- Months and months ago I asked about making a GOOD red as that seems unlikely unless I buy a very expensive kit I'm now considering country wines and WOW's.
I have CJ Berrys book but based on the posts I have read it seems dated so I have questions.
1, Is there a full "how to" available?
2, My fermenters have taps I assume that if I add a tube to the tap I don't need to siphon.
3, I have a couple of 5 litre demijohns so I'll start small but eventually I'd like to use my Speidel frementers one 30 litre and one 20 litre but what is the smallest amount of wine I could make in them?
4, Should I set up to to do closed transfers as I might for a very hop forward IPA?
5, How long would I have to dedicate my fermentation fridge to a wine fermentation? I need it for beer.
6, Airlockes - I hate them when I've used them in the past I have inevitably forgotten about then and they have dried out. Is there an alternative to them?
7, What happens if I don't de-gas the wine?
8, Is it worth building up a starter as I sometimes do for beer?
Finally would you care to recommend a recipe?
Thanks All. Aamcle
Many Questions - :(
- Thread starter aamcle
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bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
CJJ Berry is a little dated because when he was making his country wines there was no good commercial sources for many of the additives we now use (nutrients, tannins, acids) and the yeasts he had available were far more limited than the yeasts available today. But his approach is not particularly "dated".
I'll leave your other issues for others to respond to but there is not really any substitution for an airlock though , today, you can find airlocks that are "solid state" in that they do not need any liquid to create a barrier. They simply allow the build up of CO2 to escape and when the gas has been expelled the design of the airlock is such that it closes and seals the fermenter until the gas builds up enough pressure to force it open.
Starters may be necessary in brewing but the wine yeast you buy has enough viable cells to ferment the volume of wine suggested by the lab culturing the yeast. Of course, if your pitching protocol kills or maims a significant proportion of the viable cells then you may need a starter.
I'll leave your other issues for others to respond to but there is not really any substitution for an airlock though , today, you can find airlocks that are "solid state" in that they do not need any liquid to create a barrier. They simply allow the build up of CO2 to escape and when the gas has been expelled the design of the airlock is such that it closes and seals the fermenter until the gas builds up enough pressure to force it open.
Starters may be necessary in brewing but the wine yeast you buy has enough viable cells to ferment the volume of wine suggested by the lab culturing the yeast. Of course, if your pitching protocol kills or maims a significant proportion of the viable cells then you may need a starter.
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