I puree'd my grapes, now what?

[rawlus]

what's the SG now?
i would not increase the volume too much as you will be diluting flavor in doing so.
i would not personally use store juice to increase volume, some store juices have preservatives added which inhibit yeast activity, but more importantly, i don't think store juice (table grapes) brings much to the table as it were for wine. I would top off with inexpensive commercial wine in the aging stage if necessary to bring it to a small headspace though.

pureeing may have extracted more color than a typical crush. its an experiment for sure. heh.

 

[Yooper]

what's the SG now?
i would not increase the volume too much as you will be diluting flavor in doing so.
i would not personally use store juice to increase volume, some store juices have preservatives added which inhibit yeast activity, but more importantly, i don't think store juice (table grapes) brings much to the table as it were for wine. I would top off with inexpensive commercial wine in the aging stage if necessary to bring it to a small headspace though.

pureeing may have extracted more color than a typical crush. its an experiment for sure. heh.

I'd go with about 6 pounds of grapes per gallon, and dilute with water to get to the gallon (with the dissolved sugar). Most concord-type grapes (if it's concord, or catawba, etc) are very acidic and can make an unpleasant "straight" wine. I don't know what else to suggest, except take a look at Jack Keller's recipes for wild grape varieties and get some ideas on how he suggests doing this. Generally, I just smash up the grapes and put them in mesh bags (simulating a crusher) and then ferment about 5 days before "pressing" with my hands. I do some acid adjustments, but you certainly don't need to, especially if the must tastes good.

 

[Grimster]

Ok this was at least 40-50 pounds of grapes so ~8 gallons, what I'm going to do is let out about a half gallon of the juice, and several scoops of the goop and put that in my 3 gallon carboy and then top that off with apple juice and shoot for a 1.100 SG, then I'll top off the remainder with water and sugar to 1.110 and make a 3 gallon batch of "experimental" apple/grape/elderberry wine and a 6 gallon batch of more traditional red wine.

I'll report back in a few months with my results

 

[dogboysdad]

I have pressed thousands of pounds of those grapes. Some years the acid is high, sometimes not. Other years we need to add sugar, sometimes not. Check your acid and brix and you will be fine. A blush wine this will not be. It will be dark and heavy. Chances are you will not like it unless you sweeten when you bottle. The addition of sugar drastically brings out the fruit. I prefer it blended with Niagra. It really makes the fruit explode. I have sweetened (after stabilizing) with "simple syrup" from a restaurant supply store. It has worked well, and no strange tastes developed. Table sugar works fine too.

 

[Grimster]

I have pressed thousands of pounds of those grapes. Some years the acid is high, sometimes not. Other years we need to add sugar, sometimes not. Check your acid and brix and you will be fine. A blush wine this will not be. It will be dark and heavy. Chances are you will not like it unless you sweeten when you bottle. The addition of sugar drastically brings out the fruit. I prefer it blended with Niagra. It really makes the fruit explode. I have sweetened (after stabilizing) with "simple syrup" from a restaurant supply store. It has worked well, and no strange tastes developed. Table sugar works fine too.

Anytime I have a wine of questionable taste I find that just throwing a splash of Sprite into the glass makes a world of difference.

So I sulphited the stuff last night mixed it up real good and added sugar and water to take it to about 2 inches from the top of a bottling bucket (so right around 6.5 gallons) I'll get an SG today and adjust with more sugar if necessary and then pitch yeast right before bed.

Using Lavlin 1118 yeast should get a pretty vigorous fermentation I'd guess.

 

[Grimster]

Using Lavlin 1118 yeast should get a pretty vigorous fermentation I'd guess.

Vigorous indeed, SG today is .996 and I'm no sommelier but I think it's fairly acidic. Not undrinkable, hell I'm polishing off the test tube I took for testing with out any real scrunchy faces being made.

Guess I'll rack to secondary in the next few days on top of this handful of white oak chips I used to age some brandy in last year and then how long would folks recommend till I re-rack to remove it from the oak? Days, weeks, months, years even?

