenting later?

 

[sour_grapes]

SG is now 1.000

Thank you, but now I have another question...then I will relax I just racked the wine, because there was so much stuff on the bottom. Now, nothing is happening at all by the looks of it. Should I not have done this thing? or will it go on fermenting later?

You did the correct thing by racking off the sediment. Now you wonder if it will ferment more later. What do you propose it will ferment? The sugars were very nearly depleted when you racked. There is almost nothing more to feed the yeast. Very little visible activity will happen from here on out. They will slowly, over the course of a week or three, eat everything that is left. At that point, you will have a SG of 0.990 to 0.995 (give or take), and you will be done.

Usual advice is to go by SG. If it is lower than, say, 0.995, and remains the same for 3 days in a row, you can call it done.

 

[klutz]

A week or three. Ok, thanks. Then I know what to look for.

 

[jlshores]

Mold or Dried Yeast???
I crushed my grapes last Saturday
SG 1.065 added sugar to make 1.09
Added K-meta
Pitched yeast late Sunday
Left on Business trip Monday and had family punch down cap while I was gone.
Looked at Must Friday morning and there is a white film on must and the cap has not risen like i usually see.
Is this mold? and if so is there a way to rescue the Batch?

Thank you.

 

[winetortoise]

I'm making beautyberry wine and it's about day 6 or 7 days.

I pulverized the berries, seeds and all, into a mush, and then diffused heating in water with the sugar. Fermentation has been going nicely, but my question is should I continue to plunge the must on top (it's mostly only translucent skins) even now, or should I just let that thin layer rest on top until primary is finished?

So far, I've been remixing them back down into the brew every day. Should I continue to immerse them back down, or leave the layer alone at this point? Should I simply scoop or siphon these out if they seem totally expunged? The yeast seem to be working beneath the liquid surface and so beneath the layer of skins on top.

 

[1stfinger]

Black Muscadine must will not ferment.

I put EC118 yeast to my must at 3:00 PM and at 5:00 PM I could see no fermentation action so I rehydrated another packet of yeast for 15 min. at 106 degrees and added that second packet of the same yeast. When I look at it now I see a very small amount of bubbles on top of the must. I used a PH meter and the PH was 5.5. I do not know if my meter is correct. Does the PH have an effect on fermentation?
Another affecting factor may be the way In processed the Muscadines. I froze them for a few weeks, then thawed them in a water bath. Next I chopped them up seeds, skins and all in a blender to the consistency of preserves and added Tannen, Campden tablets, and yeast nutrient. After 14 hours, I added Pectic enzyme. After 27 hours, I added the first packet of EC1118 yeast.
Please tell me what you think.

 

[olusteebus]

I am not really comfortable answering these questions but by posting, hopefully some with more experience with whole grapes and fruit will chime in. However, here are my thoughts

Mold or Dried Yeast???
I crushed my grapes last Saturday
SG 1.065 added sugar to make 1.09
Added K-meta
Pitched yeast late Sunday
Left on Business trip Monday and had family punch down cap while I was gone.
Looked at Must Friday morning and there is a white film on must and the cap has not risen like i usually see.
Is this mold? and if so is there a way to rescue the Batch?

Thank you.

Havng used kmeta, I think you are ok. Is the sg dropping any?

I'm making beautyberry wine and it's about day 6 or 7 days.

I pulverized the berries, seeds and all, into a mush, and then diffused heating in water with the sugar. Fermentation has been going nicely, but my question is should I continue to plunge the must on top (it's mostly only translucent skins) even now, or should I just let that thin layer rest on top until primary is finished?

So far, I've been remixing them back down into the brew every day. Should I continue to immerse them back down, or leave the layer alone at this point? Should I simply scoop or siphon these out if they seem totally expunged? The yeast seem to be working beneath the liquid surface and so beneath the layer of skins on top.

It seems to me that you have plenty of tannins in the mix so I think you should use a strainer to remove them.

I put EC118 yeast to my must at 3:00 PM and at 5:00 PM I could see no fermentation action so I rehydrated another packet of yeast for 15 min. at 106 degrees and added that second packet of the same yeast. When I look at it now I see a very small amount of bubbles on top of the must. I used a PH meter and the PH was 5.5. I do not know if my meter is correct. Does the PH have an effect on fermentation?
Another affecting factor may be the way In processed the Muscadines. I froze them for a few weeks, then thawed them in a water bath. Next I chopped them up seeds, skins and all in a blender to the consistency of preserves and added Tannen, Campden tablets, and yeast nutrient. After 14 hours, I added Pectic enzyme. After 27 hours, I added the first packet of EC1118 yeast.
Please tell me what you think.

It takes some time for the ferment to show signs. Sometimes a couple of days. If it is not showing signs now, I would be concerned.

 

[winetortoise]

It seems to me that you have plenty of tannins in the mix so I think you should use a strainer to remove them.

I figured that much, and so I cleared some of them out and then went ahead and racked it into second fermentation. Thanks for your assurance.

 

[Jlars72]

So I recently found out about sparkoloid. I'm a noob at wine making and am experimenting with fruit bases. Is there any reason why I shouldn't add it to all of the wines I'm making to help clear it faster?

 

[Bartman]

So I recently found out about sparkoloid. I'm a noob at wine making and am experimenting with fruit bases. Is there any reason why I shouldn't add it to all of the wines I'm making to help clear it faster?

You could - some folks do that. I personally don't because I use very few clearing agents of any kind. If you bulk age for 3 months or more, your wines will become largely clear on their own, mostly due to gravity. I would rather keep my wines as clear of non-grape additives as possible, than to have it clear a little faster, especially in the case of dark red wines, where clarity is not so critical.

 

[Jlars72]

Thanks Bartman. Do you by chance have a recipe for a dark red?

 

[Bartman]

Thanks Bartman. Do you by chance have a recipe for a dark red?

A recipe for a dark red wine? Get some dark red grapes and ferment 'em! I'm not sure what you mean by a "dark red". The last Malbec I made was so dark it stained the inside of the carboy and all of the bottles I put it into, but I don't think that's what you meant...