new to forum, new to wine making

[peaches9324]

I am totally new to wine making and I've been researching it for a couple weeks and the best move I've made so far is becoming a member of this forum!special thanks to waldo and appleman for pointing me in the right direction! I'm in the process of making pear wine. And my friend tried to get me to make balloon wine

And when I jump into a project I want to do it the right way! I spent $150 on the minimum equipment and supplies which I know isn't that much but when you have limited income such as I do, misstakes can be costly!I prematurily degassed the first batch and totally forgot to take a reading befor hand. Everyday amazes me, how the chemistry comes into play. and if anyone has a minute to explain to me how to get a pic set to the correct size so I can download it I would appreciate it. As I like to see who I'm messaging,all of you probly feel the same way.
thanks

 

[nhdennis]

Welcome, welcome.


What everyone has said in the last month or so that i have been reading and learning, is ask questions.


Many of the more expeienced winemakers, have made the same errors, have super tips, and a few cheats......


1st one I recall is: read the instructions and when done, read them again.


2nd one : a second S.G. reading to confirm the 1st will never hurt.

 

[grapeman]

Here is a link to a post from our former administrator Masta for a great little tutorial. Basically you can use an image resizer tool to make it smaller so it uploads. Give it a try.


http://www.finevinewines.com/Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2514

 

[Scott]

Welcome Peaches,


Always something to learn so enjoy the trip

 

[uavwmn]

Welcome Peaches!!

Enjoy your new hobby!!

 

[peaches9324]

thank you to all!

 

[peaches9324]

I gave it a try and it was still to big will try again later thanks

 

[smurfe]

Welcome aboard. I look forward to reading your posts. Feel free to ask away. We are here to help.

 

[nursejohn]

Welcome aboard Peaches. You will find a wealth of knowledge on this forum. When in doubt, always ask! You will surely get an answer here. Once again, welcome to the forum.

 

[grapeman]

Peaches, if you use the picture resizer, use the 800 x 600 size. That generally is small enough for the pictures to upload. Occasionally if a picture is taller than wide, you need to go to the 640x480 size. Good luck with it.

 

[Wade E]

You also cant have any comma's or hyphons in it just label it picture or wine, in other words just letters.

 

[RickC]

Welcome, you have certainly found the right place to experience wine making with a group of very helpful people. Keep asking questions.

 

[hannabarn]

Welcome to the forum, Peaches. Just to clarify the picture resizer a little bit more, you can't have ()!& or any symbols what so ever! I always tend to forget that when posting pictures!

 

[peaches9324]

ok smurf here goes.. my first question..btw I threw my 1st batch out! lol I blew it by degassing it to soon! but this batch is in it for the long hall I'm gonna ask questions! befor I do something! ok the recipe I used to make this pear wine is the one from the wine toystore which called for 4 lbs of pears, which I ussed 16 lb cuz I want to make 4x, I added 2 tsp pectic acid,8c of the sugar today cuz I read if you put all the sugar in at once it could stop the fermentingprocess so I only used 1/2 of it called for today gonna put the rest in tom after I boil the water and disolve the sugar in it I only used 12 pints water today. 12 pints to boil the ressst of the sugar tom. 4 campden tablets crushed 4 tsp of yeast nutrient gonna weight the 24hr peiod befor adding 2 pkg of yeast. I only had 10 tsp of the acid blend. and took a S.G. reading but it didn't even register but I just added 10 mo tsp after buying some more and it is now registering at 1.080. Does this seem like the appropriate? And am I doing ok putting 1/2 the sugar and water in today and 1/2 the day after tomorrow? Or should I wait a couple more days befor adding the rest? Or even split it b/t 2 days? I'm so eager! I want to know everything right now!lol
thanks

 

[smurfe]

You are OK putting all the sugar in. 1.085-1.090 would be a good SG for that wine.

 

[peaches9324]

thank you and since I have you online,after I pitch the yeast what's the next step I take and when? lol don't want to mess up again

 

[grapeman]

Normally you add all or most of the water at the beginning and the sugar also won't stall the ferment unless it is very high , which it shouldn't be with that amount of sugar. Why? Because by doing it your way, you have no real way of determining your starting specific gravity. The 1.080 reading now is pretty useless because it will change an undetermined amount when you add more water. You are fine at this point because it hasn't started fermenting yet. Go ahead and add water to bring it up almost all the way to your 4 gallon mark. Dissolve the sugar in half the cups of sugar of water. 8cups=use 4 cups water. Then only add enough of the sugar solution to bring it up to your SG goal of 1.085- 1.090.. Then you have an accurate starting SG number.


P.S. Why are you shooting for 4 gallons of wine? That is a very odd size container you will need for secondary. I assume you must have a 3 gallon carboy and figure on a few quarts of topping up wine?

 

[peaches9324]

yes that is what I plan on doing. I have a 3 gal carboy plus I figured I would loose some wine while racking I pitched the yeast just a few hrs ago the reading was at 1.080 befor then and I added the rest of the sugar and water mixture and the reading is at 1.090 now + actual temp is 1.092

 

[peaches9324]

I know I shouldn't of disturbed the yeast, but wanted to get the rest of the sugar in. But I didn't want to do this batch blind besides I can always restart the yeast if I have to right?
thanks!

 

[hannabarn]

Boy! I'm thoroughly confused. Why are you using 2 pkgs of yeast?