I've never made a one gallon batch of wine. I've been using 6 gallon carboys and I've recently bought 4 one gallon jugs to try out some recipe's before committing to 6 gallons.
Anyway, I've been reading through a lot of Jack keller's recipe's and I've noticed that a lot of them say to start in a primary and then move it to a secondary. This recipe below for example talks about putting the berries in a grain bag, putting them on the bottom of the primary and crushing them to release their juices before adding the water.
My question is, the only primary bucket I have is my 7.5 gallon bucket that I use for my 5-6 gallon batches. Can I use this bucket even though it will only be a small fraction of the way full? Obviously since I have to crush the berries in the grain bag, I can't put them in a 1 gallon jug, or am I supposed to put them in the jug and use the back end of my stirring spoon to crush the berries?
Below is the recipe I'm referring to. Any help would be great.
RED RASPBERRY WINE (1)
3-4 lbs fresh red raspberries
2-1/4 lbs finely granulated sugar
1/2 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/8 tsp grape tannin
7-1/2 pints water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 crushed Campden tablet
Champagne wine yeast
Pick only ripe berries. Combine water and sugar and put on to boil, stirring occasionally. Wash and destem berries. Put in nylon straining bag, tie, put in botton of primary, and crush berries in bag. Pour boiling sugar-water over berries to set the color and extract the flavorful juice. Add acid blend, tannin and yeast nutrient. Allow to cool to 70 degrees F. and add crushed Campden tablet. Cover primary with plastic wrap secured with a large rubber band. Add pectic enzyme after 12 hours and wine yeast after additional 12 hours, resecuring plastic wrap each time. Stir daily for a week, replacing plastic wrap if it looks like it needs it. Remove nylon bag and allow to drip drain about an hour, keeping primary covered as before. Do not squeeze bag. Return drippings to primary and use bag of pulp for "second" wine if you made a double recipe (combine bags, but only make one gallon of "second" wine). Continue fermentation in primary another week, stirring daily. Rack to secondary, top up with water and fit airlock. Use a dark secondary or wrap with brown paper (from paper bag) to preserve color. Ferment additional 2 months, then rack into clean secondary. Refit airlock and rack after additional 2 months. Wait another 2 months, rack again and bottle into dark glass. Drink after one year. This is an excellent dry wine, but don't rush it! You must ferment the full 6 months and age another year. Serve chilled.
Anyway, I've been reading through a lot of Jack keller's recipe's and I've noticed that a lot of them say to start in a primary and then move it to a secondary. This recipe below for example talks about putting the berries in a grain bag, putting them on the bottom of the primary and crushing them to release their juices before adding the water.
My question is, the only primary bucket I have is my 7.5 gallon bucket that I use for my 5-6 gallon batches. Can I use this bucket even though it will only be a small fraction of the way full? Obviously since I have to crush the berries in the grain bag, I can't put them in a 1 gallon jug, or am I supposed to put them in the jug and use the back end of my stirring spoon to crush the berries?
Below is the recipe I'm referring to. Any help would be great.
RED RASPBERRY WINE (1)
3-4 lbs fresh red raspberries
2-1/4 lbs finely granulated sugar
1/2 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/8 tsp grape tannin
7-1/2 pints water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 crushed Campden tablet
Champagne wine yeast
Pick only ripe berries. Combine water and sugar and put on to boil, stirring occasionally. Wash and destem berries. Put in nylon straining bag, tie, put in botton of primary, and crush berries in bag. Pour boiling sugar-water over berries to set the color and extract the flavorful juice. Add acid blend, tannin and yeast nutrient. Allow to cool to 70 degrees F. and add crushed Campden tablet. Cover primary with plastic wrap secured with a large rubber band. Add pectic enzyme after 12 hours and wine yeast after additional 12 hours, resecuring plastic wrap each time. Stir daily for a week, replacing plastic wrap if it looks like it needs it. Remove nylon bag and allow to drip drain about an hour, keeping primary covered as before. Do not squeeze bag. Return drippings to primary and use bag of pulp for "second" wine if you made a double recipe (combine bags, but only make one gallon of "second" wine). Continue fermentation in primary another week, stirring daily. Rack to secondary, top up with water and fit airlock. Use a dark secondary or wrap with brown paper (from paper bag) to preserve color. Ferment additional 2 months, then rack into clean secondary. Refit airlock and rack after additional 2 months. Wait another 2 months, rack again and bottle into dark glass. Drink after one year. This is an excellent dry wine, but don't rush it! You must ferment the full 6 months and age another year. Serve chilled.
