please save my wine

[Timofey Gorlov]

Ok, thanks for recommendations. I will publish some updates with pictures about my progress in a few months. My wine I think is on the right way now. It's bubbling pretty good.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

So plan on letting it ferment for 5-7 days or so, until it reaches 1.010 or below

Why I cannot wait full 60 days for the first fermentation until wine is dry? Why I should wait only 5 to 7 days and reck it? My wine is still bubbling but very very slowly.

 

[Yooper]

You can do whatever you want. Good winemaking processes have you get the wine off of the gross lees, and move it to a carboy and airlock it when the SG reaches 1.010 or lower.

I have fruit in my primaries currently, and have them loosely covered so that I can stir it to get rid of the co2 (which is poisonous to yeast). Tomorrow my plan is to move them to carboys to ensure that there is very little headspace now that fermentation has slowed. This products the wine from oxidation (since there is still some fermentation) and gets it off of the fruit and the sediment (lees) that have fallen out.

The wine should be fermented out in 5-10 days, not 60 days! The fermentation period in a healthy fermentation is pretty quick.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

I have fruit in my primaries currently

thanks, that makes a sense. You and other people start with smashed fruits and now you need to get read of them by moving pure "juice" to carboy. In my case I started with pure clear juice in a carboy. So may be I don't need this step. I just need to stir it well to clean it from co2 and leave it alone until I get thick layer of lees. Sorry if I'm annoying but after I made mistake with acidity I pay attention to every detail and try to understand meaning. By the way I got some oak cubes, does it matter when should I start to infuse them, anytime or when fermentation is completely done and wine is dry?

 

[Yooper]

Why I cannot wait full 60 days for the first fermentation until wine is dry? Why I should wait only 5 to 7 days and reck it? My wine is still bubbling but very very slowly.

thanks, that makes a sense. You and other people start with smashed fruits and now you need to get read of them by moving pure "juice" to carboy. In my case I started with pure clear juice in a carboy. So may be I don't need this step. I just need to stir it well to clean it from co2 and leave it alone until I get thick layer of lees. Sorry if I'm annoying but after I made mistake with acidity I pay attention to every detail and try to understand meaning. By the way I got some oak cubes, does it matter when should I start to infuse them, anytime or when fermentation is completely done and wine is dry?

It's not just the fruit in them, although I don't want it to break down. You want to make sure that the carboy has plenty of headspace while fermenting, but when fermentation slows you want to get it topped up and off of the lees. You definitely don't want "thick lees" for the wine to sit on for any length of time, due to the flavor impact of that.

Oak once fermentation is done, and the wine is not dropping any lees at all.

You can do it however you want, but for your first time I'd suggest trying to follow some winemaking practices for the best results.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

It was 7 days since the beginning of the primary fermentation and yesterday I racked the "wine" into another carboy. I had about 2 inches of lees. The color is deep orange and smelts ugly. I added 5 campden tablets and 1/2 gal of water to the top of the bottle. The gravity was 0.990 measured with gravity hydrometer. Why so small I don't know. Anyway activity is still going and CO2 is producing. I will wait another 2 months in a darkness and temperature 75F and see what will be.

 

[Blacksmith1]

By small I believe you mean low. .990 means it has eaten all or almost all of the available sugars. The CO2 being released now is what was left in suspension when the yeast finished it's feast. As it ages it will release this gas. Keep the bottle almost full and next time you rack use potassium metabisulfite (K-meta powder, or campden tablets) then every second time you rack do it again. This will keep the O2 out.

 

[bernardsmith]

Blacksmith1 is absolutely right... and your question suggests that you may not really understand how to read an hydrometer. There are three scales on most hydrometers. One scale tells you the potential alcohol by volume - but that scale is good only BEFORE you add the yeast. Once you add the yeast that POTENTIAL slowly (or quickly) becomes ACTUAL. A second scale gives you a reading of how dense the liquid is (also known as the specific gravity) and that density is very strongly related to how much sugar is in the solution. The more sugar in solution , the more dense the liquid. As the yeast converts sugar into alcohol the density drops closer and closer to water (which is conventionally at 1.000). But alcohol is LESS dense than water. And that means as the sugar content of the liquid drops to zero and the alcohol level rises you would expect the density of the liquid to be LESS THAN water (since alcohol is less dense than water and a wine is a mixture of water and alcohol) . So areading of .900 makes perfectly good sense.
The third scale is usually brix and brix is a more direct measure of the sugar content of a liquid (as opposed to the density).

