Where to store wine

[Jnay]

Hi
I have made my very first wine, it's elderflower.

Everything has kind of risen to the top but there is no bubbling going on, or is it too early for that?

Also where should I keep it, in the sun, shade, warm, cool?

At present it is in my kitchen in the shade.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated by the novice , thank you

 

[Ernest T Bass]

Looks like everyone is at work, I'll give it a try. I to am new at this wine making, but not knowing a lot about what you have done I'll give it a shot. It is normal for the pulp to rise to the top, it should be in a open container so it can get some oxygen and you should stir it about twice a day to add oxygen into the must. Keep it at room temperature, yeast won't work when the must is too cold and will work too fast if it's too hot (loose flavor). It may take a day or two before you see any action from the yeast. You should take a hydrometer reading to monitor the progress of the wine, If you used a hydrometer to adjust the sugar you added in the beginning probably should have added sugar syrup to a gravity of 1.085. Watch the reading go down, when it reaches about1.010 transfer it to a carboy with a air-lock. Your wine is okay for now, later when folks get home from work they will direct you much better.
Semper Fi

 

[Jnay]

Hi Earnest,
I have the wine in a brewing bucket with a lid on, shall I take it off?

What about insects and stuff like that, we are having a bit of a heat wave in Ireland lol

Thank you so much for replying

 

[BernardSmith]

Jnay, Hi. As Ernest suggests you don't want the wine to be too cold or too hot. In my opinion what is comfortable for you is OK for the fermentation, but you don't really provide a great deal of information. Are you following a specific recipe? What kind of yeast are you using? You say that you don't see any action but everything has risen to the surface. That suggests to me that there is likely something going on .
How large a volume of wine are you making? How much sugar did you add? Elderflowers are not very nutritious for the yeast so did you add yeast nutrient? When did you add yeast? Did you measure the specific gravity of the must (the wine before you added the yeast.)? When was the last time you took a reading after that? What was the reading? If the specific gravity has dropped then whether you see bubbles or not the yeast is converting sugar to alcohol. Are you mixing the wine several times a day with a sanitized spoon or stick? You want to stir the wine vigorously for a minute or two to work air into the liquid and to make sure that the flowers on the top are thoroughly worked through the wine

 

[jamesngalveston]

take the lid off, use a muslin cover, a sheet, are like...that way it can breath as much as possible, at this point.
your fermentation may be lslow due to low O2.

 

[Jnay]

Thank you both, I now have taken the lid off and covered it with muslin.

The recipe I used doesn't mention adding nutrient so it's not been added to my wine Earnest, will it make a lot of difference? I can get nutrient on Monday morning, is it too late to add it then?

I'm having a big panic now, I should have waited till I knew what I was doing lol but the sun was out and the elderflowers don't last forever do they?

I added raisins to my wine, I chopped them a bit first.
The yeast I used was called Lalvin active dried wine yeast K1V 1116

I added the yeast once the temperature of the water had cooled to 21c

I'm making 2 gallons of wine
I have got a hydrometer arriving here on Tuesday

 

[Arne]

Putting the cloth over the primary vat is a very good idea. I always just set the lid on over the cloth. Didn't used to do it that way, then my bride brought a kitten into the house. Since then, I put the cloth on, then the lid. Still get plenty of oxygen, I stir once or twice a day. Just a warning about some of the critters. Arne.

 

[Jnay]

Thank you Arne,
Is it possible to add the nutrients on Monday?
I will not be able to get them till Monday.
Or do you think that because I added 1 lb of raisins that the nutrient wont be needed?
Thanks again

 

[jamesngalveston]

i add my nutrients 3 times..... once before fermentation, once abou 2 days into it, and once n day 4....
really keeps your yeast on its toes....
i cover with muslin, and use big rubber band to secure.

 

[Jnay]

Hi
Thanks for the information
I made the wine late Friday night, recipe says to keep it in bucket for 5/6 days , so I thought I would add the nutrient on Monday , and Thursday then bottle it on Thursday
What do you think ?

 

[jamesngalveston]

first off its not even close to being wine.
you cant start on friday and bottle the following thursday.
you can not rely on bubbles to determine complete fermentation.
add your nutrient on monday.
check with hydrometer on tuesday, if you get one.
wine is finished when the hydrometer is at .990 top of scale.
then you will have to rack to another vessel.
then wait determine if you want to sweeten
then stabalize
then let it clear
then bottle it.
normally 3 to 12 months.
are add clearing agent which is faster.

 

[Jnay]

Errr ok I didn't mean bottle, I really need to learn the jargon.
What I meant to say was demijohn.
The recipe I am following says to leave it for 3 months but I will be guided by the hydrometers readings and your sound advice
Thank you

 

[Jnay]

Hello James Galveston

I got my 2 hydrometers , my reading is in the BLUE between 50 and 60

I added 2 teaspoons of nutrients yesterday.

