Superlite27
Member
About two weeks ago, I brewed up 5 gal. of Elderberry wine:
20lb. of Elderberries, pressed.
10lb. sugar
3 campden tablets
1 tsp acid blend
3tsp yeast nutrient
I put the pressed pulp in a mesh bag, dissolved the 10 lbs of sugar in water and added to the must, then added water to the 6 gal. primary bucket to achieve a 1.090 sg. then let it set for 24 hours and pitched Lalvin K1-V1116 at about 66 degrees. (Basement)
The recipe said to punch down the cap once a day for five days then rack to secondary.
The next day, when I went to punch down the cap, the blow hose I had running was BUBBLING LIKE CRAZY. Not just bubbling but BLOWING. I thought to myself "WOW! That's a hard ferment!" (I'm primarily a mead maker, and I'm used to gentle bubbles slowly popping through the tube).
So, I punched down the mesh bag, and recovered it.
This VERY HARD BLOWING went on for three more days as I regularly punched down the cap, then slowed to my normal expectation of "bubbling" around the fourth day.
According to the recipe, on the fifth day, I removed the mesh bag, squeezed it out, and racked it to secondary. (After removing the pulp, there was about 5 gal. of wine, so about 1 gal. of pulp)
I took a reading, and my SG was around .998 WOW! The recipe said to transfer to secondary in 5 days at around 1.030... huh? I went WAY past 1.030. WAY PAST IT.
After about 1 day in secondary, the bubbles through the airlock had slowed dramatically (to about 1 every 30 seconds) and by the end of the week had stopped completely.
After about 14 days, the lees are building quickly and it has surprised me at how much it has cleared. There's still a little hazyness through the lower 3 or four inches, so my plan is to let it completely settle then rack again off of the lees.
Is this normal? After reading several threads about elderberry wine, they have been pretty consistent that elderberry is a slow ferment and takes a long time. Well? Is a week considered a long time? It seems to have gone fairly quickly if you ask me.
Am I overlooking something? Has it stabilized? Any input would be appreciated. It just seems strange how hard it blew for the first few days, and then how quickly it quit.
20lb. of Elderberries, pressed.
10lb. sugar
3 campden tablets
1 tsp acid blend
3tsp yeast nutrient
I put the pressed pulp in a mesh bag, dissolved the 10 lbs of sugar in water and added to the must, then added water to the 6 gal. primary bucket to achieve a 1.090 sg. then let it set for 24 hours and pitched Lalvin K1-V1116 at about 66 degrees. (Basement)
The recipe said to punch down the cap once a day for five days then rack to secondary.
The next day, when I went to punch down the cap, the blow hose I had running was BUBBLING LIKE CRAZY. Not just bubbling but BLOWING. I thought to myself "WOW! That's a hard ferment!" (I'm primarily a mead maker, and I'm used to gentle bubbles slowly popping through the tube).
So, I punched down the mesh bag, and recovered it.
This VERY HARD BLOWING went on for three more days as I regularly punched down the cap, then slowed to my normal expectation of "bubbling" around the fourth day.
According to the recipe, on the fifth day, I removed the mesh bag, squeezed it out, and racked it to secondary. (After removing the pulp, there was about 5 gal. of wine, so about 1 gal. of pulp)
I took a reading, and my SG was around .998 WOW! The recipe said to transfer to secondary in 5 days at around 1.030... huh? I went WAY past 1.030. WAY PAST IT.
After about 1 day in secondary, the bubbles through the airlock had slowed dramatically (to about 1 every 30 seconds) and by the end of the week had stopped completely.
After about 14 days, the lees are building quickly and it has surprised me at how much it has cleared. There's still a little hazyness through the lower 3 or four inches, so my plan is to let it completely settle then rack again off of the lees.
Is this normal? After reading several threads about elderberry wine, they have been pretty consistent that elderberry is a slow ferment and takes a long time. Well? Is a week considered a long time? It seems to have gone fairly quickly if you ask me.
Am I overlooking something? Has it stabilized? Any input would be appreciated. It just seems strange how hard it blew for the first few days, and then how quickly it quit.