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

ext time you rack use potassium metabisulfite (K-meta powder, or campden tablets) then every second time you rack do it again

Should I mes

Blacksmith1 is absolutely right... and your question suggests that you may not really understand how to read an hydrometer. There are three scales on most hydrometers. One scale tells you the potential alcohol by volume - but that scale is good only BEFORE you add the yeast. Once you add the yeast that POTENTIAL slowly (or quickly) becomes ACTUAL. A second scale gives you a reading of how dense the liquid is (also known as the specific gravity) and that density is very strongly related to how much sugar is in the solution. The more sugar in solution , the more dense the liquid. As the yeast converts sugar into alcohol the density drops closer and closer to water (which is conventionally at 1.000). But alcohol is LESS dense than water. And that means as the sugar content of the liquid drops to zero and the alcohol level rises you would expect the density of the liquid to be LESS THAN water (since alcohol is less dense than water and a wine is a mixture of water and alcohol) . So areading of .900 makes perfectly good sense.
The third scale is usually brix and brix is a more direct measure of the sugar content of a liquid (as opposed to the density).

Did i say something wrong? I read density (not brix, not potential alcohol) that was equal to 0.990 so it looks like it's completely dry at this point after 7 days of fermentation.

 

[bernardsmith]

Nothing you said was "wrong" but you expressed surprise that the density was as low as it was. But there is nothing unexpected about gravity dropping to .990. That is what one would want to find. That is what one would expect to find.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Should I mes

I do not understand this.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

After 45 days or so at 40 degrees or less, the wine will be less acidic (dropping out 'wine diamonds') and smoother and then it will be totally clear

Hi Yooper, I was thinking about cold stabilization. Does it relate also to skin bitterness? Another question is what would be bad effect of over-aging in a cold temperature? If there is no bad effect then why not to keep it in refrigerator from the very beginning for a long time. Right now, my "wine" is standing at 75F and I will see if it will drop any sediment in a couple of months?

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

I do not understand this.

I wanted to ask-should I measure the sulfide level before adding new one. I read that concentration must be around 30-35ppm and this is ok for bacteria and anti-oxidation. I think overdose will not be ok? Isn't it?

 

[Blacksmith1]

Overdose can stop the fermentation.

 

[Yooper]

Hi Yooper, I was thinking about cold stabilization. Does it relate also to skin bitterness? Another question is what would be bad effect of over-aging in a cold temperature? If there is no bad effect then why not to keep it in refrigerator from the very beginning for a long time. Right now, my "wine" is standing at 75F and I will see if it will drop any sediment in a couple of months?

Wine ages faster at warmer temperatures, that's why cellars are cool. It may or may not drop a lot of sediment at 75 degrees. Once it's done, and no longer dropping any lees at all in a new carboy after at least 60 days, it's ready to package (if not doing any bulk aging or cold stabilization) or cold stabilize. Keeping it cold long term would affect the aging and the fermentation, so you don't want to do that until it's time. Many commercial white wines are fermented in the 50s, and I've seen a few reds under 60 degrees as well. I'd say it's less likely that it's held at 75 degrees at all for any length of time, but I don't know that many commercial vintners to give a broader statement.

Cold stabilization has many benefits, especially for white wines and country wines. You'd be surprised at how much improved the wine will be.

I wanted to ask-should I measure the sulfide level before adding new one. I read that concentration must be around 30-35ppm and this is ok for bacteria and anti-oxidation. I think overdose will not be ok? Isn't it?

