Settling down under the shade of the big oak tree at the rivers edge, the sun casting her diamonds across the crystal clear waters as I slowly lean back against the knarled old trunk, the moss cool to my aching back. I began wondering, what do I do next with my Blackberry Wine? I begin my mental check list, fully aware that my procedures and techniques to date were somewhat erroneous, including not making notes anywhere except in my God given Palm Pilot. Slowly and carefully I recall the steps to date, hoping Hippie will bear with me through all of this as I write down the events as I recall them.
I Fermeted the blackberries with Fleischmans yeast for approximately 20 days in my bucket. Er uh "Primary Fermenter" , stirring the goo, I mean "Must" about every day or so. I then strained it through some nylon stockings stretched over a plastic funnel from Wally World into my "Carboy"...see, I'm getting there.I then put an airlock on the carboy and have watched it bubble for about 3 weeks. With the bubbling slowing to about one bubble every 15-20 seconds.Last saturday, I racked it into another carboy, drawing a sample with my new Wine Thief I checked it with my new hydrometer and it showed no signs of any sugar remaining. I replaced the airlock and there it has set until Monday evening when at the behest of possibly some bad advice I : The following is the instructions I received.
<DIR>
1. If you haven't added Campden / potassium metabisulfite yet, then crush and dissolve one Campden tablet for each gallon of wine in your carboy. Stir it in real good with your whiz-bang stirrer. This will give a 'knock out' punch to the old yeast. 2. Put an airlock on the carboy. Wait 48 hours. 3. Remove the airlock. Rack the wine to a clean, sanitized primary fermenting bucket. Take specific gravity reading with a sanitized hydrometer. 4. Add yeast nutrient according to the package directions, then sprinkle the wine yeast on top of the wine. 5. Secure the lid on the bucket, insert the airlock into the lid.
6. Sit back and wait for the action to start. 7. Monitor fermentation, and rack back to carboy when hydrometer reading indicates 1.000 or lower. Insert airlock. 8. When all fermentation has ceased (hydrometer around .998 and no further bubbling in airlock), then add a bit of potassium sorbate (according to package directions) and another round of crushed Campden tablets and stir. The wine will foam up a bit. Stir well. 9. Allow the wine to fall clear, then bottle your masterpiece!
I make note that I have done none of the above except for adding the campden tablets and stirring it good. Slowly I roll up the piece of paper I have written on, place it inside a 750 ml wine bottle, and inserting the cork tightly I toss it into the river, knowing ole Hippie will be downstream taking his saturday bath and will retrieve the wine bottle, hopefully read my notes inside and offer me his advise on just what steps I should really take. </DIR>
I Fermeted the blackberries with Fleischmans yeast for approximately 20 days in my bucket. Er uh "Primary Fermenter" , stirring the goo, I mean "Must" about every day or so. I then strained it through some nylon stockings stretched over a plastic funnel from Wally World into my "Carboy"...see, I'm getting there.I then put an airlock on the carboy and have watched it bubble for about 3 weeks. With the bubbling slowing to about one bubble every 15-20 seconds.Last saturday, I racked it into another carboy, drawing a sample with my new Wine Thief I checked it with my new hydrometer and it showed no signs of any sugar remaining. I replaced the airlock and there it has set until Monday evening when at the behest of possibly some bad advice I : The following is the instructions I received.
<DIR>
1. If you haven't added Campden / potassium metabisulfite yet, then crush and dissolve one Campden tablet for each gallon of wine in your carboy. Stir it in real good with your whiz-bang stirrer. This will give a 'knock out' punch to the old yeast. 2. Put an airlock on the carboy. Wait 48 hours. 3. Remove the airlock. Rack the wine to a clean, sanitized primary fermenting bucket. Take specific gravity reading with a sanitized hydrometer. 4. Add yeast nutrient according to the package directions, then sprinkle the wine yeast on top of the wine. 5. Secure the lid on the bucket, insert the airlock into the lid.
6. Sit back and wait for the action to start. 7. Monitor fermentation, and rack back to carboy when hydrometer reading indicates 1.000 or lower. Insert airlock. 8. When all fermentation has ceased (hydrometer around .998 and no further bubbling in airlock), then add a bit of potassium sorbate (according to package directions) and another round of crushed Campden tablets and stir. The wine will foam up a bit. Stir well. 9. Allow the wine to fall clear, then bottle your masterpiece!
I make note that I have done none of the above except for adding the campden tablets and stirring it good. Slowly I roll up the piece of paper I have written on, place it inside a 750 ml wine bottle, and inserting the cork tightly I toss it into the river, knowing ole Hippie will be downstream taking his saturday bath and will retrieve the wine bottle, hopefully read my notes inside and offer me his advise on just what steps I should really take. </DIR>
