Another newbie with another possibly stupid question :)

[juju66]

Hi there

I've just made my first ever batches of wine: blackberry and damson, and ginger - exciting!

With both, I added the campden and pectolase while lukewarm, and the yeast/yeast nutrient after 24 hours. After 5/6 days I strained through a muslin into the demijohn and fitted an airlock.

All was bubbling away quite nicely (both were bubbling about every 3 seconds). I made the blackberry about 3 weeks ago and I noticed about an inch or so of lees on the bottom, so I yesterday I racked it off as I'd heard it would affect the taste if left too long. In a mad moment I then topped it up with a bit of apple juice and honey. :-D

However, it has really slowed down - only bubbling once every 20 seconds or so. Have I done something wrong? The hydrometer reads about 1010, but I unfortunately I don't know what it was to start with as I didn't have one then. To be honest I really don't quite understand what that number means for the finished product.

The ginger (unracked so far) is bubbling quite nicely still and reads about 1020.

Does this all sound ok...?

 

[Gorty]

When you racked it off you basically took the bulk of the active yeast away, the yeast left is just that left in suspension, as this is wine made from fruit and not just juice there will be more lees but as it is still fermenting it should be OK to ferment to dryness before you rack off.
With a bit of luck there should be enough yeast left to keep it going to get down to dry which is around 0.990-0.992. The reading gives the specific gravity or the amount of sugar left, the lower the reading, the drier the wine, anything above 1.000 is a bit sweet for most people, but that of course is down to each person's taste. If you are making wine from fruit then a good read, in fact it's considered The Bible by many is 'First Steps in Winemaking' by CJJ Berry. Written back in the 1980's and a tad old fashioned but still very informative and has over 100 winemaking recipes set out month by month.

I don't think you did anything wrong, you were just a little eager, topping it up was the right thing to do, it's important to keep it so. Please let us know how it comes out, and remember we're always here to help.

 

[juju66]

Thanks, Gorty. Should I add a pinch more yeast, perhaps? And should I be keeping the DJs warm? At the moment they're just in my kitchen, but it might get a bit chilly overnight - we haven't had to turn the heating on yet, thankfully! :)

 

[Gorty]

As long as it isn't in a draught or your kitchen gets below 16-18 centigrade you should be alright, wrapping a thick towel around it would help at night but if you have an airing cupboard where the temperature is around 20-24 that's what I've found ideal, as for adding a pinch of yeast, I can't see that it would hurt mate.