sg reading- Prickly Pear-need help

[JR Smith]

took my first sg reading and got 1.020... told me to add 8oz per gal. 5 cups. took reading next day and got 1.030 said to put in 11oz per gal 11x5=55 oz I put in 7 cups, 56oz. I took another reading and it says 1.050 now I need to add 1 lb 2 oz x 5. Am I doing something wrong here. I took must toreduce the suger to a liquid over low heat. I did not take a acid test today but corrected for 1cc yeaterday
help again
jr

 

[grapeman]

What are you taking a reading on? The prickly pear?Is it actively fermenting? If so, it will be reducing again by the next day. What is giving you those amounts of sugar to add. It sounds backwards to me. I think you should have started with about 10 pounds of sugar per 5 gallons to begin with.Some more information on what you are trying to do would be helpful. Edited by: appleman

 

[JR Smith]

yes it is the prickley pear, my hydrometer reading is at the top of the stim and the first reading was 1.020 I am getting the reading from the book (enjoy home winemaking) page 16 I have not put the yeast in as yetEdited by: JR Smith

 

[JR Smith]

I have put in about 2.5 lb of suger so far.

 

[grapeman]

If you are at 1.050 and want to get to 1.090, then you need about one more pound per gallon at this point or another 5 pounds. It sounds like you were doing something wron in the beginning, but if you add the 5 pounds now, it should be about where you want to be for sugar.

 

[JR Smith]

the reading showes 1.4 lb per gal, I will do 5lb and see where it is at, I was not thinking it would take this much for some reason. Talk about a sweet tooth. I thank you for your time and knowlage on this.
jr

 

[grapeman]

After looking at this and some charts out there, you are reading the chart wrong. The amounts of sugar are what is in the gallon at that reading, not what is needed. If you take the total amount of sugar int the desired high reading, say 1.085-1 pound 14 ounces and subract the current amount of 1.050- 1 pound 2 ounces, you would need 12 ounces or 3/4 pound per gallon needed.

 

[JR Smith]

I got it worked out this morning after reading the booklet about 5 more times. I have reached 1.095.... there is foaming going on do I need to do the campden tabs again before I add the yeast? I have been working on the sg for a week now. I took off a lot of foam and put it down the kitchen sink.



jr

 

[grapeman]

If you have had foam, you have had an active fermentation. I hope you haven't gotten a lot of alcohol yet from it because if you are up to 1.095 the wild yeasts will die off and you will have a sweet wine. Maybe Jobe can help you with this from here. He is doing a Prickly pear wine.

 

[jobe05]

JR. Like Appleman said, I'm doing a prickly pear but haven't paid much attention to it lately after racking to glass......... Don't care for the looks or the taste of it.

I didn't have an active wild yeast fermentation because I used the campden tablets at the beginning.

Personaly, if it were me, and based on my past experience with wild yeast fermentations (and against te grain of wine making), I would add the yeast and let it rip.............

The yeast you are adding will more than likely out do and out live the wild yeast. Most that I have read about wild yeast say that it will only go to about 5% to 8% at best, Based on washing the fruit etc...

I have done Blackberry wine were I would let the wild yeast start the fermentation for a few days then add my yeast that will take over the fermentation. I actually liked the taste of that wine and haven't been able to duplicate it yet. Again, it goes against the grain for most wine makers but sometimes you just got to say............... F&^% it!

Based on the flavor of my wine........... Nothing can hurt this crap right now anyway. Maybe it'll get better, don't know. I made a 3 gallon batch and devided it into 3 - 1 gallon bottles. One, I'm oaking, one I will let go dry and the other I will sweeten back to see which I'll like the best.

So the jury is still out.

Your SG of 1.095 should be a good range to start. What yeast are you useing?

EDIT: JR- It just dawned on me, did you grind up the whole prickley pear, skins, pith and seeds? the center pith, where the seeds are, is a very soft area of the fruit and could be whats causing some of the foaming that you are seeing.

Edited by: jobe05

 

[Wade E]

I would not play with any cmpden now as you may stop fermentation seeing as how its a wild yeast strain and getting it started again might not happen and your juice may go sour. Id add in your wine yeast like jobe said and let er go from there.

 

[JR Smith]

no I used a steamer and did not singe or cut the pears in any way. The steam caused the juice to run out, I strained it through a coffee plastic mesh strainer, after letting it set in the fridge in 3 leater water bottles for 5 days waiting on the kit. I got hardly no spines in the juice. My juice is deep red and thick. I had to put in 12 lb and 2 oz of sugar to get to the level wich took me 4 days of trying to figure out how to do the suger. got it this morning. I did not boil the sugar but desolved it with low heatin juice of the must. there is no sugar on the bottom of the bucket. I put in the yeast at 2145 hr and stirred it in. I used store bought yeast RED STAR it think. I have 5 gal of must. I will wait till it clears off the foam on top. we are off and running. This is late I just got in from the lodge


thanks


jrEdited by: JR Smith

 

[JR Smith]

I tested my must last night when I got in and it marked at 1.075 up from 1.095 it has been 4 days in the primary fermentation, there is still foam on the top and a film of yeast on top. I stir the mustup 2 times a day. I am to wait till it gets to 1.050 to rack to secondary jug? Is all well here and things going as planned? I think I have done everthing right.

 

[grapeman]

What is the must temperature JR? It sounds like it is progressing very slowly. Can you get it to where it will stay about 75 degrees? Ideally you should wait until it gets to about1.010-1.020 to rack to secondary. Don't strain anything off the top at this point. You may not see much foam on it- some foam a lot and others hardly at all. Since I have never done prickly pear I'm not sure what to expect.

 

[JR Smith]

I have not taken the temp of this, it is in the laundry room. I will do that and get back with you, I am sure it is 75 degrees or better even at night, My mother-in-law is always freezing so the temp is up. I will put in a thermometer to get the night reading of the room also. The foam is red in color and looks good the smell of it fills the house of sweet flowers, cheaper than candles and everone askes what is that smell. I covered it with a trash bag black in color and put the towel over that

 

[JR Smith]

ok getting back here, had to buy a thermometer, got a in out and put a lead in the bucket. got a reading of 72.4, so I bought a hot pad and put it on the bucket to raise the temp. What is the best temp to keep it at for this? Will I need to re do anything to get it going at the right speed?
still looks good with a little foam and the new reading is .065 up a little from the last.
jr

 

[grapeman]

Temps of 75-78 will help it speed along a little faster. The fact that it is moving is good. If you get the temps up a little bit, it should be ready to rack in a week to 10 days(based on it being a bit slow).

 

[JR Smith]

temp up to 74 and rising

 

[Wade E]

JR, your numbers are going down, not up. Until going back ovr your posts you really had me worried that the laws of physics were reversed in your home!

 

[grapeman]

I think JR means that the numbers are moving up on the scale, which means they are moving down since the scale is bassackwards.