Winemaking overview

[beardy]

So after studying Jack Keller's site and the 3 books I bought this is the general guidelines I will be following. I feel like for MOST fruit wines this will work and of course is not all encompassing. Twaeks additions and subtractions may be necessary but I feel like this is a good guide to follow for me. Feedback is very welcome so I can make changes and do this right!

(Some places I still need to add stuff as this will be a work in progress, indefinitely)

Fresh fruit, frozen, then thawed (5-6lb/gallon desired. For better flavor of the fruit 10lbs is best)
Sanitize equipment
Spring water to make up desired gallons. Divide amount by about 3 and cool 2 of the 3.

In primary:
Fruit in straining bag. Mush and squishto get juices
Tannin (1/4 tsp/gallon)
Acid blend (test pH to determine amount)
Nutrient (1tsp/gallon)

SG test to determine the sugar needed.

Warm water/sugar (un-refridgerated amount). Use hydrometer in juice mash to determine amount of sugar needed.

Add cold water to bring to <75° and make up desired batch amount. The amount will differ based on the amount of juice that was extrated.

Campden tablet crushed (1/gallon or 1/4 tsp/5 gallons)

Record SG and adjust if needed.

Let sit 12 hours

Pectic enzyme (need amount/gallon)

Let sit 24 hours

Record SG (This is day 1)

2oz water
1/2 tsp sugar
Heat to 100° (17 sec in microwave)
Add yeast
Stir
Let sit 15 mins exactly
Add to primary, stir and squish bag to incorporate yeast

Cover loosely

Day 2:
Squeeze bag
Set bag aside
Stir
Record SG
Replace bag
Cover

Bentonite (1/2 tsp/gallon)
4oz warm water
Mix in stirring occasionally until day 3

Day 3:
Squeeze bag
Set bag aside
Stir
Record SG
Add bentonite mix
Stir
Replace bag
Cover

Day 4:
Squeeze bag
Set bag aside
Stir
Record SG
Replace bag
Cover

Day 5:
Squeeze bag
Discard contents of bag
Stir
Record SG

Rack

Rack once every 1-2 months or until no lees settles in a 30 day period. Do not forget to degas your wine at least once before bottling. Degassing it in the middle stage of the racking process has shown benefit, because a degassed wine clears quicker. Save all your lees and murky wine left after each racking from primary onward. Put them in jars and put those in the fridge. They will settle again, giving you clear wine for topping or sipping as you wait.

Potassium Sorbate (1/2 tsp/gallon)
Campden (1/gallon crushed)
Mix with 2 cups wine until completely dissolved (no white lumps).
Add to wine

Let sit 5-7 days (checking for fermentation signs, as there should be none.)

Sweeten with your choice of sweetener (sugar, honey, etc.) to taste
Let sit 5-7 days (check for re-fermenting)
Airlock

Bottle

The best way to get the correct bottle air gap is to have a bottle filler tube with the spring-loaded tip. When the wine level reaches the lip of the bottle, stop and withdraw the tube. The wine will fall to the correct and perfect height.

Store upright 3-5 days at 55-60° Then on its side.


The most important step:
Drink!!! (Thanks Elmer!)


Revised:
7-10-13

 

[wineforfun]

Looks pretty good in general, like you said.
One question, what is the 1/2tsp sugar for, when adding yeast?

 

[jswordy]

Some variations based on how I generally do things, for right or wrong:

Up your fruit! Keller's wines turn out "of medium body," which has not been satisfactory for most forum members. Minimum 6 pounds per gallon (meaning that 6 pounds of fruit and added water equal one gallon of volume; you start with about 8 gallons to get about 6 in secondary, or about 7 gallons to get about 5) is the best way to roll. You will not regret it.

Take a specific gravity reading with your hydrometer before adding sugar. Write it down. There are then charts on this site and elsewhere that you can use that get close to how much sugar you need to add to get to the starting specific gravity you need. Go slowly, and you are correct, be cautious as you add sugar. Note: adding sugar will increase your total liquid volume, so plan for that.

I do not add sugar in solution. You are diluting your wine. I simply stir in the sugar into room-temp must. Never a problem.

