Smurfe’s Wine Kit Tutorial (Part 2)

[smurfe]

Hello all, it's been 6 days since we last worked on our kit. It is now time to check the Specific Gravity (SG) to see if we need to rack. So we all know what the first thing we do right? Read over our directions. Trust me, many of the kits have varied directions so we need to read them over again.

As we read our directions it will tell us what the next step is and what equipment we will need. We are now at Step 2 for this kit. Make sure to read your directions carefully as there are differences in this step with different kits.


Many kits will say rack (siphon) the wine and lees (gunk in bottom) to a carboy and state the the lees are needed to aid in the clearing of the wine. The fining agents adhere to these solids and assist in clearing the wine.


Reading the directions of this kit, it says to rack the wine off the lees and leave as much sediment behind as possible.


So, what are we doing here. We are at step 2 which says to check the SG of the Must after 5-7 days. It should be at 1.010 or less. So how are we going to do this? We have a couple of choices here.


First we will gather our equipment and sanitize it. We will need our Hydrometer, a test jar and wine thief or a combo unit which I use. We will also need a Racking Cane and hose, a 6 Gallon Carboy with a rubber bung of proper size and an airlock. So we take all of these items and sanitize them with the sanitizer of choice and rinse after.


So now we will check our SG. We can do this a couple different ways. We can either just drop the sanitized hydrometer into the must in the bucket,

Or, you can use your Wine Thief and Test Jar or the Fermtech Combo Wine thief/Test Jar and draw a sample of the Must and drop in your Hydrometer.

Our SG is below 1.010. We are right at 1.000 so it is time to rack the must to a carboy. We have sanitized our carboy and racking cane,

This racking cane is an Auto-Siphon racking cane that really speeds things up. You give it a pump or two and it will auto siphon your wine. You don't have to suck on the end of the hose to get a flow going.





Today, we are going to rack a different way. I bought a battery powered racking pump to try and review. It is called the Crownridge Winery Wine Transfer Pump.

I just got it today so we will give it a try and see how it works. It has a filter paper that covers the tip. The reason I am going to use this, other that hey, it is a new toy is that after I re-read my directions, this wine is to be racked off the lees and we want to leave behind as much of the spent yeast that we can. So I am going to rack with this pump with a filter on it.

After you have the must racked to the carboy, place a bung and airlock in place with some water or sanitizer solution in the airlock and clean up.


That is about it for this stage. Sorry there wasn't more to show today. I will once again stress, Please read those directions with each step. Today was an example of the variations a kit may have. The last kit I did I stirred the must all up with my Mix Stir device in my drill, racked the must, added the rest of my stabilizers and fining agents and waited for the wine to clear. We will do that in the next step though to aid in the clearing. So read those directions step by step.


I plan on making another tutorial in the near future with a Vintners Reserve kit to show some of the differences. This is also one of the most common kits for a first timer to try. When I do that tutorial, I will only use the tools that comes with the standard beginners equipment kit to show that it is still a breeze.


Look for more on this kit in about 10 days or so when we will begin the Stabilizing and Clearing portion of the wine making.

 

[pkcook]

Smurfe,


You are the man! I must say with pictures like this I find myself watching far less TV and reading more posts

. Almost as addicting as Survivor.


Bravo

 

[MedPretzel]

The "Wine Survivor!"

But, Pat is right, Smurfe -- Bravo!





That pump looks interesting. Are you pleased with it?

 

[Funky Fish]

Yes - please give us a review of the pump. Does it allow you to get almost every last drop from the corner, or does the tip keep you from getting into the very corner of the bucket? Also, does it provide some sort of filtering capability (besides the one on the end), or is it pretty much purely a transfer pump? How far from the bottom of the carboy does the discharge hose stop?


Sorry for all the questions.

 

[jcnoren]

Well done!!


Ok I am the distracted student. What wine isin the covered carboy near your fishtank? Does your Fishtank help at all to regulate the temp of the carboy sitting beside it? What temperature is your livingroom, sinceI see you have a number of bottled wine bottles there.....(I store my bottled wine in my cooler basement)...have thought about getting a wine storage unti for the upstairs however temp control was an issue. Told you I am a distracted student.

JC

 

[smurfe]

Well done!!


OK I am the distracted student. What wine isin the covered carboy near your fishtank? Does your Fishtank help at all to regulate the temp of the carboy sitting beside it? What temperature is your livingroom, sinceI see you have a number of bottled wine bottles there.....(I store my bottled wine in my cooler basement)...have thought about getting a wine storage unti for the upstairs however temp control was an issue. Told you I am a distracted student.

JC

No, the fish tank plays no known effect, the temp of it is 69-70 F My wife keeps the house cold, it is normally 67-68 degrees in that room which is my dining room. She keeps it that temp year round, we pretty well run the AC year round, even if it is cool out, the AC just don't come on if it is cold out. The room is not bright in anyway and normally fairly dark.


The covered carboy is a 5 gallon batch of Kumquat Mead. I used the Joe M recipe but used Kumquats instead of oranges. The basic reason I had the towel around it was for the grotesque foaming that occurred, I finally had to siphon some out to keep it from baking up through the airlock. I came home the other day and had a mess.


So, there you have it and hope your distractions were covered. I feel like I live in a wine cellar. Lord knows she keeps it cool enough to be considered one.


Smurfe

 

[OldWino1]

Hey just means the yeasties are very happy. By the way been there seen and done that. Mine bubbled and got the wall paper. I use dark towels not stains seen. I use to wonder about this hobby . I do cookey things and i see them show up in here. just must mean great minds think alike.