Mosti Mondiale Got my Gewurztraminer!!

[Mike1973]

Got my All Juice Gewurztraminer from George today!!! Going to let it sit inside for a day since its been in hot fedex trucks for the last 5 days. Question for the pros here though...Do you actually lift the bag out of the bucket or just leave it in and pour. 4 gallon kits seem a bit more manageable in this area
I'll post some pics tomorrow night! This is my "set it and forget it" kit to let age while I make some shorter ones.

 

[Joanie]

Trying to pour from the bag is like juggling Jello! Heavy Jello!

Siphon as much as you can into the primary and you won't spill it!

 

[Mike1973]

Trying to pour from the bag is like juggling Jello! Heavy Jello!

Siphon as much as you can into the primary and you won't spill it!

No no no, thats too easy

Here I am trying to think up all these interesting tricks but I guess I bypassed simplicity!!!

 

[Joanie]

You can do it the hard way if that suits you!

 

[Mike1973]

Nope, I'll keep it easy

 

[uavwmn]

Mike, as good as that juice is, I would siphon it in the primary like Joan suggested. Don't waste a drop!!!

 

[Mike1973]

Well, started the batch tonight! Starting SG is 1.086 which is right in the middle of the accepted range. Had a bit of a heart attack when I realized my brother had my racking tube and I thought the Auto Siphon was too big, but it fit just fine. Camera is dead right now so I didn't get any pics but there itsn't much to see at this point anyway The Mosti instructions say to mix the must for 3-5 days but George's instructions don't say anything about that. Should I mix it or doesn't it matter?

 

[Joanie]

If by "mix" you mean "stir", yes! Stirring your must every day during the initial fermentation incorporates oxygen into your must and helps the yeasties do their work. It will make them happy.

This is the time when you want to add oxygen to your must. When your hydrometer reads 1.020 or less and you rack to your secondary, you will give the yeast another good shot of oxygen so they will finish fermentation. When you get there, that's the time to avoid adding oxygen as it will cause oxidation and turn your beautiful white wine brownish like a bruised peach or banana--fruit's version of oxidation!

Keep your posts coming! I love reading your progress!

 

[Mike1973]

Thanks for all the info Joan!!! I'll kind of use this as my "tracking thread" for this batch. I'll give it a stirring everyday!

 

[Mike1973]

Opened it up and there was some good sludge on top. Mixed it back in, was surprised how much it was foaming from the stirring after not even 24 hours. Took an after pic but its over the size limit so I have to find that post about shrinking pictures...
Edit: There we go, that image resizer is great!

Edited by: Mike1973

 

[Joanie]

Looks delish! I'll bet it smells even better!

 

[Mike1973]

Its getting there. Noticed the smell of fermenting wine when I came home tonight, airlock is bubbling away

 

[Joanie]

I love that smell!!!

 

[uavwmn]

Mike, looks really really good! Let me know how this one turns out. I have this one on my "maybe to do list" in the Fall.

 

[Mike1973]

Mike, looks really really good! Let me know how this one turns out. I have this one on my "maybe to do list" in the Fall.

Will do! Its fermenting away, the place smelled like a winery this morning but like Joan, I rather enjoy the smell!

 

[Mike1973]

Completed the 1st rack tonight. Have it sitting in the sink for now after reading all these "volcano" stories. I actually racked the 1st gallon into a 1 gallon jug and then the other 5 into the carboy and waited a bit before I added the gallon back in, hopefully that'll help. I have a few questions but have to do some cleanup first!

 

[Joanie]

It looks good! Might that be another kit hiding behind your empty primary???

 

[Mike1973]

It looks good! Might that be another kit hiding behind your empty primary???

Yep! Thats a WE White Merlot. A friend loves White Merlot so I told her that we would make a batch but I wanted to kick this one off first.

Ok, couple questions on this...I want to bulk age this for a few months. After reading it seems that there are several ways of doing this, here is what I think my plan is...I'll do everything per the instructions, add the clarifiers, etc and probably filter (I have to use my Vinbrite filter that I got!) and then let it sit for 3 months, add some K Meta and bottle. Does that sound good?
Also, this kit came with a bottle of conditioner, am I supposed to add it all? I know that its all subjective to taste but is it like a WE F Pack where you know you are probably in good shape adding it all or do you have to add, taste, add, taste, etc?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[Joanie]

The aging part sounds right. What do the directions say about adding the wine conditioner? They should say.

 

[Mike1973]

The aging part sounds right. What do the directions say about adding the wine conditioner? They should say.

Thats the kicker, the instructions don't say a thing about it. They also said to add yeast nutrients at this step but there were not any. George's tutorial for Mosti kits says to add the conditioner at day 28...