Wine making tutorial please!

[Bonniegirl]

Oh and another thing, in the leaflet I was given at the brewing shop it said summat about adding another fruit?
Or something about banana gravy???

[MKG]

I assume you've added the sugar?

Anyway, the ususal dose for pectic enzyme is a level teaspoonful in a gallon, but it doesn't work arithmetically for larger amounts - ie don't add 5 teaspoons. A heaped teaspoonful will be about right. For future reference, the enzyme has the same heat tolerance as yeast

This is your first wine - don't go complicating things. Later, you can look at mixed fruit wines (more complex flavours tend to produce tastier wines). As for bananas - they add body but little else and they can delay the clearing of the wine for months. Again, leave them till later.

Plums make a decent wine all by themselves, and remember you can adjust the finished product by sweetening.

Mike

[Bonniegirl]

Cheers MKG, that clarifies it for me

See this is where it all gets so confusing, so many differing methods....a bit like farmiing really! There are as many way to do things as there are farmers.

Will just go and add that now and I'm off to bed, oh yes the sugar is in!

[Bonniegirl]

It occured to me afterwards that I forgot to also ask, 'At what point should I have used the pectic enzyme?'

Thanks

[frozenthunderbolt]

It occured to me afterwards that I forgot to also ask, 'At what point should I have used the pectic enzyme?'

Thanks

At the same time you add your yeast - once the hot water has gone in with the sugar then cooled to a blood heat

[Bonniegirl]

Thanks, I need a drink to steady my nerves lol! How long do I have to wait!

Here's what I've done so far...

http://jsmwebber.blogspot.com/2010/01/t ... e-and.html

I'd like to thank you for you help folks, perhaps by the end of it I'll know what I'm doing!

When do I get to play with my hydormeter??

[MKG]

Just looked at your blog - that wine is looking pretty healthy to me!

It's up to you as to how long to leave the plums in there - but I'd take them out after a few days otherwise you may begin to get unwanted flavours from the stones (simple test - taste it). Apart from that, all you have to do now is wait.

So no - you can't go wrong

Mike

PS - Your hydrometer, unless you used it at the outset, will now tell you bugger all. It's another thing to put away until later.

[Bonniegirl]

Hi Mike, what sort of flavour, should I have taken them out at the start? If I take the plums out in a few days will I have got all the flavour needed?
Too late to take the stones out now I expect?

Ok I believe you about the going wrong part..........for now haha!

Hydrometer still tucked away in the drawer.

At this stage of waiting, what am I waiting for? Is the buckeet ok with the towel over top, it doesnt need to lid on with the airlock at this stage does it....

Have I driven you to drink yet??

[MKG]

I've no real idea what kind of flavour, 'cos I've never tasted it. However, fruit stones can give almondy-type flavours which you might not want. They certainly won't develop unless you leave everything in there for more than a week. I used to fiddle around de-stoning plums, but now I don't bother and I can taste no difference at all.

Plums - I normally take mine out after 5 days. I've tried longer, but found no improvement in flavour.

You can put the lid and airlock on now if you want to - that will at least give you a comforting stream of bubbles. But it's not necessary as long as the towel covers the top of the bucket completely. If you fit the airlock, you're waiting for the bubbles to stop. If you don't fit it, you're still waiting for the bubbles to stop - but they're harder to see.

How long you have to wait depends upon your weather - the warmer the quicker. Generally speaking (although there are ALWAYS exceptions) a healthy fermentation will finish in about 10 days to 3 weeks. You'll know when, even if you don't use the airlock - all the solids will fall to the bottom and the wine will clear.

Mike

[Bonniegirl]

Excellent, thank you Mike!

[Bonniegirl]

MKG Update coming soon, been busy with a million other plums!

Wine looking good though, tastes good too. Still bubbling. Be back later with photo and update!

[thefriarandme]

When dealing with plums, I usually individually freeze them. Place them [apart] on a tray and allow to freeze, then bag. When ready to start the wine, allow to thaw in your primary bucket (food grade only) or whatever it is that you use. Once thawed, start to stone them ... the stones will just pop out and the flesh of the plums will be very obliging. Then follow whichever recipe it is that you are going to use. Don't forget to add pectolase [or similar].

One of the biggest problems with plum wine is the clearing. I now use Youngs' A and B clearing agents [I think they're about 85p each from Wilkinson's]. Simple to use and it clears the wine a treat. For best results, leave at least a year [if you can leave it longer, all the better] after bottling before drinking.

[Bonniegirl]

Apologies! I haven't forgotten, it's been a very busy couple of weeks.
Will try and get back tomorrow :D

[Bonniegirl]

I've no real idea what kind of flavour, 'cos I've never tasted it. However, fruit stones can give almondy-type flavours which you might not want. They certainly won't develop unless you leave everything in there for more than a week. I used to fiddle around de-stoning plums, but now I don't bother and I can taste no difference at all.

Plums - I normally take mine out after 5 days. I've tried longer, but found no improvement in flavour.

You can put the lid and airlock on now if you want to - that will at least give you a comforting stream of bubbles. But it's not necessary as long as the towel covers the top of the bucket completely. If you fit the airlock, you're waiting for the bubbles to stop. If you don't fit it, you're still waiting for the bubbles to stop - but they're harder to see.

How long you have to wait depends upon your weather - the warmer the quicker. Generally speaking (although there are ALWAYS exceptions) a healthy fermentation will finish in about 10 days to 3 weeks. You'll know when, even if you don't use the airlock - all the solids will fall to the bottom and the wine will clear.

Mike

After I read what you had said I put the lid on the bucket the next day(26th Jan), the contents looked like this:


On the 5th of Feb I took out the plums


Whch brought the level down to this


I've done nothing else with it as yet. It still occasionally bubbles, all this started on the 25th Jan, it is now the 12th Feb so 18 days since started.(Seems longer! )

Questions

1)Okay can I top that level up?
2)What now?

[MKG]

Yep - top up with water to the 5-gallon mark (actually, just a tad over, because some of that volume will be solids which will drop out).

Then wait. It's obviously still active, so there's still a protective layer of carbon dioxide. At the point where you can see it beginning to clear, you're going to slowly lose the protective layer and oxygen will begin to affect the wine (it's a LONG slow process, so don't panic). When the sediment has dropped out is when you transfer the wine to other vessels which you can fill right to the top. 5-gallon or 1-gallon plastic water containers are ideal, but anything will do as long as it has a closure of some kind. At first, check those containers every day for excess pressure (new wine can burst back to life given an opportunity).

The wine may or may not throw another deposit. It may or may not be immediately drinkable. It may or may not need a little sweetening before drinking. A lot now depends upon your taste buds.

The most important thing is that your fermentation bin is now free to begin the next wine

Mike