Help get me started

[sevenal]

Hey all
I have recently completed my 2nd batch of wine from concentrate.
Thank you for your help.the second batch was nice, grape /cranberry.

Now I have picked around 30 or so pounds of Red/purple Muscadine & champagne colored Scupernog grapes. I am in coastal NC and the grapes are plentiful this year.
Where do I go now? I have a couple five gallon buckets full of grapes. Half of one and half of the other. I have bought some cheese cloth and have a couple carboys with locks. I also have a bottle of potassium sorbate and two packages of yeast. both LALVIN - 71B1122 and Bourgovin RC 212.

Really what now? I am very encouraged by my last wine and don't want to mess this up.

Thanks in advance!

Al
Aka- sevenal

 

[Wade E]

I dont have a recipe for Muscadines as they arent available here. But what you want to do especially if you dont a have a crusher is to freeze them for a week so that the fruit will mash easier as the fruits cell walls break from the freezing. Youll want to get a recipe and there is probably one in our recipe section.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

I'm new to this wine making thing also, but I'll tell you what I have done.
First, 1 gallon weighs approx 5 lbs, so you should be able to make a good 6 gallon batch, or a great 5 gallon batch. I have 5 gallons, 4 gallons purple and 1 gallon bronze. I kinda washed em off, I didn't freeze em, but freezing em is a good idea, I just kudden wait - I had to get started. I had spent the day in the woods with the chiggers and ticks and wanted to get started.
I found that if you will put some water in a bucket and mash the muscadines under the water, you don't get the meat and seeds all over the wall. I mashed each one by hand, it would probably be much easier if they had been frozen, they are tough little buggers and hard to break open.
Then I added enuf water to bring it up to 5 1/2 gallons (a little extra for topping. I then added 5/8 tsp k-meta and covered with a towel and let it set for 24 hours. I used the wine caculator to figure the amount of sugar to get me to 1.085, it said 8 3/4 pounds, made simple syrup with muscadine juice and added, after the sugar I ended up with 6 gallons (roughly). Added 3 tsp of pectic enzyme and 3 tsp of yeast nutrient and 1 tsp of yeast enigizer, somehow then I had approx 6 gallons of must. All of this I had equally divided between 2 ea 5 gallon buckets. Added one pack of red star premier cuvee to each bucket. I have a gas grill that i riped out the guts and installed a strip heater, thermostat and fan. That's where I ferment, put the 2 bucketts in the grill and am controlling the temp at 80*, that was on the 20th, this morning the spgr was 1.070 at 9 AM, at 7 PM tonite is was 1.060 and the temperature is holding at 80*.
I'm not saying that this is the way to do it, it's just the way I'm doing it, I'm
sure someone else could be much more help.
But, right now mine has got the whole shop smelling wonderful, and I tasted the must, --it taste great.
Good Luck

Semper Fi

 

[Julie]

blend the two together, it will make a fantastic wine. i would assume you don't have a crush, so you can use a paint stirrer to crush the grapes, add peptic enzyme, and sulphites, take an acid reading to see how much water you need to add, then take a hydrometer reading to see how much sugar to add, add enough sugar to get the reading up to 1.080 or close to it, add yeast nutrient, add yeast and ferment away.

 

[Julie]

oh let the must ferment on the skins until sg reads 1.010, then take out and squeeze them to get as much juice as possible

 

[sevenal]

Ok don,t really have many cemicals and only have the yeast I mentioned.
Could I get a short list of needed items. On a budget.
I do have a hydrometer.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

Julie, should I squeeze the skins, if I plan on making a second run with the must?

Semper Fi

 

[sevenal]

K-meta

is potassium sorbate inter changeable for K-Meta ?

 

[Rocky]

Al, Potassium Metabisulfite and Potassium Sorbate are NOT interchangeable. K-meta is to protect the wine from spoilage from oxidation and K-sorbate is to prevent refermentation (i.e. for stabilization). K-meta is also used to produce a sanitizing solution that you should use to sanitize all of the equipment that contacts the wine. Check the Wine Makers Toy Store (one of our advertizers) for the items. I would get 4 oz. of K-sorbate and 16 oz. of K-meta. The latter would me mostly for sanitization. You would only need a small amount for the wine.

Bud, If you plan to make a second wine, I would recommend not squeezing the skins. You will get a better quality second if you leave a lot of the "goodies" in the skins and then just add water and sugar.

 

[sevenal]

Thanks Rocky and everyone

Just ordered
Yeast Energizer
Yeast Nutrient
Potassium Sorbate
Pectic Enzyme
Potassium Metabisulfite

Grapes are in freezer untill I get the needed items.
Think I'll go back and pick another 10# or so

 

[Rocky]

Good job, Al. You are on your way.

 

[sevenal]

Wool Hooo!

Full member now.
Does this mean I'm no longer a newb?

LOL

Testing the grape cranberry tonight.
Pleased, very pleased.