Help the bigginer. Sediment/dust removal.

[Cycius]

Hello everyone,

i'm growing grapes for several years but in winemaking i'm new. I colected about 10 kg (about 22 lbs) of green grapes and extracted 7 litres of juice. Of course before that i smashed those grapes with hands and keept them in bucket for week. After that i extracted those juice. To these juice i added 1 kg (2.2 lbs) sugar and around 850 ml of boiled water. With these juice i filled two bottles (one 3.85 l/1 gallon and the other 5 litres). I dicided not to add yeast bechause i find information that grapes itself contain yeast. After i filled those bottles the fermentation was immense right away. The bubbles rushed up all the time. After week or little more the wine's sediment/dust settled down and wine become transparent/clear. After 20 days of fermentation in big wine bottles i decided remove dust/sediment (bechause i read that sediment/dust gives bitterness to wine's taste) from bigger bottle and as soon as i did that fermentation stopped - bubles stoped from rushing up. So i put those sediment/dust back and now it floats on the surface. So total process of fermentation is 7 days smashed grapes in bucked and after that 20 days in those big bottles. No yeast added just some sugar and boiled water. So what do you guys think about dust/sediment removal or maybe it is not necessary at all? Maybe any advices what should i do in my situation?

 

[heatherd]

Hello everyone,

i'm growing grapes for several years but in winemaking i'm new. I colected about 10 kg (about 22 lbs) of green grapes and extracted 7 litres of juice. Of course before that i smashed those grapes with hands and keept them in bucket for week. After that i extracted those juice. To these juice i added 1 kg (2.2 lbs) sugar and around 850 ml of boiled water. With these juice i filled two bottles (one 3.85 l/1 gallon and the other 5 litres). I dicided not to add yeast bechause i find information that grapes itself contain yeast. After i filled those bottles the fermentation was immense right away. The bubbles rushed up all the time. After week or little more the wine's sediment/dust settled down and wine become transparent/clear. After 20 days of fermentation in big wine bottles i decided remove dust/sediment (bechause i read that sediment/dust gives bitterness to wine's taste) from bigger bottle and as soon as i did that fermentation stopped - bubles stoped from rushing up. So i put those sediment/dust back and now it floats on the surface. So total process of fermentation is 7 days smashed grapes in bucked and after that 20 days in those big bottles. No yeast added just some sugar and boiled water. So what do you guys think about dust/sediment removal or maybe it is not necessary at all? Maybe any advices what should i do in my situation?

Welcome to the hobby!

What's your specific gravity? That'll tell you if you're done fermenting or not. The sediment shouldn't be a problem - probably the fermentation slowed because it is close to done.

 

[Cycius]

Thanks for answering my help call .I searched what does "specific gravity" means and i realized idea about it. I'm gonna buy hydromet and measure it. I think the fermentation is keep going coz the bubbles rushing up in both jugs. I guess while fermentation is going there is less risk of acetic acid formation coz the the presure is bigger from the inside rather than outside.

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi Cycius - and welcome. Sounds like you are going for a natural fermentation. By that I mean that you are using only the yeast that are on the grapes you harvested and that may make a fine wine but it will make a wine that is not nearly as predictable as one where you knock out the local yeast and add lab cultured yeasts that can bring the very best out of your grapes. Wild yeast (also known as indigenous yeast) may not be as strong as lab grown yeast and they are likely to come with all kinds of bacteria and other microbes that may add delightful complexity to your wine ... or add flavors and other problems that you may not like so much. Personally, I like fermenting with wild yeast but when I do so I do with very small batches of wine and I do so with fruit and honey that if the batch I make is what I consider a failure I can make again with more fruit or honey. With your own grapes you only have a single shot each harvest. All this is just to say - Good luck! I hope 2020 is a great vintage for you.

 

[franc1969]

The main piece of equipment for any beginner to get is a hydrometer, at my expensive local brew supply shop this is under $16. You need to know the sugar level at start and more importantly, whe the end occurs.
All of the rest can be done with almost any kitchen equipment. Follow rough guidelines for racking and chemical additions, and done.
When you allowed the grapes to soak in the bucket, and then added sugar to the liquid, fermentation happened. The gas bubbles rising after you racked later could have been the end of fermentation or just release of trapped carbon dioxide. There was no reason to add sediment back, I'd get that wine racked off. Let it sit with some potassium metabisulfite under airlock. I'd bet you are done with fermenting.

Hello everyone,

i'm growing grapes for several years but in winemaking i'm new. I colected about 10 kg (about 22 lbs) of green grapes and extracted 7 litres of juice. Of course before that i smashed those grapes with hands and keept them in bucket for week. After that i extracted those juice. To these juice i added 1 kg (2.2 lbs) sugar and around 850 ml of boiled water. With these juice i filled two bottles (one 3.85 l/1 gallon and the other 5 litres). I dicided not to add yeast bechause i find information that grapes itself contain yeast. After i filled those bottles the fermentation was immense right away. The bubbles rushed up all the time. After week or little more the wine's sediment/dust settled down and wine become transparent/clear. After 20 days of fermentation in big wine bottles i decided remove dust/sediment (bechause i read that sediment/dust gives bitterness to wine's taste) from bigger bottle and as soon as i did that fermentation stopped - bubles stoped from rushing up. So i put those sediment/dust back and now it floats on the surface. So total process of fermentation is 7 days smashed grapes in bucked and after that 20 days in those big bottles. No yeast added just some sugar and boiled water. So what do you guys think about dust/sediment removal or maybe it is not necessary at all? Maybe any advices what should i do in my situation?

 

[Cycius]

The main piece of equipment for any beginner to get is a hydrometer, at my expensive local brew supply shop this is under $16. You need to know the sugar level at start and more importantly, whe the end occurs.
All of the rest can be done with almost any kitchen equipment. Follow rough guidelines for racking and chemical additions, and done.
When you allowed the grapes to soak in the bucket, and then added sugar to the liquid, fermentation happened. The gas bubbles rising after you racked later could have been the end of fermentation or just release of trapped carbon dioxide. There was no reason to add sediment back, I'd get that wine racked off. Let it sit with some potassium metabisulfite under airlock. I'd bet you are done with fermenting.

I did ordered those things in web shop. Hidrometer gonna cost 6+ euros and i also ordered measuring cilinder and those potassium metabisulfite. I colected those grapes on 2020-09-13 and keep in bucket for about week. 2020-09-20 i extracted juice and put some boiled water and sugar and poured it to those two jugs. Today is 2020-10-15 and those bubles keep rushing up. So it's already 25 days while grape juice ar in the jugs. I guess things gonna be more clear as soon as i'll get that hidrometer on moday. I also think that i should remove sediment before puting potassium metabisulfite into jugs. I also think after some time i should pour wine from those jugs into common bottles and put in dark place. Also where is any influence if light reaches those two jugs or they should be placed in dark place already?

 

[BernardSmith]

Not sure if there are compounds in wine that create off flavors when the wine is exposed to light. Certainly light (UV light) can damage the color of a red wine which is why red wines are bottled in dark green bottles. Light does not affect white wines in that way so they are often bottled in clear glass. If light affected the flavor of white wines then I would think they would also be bottled in dark glass bottles. BUT it's probably better to store wines in the dark - or at least where sunlight cannot affect it.