Bramble & Elderberry Wine

[oliveoil54]

Very new to making wine not from kits.

Just made Bramble 9lb & Elderberry Wine 11lb (Internet recipe), using 20lb fruit to approx 10.5lbs sugar, 3tspn pectin enzym, 5 crushed campden tablets, 6 tspn yeast nutrients, 5tspn wine yeast (instructions state rounded & no need to activate), 10 tspn citric acid in 5 gallon fermenting vessel.

Crushed fruit, boiled sugar syrup separately & when cool added to fruit, then added rest of ingredients, stirred well.

Poss 1st mistake teaspoon used was probably a bit large. 2nd mistake then put fermentation lock on FV, prob for approx 2 days. Fermentation was very fast. Stirred each day. Realised mistake & took lock off and covered just with towel to allow air in. After 7 days fine seived & racked to demi johns with fermentation lock. 3rd mistake didn't read specific gravity initially!

Problem the demi johns have stopped fermenting after only a couple of days, they were in dining room where heat is approx 21deg C (70 deg F) and a bit colder at night. Have now moved them near the boiler.

Measured the gravity for the 1st time tonight and its .994 which is too dry??? Also had a brief taste of wine and its very, very tart.
Has the wine stopped fermenting because its got enough alcohol & can we bottle it & hope the flavour improves?
Or should we try to start fermentation again by adding more yeast - if so how much per DJ?
Also to sweeten the wine should we add more sugar syrup if so how much? Or would we better with some form of sweet natural juice? Also when do we add the sweetener?
Any advice would be really welcome.

 

[Moley]

Hi Olive, and welcome to the forum.

Ok, let's go through your “mistakes” and “problems”:

1. Teaspoon was a bit large - so what, you probably didn't need quite that much Citric and you've used more yeast than you needed to, but no harm done.

2. Fermentation lock on FV - so what, air can't get in, carbon dioxide is heavier than air and that's sitting on top of the bucket. In future, throw away the towels and put the lid on, with airlock if the lid has been drilled. No harm done.

3. Didn't take an Original Gravity - extraction from the fruit plus sugar added = 195 ounces, 5 gallons, 39 oz/gal = 1.090

My problem now, time's up, I have to go to work now, I will get back to you later today, but you don't need to be doing anything at the moment.

 

[Moley]

Right, where was I?

Fermentation temperature at 21°C, 70°F was ideal, you've used plenty of yeast and nutrient, so fermentation is just about finished. You had an OG of 1.090 and gravity now is 0.994, that's a drop of 96 points which gives 13% alcohol. Gravity will probably drop just a little lower yet. Are your DJs full or is there any headspace? If they aren't filled to the base of the neck you should top up, and I would use supermarket red grape juice for that. You certainly don't need to add any more yeast, if you do top up with grape juice your yeasties are only resting and will get back on the job.

It's far too soon to be thinking about sweetening. If you top up with juice, leave your DJs where they were for another week and then move them somewhere cooler. Rack them after a month, and you can stabilise and back-sweeten then if you wish. Ask again nearer the time.

Don't worry about it tasting tart at the moment, your yeasties haven't finished their task. It will be fantastic by Christmas (2011).

 

[oliveoil54]

Great, so re-assuring.
Will get some great red grape juice this morning. Have made 3.7 DJ's, 3 are quite full as had read that should fill to top, 4th is just approc 2/3's full. Should we average out the existing wine and then top up with 3 litres of red grape juice?
Many thanks for such a quick reply.

 

[Moley]

Yes, average them out.

I don't see where you get 3 litres from, I make one third of a gallon 1.5 litres, so that would be 375ml to the jar, so that only puts the gravity back up by about 5 points.

 

[oliveoil54]

Hi
Sorry the last DJ is only half full - so we need 2.5 litres (ie 3 x litre packs). Do you think it might be worth using another DJ ie 5 instead of 4 & adding more grape juice to even it out even more. What is the max grape juice you would add to the overall quantity?
Really appreciate your advice.

 

[Moley]

The 1.090 starting gravity I worked out was for 5 gallons, if you stick at 4 gals that would be revised to 1.110, heading for around 16% alcohol.

It's your call, 4 gallons of full-bodied 16% abv or 5 gallons of a slightly lighter wine.

Personally, I think I would stick at 4.

 

[oliveoil54]

Have followed your advice & opted to top up to 4gals with grape juice 2 days ago gravity has gone up 5+ points to .998. Keeping 4 DJs at average temp of 70F+.

However there are no obvious signs of further fermentation. Should we leave it for another week at this temp & then move it to cooler spot, or move it now? (Also is garage too cold - what sort of temp should we be moving it to?).

Take it we def dont need to add any further yeast even tho fermentation does not appear to have re-started again?

 

[Moley]

I would leave it where it is for another week or two, then move it somewhere cooler, then rack it again after another 2-4 weeks. If there is any further fermentation it is likely to be quite slow.

What sort of temperature is your garage at, and does it fluctuate much between day and night? Ideal temperature range would be 10-14°C, 50-58°F, but as stable as is possible, within reason.

You def don't need to be adding any more yeast. Even if you did, the alcohol shock would probably kill it immediately.

 

[oliveoil54]

Just taken a reading this morning and its exactly 1.00 & the taste is much better, but still v dry!
Have moved to cooler location, do I need to cover it to protect it from light?
Will try it again in another 2 weeks, if nec would I add the sweetener then, & would some form of red grape concentrate be suitable, as I already have some ready?

Have just made another 4 Gallon of Elderberry & Apple wine & posted a few queries viewtopic.php?f=40&t=11259
Would appreciate your advice also.

 

[Moley]

1.00 (and you're still missing a digit) isn't dry, it will taste harsh and sharp at the moment but given time to mature that will be a medium wine, so I wouldn't recommend sweetening now.

Yes, keep it out of the light, or certainly out of direct sunlight. Wrap the DJs in brown paper or drape a black dustbin sack over them.

 

[oliveoil54]

Racked for 2nd time on the 14th Nov the SG was 0.995. Do we need to add Campden Tablets now? If so how many per D/J?
Also how long do you think we need to leave it before bottling?
Hope you are still tracking this & thanks in advance.

 

[Moley]

You should always use campden tablets (1 per gallon) when you rack to guard against infection and prevent oxidation. It should be crushed to a powder between two teaspoons into the receiving jar before you syphon.

Personally, I would still leave it for at least another 3 months before bottling, so you could do a final racking with CTs and stabiliser then.