I'm very new to this whole thing. I bought an old book about making what the author called "folk wines." He can be a little vague, but I figured I'd give it a shot.
Forgive me for going into detail, but I want to include everything to make sure I didn't make any simple mistakes.
I followed the instructions for making a carrot wine closely. Mashed the carrots, added to boiling water along with sugar, raisins, oranges, lemons and then later yeast.
This fermented in an enameled pot for about two weeks. When there was no visible sign of fermentation, I strained the wine through cheese cloth and a plastic mesh filter into mason jars, since that's all I had. I placed the rubber lined lids on top, but without the o-ring that tightens the lids down.
Now the mason jars are sitting in a cool place while the remaining sediment settles to the bottom. After it settles, I will siphon off the clear wine and refilter the rest. I'll do this every month or so for about a year, and then bottle.
My questions are:
1. Is it fine to let the wine sit in the mason jars? Will it spoil?
2. Does my timeline seem generally in keeping with best practices?
Forgive me for going into detail, but I want to include everything to make sure I didn't make any simple mistakes.
I followed the instructions for making a carrot wine closely. Mashed the carrots, added to boiling water along with sugar, raisins, oranges, lemons and then later yeast.
This fermented in an enameled pot for about two weeks. When there was no visible sign of fermentation, I strained the wine through cheese cloth and a plastic mesh filter into mason jars, since that's all I had. I placed the rubber lined lids on top, but without the o-ring that tightens the lids down.
Now the mason jars are sitting in a cool place while the remaining sediment settles to the bottom. After it settles, I will siphon off the clear wine and refilter the rest. I'll do this every month or so for about a year, and then bottle.
My questions are:
1. Is it fine to let the wine sit in the mason jars? Will it spoil?
2. Does my timeline seem generally in keeping with best practices?