I started my first GP kit last night. CC Red Mountain Cab. It is also
the first ferment in my 10 gallon bucket. I decided to try lining the
bucket with the paint strainer bag to make it easy to rack to secondary
for my first GP attempt. When I got to step 5 it occurred to me that I
wouldn't be able to mix the must for 2-3 minutes once I had the
strainer bag in place, so I stirred vigorously without the skins, added
the bentonite mix, stirred again, put the strainer bag on the pail,
added the skins, oak chips and yeast.
So the order I did the steps for primary fermentation was:
1 make bentonite mixture
2 add juice to bucket
3 rinse bag
4 add water to 23L (plus I stirred here)
6 take SG which read 1.078 before adding the GP?
8 add bentonite and stir
* Place sanitized strainer bag over container
5 add GP (I couldn't really stir here)
7 add oak chips
9 pitch yeast
10 cover container
Is this technique veterans use if you use the strainer bag?
One concern of mine is the skins contact with the rest of the must.
With a 10 gallon primary the skins are squeezed down a bit by the shape
of the strainer bag:
Also, do I have to stir at all? Or do I just leave the bag there until primary fermentation is done?
btw, I can hear the fermentation going after just 11 hours!
Thanks for your help.
the first ferment in my 10 gallon bucket. I decided to try lining the
bucket with the paint strainer bag to make it easy to rack to secondary
for my first GP attempt. When I got to step 5 it occurred to me that I
wouldn't be able to mix the must for 2-3 minutes once I had the
strainer bag in place, so I stirred vigorously without the skins, added
the bentonite mix, stirred again, put the strainer bag on the pail,
added the skins, oak chips and yeast.
So the order I did the steps for primary fermentation was:
1 make bentonite mixture
2 add juice to bucket
3 rinse bag
4 add water to 23L (plus I stirred here)
6 take SG which read 1.078 before adding the GP?
8 add bentonite and stir
* Place sanitized strainer bag over container
5 add GP (I couldn't really stir here)
7 add oak chips
9 pitch yeast
10 cover container
Is this technique veterans use if you use the strainer bag?
One concern of mine is the skins contact with the rest of the must.
With a 10 gallon primary the skins are squeezed down a bit by the shape
of the strainer bag:
Also, do I have to stir at all? Or do I just leave the bag there until primary fermentation is done?
btw, I can hear the fermentation going after just 11 hours!
Thanks for your help.