brazedowl
Well-Known Member
You recommend stabilizing, what does that mean? Sorry but I'm a noob when it comes to wine being this is my first attempt. At the end of March it will be two months. Do I bottle at that point? How long does it have to sit in bottle before you recommend serving it? Do you have to add anything when you bottle it?
When the wine gets to the point you're ready for it to be done you add stabilizers to it to keep the yeast from continuing a slow fermentation if there is sugar left in the wine.
I go with a tablespoon of sorbate (for 5 gallons) and a crushed campden tablet (1 for each gallon). Just dissolve it in a bit of the wine and then rack on top of it a day before bottling. Some skip the campden, but I go with it. It helps prevent oxidation which happens when you rack and bottle.
This will keep the yeast from continuing to ferment after bottling and blowing your bottles up. I had to throw a cider party so we could use up 5 gallons of cider that I forgot to stabilize and the bottles were getting to the point of breaking. I make it sound like a cider party was such a trial. hahaha.