Your estimate on the final volume may be correct, although I'd much rather have too many containers than too few.
Lol because that is what wine making is about. Creating and trying ideas. Lol. Sorry but I actually create my own recipes and make my own stuff right from scratch. Also apple raspberry has been done MANY times. The apple content is actually so minimal it probably won't even be noticeable.
I agree with @winechef, tasting during fermentation doesn't tell you much of value. Aroma, flavor, acid, tannin, etc. is changing daily. I've been making wine long enough that I can get an idea of how a wine is doing post-fermentation, but during? Other than the must being ok (no H2S, bacteria, etc.) tasting doesn't give me useful information.
During fermentation we don't want things to settle out. Spoilage organisms typically grow in the lees, not the must/wine, so having things in suspension during fermentation is actually good. Once fermentation is done, then a rapid clearing of gross lees is good.
Isn't that what campden tablets are for (the spoilage) I've always had settle out in secondary ferm and never had an issue with spoilage organisms and I've had wine where restaurant owners have asked to have it in their bars? I rack every month or two or when the Lee's get to about a inch high in the bottom. Not saying you're wrong by any means, just that I've never run into that issue before.I agree with @winechef, tasting during fermentation doesn't tell you much of value. Aroma, flavor, acid, tannin, etc. is changing daily. I've been making wine long enough that I can get an idea of how a wine is doing post-fermentation, but during? Other than the must being ok (no H2S, bacteria, etc.) tasting doesn't give me useful information.
During fermentation we don't want things to settle out. Spoilage organisms typically grow in the lees, not the must/wine, so having things in suspension during fermentation is actually good. Once fermentation is done, then a rapid clearing of gross lees is good.
I've read numerous theories about gross lees, including one source that said gross lees (fruit solids) decomposes immediately and wine should be racked daily during fermentation until all all lees are gone. IMO that POV is simply ridiculous, and personal experience proves it out. On the other end of that scale, I've left wine on the gross lees for a couple of months and it developed off flavors that never went away. The best choice is in between these two extremes.
Here is what has settled since and no crud up top an color is balanced through the carboy but still bubbling a small amount. Will check SG tonight but ya would like to get it off these lees.I've read numerous theories about gross lees, including one source that said gross lees (fruit solids) decomposes immediately and wine should be racked daily during fermentation until all all lees are gone. IMO that POV is simply ridiculous, and personal experience proves it out. On the other end of that scale, I've left wine on the gross lees for a couple of months and it developed off flavors that never went away. The best choice is in between these two extremes.
More plausible sources state that gross lees drops within 24 to 72 hours of the end of fermentation. I generally leave the wine for 1 to 3 weeks, which ensures the gross lees is down, then I rack. Anything that falls after that is fine lees (yeast hulls).
There is no need to rack off the fine lees. Search on "sur lie" and "battonage", which are techniques for using the fine lees to develop aroma and flavor. Once a wine is off the gross lees, I may not rack again for a year. I barrel age some wines for 12 months, stirring the barrels at topup time for 6 months, then letting it settle for the remaining 6 months.
If you're racking too often, you're wasting wine (loss due to racking) and needlessly exposing wine to air. I was taught to rack every 3 months, but later realized that if I am not gaining some positive result, I should not be performing that action (this applies to more than racking). Racking off fine lees produces no benefit, and racking a clear wine with no sediment is even worse.
Many moons ago one person I knew racked his wines monthly. He took a SG reading every month and threw away that wine because it was contaminated. At the end of a year, he could not understand why he lost nearly a full carboy from a total of 4. Nor did he listen when numerous people told him to stop throwing his wine away.
He was one of my best teachers, as he taught me what not to do.
Regarding Campden, think of it this way -- would you get a flu shot then repeatedly expose yourself to people with the flu? K-meta is an anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, and preservative -- however, the less you give it to do, the better.
Thanks. I'm more excited for what I would call a Metheglin as it is technically made with herbs, I started 2 nights ago
Checked my S.G and it's basically halted at 1.007 roughly? It's been floating around that mark since I racked it a day or two ago and while the airlock is still decently active, I'm not sure. Typically they say if it doesn't move over 3 days it's done but people have had secondary go for up to 4 weeks? So not sure. I don't want to rack again if it's still slowly going. Starting SG was 1.113. The high acid and low pH really did a number on this batch causing countless issues with fermentation and really making it slow.I've read numerous theories about gross lees, including one source that said gross lees (fruit solids) decomposes immediately and wine should be racked daily during fermentation until all all lees are gone. IMO that POV is simply ridiculous, and personal experience proves it out. On the other end of that scale, I've left wine on the gross lees for a couple of months and it developed off flavors that never went away. The best choice is in between these two extremes.
More plausible sources state that gross lees drops within 24 to 72 hours of the end of fermentation. I generally leave the wine for 1 to 3 weeks, which ensures the gross lees is down, then I rack. Anything that falls after that is fine lees (yeast hulls).
There is no need to rack off the fine lees. Search on "sur lie" and "battonage", which are techniques for using the fine lees to develop aroma and flavor. Once a wine is off the gross lees, I may not rack again for a year. I barrel age some wines for 12 months, stirring the barrels at topup time for 6 months, then letting it settle for the remaining 6 months.
If you're racking too often, you're wasting wine (loss due to racking) and needlessly exposing wine to air. I was taught to rack every 3 months, but later realized that if I am not gaining some positive result, I should not be performing that action (this applies to more than racking). Racking off fine lees produces no benefit, and racking a clear wine with no sediment is even worse.
Many moons ago one person I knew racked his wines monthly. He took a SG reading every month and threw away that wine because it was contaminated. At the end of a year, he could not understand why he lost nearly a full carboy from a total of 4. Nor did he listen when numerous people told him to stop throwing his wine away.
He was one of my best teachers, as he taught me what not to do.
Regarding Campden, think of it this way -- would you get a flu shot then repeatedly expose yourself to people with the flu? K-meta is an anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, and preservative -- however, the less you give it to do, the better.
If your OG was 1.130 and the current is 1.007, the calculator I use indicates 16.7% ABV. Depending on what yeast you used, the ferment may be complete. The way it cleared leads me to believe that, especially if you used a lower ABV tolerant yeast.
I'm not sure what calculator you're using but the math seems off? Should be just under 14% I'm quite sure your calculator is not doing it properly as every single calculator I've used for batches and alcohol calculations shows the same 13-14% in this range of SG. I'd have needed a much higher starting SG in order to hit 16.7%
I use (OG-FG)/7.36, and for the figures listed in my last post,16.7% is a correct result. Note that you listed your OG as 1.13 and I used that value, whereas the value in the figure you posted says the OG is 1.113. For that value, the current ABV is 14.4%.