Then you are OK up to where you wrote sit 12 hours, then add pectic enzyme, then sit another 24 hours. I just add the enzyme with the other amendments after the sugar level and starting gravity have been attained. Let the resulting must sit 12 hours or so (overnight) and you are ready to pitch.

I have had so much success pitching yeast directly that I don't make a starter, but others will insist on it, so that's a judgment call.

I've never used bentonite except as part of a kit. I prefer to use gravity. Judgment call.

If SG is 1.010 rack it over anyway and fit a 3-piece airlock. No need to do differently than at 1.000, you would just be dragging your mess into the carboy to clean out later, so why?

Some fruit wines call for racking over at SG as high as 1.030 or 1.040 and benefit from it. A 3-piece airlock is a must-have for these, as fermentation is still quite active.

Not all wines will be "completely dry" at .990. Some finish higher, like at 1.000. Check your recipe for FSG.

OK, if your aim is dry wine, I would wait longer than 1 month to be assured it has finished out. It may undergo a spontaneous second, bacterial fermentation called malo-lactic, too, if you are not going to use full stabilization on it. That's OK in an airlocked carboy but makes bubbles in bottles. If you do not want the malo-lactic fermentation, the wine must be stabilized.

So for me, it is much better for an unstabilized wine to wait at least 4 and better yet 6 months before calling it finished. But (and here I disagree with some), I stabilize all my wines prior to bottling.

If you do not stabilize with SO2 and potassium sorbate, you cannot add sugar to back-sweeten (well, you could if you had a micro-filter that would remove the remaining yeast beforehand, but you don't as a home winemaker). If your wine is stabilized, you don't need to let it sit for longer than 5-7 days and you can be assured it can be bottled.

Do not forget to degas your wine at least once before bottling. Degassing it in the middle stage of the racking process has shown benefit for me, because a degassed wine clears quicker.

The best way to get the correct bottle air gap is to have onhand a cheap bottle filler tube. I recommend the one with the spring-loaded tip. When the wine level reaches the lip of the bottle, stop and withdraw the tube. The wine will fall to the correct and perfect height.

One other thing. As Professor Arne always says, save all your lees and murky wine left after each racking from primary onward. Put them in jars (I just use Mason jars with lids, which horrifies some here) and put those in the fridge. They will settle again, giving you clear wine for topping or sipping as you wait.

ALWAYS taste, taste, taste - even in primary. It is not going to hurt you and you will learn so much as you make wine if you will taste it all along the way every time. You will get the sensory experience of the process, to where you will eventually be able to tell by taste if all is well, or if all is off track, and sooner rather than later.

 

[beardy]

Looks pretty good in general, like you said.
One question, what is the 1/2tsp sugar for, when adding yeast?

Some of the things I've read says to add a little sugar to the starter. I've seen it enough that it seemed like general practice.

 

[beardy]

Some variations based on how I generally do things, for right or wrong:

Up your fruit! Keller's wines turn out "of medium body," which has not been satisfactory for most forum members. Minimum 6 pounds per gallon (meaning that 6 pounds of fruit and added water equal one gallon of volume; you start with about 8 gallons to get about 6 in secondary, or about 7 gallons to get about 5) is the best way to roll. You will not regret it.

Take a specific gravity reading with your hydrometer before adding sugar. Write it down. There are then charts on this site and elsewhere that you can use that get close to how much sugar you need to add to get to the starting specific gravity you need. Go slowly, and you are correct, be cautious as you add sugar. Note: adding sugar will increase your total liquid volume, so plan for that.

I do not add sugar in solution. You are diluting your wine. I simply stir in the sugar into room-temp must. Never a problem.

Then you are OK up to where you wrote sit 12 hours, then add pectic enzyme, then sit another 24 hours. I just add the enzyme with the other amendments after the sugar level and starting gravity have been attained. Let the resulting must sit 12 hours or so (overnight) and you are ready to pitch.

I have had so much success pitching yeast directly that I don't make a starter, but others will insist on it, so that's a judgment call.

I've never used bentonite except as part of a kit. I prefer to use gravity. Judgment call.

If SG is 1.010 rack it over anyway and fit a 3-piece airlock. No need to do differently than at 1.000, you would just be dragging your mess into the carboy to clean out later, so why?