It's sulfites that you're discussing. I don't have an SO2 meter, so I guess at the approximation of the sulfites. It's not accurate, but it's as good as I can do. It's pH dependent and things, but a good guess is 1 campden tablet (crushed and dissolved) per gallon at every other racking and at bottling or 1/4 tsp of the k-meta powder (again, dissolve it) in a 6 gallon batch at every other racking and at bottling. It's much less than commercial winemakers use, but does inhibit oxidation and wild yeast/bacteria contamination. Overdose will leave a flavor impact possibly, although sulfites do dissipate with time.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

Once it's done, and no longer dropping any lees at all in a new carboy after at least 60 days, it's ready to package

So now should I continue to age it at room temperature 75F for two months and see if it will "clarify" or I should lower my temperature? I assume that all fermentation is done and hydrometer shows real value 0.990.

 

[Yooper]

If you can do it in the 60s, that'd be better but it's fine where it is for now. It will drop lees for quite a while, and you can rack whenever you have lees 1/4" thick or more, or any lees at all after 60 days. Once it's not dropping any lees at all, you can cold stabilize it and it'll drop out the excess acid as crystals, as well as possible some other things that cause haze (like tannins), and it will clear up completely and be ready to bottle after that.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

After about 1 month my wine became very clear so I can read book through my carboy. I will wait another month but next time - can I rack my wine through the buno vino filter into anonother carboy? It should help to remove particles from wine in addition to gravity method. Isn't it?

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

If you can do it in the 60s, that'd be better but it's fine where it is for now. It will drop lees for quite a while, and you can rack whenever you have lees 1/4" thick or more, or any lees at all after 60 days. Once it's not dropping any lees at all, you can cold stabilize it and it'll drop out the excess acid as crystals, as well as possible some other things that cause haze (like tannins), and it will clear up completely and be ready to bottle after that.

Hey Yoooper, do you know if it's a good idea to rack wine through the filter (buon vino) or this filter must be used at the very end before bottling? I'm thinking if it will filter out "good" particles too during aging or not.

 

[Blacksmith1]

When you need to call some one to a thread you have to use the @ with their name as in @Yooper then pick them from the list that will pop up on your screen as you type.

 

[Yooper]

Hey Yoooper, do you know if it's a good idea to rack wine through the filter (buon vino) or this filter must be used at the very end before bottling? I'm thinking if it will filter out "good" particles too during aging or not.

It's a very bad idea. You'll clog the pads instantly. You can only filter a clear wine, which will take it from clear to brilliant.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

@Yooper @Blacksmith1 70+ days have passed since my secondary fermentation. My wine became very clear and tastes excellent with no sign of calcium that I added at the beginning. Anyway it is very sour (like from store) and hard to drink.
The bottom of wine is covered with lees about 1/4 inch thickness and it's not settling down anymore lees. During last month the whole surface of the bottom starts sparkling like there are a thousands of tiny diamonds over there. The temperature of my wine is about 75F. At this point I decided to add 1 oz of french oak (per my 7.5 gallons of wine). I will wait another 2 month or more to age it and see what will be. At this point I'm very happy that my wine is on the right way except high acidity.

 

[Seamonkey84]

If it’s crystal clear, rack it off the lees. Put the oak back in after though.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

If it’s crystal clear, rack it off the lees. Put the oak back in after though

Sorry if I'm wrong but I'm trying to act in a reasonable way. This thin sheet of lees at the bottom seems so negligible that I don't want to bother myself rack it one more time because it will not heart. I will wait another couple of months for oak aging and and watching the "diamond" growth on the lees. Then I will rack it for final cold stabilization. Correct me If I'm wrong.

 

[Seamonkey84]

Kinda depends on the yeast your using. I let mine sit on the gross lees in the first carboy (after bucket but still part of primary) until it’s clear, then rack to another carboy to sweeten/age before bottling.

 

[Blacksmith1]

I rack at 1/4inch of lees. Some others do not.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

I did the second racking of my wine through the buon vino filter. The 1/4" lees at the bottom was mixed with a good amount of sand (tiny stones). I also put 3oz of Hungarian oak medium toast (per 7.5 gal of wine) into it and I want to age it about 6 month.
What would be the best temperature to do it?
I want also to get more wine "diamonds" together with oak aging because wine is perfect but still little bit too acidic.

 

[Timofey Gorlov]

My wine is aged for 6 month now and the oak smelts like caramel. Anyway every week my wine makes a layer of "white powder" at the top of the bottle (surface of wine) and finally it settles down to the bottom after I shake it little bit. What would it be?