A few wine questions.

For any alcoholic brew that doesn't fit into any of the above categories!
celt

Post by celt » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:33 pm

CyberPaddy66 wrote:Looks like it's dropping slowly, if it gets any slower I'd try stirring up the yeast a bit (make sure you don't splash) and see what happens.
Gave it a stir after testing last night, it still tastes fruity, is it supposed to taste like vinegar ?

celt

Post by celt » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:39 pm

Duffbeer wrote:
celt wrote:Thanks all, There are not 'ANY' bubbles in the airlock.

It is a 'Bards' Italian red 7 day kit although I used a different yeast as the origional one was past its use by date.

So I gather from whats been said so far, I just keep my eye on the gravity to see if its dropping.

Bob, We are round the same age then, mine is July, so who is the oldest Git ?
What yeast did you use ?
The yeast is from wilkos, ' youngs super wine yeast compound ' add 1 heaped teaspoon per gallon, so I added 5.
The yeast with the kit I think, was called wine yeast nutrient and contained about 9 heaped teaspoons.

lockwood1956

Post by lockwood1956 » Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:04 pm

The SG is dropping so its doing ok....


the ferment will slow as it gets towards the end. Don't worry too much about the taste right now, its what it is like after ferment that counts, wine goes through many stages, some of them a bit stinky :)

are you in a DJ under airlock now?

or still in bucket?

regards
Bob

celt

Post by celt » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:24 pm

Its in a 5 gallon plastic bucket with an airlock.

Still no activity in the airlock.

Can you get a 5 gallon DJ ? :roll:

lockwood1956

Post by lockwood1956 » Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:07 am

Yes you can...23 litre

I suspect that your CO2 is escaping through a different point....is the bucket lid sealed properly?

or is the airlock perhaps not sealing in the grommet?

the CO2 will escape through the place with least resistance, you can ferment to dry in the plastic bucket, but you run the risk of oxidation because of the head-space above the wine.

Do you have 1 gallon DJ's?

if so...when the SG gets to 1.010 rack the wine into these DJ's to finish the ferment, making sure they are filled correctly (within 1/2 inch of the bung)

if you intend to vint more 5 gallon batches of wine, then a 23 litre DJ is a sound investment.

hope this helps
regards
Bob

Duffbeer

Post by Duffbeer » Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:14 am

celt wrote:
Duffbeer wrote:
celt wrote:Thanks all, There are not 'ANY' bubbles in the airlock.

It is a 'Bards' Italian red 7 day kit although I used a different yeast as the origional one was past its use by date.

So I gather from whats been said so far, I just keep my eye on the gravity to see if its dropping.

Bob, We are round the same age then, mine is July, so who is the oldest Git ?
What yeast did you use ?
The yeast is from wilkos, ' youngs super wine yeast compound ' add 1 heaped teaspoon per gallon, so I added 5.
The yeast with the kit I think, was called wine yeast nutrient and contained about 9 heaped teaspoons.
I hope all works well here, but youv'e discarded the nutrient with the yeast, I know all seems to be going well, but I would suggest getting some nutrient from your HBS and adding 1 tsp per gallon.
Two reasons...a lack of nutrient can cause excessive hydrogen sulphide (eggy smell) also the Youngs wine yeast is not the best of yeasts and needs all the help it can get (a stuck ferment may result).

celt

Post by celt » Sat Apr 26, 2008 3:31 pm

Duff, Brilliant m8, well spotted !

Got the yeast nutrient in just now. Checked the gravity also.

On thur, the reading was, 1.030 Today it is between 1.020 and 1.010 so still dropping slowly. Just hope I've caught it in time. Thanks m8 !

Lockwood, Do you think this is why no activity in airlock ?

The rubber bung is pushed well in and the airlock is pushed to the bottom of it.

Duffbeer

Post by Duffbeer » Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:37 pm

celt wrote:Duff, Brilliant m8, well spotted !

Got the yeast nutrient in just now. Checked the gravity also.

On thur, the reading was, 1.030 Today it is between 1.020 and 1.010 so still dropping slowly. Just hope I've caught it in time. Thanks m8 !