Some fruit wines call for racking over at SG as high as 1.030 or 1.040 and benefit from it. A 3-piece airlock is a must-have for these, as fermentation is still quite active.

Not all wines will be "completely dry" at .990. Some finish higher, like at 1.000. Check your recipe for FSG.

OK, if your aim is dry wine, I would wait longer than 1 month to be assured it has finished out. It may undergo a spontaneous second, bacterial fermentation called malo-lactic, too, if you are not going to use full stabilization on it. That's OK in an airlocked carboy but makes bubbles in bottles. If you do not want the malo-lactic fermentation, the wine must be stabilized.

So for me, it is much better for an unstabilized wine to wait at least 4 and better yet 6 months before calling it finished. But (and here I disagree with some), I stabilize all my wines prior to bottling.

If you do not stabilize with SO2 and potassium sorbate, you cannot add sugar to back-sweeten (well, you could if you had a micro-filter that would remove the remaining yeast beforehand, but you don't as a home winemaker). If your wine is stabilized, you don't need to let it sit for longer than 5-7 days and you can be assured it can be bottled.

Do not forget to degas your wine at least once before bottling. Degassing it in the middle stage of the racking process has shown benefit for me, because a degassed wine clears quicker.

The best way to get the correct bottle air gap is to have onhand a cheap bottle filler tube. I recommend the one with the spring-loaded tip. When the wine level reaches the lip of the bottle, stop and withdraw the tube. The wine will fall to the correct and perfect height.

One other thing. As Professor Arne always says, save all your lees and murky wine left after each racking from primary onward. Put them in jars (I just use Mason jars with lids, which horrifies some here) and put those in the fridge. They will settle again, giving you clear wine for topping or sipping as you wait.

ALWAYS taste, taste, taste - even in primary. It is not going to hurt you and you will learn so much as you make wine if you will taste it all along the way every time. You will get the sensory experience of the process, to where you will eventually be able to tell by taste if all is well, or if all is off track, and sooner rather than later.

Holy moley! I can say that there's a lot left to add! Thanks for taking time to let me know your thoughts! I'll definitely be adding most of this!

 

[beardy]

Edit: The phone app posted that twice.

 

[Stressbaby]

A few comments...

I have used nutrient at 1t/gallon with great success on all wines except maybe persimmon.
It is not possible to specify acid blend amount for all recipes. Some need none and some need up to 3t/gallon. It depends on the fruit and your taste preference. Better to aim for a particular pH. 3.4 is where I start.
The yeast starter can be made from the must. This is an easy, simple way to do it and you don't have to mess with the sugar. Just make step additions of 1/3-1/2 cup of must to the starter.

My 2 cents...

 

[beardy]

A few comments...

I have used nutrient at 1t/gallon with great success on all wines except maybe persimmon.
It is not possible to specify acid blend amount for all recipes. Some need none and some need up to 3t/gallon. It depends on the fruit and your taste preference. Better to aim for a particular pH. 3.4 is where I start.
The yeast starter can be made from the must. This is an easy, simple way to do it and you don't have to mess with the sugar. Just make step additions of 1/3-1/2 cup of must to the starter.

My 2 cents...

Thank you! I'd take a single cent from anyone here!

 

[Arne]

Some of the things I've read says to add a little sugar to the starter. I've seen it enough that it seemed like general practice.

If you are just going to hydrate your yeast, you really don't need it. At the same time, it doesn't hurt a thing. Just put in some warm water for a few minutes and pitch it in. If you are going to make a real starter, start with a bit of sugar and nutrients in warm water, let it get going til the yeast is growing, add some of your must. Let it sit til it is going good again and add some more must. After a couple times of this, pitch it in. Should give you a fast start. Making the starter is going to take a few hours instead of a few minutes, tho. Usually just use it if I think I have a must that is going to be hard to start or trying to get a stuck ferment going again. Arne.

 

[jamesngalveston]

i would throw some yeast energizer in there with the nutrient.
and if you want it to clear really fast, use super-kleer over betonite.
it works much faster...some say it dilutes the color, but has not for any of my batches.
other then that, I agree with everything JSwordy said....

 

[Turock]

If you want a high-flavored fruit wine, use no water. Water dilutes delicate flavors like apple and peach. All of our fruit wines are made with no water, except for red raspberry, black raspberry and cranberry.

