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!

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!