KitzKikz: WineBatch03
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!! Apple Wine from The Joy of Home Winemaking __Major Ingredient:__ Apple Juice, Frozen Concentrate from Supermarket %%% __Minor Ingredient:__ Lemonade, Frozen Concentrate from Supermarket %%% __Expected Quantity:__ 1 Gallon __Actual Quantity:__ 5 bottles Source: http://www.joyofwine.net/wine101.htm |{ cellpadding=2 border=1 cellspacing=0 }{ bgcolor=gray style=color:white}__Date__|__Temperature__|__Specific Gravity__|__Notes__| | 16-Oct-2005 | 87F | 1.064 | [#DayZero] | | 31-Oct-2005 | 73F | 0.999 | [#DayFifteen] | | 16-Nov-2005 | 66F | 0.993 | [#DayThirtyOne] | | 26-Nov-2005 |{ colspan=3 } BOTTLED | ---- !Beginning (16-Oct-2005) #DayZero *Sugar - 2 cups *Apple Juice Concentrate, 12 oz. - Thawed *Lemonade Concentrate, 6 oz. - Thawed *Pectic Enzyme - 1/2 tsp. *Water - Enough to fill jug Mixed the water, sugar, apple juice concentrate, lemonade concentrate, and pectic enzyme and put into a glass 1-gallon jug. Covered with plastic and elastic band to hold the plastic in place. Let sit for a day before adding yeast. I'm going to attempt to follow Terry's instructions as closely as possible. That includes no unnecessary measurements. Ok, I lied, specific gravity is 1.064, temperature is 87F. !Day One (17-Oct-2005) #DayOne One whole packet of Montrachet (Red Star brand) yeast added. This seems a bit of overkill, but that's what the directions said to do. Did not stir. A couple of hours later and bubles had filled the neck of the gallon jug and started to force their way into the plastic coverring. Clear evidence of why a bucket with plenty of extra space is preferred by many for the primary fermentation step. I put the jug in a dishpan to catch any overflow that might make it past the elastic band. !Day Two (18-Oct-2005) #DayTwo Larger bubles subsided and left a gunk around the inside neck of the bottle. I cleaned it out with a paper towel. Lots and lots of little bubbles are rushing through the must now - what they call rapid fermentation. The plastic cover / elastic band isn't working out like I would have thought. There doesn't seem to be any positive pressure keeping outside air from getting inside the bottle. I would think that the plastic would balloon out a little bit until the pressure was enough to get past the elastic band. It hasn't. Perhaps I'm not using a strong enough elastic band. I replaced this contraption with a stopper and air lock and it's bubbling away nicely. This way I can at least __see__ that there is no air going the other way. !Day Four (20-Oct-2005) #DayFour Still fermenting like mad. The airlock hasn't slowed down one bit. I know this is fermenting apple juice, but it looks exactly like the orange juice in my refrigerator. I'm attributing this difference to the yeast and bubbles. !Day Fifteen (31-Oct-2005) #DayFifteen Fermentation has slowed to just a few bubbles every second. Took readings and a sip. Tastes horrible with a slight aftertaste of apple. I'm hoping this gets better and is not ruined. !Day Thirty-One (16-Nov-2005) #DayThirtyOne There are still a few small bubble breaking the surface now and then. I took measurements and then a taste. It does taste and look like wine now, so I'm feeling more optimistic about this batch. Following the instructions, I racked into a fresh clean 1-gallon glass bottle. This was the first time I managed to use a siphon and racking tube without incident. I think I may have found the trick to this siphoning business. If I have, then I may start to enjoy this part of the process instead of dreading it. !Day Thirty-Five (20-Nov-2005) #DayThirtyFive I decided to fine the wine starting today so I can bottle it next weekend. I added 3 ml of Kieselsol and stirred gently. Eight hours later, I added 1/2 fl. oz. of Chitosan and stirred. !Day Forty-One (26-Nov-2005) #DayFortyOne The wine cleared within 24 hours but I let it sit for the remainder of the week. I got 5 full bottles out of it. |
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