Noob question for concentrate wine

Made a simple juice solution, 3 concentrate and 3 c sugar water, 1 gal total. started yeast (bourgovin rc 212) at 106F, put everything into glass bottle at temp of 98. Should I place airlock right away or just cover with cloth/napkin for a 7 days then stir up and airlock?

flyinpig said:

Made a simple juice solution, 3 concentrate and 3 c sugar water, 1 gal total. started yeast (bourgovin rc 212) at 106F, put everything into glass bottle at temp of 98. Should I place airlock right away or just cover with cloth/napkin for a 7 days then stir up and airlock?

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Also, OG 1044

Temp seems a bit high for wine yeast, but give it a day or so at room temp and see if it takes off.

Just a loose cover to keep out the bigger bugs until it slows down, then airlock it.

I airlock right away. Is there a reason to wait that I'm missing?

Some people leave a cloth on at first when fermenting in a bucket to get easy access early on for stirring/adding nutrients etc. This is especially done in mead. I would say go ahead and put on the air lock.

Loose cover gives the foam some place to go instead of building up pressure and causing a wine volcano. It also allows easy access to stir or punch the cap down.

Either way works...

Thanks, I did go ahead and air locked with instructions to the wife to remove lock if we get to much foam. Action started within a couple hours, we are cooking along!

DoctorCAD said:

Loose cover gives the foam some place to go instead of building up pressure and causing a wine volcano. It also allows easy access to stir or punch the cap down.

Either way works...

Click to expand...

wine volcanoes are cool...until you gotta clean em up.

So I checked SG last week, 1000, check it again today, 1040!? Pretty sweet still, but I am 99.9% sure that I did not err. when taking readings. What's up?

are you saying you went from 1.000 to 1.040?

That's what has me scratching my head...yes. The airlock has very little action, it is a simple concentrate , sugar and a yeast packet.

what temps did you take your readings at each time? Did you take your first hydro sample at 98f?

No, I let it cool down to 70, the second reading was also taken at 70 ( room temp). It has an almost frothy feel to it when you take a drink.

If you are using the standard triple scale hydrometer, I would bet that you read the wrong scale on one of your readings. Or you had too big a "sample" and weren't seeing straight. Take another measurement to confirm which is correct.

Do the carbonation bubbles affect readings? I was making a skeeter pee that went from a 1060 to a 1066 to a 1070 on consecutive days at 68 degrees, starting 3 days after pitching. I could taste the slight alcohol taste so I know it is working... I just ignored it and let it keep working. In a month i am sure it will work it's self out.

That is what I was wondering, it has a bit of carbonation feel to it, can taste a bit of alcohol to it. I am also not sure how the yeast I used would affect flavor etc.