Started my first batch of wine - Peach & Grape Wine!!

[lhunkele]

I'm using the recipe from the Jack Keller Winemaking site (below); So far so good, however I do have a question... during the time the must is in the primary and covered, what am I covering it with... do I use the lid that came with the container and the larger airlock?

Peach and Grape Wine

3 lbs ripe peaches
12 oz can frozen white grape concentrate
2-1/4 lbs granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/4 tsp tannin
water to one gallon
1 crushed Campden tablet
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Champagne wine yeast

Put the water on to boil. Wash the peaches but do not peel. Cut in halves, remove stones and put in nylon straining bag and tie it closed. Put in primary and mash and squeeze with hands until no solids remain. When water boils, dissolve sugar in it. Pour over peaches. Add can of frozen white grape juice. When must cools, add acid blend, yeast nutrient, tannin, and crushed Campden tablet. Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Stir in pectic enzyme and set aside another 12 hours. Sprinkle yeast on top of must and recover. Stir daily for 10 days, then drip drain pulp without squeezing. Siphon off sediments into secondary and fit airlock. Rack every 30 days until fermentation completely ends and wine clears. Set aside two months and rack again into bottles. Taste any time after three months. [Author's recipe]

 

[Deezil]

A piece of cheesecloth, an old-but-clean shirt or towel... Just something to keep the bugs out while its in primary fermentation.. Secure it with a rubberband, string, shoelace, depending on the size of the opening..

Some oxygen isnt a bad thing while in primary... Its when you enter secondary fermentation/towards the end of fermentation when you need to be sure you've got an airlock in place.. The wine puts off so much gas while fermenting, that it basically protects itself, yet as that winds down, the need for an airlock increases..

 

[lhunkele]

I can do that! Thank you for your quick reply and explaination.

 

[lhunkele]

O.k, my next question is about the yeast... I'm under the impression I should not follow the directions on the yeast package (dissolve, let stand, stir well...) but follow the recipe and the recipe says to sprinkle on top of must and recover ...so thats all I should do, open the package and sprinkle it on top, recover and not stir it until the next day...

 

[Deezil]

A lot of the leading opinions on this forum believe in making a yeast starter. An empty bottle - i use a 2 liter soda bottle, thoroughly washed out.

Add an inch or two of water into the container, sprinkle the yeast and allow 15-30 minutes for it to rehydrate
In 4-hour-or-so increments, add wine must to the container
Do this for 12-24 hours or until your container is full

What you're hoping to achieve is:
A) making sure the packet of yeast is viable - that its gonna work
B) giving it a leg-up by babying it at first, letting it get its feet under itself so that it can hit your wine must with a running start

 

[lhunkele]

Got it, thanks again!

 

[countrygirl]

i've always just sprinkled on top and had good results with that, too. however, i'm going to be doing fresh grapes this weekend and i may try the starter method. was ur jack keller's for 1 gallon? most are. when u do ur next batch, up the peach # to 6 and then compare the difference. u'll be surprised!

 

[lhunkele]

Yes, 1-gallon. I do have a couple peaches left (3), is it too late...

So I've rehydrated the yeast and in about 3-hours I'm going to add 1/4 cup must and repeat. How/when can I tell if my yeast is viable? at the moment, it doesn't look much different than when I started...

o.k, so I'm already getting ahead of myself; I took an SG reading after adding the acid blend, yeast nutrient, tanning and crushed campden tablet and it was about 1.0925. Reading the scale that came with my hydrometer, if the starting gravity reads 1.100 or below, I'm going to end up with a dry wine... I would more perfer something with a little sweetness to it... do I desolve and add more sugar before adding the yeast or is there another time method for accomplishing this?

Thank you - this forum is the best and I'm tickled-pink I have such great resources at my fingertips

 

[Deezil]

Fermenting dry is a good habit to get into.. Just get your SG high enough to hit the alcohol % you're lookin for, you can add sorbate and sulfites afterwards, and back-sweeten to your liking.. This is the easiest way to avoid "bottle bombs"..

If you raise your SG high and ferment with the expectation of residual sugars, theres a chance fermentation could restart - a big problem if the wines bottles.. The pressure builds and either the cork comes out or the bottle just explodes.