So far looks like it'll make a fairly decent deep red wine. So my pureeing of the grapes maybe wasn't detrimental to my success.

 

[rawlus]

how long were those chips in the brandy? chips will become neutral in about 6 weeks or less - meaning they will stop imparting any oak character... on oak, in an experimental batch i would taste at weekly intervals and rack when you have achieved the oak character you seek.

 

[Grimster]

how long were those chips in the brandy? chips will become neutral in about 6 weeks or less - meaning they will stop imparting any oak character... on oak, in an experimental batch i would taste at weekly intervals and rack when you have achieved the oak character you seek.

Hmm I don't remember exactly but it was at least several weeks, they've been in the freezer in a zip loc baggy for at least a year now. I can get some fresh chips at the the LHSB I mean they're not exactly an expensive item to go cheap on or anything

 

[Grimster]

Racked my wine to a secondary, added my peach juice (finally found it) and some oak chips. Took a test glass just now and hell, this is good damned wine. Little bit acidic in the bite but it's quite drinkable I'd say.

Gonna get a small glass again in a week and see if my oak chips impart any flavor, it was a pretty good sized bag of chips so hopefully I'll get some. If I don't oh well, such is life, better luck next time.

 

[Grimster]

I am ready to bottle, should I simply rerack and put in some clarifier (I have a packet of that chitin stuff) and bottle after a day or two, or should I do more?

I remember on my last wine kit it actually had me aerate the wine during the end which seems counter to everything I've learned about beer. Should I aerate when I put in the clarifier? I'll also sulfite it as I bottle since I plan to try and age a few of the bottles for as long as I can stand it.

 

[Justibone]

I am ready to bottle, should I simply rerack and put in some clarifier (I have a packet of that chitin stuff) and bottle after a day or two, or should I do more?

I remember on my last wine kit it actually had me aerate the wine during the end which seems counter to everything I've learned about beer. Should I aerate when I put in the clarifier? I'll also sulfite it as I bottle since I plan to try and age a few of the bottles for as long as I can stand it.

I think the instructions wanted you to de-gas, NOT to aerate.

IMO, aerating a finished wine is like letting toddlers "improve" your walls with Crayolas.

 

[Grimster]

I think the instructions wanted you to de-gas, NOT to aerate.

IMO, aerating a finished wine is like letting toddlers "improve" your walls with Crayolas.

Hmm I seem to remember it had me stir briskly I assumed that'd aerate it?

So what's degassing exactly?

 

[Justibone]

CO2 builds up during fermentation... as a beer brewer you know this. But some CO2 stays in solution at any temperature and pressure. Not enough to be fizzy, and to give good beer head, but enough to mess with the yeast and whatnot.

The more vigorous the fermentation, the more likely some backpressure from the airlock forced CO2 into solution -- i.e., carbonated your wine.

Stirring will change the pressure in the wine, with the pressure waves giving the gaseous solution enough energy to form bubbles and release the CO2. Did you notice a fine froth when you stirred? That was CO2, as you can verify yourself by trying to breathe it (not recommended).

Degassing is helpful for the yeast, I've been told, but you only want to do it if you are reasonably sure you are not introducing oxygen, i.e., you've been using your K-meta or campden or whatever brand/type/variety of metabisulfite you use.

So, to wrap up:
- oxidation turns wine brown and prevents long term storage
- metabisulfite "crowds out" oxygen, making wine less vulnerable
- a fully fermented wine and oxygen are NOT FRIENDS
- all fermented beverages are to a small extent carbonated during fermentation

Read more of that wine site Yooper linked and you'll understand it all very well.

 

[Yooper]

Time is the world's best degasser! If your wine is only two months old, top up the carboy and let it sit. Rack whenever there are lees more than 1/4" or so, in 45-60 days. Think about bottling it only when the wine is completely clear, non-gassy, and no new lees fall in 60 days.