PA Grape Juices

[Hokapsig]

Doug, did your Concord kick off any crystals? I'm thinking of putting the 5 gallons of Concord that we pressed outside tonight to cold stabilize (There will be a motion detector on, Julie).

Also, did you do anything to your Seyval? Mine has been sitting and almost all clear, but it might go outside tonight, too.

 

[Ricky]

Hokapsig,how long are you gonna leave it outside?..... I have mine wine in the garadge.... It get 's in the low to mid 40's..... Next week It's gonna get real cold.... Outside temp 's going to be in the mid 20's

 

[ffemt128]

Doug, did your Concord kick off any crystals? I'm thinking of putting the 5 gallons of Concord that we pressed outside tonight to cold stabilize (There will be a motion detector on, Julie).

Also, did you do anything to your Seyval? Mine has been sitting and almost all clear, but it might go outside tonight, too.

Bill,

The concord dropped tons of crystals through the 4 month's it has been aging. I haven't stuck it in the cold stabilization unit (outside the basement door under the stair cover) and don't think I'll need to. If you are going to put it outside leave it there for several days to a week. When mine goies into cold stabilization I leave it there for 2-4 weeks then bring in and rack off the crystals almost immediately. I don't think a day or 2 will do much if there is acid to be dropped.

They Seyval has been inside so far. The sample you had, I'm almost embarrased to say I let you sample compare to the carboy and 3 ltr jug. Totally different taste. I sweetened some to 1.006 and had Olesia try, she said it was too sweet. Going to shoot for 1.000 - 1.002 for this I think. It did drop alot of crystals but nothing noticible in the past 2 weeks.

Remember, air temp in the cellar was 55, floor temp is likely 50 or below.

On a side note, I back sweetened a gallon of Niagra withy 145 grams of sugar. Very good. Will blend with some of the Concord I back sweetened with the same amount of sugar. I was shooting for 1.006-1.008 with the concord. I didn't check the SG after sweetening.

 

[Hokapsig]

I'll leave it outside for as long as the temps stay down or until next Friday, whichever comes first. The Stueben, Seyval and Cayuga may join it. I will be checking acids and backsweetening tonight, as I have the house to myself (wife and daughter free).

 

[Runningwolf]

I'll leave it outside for as long as the temps stay down or until next Friday, whichever comes first. The Stueben, Seyval and Cayuga may join it. I will be checking acids and backsweetening tonight, as I have the house to myself (wife and daughter free).

Thats the reason you're not coming up tomorrow!

 

[Julie]

Oh yes Bill, leave it out until next Friday, that will give me ......er..... I mean that will give the wine more time to drop crystals

 

[ffemt128]

I have to say the Catawba is quite nice as well. Great flavor and body. It's a real shame I needed the 3 liter bottle and had to back sweeten it so we could sample it last night.

 

[ffemt128]

This years Catawba is outstanding.

 

[novalou]

I'll leave it outside for as long as the temps stay down or until next Friday, whichever comes first. The Stueben, Seyval and Cayuga may join it. I will be checking acids and backsweetening tonight, as I have the house to myself (wife and daughter free).

Question on the tartaric acid crystals: my seyval and niagara have good acid levels, but are dropping crystals like crazy. Should I be concerned that too much acid might drop out?

 

[ffemt128]

Well I will definately have to place the jiuices outside. I put a bottle of Niagra in the fridge yesterday and a serious amount of acid dropped out over night. I'm thinking rotate them on a 2 week schedule and see what falls out. They will be under the cover of my outside cellar door.

 

[ffemt128]

Bill,

I have not done any cold stabilization on the juices thus far. They are dropping crystals in the cellar at 50-55 degrees since most are at floor level where it's several degrees colder. This weekend since it is supposed to drop temperature wise again I may start rotating to the stairwell. I can get 4-6 carboys our there at cellar floor level without having to stack on the stairs. I need to see how many milk crates I have available. I like to put them in those to place outside so they are not directly on the ground.

I'll let you know how much acid drops out.

 

[ffemt128]

I have to say the Catawba is quite nice as well. Great flavor and body. It's a real shame I needed the 3 liter bottle and had to back sweeten it so we could sample it last night.

Well silly me. Was just in the cellar, apparetly the 3 liter bottle that I racked into a half gallon jug then backsweetened and the extra bottle wasn't actually Catawba afterall. It was my extra Chambourcin. No wonder it didnt have the acidic tartness of Catawba. My extra gallon of Catawba was on the other side of the bench clearly marked Catawba.

Oh well, now whether to sweeten the Chambourcin or Oak and leave dry. What to do....