Potassium sorbate wont stop an active fermentation, but it acts as birth control for the yeast already in action - keeps them from multiplying.. So once fermentation has stopped, and the yeast are no longer going crazy, thats the time to add sorbate and sulfites (because sorbate works better with the addition of sulfites at the same time). Then give it a week (i think, ish?) and backsweeten to your liking

In short, get your SG to the right level for the amount of alcohol you're looking for, and worry about sweetening later to avoid catastrophe completely

 

[Deezil]

You'll know the yeast are hard at work when they begin to rise and fall within the liquid.. a foam cap/head will start to form on top and if you put your ear to the opening, it will sound like you JUST opened a soda - but it doesnt stop..

 

[lhunkele]

Fermenting dry is a good habit to get into.. Just get your SG high enough to hit the alcohol % you're lookin for, you can add sorbate and sulfites afterwards, and back-sweeten to your liking.. This is the easiest way to avoid "bottle bombs"...

...o.k., I need to break this down into bite size pieces

Let's see what I understand; if I ferment to dry then my SG reading should be 1.000 and PA 0. If my starting SG was 1.0925 then my PA is between 12 and 12.7%. I then subtract my second reading from my first to get my alcohol % (12-12.7% minus 0 = 12-12.7% yes? If this is my finished alcohol %, I'm good with that...

Now about the sorbate and sulfites; I did pick up some Potassium Sorbate
(are the Campden tablets the same as sulfites? - if not I guess I need some...), but my recipe (above) doesn't include them, when would I add them?

Back-sweetening I haven't gotten to yet but I did see I could add;
- simple sugar before drinking (I don't think so...)
- liquor before the wine had completely fermented out (has potential

Thank you for your patience!

p.s. my yeast starter is doing nicely and I will be adding to my must shortly!

 

[Deezil]

A ferment will usually finish with a SG somewhere between 0.990 and 1.000. If it went all the way to 0.990, i think the highest you're looking at is 13.5%~

Campden tablets and sulfites are the same thing. Just make sure you crush them up well so they fully dissolve. Sulfites are used to keep things sterile, and to keep the oxygen away from the wine. I'm in the middle of doing a batch of peach myself; I added them at the beginning to kill off anything that might have been on my peaches(bacterias, molds, etc), and to kill any wild yeasts.

During fermentation the wine will put off enough co2, and sulfites from the original dosage, to keep the oxygen away but when fermentation dies down and the alcohol is dry, it also becomes more vulnerable. It's handy to have a SO2 test kit so you can keep an eye on the amount of gas (measured in ppm - parts per million) its putting off.

1/4 tsp initially
1/4 tsp for every 3 months of bulk aging
(somebody correct me if im wrong)

Sorbate is used after fermentation is done. It's a "yeast birth control"; it keeps them from multiplying again if a new food source is introduced (ie sugar). So once a fermentation is done, and you've racked your wine off of the lees that settled to the bottom - dormant yeast among them - sorbate will keep the yeast that are left in suspension, from "getting their groove on" once again. Sulfites (campden tablets) are usually added in with the sorbate, as it helps the sorbate work better.

Once you've added sorbate and waited a reasonable amount of time (a week or two) for it to find all the yeast and control their urges, its then safe to add things like a F Pac and can backsweeten with sugar syrup/simple sugar to your liking.

 

[lhunkele]

F-Pac? (thanks for the link) that wasn’t in my recipe either… I happen to have some peaches left over that I halved and pitted and put in the freezer for later.

Let me see if I can get my ducks in a row;

I’m at the point now where I stir daily for 10-days then rack to secondary with airlock and re-rack every 30-days until fermentation complete and wine clear. So instead of setting aside for two months, I should;

• add the sorbate and sulfites (is k-meta the same as campden/sulfite?)
• wait a week or two, then add the F-Pac and clearing agent. I bought Super Kleen (liquid) but now see it is for 5-6 gal and I’m only making 1-gal so I guess I need to pick something else up… The instructions for the f-pac says to rack 2+ more times but doesn’t say how long to wait in between?
• Then after that I can back-sweeten with simple syrup if I choose.

Is this where I pick up with the recipe again and set aside two months then rack into bottles?

(guess I should have posted to ‘beginning wine making…feel free to move over)

Thanks again for your help!

 

[lhunkele]

...in the past week I've learned quite a bit, mainly, there's more to winemaking than following a recipe... I see now that using the tools I'll learn more what is needed and when it needs to be done as opposed to the date on the calendar.

I probably should have read more before jumping in, however once I get started, I tend to jump in with BOTH feet!

Thanks again for helping me take my first steps!