Beginning Wine Making

[Z070305]

Hi all, I am so glad to chance upon this forum.

i started making my first batch of red wine, but it turned out really sweet. Guess the yeast didn’t do its magic.

I am onto my second try of making red wine. I have a question, during racking, instead of transferrring the content to a second fermenter, can I siphon out the sediment instead? After which, I can use a sieve to remove the grapes. Will that work? Thank you!

 

[IslandLizard]

Welcome to our forums!

i started making my first batch of red wine, but it turned out really sweet. Guess the yeast didn’t do its magic.

What yeast did you use? Where did you get the grapes or juice from? Any additives in there?

How big is this second batch? It looks very small. I can count the grapes...

can I siphon out the sediment instead?

No, you can only siphon liquids.
Before you make wine, grapes need to be pressed to squeeze the juice out. Most often you press thoroughly to get most juice, and leave the skins and pulp behind, only fermenting the juice.

Now some winemakers, after pressing, do ferment the pulp and skins along with the juice. Then they separate the wine from the pulp after fermentation.

 

[Z070305]

Welcome to our forums!


What yeast did you use? Where did you get the grapes or juice from? Any additives in there?

How big is this second batch? It looks very small. I can count the grapes...


No, you can only siphon liquids.
Before you make wine, grapes need to be pressed to squeeze the juice out. Most often you press thoroughly to get most juice, and leave the skins and pulp behind, only fermenting the juice.

Now some winemakers, after pressing, do ferment the pulp and skins along with the juice. Then they separate the wine from the pulp after fermentation.

it is a 5-gallon container. The place where I am at, we do not get a wide variety of grapes. Most common variety on sale would be the red globe, kyoho and black grapes ( type is not specify). I bought 3kg of black seedless grapes and started with 26 brix level. After 4 days,the brix reading is now 9. The only things added were 2 tsp wine yeast, 200 ml distilled water and 500g sugar. The latter were added as the brix level of the grapes were on the lower side and I would like to have a alcohol content of about 14-15%.

I did not remove the skin and pulp with the hope of giving the wine more body and colour. They will be removed after the primary fermentation.

 

[Toxxyc]

Those numbers don't seem right. Grapes with a natural sugar content of 26 Brix sounds a bit high. Did you measure with a hydrometer or a refractometer?

 

[madscientist451]

i started making my first batch of red wine, but it turned out really sweet. Guess the yeast didn’t do its magic.

I'm thinking you added too much sugar. Try another batch with just the grapes and see what happens. Since you're just starting, keep it simple and try to achieve a taste you like without worrying about ABV levels. You can always blend your different batches to get a flavor you like.
Look on you tube for videos about how to make a simple press with plastic buckets.
For red wine, crush your grapes, add the yeast, then put through your press after about a week or so, the fermentation will then continue for several more weeks. With white wine you want o press the grapes 12-24 hours after crushing.
Note that eating grapes really don't make the best wine, but its better than nothing.
You can make a "second run" wine by adding water and sugar to your pressed grapes. I usually do this with white wine grapes, by pressing very lightly, then adding about half as much water compared to the original grape juice that came out. If you are making small batches, you can freeze the left over grape skins and then try the second run method after 2-3 batches.