I have 5 gallons of Strawberry and 6 gallons of kit Pinot Noir in my basement. Ive got to get a 3rd rack on the strawberry and let it settle. I know time is supposed to be my friend, and I have been very patient with these wines. Id like to see if that pays off once I uncork those bottles!
I think I would like to try another kit wine. I think they are great starters for someone like me, who does not have easy access to local grapes. Anyone have any ideas as to my next great kit wine? Suggest one Im down for, and I will send you a bottle of it when its done!!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
How To Top Up That Carboy After Racking Wine
Best piece of advice I got from one of my very good friends, Mike Sears. He suggested using marbles to make up the difference in volume after getting the sediment out of the bottom while racking wine. Says it serves a great dual purpose - it holds the sediment in place while siphoning and also makes for a great inert filler to make up volume, against the dreaded enemy of home winemakers: exposure of too much surface area at the top of the carboy. I will take some pics and upload them!!
Bananas - The Secret to Adding Body to Thinner Fruit Wines?
Recently Ive been reading some wine recipes from Wine Maker Magazine, as one of their new articles is going over making fruit wines. Ive noticed all of the recipes call for 1Lb of banana when making an amount of a gallon or so. I can only assume this purpose is to add some body to the wine? I am going to research this and see if this is indeed the case. I am going to try this in my new batches of blueberry, strawberry and raspberry this summer to see if it does indeed help with overall flavor and body of the wine. I will keep you posted!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The first blueberry and strawberry: Raw but Promising
Its been way too long, but waiting is the name of the game when it comes to making good wine, yes-no?
I haven't laid down anything new, because the season for getting good fruit in NY has waned, unless I really wanted to make some apple wine, we got plenty of those right now! I wanted to see how the blueberry and strawberry I laid down in June came out. I had made a gallon of each if you recall.
Well on September 28th, we busted open the gallon jugs and I racked it into new ones to get out the sediment, and Tim and I started imbibing it. It was raw and lacked any real nuance, but it was certainly quaffable and pretty enjoyable. I had about a 13% alcohol content in each flavor from the vinometer test. I will post some pics of the evening we had shortly!
For a first attempt, it wasnt bad. I had little to no hope of it being drinkable even though I was very meticulous about the process early on - adhering to strict sanitzing practices and cleaning everything, as well as making sure my measurements and timing were dead on. The strawberry and blueberry flavors came through nicely, but there was still a yeasty scent and taste to it, that I imagine would have dissapated had it aged a little more and been bottled before quaffing. The blueberry had very nice body to it, and reminded me very much of a new grape wine. The strawberry was a bit thin, and I think it could probably use some grape wine concentrate to round it out a little more. I will remember that before I bottle the next batch.
I am going to wait a while longer and bottle the next ones coming down the line, most of which were first racked in July: 1 gallon of peach, 1 gallon of blackberry, 5 gallons (MORE) of strawberry that has cleared very very nicely and 6 gallons of Pinot Noir that I will be interested in trying soon as well. I think around Thanksgiving I will do another update with the peach, blackberry and other. I may start bottling them around that time.
Talk to you soon, and expect some pics shortly!
I haven't laid down anything new, because the season for getting good fruit in NY has waned, unless I really wanted to make some apple wine, we got plenty of those right now! I wanted to see how the blueberry and strawberry I laid down in June came out. I had made a gallon of each if you recall.
Well on September 28th, we busted open the gallon jugs and I racked it into new ones to get out the sediment, and Tim and I started imbibing it. It was raw and lacked any real nuance, but it was certainly quaffable and pretty enjoyable. I had about a 13% alcohol content in each flavor from the vinometer test. I will post some pics of the evening we had shortly!
For a first attempt, it wasnt bad. I had little to no hope of it being drinkable even though I was very meticulous about the process early on - adhering to strict sanitzing practices and cleaning everything, as well as making sure my measurements and timing were dead on. The strawberry and blueberry flavors came through nicely, but there was still a yeasty scent and taste to it, that I imagine would have dissapated had it aged a little more and been bottled before quaffing. The blueberry had very nice body to it, and reminded me very much of a new grape wine. The strawberry was a bit thin, and I think it could probably use some grape wine concentrate to round it out a little more. I will remember that before I bottle the next batch.
I am going to wait a while longer and bottle the next ones coming down the line, most of which were first racked in July: 1 gallon of peach, 1 gallon of blackberry, 5 gallons (MORE) of strawberry that has cleared very very nicely and 6 gallons of Pinot Noir that I will be interested in trying soon as well. I think around Thanksgiving I will do another update with the peach, blackberry and other. I may start bottling them around that time.
Talk to you soon, and expect some pics shortly!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Racking 5 Gallons of Strawberry, 1 gallon of peach, and new Blackberry!
Made sure the PA levels on my 5 gallons of strawberry were about 3-4, and racked it into a secondary fermenter. I am seeing a lot of CO2 still, a lot of yeast action, that I did not see with the 1 gallon that I made. I am assuming this is because the yeast has much more to eat in the 5 gallons than the The airlock looks like it is elevated and releasing CO2 in the 1 gallon of strawberry, I think fermentation is still taking place even though I see NO bubbles in it. Maybe its stuck?
I racked the 1 gallon of peach wine I made into a secondary fermenter, its pretty cloudy, I am going to see if it clears in the next few days now that its racked. I left the peach must in quite a while, but I am betting it clears pretty nicely. We will see!
