Wine Fermentation?

[Ras Skipper]

Right,
Had a load of grapes. Crushed them, mixed with water and sugar. Then added the yeast. Mixed.
Its been sitting like that bubbling away for 5 days.
Whats next? An old man (lol) says to leave it for a month?
Im under the impression that I should sypon it off into another vessel.
I might just be a complete fool of a newbie though!

Thanks for any advice on where to go next!

 

[bmckee56]

When you initially crush the grapes and collect the juice, you should add campden tablets (crushed) or potassium metabisulphate to the must in order to kill off the wild yeast. This should sit for 24 hrs. then you can pitch your yeast into the must. You did not indicate any specific numbers on your juice, so if you just threw in some sugar and water, you will have no clue what the final wine will yield.

Letting the skins soak for several days will extract color and tannin. If you are not particular about color, you can remove the skins after just a few days and ferment the remaining juice.

Old timers had many years of wine experience using their own techniques, so it is hard to say what they did was right or wrong, cause if the wine turned out the way they liked it, it worked.

Check out this site for more information and guidance on making wine from grapes: http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?/index. You can also use the following site for some great information: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblognew.asp.

Good luck with your wine creation.

Salute!

 

[Ras Skipper]

thanks for that, i'll take off the grape skins today then, and allow to ferment further!

This is a bit of a rushed first attempt at the wine. Next time i'll be more methodical in my approach! Or just go back to the ale lol

Thanks again