How many wine makers do we have here?

[kuntrygirl]

From reading everyone's posts, there are soooooo many different ways to make wine.


Here is my current process but I will be changing that this week because of the expert advice that I am reading on this thread. I'm excited about the new process.

Day 1 - Clean and place 1 gallon fruit in 5 gallon bucket. Cover fruit with water. 1 inch of water (above the fruit). Place secured lid on 5 gallon bucket and let set for 4 days in a cool room.
Day 4 - Mash fruit, add sugar, yeast add more water. Water level should be about 1 inch from top of bucket. Let this mixture set for 2 days.

Day 6 - Filter/strain fruit. Put wine in covered bucket for 30 days.

Day 30 – Your wine is ready! Strain wine again before pouring wine in gallons.


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I will change to adding the Campden tabs on Day 1.


On Day 2, I will add my sugar, yeast and yeast nutrient and allow it to set for a few days.


Then I will strain my fruit in a few days and let set for 30 days. After 30 days, it should be ready to bottle.

I use 3 lbs of fruit per gallon for a medium wine. Less for a very light dry wine, and more for a desert wine. Also, I ALWAYS freeze mine first. It gets more juice from the fruit.

Sometimes I let it ferment dry before removing the pulp. Add more K-meta, then let it sit. I rack it a couple of times before bottling to make sure it has completely dropped out and there is less chance of a bottle fermentation starting. So my wine is usually bottled at 3-6 months.

I have the distinct impression you are making a very light wine that it ready earlier than mine.

I'm going to try your method since I have a bunch of ginger I need to use up. Perhaps make a low alcohol wine, then let the final bit of fermentation happen in the bottle "grolsch" type, just about two atmospheres for a light "spritz". Love Ginger wine with Perrier an lime wedges on a hot summer day, so fizzy ginger wine should be good too.

WOW!! I am printing out your method and WILL use this method. I like it. I especially like the idea of freezing the fruit and using MORE fruit too.

Well, I'm not sure what "light" means but after 1 glass, I'm ready for an 8 hour shift of sleeping. lol But then again, I'm not a real "drinker" so anything will knock me out. LOL But yes, it is ready early but I am going to let it sit longer. No need to rush good wine.

Ginger wine? Now I am curious.

I am really enjoying all of the contributions that everyone is giving to this wine thread. This is better than a wine making class. Thanks everyone. I am still learning. Much appreciated.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Has anyone ever made rice wine?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Someone is selling this wine press in my area for $175.00.

 

[Totalcolour]

Someone is selling this wine press in my area for $175.00.

Are you going to be making grape wine? Mine looks way different. This one is old, so perhaps it was a cider or fruit press. Mine is wood and has slatted sides, and discs that you add vertically.

One thing you might consider, is a pulp bag, like those used for beer. I tried one recently and it's so easy to remove it from the must. After fruit it thawed, it's quite mushy, so I fill the pulp bag and put it in the must. This way you don't need to strain and all you need to do is clean the bag.

I love simple!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Someone is selling this wine press in my area for $175.00.

Are you going to be making grape wine? Mine looks way different. This one is old, so perhaps it was a cider or fruit press. Mine is wood and has slatted sides, and discs that you add vertically. One thing you might consider, is a pulp bag, like those used for beer. I tried one recently and it's so easy to remove it from the must. After fruit it thawed, it's quite mushy, so I fill the pulp bag and put it in the must. This way you don't need to strain and all you need to do is clean the bag. I love simple!

I saw the ones that are made of wood online. For the price that this person is selling this old one, I can buy a new one for that price. And yes I do make grape wine. Thanks for the tip on the pulp bag. I will check on that right now. With this most recent strawberry batch, I tried something different this time. I put the strawberries in my juicer and am using that juice for this batch. I'm excited to see how this will turn out being as though I know I got ALL of the juice out of those strawberries by using my high powered juicer. Now what I did do and I probably shouldn't have because that beats the purpose, I did put the pulp back in my 5 gallon bucket. Not sure why I did that but probably because that is what I'm accustomed to doing. The other thing that I will try definitely on my next batch of wine using the juicer is that (1) I won't put the pulp back in my bucket and I will add more sugar. I currently add 10 lbs of sugar to a 5 gallon bucket because I LOVE SWEET SWEET SWEET wine, so I think I will add perhaps 2 more cups of sugar to ensure it's as sweet as I like it. I love simple too but sometimes, I make things so difficult.

 

[Totalcolour]

The other thing that I will try definitely on my next batch of wine using the juicer is that (1) I won't put the pulp back in my bucket and I will add more sugar. I currently add 10 lbs of sugar to a 5 gallon bucket

because I LOVE SWEET SWEET SWEET wine, so I think I will add perhaps 2 more cups of sugar to ensure it's as sweet as I like it.