Most of the time, fruit is too acidic so be sure to have some calcium carbonate on hand to raise the PH.

All of our fruit wines get bentonite in the primary because we are using no water and that makes a real dense wine that time won't even clear.

There are times you want to make a yeast starter. Blueberry and cranberry are tough to get a ferment started on.

If you're just beginning and would like to get your feet under you, then a recipe might be a good way to learn. But recipes don't deliver a high flavored fruit wine. Most of the time we are considering 10# of fruit per gallon and using no water. This delivers a wine that tastes exactly like the fruit it is made from.

 

[Elmer]

Beardy,
great overview, however you left out 1 important part of the process!

Drink!!!!!!

 

[beardy]

If you want a high-flavored fruit wine, use no water. Water dilutes delicate flavors like apple and peach. All of our fruit wines are made with no water, except for red raspberry, black raspberry and cranberry.

Most of the time, fruit is too acidic so be sure to have some calcium carbonate on hand to raise the PH.

All of our fruit wines get bentonite in the primary because we are using no water and that makes a real dense wine that time won't even clear.

There are times you want to make a yeast starter. Blueberry and cranberry are tough to get a ferment started on.

If you're just beginning and would like to get your feet under you, then a recipe might be a good way to learn. But recipes don't deliver a high flavored fruit wine. Most of the time we are considering 10# of fruit per gallon and using no water. This delivers a wine that tastes exactly like the fruit it is made from.

Thats awesome! I'll have to up my game with the plums.

 

[beardy]

Beardy,
great overview, however you left out 1 important part of the process!

Drink!!!!!!

Revised!!!!

 

[vernsgal]

As you may know I'm pretty new at this whole fruit wine making thing but sometimes I like to try to share what I've learned so far so here you go on my take.You have quantity needed for your acid blend, so I would say that would depend on type and quantity of fruit, it's usually, in others recipes 1 tsp per gal. Bentonite is great for your wine,stick with it,it not only clears but helps with haziness. If you're in a rush to clear you can always add super-kleer , sparkoloid etc later.Personally I would check PH before adding your sugar .(just recently learned that).Sugar in a starter is something I only use if I get a stuck ferm. nutrient is good but I would only add energizer if it's a fruit thats know to be hard to ferment.Above all I have learned you don't need to add a whole list of chems. to make a good wine. good luck

 

[beardy]

So I'm on day 5 of this apricot wine, I will test SG tomorrow morning and will discard the fruit bag. I should sorbate/campdenright away after racking? should I stir a little before I rack? Im assuming the heaviest lees will still stay at the bottom while the lighter stuff would transfer over to the carboy...

 

[beardy]

Above all I have learned you don't need to add a whole list of chems. to make a good wine. good luck

Yeah I'm trying to stick with the minimum chemicals. I like the bentonite because its just clay. The k-meta and the stuff for sanitizing I feel thats necessary to be safe. We'll see how it goes!

 

[vernsgal]

So I'm on day 5 of this apricot wine, I will test SG tomorrow morning and will discard the fruit bag. I should sorbate/campdenright away after racking? should I stir a little before I rack? Im assuming the heaviest lees will still stay at the bottom while the lighter stuff would transfer over to the carboy...

Don't stir before racking or you'll get all the lees mixed in. You don't need to add sorbate right now.After racking off the lees if you put the left over stuff in a jar/bottle and refridgerate it, it will separate more and you can use it for topping off

 

[Turock]

Yes--listen to Vernsgal. Do not sorbate. Sorbate will not work in a cloudy wine. You have to rack the bulk of the yeast cells off before sorbating. Sorbate should be added to clear wine only and done at bottling time. Most fruit wines need 9 months to 1 year of bulk aging to get the sediment off them---especially if you bentonited the primary.

 

[beardy]

Yes--listen to Vernsgal. Do not sorbate. Sorbate will not work in a cloudy wine. You have to rack the bulk of the yeast cells off before sorbating. Sorbate should be added to clear wine only and done at bottling time. Most fruit wines need 9 months to 1 year of bulk aging to get the sediment off them---especially if you bentonited the primary.

Got it. Sorbate just a few days before bottling.... right?