I also started one gallon of blackberry, a request from my wife's grandmother, who fondly recalled her father making it while she was growing up. I figure it will make a nice Christmas present!
I racked the 1 gallon of peach wine I made into a secondary fermenter, its pretty cloudy, I am going to see if it clears in the next few days now that its racked. I left the peach must in quite a while, but I am betting it clears pretty nicely. We will see!
I also started one gallon of blackberry, a request from my wife's grandmother, who fondly recalled her father making it while she was growing up. I figure it will make a nice Christmas present!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Pinot and Strawberry - Secondary Fermentation
Man, thats the most wine I racked yet, my arm started to get sore holding the tubing in place! Well, I got six gallons of pinot into a secondary fermenter, and I should be able to add some clearing and fining agents next week. Its supposed to be drinkable after 3-6 months.
I also got the fruit out of my strawberry primary fermenter, its amazing what mush it looks like after a few days in there, but boy oh boy does it smell good!! I should be racking that one shortly into a secondary after I confirm the PA isn't higher than 3 or 4.
Expect some pictures of my modest (so far) setup in the next few days...
Im going to need more bottles soon! Looks like I will have to drink some more wine!
I also got the fruit out of my strawberry primary fermenter, its amazing what mush it looks like after a few days in there, but boy oh boy does it smell good!! I should be racking that one shortly into a secondary after I confirm the PA isn't higher than 3 or 4.
Expect some pictures of my modest (so far) setup in the next few days...
Im going to need more bottles soon! Looks like I will have to drink some more wine!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
More Strawberry, Peach and Pinot!
On Saturday, before a long bike ride, my friend Tim and I along with my wife went to the local farmers market on the lookout for some fresh fruit - we found some nice Georgia peaches at one of the stands and purchased 3 pounds of them, enough for a gallon. We didn't have time Saturday, and I wanted to get some more ingredients and items before we started, so Id have enough for the coming wines I wanted to make.
So this past Monday I picked him up on our lunch break and we went to the local wine store, L and M and made some purchases. I bought some Pastuer Red yeast, a new 23 liter primary fermenter, and a 6 gallon carboy, along with some new air locks, stoppers, and some course-nylon mesh bags.
Monday night he came over and we made some awesome chicken spedies on the grill, popped open a magnum of Fisheye Pinot Grigio, and got to work cutting the peaches up. we gave them a good mashing and added the sugar water, tannin, yeast nutirent, acid blend and pectic enzyme and acid blend, and yesterday after the must cooled down I added the yeast, so thats starting!
After we cleaned up and finished with the wine, we started on the juice kit of pinot noir I got a while back. I cleaned the primary fermenter and sterilzed everything, added bentonite (Im not sure what that is, have to read about it) and water to the juice and added the oak chips and the yeast, and by yesterday, it was already bubbling and fermenting. Cant wait to sample that. I have to say, it was a lot of fun making wine with a friend!
After really loving the smell of the strawberry wine I made a gallon of and wrote about previously, I decided to make a whole lot more, about 5 gallons worth. I must have looked a little nutty driving home from work yesterday carrying 20 lbs of fresh strawberries in plastic bags on my scooter.
Man, cutting the tops off 20lbs of strawberries takes a while! The most fun part was after I put them in the nylon bag I beat the crap of them with my fists, making a nice frothy strawberry juice. I added 5 lbs of sugar I boiled in water and put the lid on it. The must was still really warm this morning, so I will add the yeast nutirent, acid blend and pectic enzyme tonight when I get home, then add the yeast tomorrow. I should have a lot of Strawberry wine to drink in a few months.
I will be racking a lot of this wine in the next two weeks, and I will upload pics at that time to finally show what my setup looks like.
So this past Monday I picked him up on our lunch break and we went to the local wine store, L and M and made some purchases. I bought some Pastuer Red yeast, a new 23 liter primary fermenter, and a 6 gallon carboy, along with some new air locks, stoppers, and some course-nylon mesh bags.
Monday night he came over and we made some awesome chicken spedies on the grill, popped open a magnum of Fisheye Pinot Grigio, and got to work cutting the peaches up. we gave them a good mashing and added the sugar water, tannin, yeast nutirent, acid blend and pectic enzyme and acid blend, and yesterday after the must cooled down I added the yeast, so thats starting!
After we cleaned up and finished with the wine, we started on the juice kit of pinot noir I got a while back. I cleaned the primary fermenter and sterilzed everything, added bentonite (Im not sure what that is, have to read about it) and water to the juice and added the oak chips and the yeast, and by yesterday, it was already bubbling and fermenting. Cant wait to sample that. I have to say, it was a lot of fun making wine with a friend!
After really loving the smell of the strawberry wine I made a gallon of and wrote about previously, I decided to make a whole lot more, about 5 gallons worth. I must have looked a little nutty driving home from work yesterday carrying 20 lbs of fresh strawberries in plastic bags on my scooter.
Man, cutting the tops off 20lbs of strawberries takes a while! The most fun part was after I put them in the nylon bag I beat the crap of them with my fists, making a nice frothy strawberry juice. I added 5 lbs of sugar I boiled in water and put the lid on it. The must was still really warm this morning, so I will add the yeast nutirent, acid blend and pectic enzyme tonight when I get home, then add the yeast tomorrow. I should have a lot of Strawberry wine to drink in a few months.
I will be racking a lot of this wine in the next two weeks, and I will upload pics at that time to finally show what my setup looks like.
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