I love simple too but sometimes, I make things so difficult.

Sweet wine. Difficult because you could end up with a secondary fermentation in the bottle and exploding bottles. There is a safer way to go. AFTER the wine is fully fermented and stable, you can add Splenda sweetener to it. Splenda is a non-fermentable sugar so it's safe to use (I checked with the company) nad since it's made origianlly from real sugar, it doesn't alter the wine much. I rarely drink sweet wine, but have tried adding a touch of Splenda directly to a glass of dry wine to test it. Not bad.
Regarding exploding bottles; back in the 70's a friend of mine lost an eye to an exploding bottle of Champagne. He was transporting a case in the trunk of his car on a very hot day. When he opened the trunk and picked up the open case, a bottle exploded and took his eye out. It was not a pretty site from what I heard.

 

[kuntrygirl]

The other thing that I will try definitely on my next batch of wine using the juicer is that (1) I won't put the pulp back in my bucket and I will add more sugar. I currently add 10 lbs of sugar to a 5 gallon bucket because I LOVE SWEET SWEET SWEET wine, so I think I will add perhaps 2 more cups of sugar to ensure it's as sweet as I like it.


I love simple too but sometimes, I make things so difficult.

Sweet wine. Difficult because you could end up with a secondary fermentation in the bottle and exploding bottles. There is a safer way to go. AFTER the wine is fully fermented and stable, you can add Splenda sweetener to it. Splenda is a non-fermentable sugar so it's safe to use (I checked with the company) nad since it's made origianlly from real sugar, it doesn't alter the wine much. I rarely drink sweet wine, but have tried adding a touch of Splenda directly to a glass of dry wine to test it. Not bad.
[rule]Regarding exploding bottles; back in the 70's a friend of mine lost an eye to an exploding bottle of Champagne. He was transporting a case in the trunk of his car on a very hot day. When he opened the trunk and picked up the open case, a bottle exploded and took his eye out. It was not a pretty site from what I heard.

Great tip! Splenda? Will it have that bitter Splenda after taste? I use Splenda with my hot green tea but it has an after taste which is ok with my green tea but I wouldn't want my wine to taste like that. Could I add regular sugar instead of the Splenda or not? So you don't advise I add those 2 extra cups of sugar?

Is the exploding bottle story true? If so, OMG! That's not good.

I had a friend experience exploding bottles as well. he wasn't home when it happened but he saw and smelled the mess when he returned home.

 

[Totalcolour]

Great tip! Splenda? Will it have that bitter Splenda after taste? I use Splenda with my hot green tea but it has an after taste which is ok with my green tea but I wouldn't want my wine to taste like that. Could I add regular sugar instead of the Splenda or not? So you don't advise I add those 2 extra cups of sugar?

Is the exploding bottle story true? If so, OMG! That's not good.

I had a friend experience exploding bottles as well. he wasn't home when it happened but he saw and smelled the mess when he returned home.

The thing to do, is try a bit of Splenda in a glass and see if you like it. DON'T use pure sugar, it really can re-ferment.

And yes, the story of my friend is true.

Patrick and his family were close family friends of myself and previous husband (I was married to a winemaker in the Napa Valley). Our kids grew up together. I saw his prosthetic eye fall out in our swimming pool one day and that's when he told me about how he lost it. So I'm always very careful with sparkling wines, and the possibility of exploding bottles.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Great tip! Splenda? Will it have that bitter Splenda after taste? I use Splenda with my hot green tea but it has an after taste which is ok with my green tea but I wouldn't want my wine to taste like that. Could I add regular sugar instead of the Splenda or not? So you don't advise I add those 2 extra cups of sugar?


Is the exploding bottle story true? If so, OMG! That's not good.


I had a friend experience exploding bottles as well. he wasn't home when it happened but he saw and smelled the mess when he returned home.

The thing to do, is try a bit of Splenda in a glass and see if you like it. DON'T use pure sugar, it really can re-ferment.

And yes, the story of my friend is true.

Patrick and his family were close family friends of myself and previous husband (I was married to a winemaker in the Napa Valley). Our kids grew up together. I saw his prosthetic eye fall out in our swimming pool one day and that's when he told me about how he lost it. So I'm always very careful with sparkling wines, and the possibility of exploding bottles.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I will try the Splenda and see how that tastes.

Right now I'm looking for a sale on pineapple. I wanted to start that this weekend but didn't have time. So, I'm searching for pineapple on sale. If not, I will have to bite the bullet and get them at regular price.

 

[kuntrygirl]

How many of you use a hydrometer? How important is Pectic Enzyme?