3 Days Into Fermentation, What Next?

[getrecked786]

Hi all,

I'm 3 days in and my white and black grape wine is fermenting. I'm keeping room temperature around 70 degrees F and its in a shaded area. I've stirred twice daily to break the cap. I also added more sugar to try and increase ABV potential (added more yeast than recipe called for and didn't realize till next day). I need this wine done by the end of the week (I don't care how bad it tastes really as I drink 4Lokos too often ) what ABV do you think it would have after 3 days? I know you need a hydrometer to really know, but I can't seem to find any near me. Is there a general rule (rough estimate) of how much the ABV increases per day? Also, will running the wine thru an unbleached coffee filter get rid of the sediment completely? Please let me know, and thanks in advance!!

 

[Lampy]

I don't think a coffee filter will get rid of sediments because yeast cells will be able to get through and they will eventually form a sediment in the new container. For clear wine you need time for settling, but it sounds like that isn't an option for you with this batch.
As for estimating ABV: I have found that some ciders I've made get to nearly dry within 3 days, especially if I pitch lot of yeast, use nutrient, aerate well, etc. So you could be getting a good deal of alcohol produced by the end of the week, but without knowing exactly how much sugar you added to what volume of must, it is really just up in the air.
Do you know approximately how much liquid is in there and how much sugar you added? If you do, then you can use a table like this one to get a rough idea of how much alcohol will be in the completely fermented product. But if it still tastes sweet there will be less alcohol.

 

[getrecked786]

Thank you so much Lampy! I roughly followed a guide on YouTube found here:

However, after getting a better understanding of how all this works, I added some extra sugar. Here's the layout of ingredients from what I can tell:

1.5L water
Roughly 160 grapes (Half black half white)
1.5 Lbs granulated sugar
1.5 1/4oz packets of redstar active dry yeast (1.5 packets)

I also don't have a stove at my place, so I smashed all the grapes and microwaved them in small batches (Smashed to prevent plasma production). I know the yeast, sugar, and oxygen creates an exothermic reaction as well, so I put the container in a backpack and trash can in hopes to keep some of that heat in there. I'm pretty sure 70 is near the low end for black grapes and on the high end for white but as much as I know connoisseurs will hate me, I wanted to speed up the process. I also put my charging laptop in the bag to add some extra heat, it definitely did the trick!

Thank you for showing me that calculator, I really appreciate it! Are there any other pointers I should know based on the information I've given? Please let me know! Thank you so much everyone!

 

[Lampy]

I imagine it will be quite sweet because the yeast you have is a baker's yeast and probably can't ferment all that sugar before the alcohol kills it off.
Give a follow up on how this turns out!

 

[getrecked786]

I imagine it will be quite sweet because the yeast you have is a baker's yeast and probably can't ferment all that sugar before the alcohol kills it off.
Give a follow up on how this turns out!

Will do! Thank you for your insight! If anyone else has something to say, feel free! Im open to many different opinions!

But Lampy, is there a way for me to DM you pictures on this forum? If not, is there some way for me to contact you outside of here so I'm not just spamming this thread with text messages to you? If not its alright as well, but if there's anyone else on this forum you think I should message, please let me know!

 

[Lampy]

Oh don't worry about posting more on this thread, it will give more experienced eyes the chance to correct me and add new insights.

 

[getrecked786]

Oh don't worry about posting more on this thread, it will give more experienced eyes the chance to correct me and add new insights.

Thank you man! I will definitiely give you an update once it's finished!!

 

[bernardsmith]

Here's my guestimation. 1.5 liters is about 2/3 of a gallon (US). 160 grapes? In my part of the universe we buy grapes by weight and not number. I have no idea how many pounds or kilo 160 grapes make. -I'm going to discount the amount of sugar they bring to the party and even the amount of juice. Typically, with wine grapes about 15 lbs will produce 1 gallon of juice and that gallon will have a gravity of about 1.090 (+/-) Table grapes have far less juice but a gallon of juice from table grapes has a gravity probably closer to 1.050 (about half of wine grapes) To make wine from grapes you use only their juice. No water... so basically, you are diluting the flavor of the grapes. If these are eating grapes then they are almost certainly poor in flavor in sugar, in acidity and in tannin, but OK. 1.5 lbs of sugar dissolved in water to make 1 US gallon will raise the gravity (density) of the water by about 67 points (to 1.067) but you are using only 2/3 of a gallon so this will increase the gravity to about 1.100 so the potential ABV is about 13%.
Wine makers typically crush the grapes and often add pectic enzyme to help with the extraction of the juices and to help stabilize the color. Crushing means only that you break the skins to allow the yeast to feed on the sugars in the flesh. After about two weeks of fermentation, during which they will punch down the fruit so that they are kept constantly wet and so that the grapes never form a rigid cap - You want the CO2 the yeast belch out to be able to escape and not put your fermenter or the fruit under so much pressure that they explode covering your ceiling and walls with grape wine - you remove the grapes and press them to expel the juices trapped inside.

 

[getrecked786]

Here's my guestimation. 1.5 liters is about 2/3 of a gallon (US). 160 grapes? In my part of the universe we buy grapes by weight and not number. I have no idea how many pounds or kilo 160 grapes make. -I'm going to discount the amount of sugar they bring to the party and even the amount of juice. Typically, with wine grapes about 15 lbs will produce 1 gallon of juice and that gallon will have a gravity of about 1.090 (+/-) Table grapes have far less juice but a gallon of juice from table grapes has a gravity probably closer to 1.050 (about half of wine grapes) To make wine from grapes you use only their juice. No water... so basically, you are diluting the flavor of the grapes. If these are eating grapes then they are almost certainly poor in flavor in sugar, in acidity and in tannin, but OK. 1.5 lbs of sugar dissolved in water to make 1 US gallon will raise the gravity (density) of the water by about 67 points (to 1.067) but you are using only 2/3 of a gallon so this will increase the gravity to about 1.100 so the potential ABV is about 13%.
Wine makers typically crush the grapes and often add pectic enzyme to help with the extraction of the juices and to help stabilize the color. Crushing means only that you break the skins to allow the yeast to feed on the sugars in the flesh. After about two weeks of fermentation, during which they will punch down the fruit so that they are kept constantly wet and so that the grapes never form a rigid cap - You want the CO2 the yeast belch out to be able to escape and not put your fermenter or the fruit under so much pressure that they explode covering your ceiling and walls with grape wine - you remove the grapes and press them to expel the juices trapped inside.

Wow! Thats a lot of great info! The reason I said that grape number is because I threw the receipt away and don't have a scale

 

[TwogunRocky]

Barely over a ⅓ of a U.S gallon

 

[getrecked786]

Update:

I've filtered the cap out and let it sit overnight. Still bubbling slightly, sediment is falling!