I am stirring it twice a day for one minute each time.

My question is. ....

How often should I take hydrometer readings please?

And.....

At what point do I add more nutrient, if I have to add more that is?

Thank you

 

[Jnay]

Hi all,

Does anyone know how often I use the hydrometer, or doesn't it matter?

I took a reading the other day when the hydrometer arrived and it read in the BLUE between 50 and 60

Also I added yeast nutrients to the elderflower wine on Monday, when do I add more, if in fact I do add any more.

Thank you

 

[beardy]

Hi all,

Does anyone know how often I use the hydrometer, or doesn't it matter?

I took a reading the other day when the hydrometer arrived and it read in the BLUE between 50 and 60

Also I added yeast nutrients to the elderflower wine on Monday, when do I add more, if in fact I do add any more.

Thank you

In my limited experience I would suggest in the first 5-10 days checking it daily. Remember that the temp of the must affects the reading. So look for the temperature adjustment scale that should have come with your hydrometer.

Also be sure to post the readings as X.XXX (eg. 1.064) this avoids confusion for the readers.

As to the nutrients, I've seen many people on here talk about adding in stages. Add half Day one, then add the other half when the hydrometer reads 1.040 or about half way thru primary fermentation.

Hope this helps. Keep reading the threads as stuff like this comes up in almost all of them (especially in the beginner's section!)

 

[Jnay]

In my limited experience I would suggest in the first 5-10 days checking it daily. Remember that the temp of the must affects the reading. So look for the temperature adjustment scale that should have come with your hydrometer.

Also be sure to post the readings as X.XXX (eg. 1.064) this avoids confusion for the readers.

As to the nutrients, I've seen many people on here talk about adding in stages. Add half Day one, then add the other half when the hydrometer reads 1.040 or about half way thru primary fermentation.

Hope this helps. Keep reading the threads as stuff like this comes up in almost all of them (especially in the beginner's section!)

Hi Beardy
Thank you so much for the information.

I am reading this beginners forum a lot, sometimes I think I get information overload tho lol

It's like everything that is new, it just takes time to sink in, or maybe that's just me and my age lol
Thanks again

 

[BernardSmith]

I tend not to measure the gravity as often as beardy. I measure the SG of the must and then measure the gravity about 24 hours after pitching the yeast. I measure the gravity again 24 hours after that. Assuming the temperature is relatively constant those three measurements give me a reasonable idea of the rate of fermentation and I will measure again when I think the gravity is likely to be close to 1.010 because at that point I am ready to rack the wine into a carboy. Should it slow down then I have a sense of that when I take the fourth reading and should it have dropped below 1.010 then I would certainly be ready to rack pretty soon after it got between 1.010 and 1.000. But even if you intend to feed nutrients to the yeast at specific points in the fermentation process, it seems to me that you still don't need to check the gravity daily to have a reasonably good sense on the whether there is likely to be half the sugar still unfermented or a quarter of the sugar left to ferment or very little sugar left to ferment. But that said, with some wines - like honey meads - the rate of fermentation can be quite slow and I might take readings more frequently because I don't have the same sense of grasping the rate at which it is in fact fermenting.

 

[Jnay]

I tend not to measure the gravity as often as beardy. I measure the SG of the must and then measure the gravity about 24 hours after pitching the yeast. I measure the gravity again 24 hours after that. Assuming the temperature is relatively constant those three measurements give me a reasonable idea of the rate of fermentation and I will measure again when I think the gravity is likely to be close to 1.010 because at that point I am ready to rack the wine into a carboy. Should it slow down then I have a sense of that when I take the fourth reading and should it have dropped below 1.010 then I would certainly be ready to rack pretty soon after it got between 1.010 and 1.000. But even if you intend to feed nutrients to the yeast at specific points in the fermentation process, it seems to me that you still don't need to check the gravity daily to have a reasonably good sense on the whether there is likely to be half the sugar still unfermented or a quarter of the sugar left to ferment or very little sugar left to ferment. But that said, with some wines - like honey meads - the rate of fermentation can be quite slow and I might take readings more frequently because I don't have the same sense of grasping the rate at which it is in fact fermenting.

Thank you Bernard Smith,
It all comes down to experience doesn't it?

I will test it in the morning.

I do have one more question, if you don't mind.

I have to go away to hospital, there is a cancellation and I have been jumped up the list.
I may get a call tomorrow or it may be in a week

If my must isn't in a demijohn when I have to leave is it ok to leave it where it is.
My partner would stir it twice daily like I do now and it is covered with clean muslin.

I would be away from my home for approx 5 days

Thank you again xxx