Lockwood, Do you think this is why no activity in airlock ?

The rubber bung is pushed well in and the airlock is pushed to the bottom of it.
No, I would agree with others you more than likely have a little leakage from your lid, also the airlock only needs to be inserted so it just pushes through the grommet.

lockwood1956

Post by lockwood1956 » Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:58 pm

celt wrote: Lockwood, Do you think this is why no activity in airlock ?
No....

the nutrient will feed the yeasties, making for better ferment (good spot Duff!)

The lack of airlock activity is due to CO2 escaping elsewhere, the SG is dropping so CO2 is being produced, it's just escaping somewhere other than your airlock....is the lid snapped tightly shut?

celt

Post by celt » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:14 pm

Thanks for talking me through this so far guys.

I'ts in a 5 gallon plastic bucket. It has a screw top lid on it screwed quite tight, rubber bung pushed in as far as I can get it with the airlock in that, so the lack of activity in the airlock, still remains a mystery ?

Today, the reading is just below the 1.000 mark. The hydrometer, at the top, has three colours starting with red then yellow then green (are they all like tiis ?) red is 1.010, yellow is 1.000 and green is 0.990

lockwood1956

Post by lockwood1956 » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:59 am

Is the rubber seal seated properly in the scew in lid ?

CyberPaddy66

Post by CyberPaddy66 » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:16 pm

Ignoring the leaking CO2 for now, it sounds like your brew time is almost up, watch the Hydrometer daily and when you get 2 days about or below the 1.000 (0.999) mark then add any stabilisers the kit tells your to do (of course if you want a sweet wine you've already left it too long), then in a few days bottle the lot!

Apart from the odd conundrum you seem to have done a fine job of it, may you have MANY MANY more :D

Duffbeer

Post by Duffbeer » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:47 pm

CyberPaddy66 wrote:Ignoring the leaking CO2 for now, it sounds like your brew time is almost up, watch the Hydrometer daily and when you get 2 days about or below the 1.000 (0.999) mark then add any stabilisers the kit tells your to do (of course if you want a sweet wine you've already left it too long), then in a few days bottle the lot!

Apart from the odd conundrum you seem to have done a fine job of it, may you have MANY MANY more :D
Not idealy the best way to achieve a sweet wine, you will reduce the alcohol content the wine was designed to produce. The kit contains a stabalising pack that will allow for the addition of sugar or juice for sweetening. My personal preferance is if you want a sweet wine then buy a sweet wine kit that will contain a F pack of correctly tasting juice for sweetening.

CyberPaddy66

Post by CyberPaddy66 » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:04 pm

Duffbeer wrote:
CyberPaddy66 wrote:Ignoring the leaking CO2 for now, it sounds like your brew time is almost up, watch the Hydrometer daily and when you get 2 days about or below the 1.000 (0.999) mark then add any stabilisers the kit tells your to do (of course if you want a sweet wine you've already left it too long), then in a few days bottle the lot!

Apart from the odd conundrum you seem to have done a fine job of it, may you have MANY MANY more :D
Not idealy the best way to achieve a sweet wine, you will reduce the alcohol content the wine was designed to produce. The kit contains a stabalising pack that will allow for the addition of sugar or juice for sweetening. My personal preferance is if you want a sweet wine then buy a sweet wine kit that will contain a F pack of correctly tasting juice for sweetening.
Just making a point of giving him all the info based on not knowing which kit he's got, for the record I've had kits that say to add stabilisers at 1.006, hence my comment about being too late :wink:

celt

Post by celt » Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:40 pm

lockwood1956 wrote:Is the rubber seal seated properly in the scew in lid ?
I unscrewed the lid today, and had a look at the clear plastic seal. gave it a push all the way round and it seemed to be o.k.
A few hours later, I heard a gurgle :shock:
The water seemed to be pushed into one side of the airlock so I thought I would top it up a bit. I filled it too much so unscrewed the top and emptied a bit out, since then, about 6 hours, nothing again, Grrrrrrrr !

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