help with my wine.

[philgashead]

hi i have just made my first elderflower wine,i have put it in my demi john but it does not come to the the top,what should if anything should i top it up with thanks phil. :

 

[RobWalker]

during fermentation that's fine, as long as there isn't a massive amount of room. you will be aiming to get it on the shoulder so you've got room for the foam caused by fermentation. the co2 it produces protects it from nasties.

when it's finished fermenting you want to rack it off the **** at the bottom and then top it up to the neck. other elderflower wine would be best, white wine is less good, water is even less good.

 

[philgashead]

during fermentation that's fine, as long as there isn't a massive amount of room. you will be aiming to get it on the shoulder so you've got room for the foam caused by fermentation. the co2 it produces protects it from nasties.

when it's finished fermenting you want to rack it off the **** at the bottom and then top it up to the neck. other elderflower wine would be best, white wine is less good, water is even less good.

thats brill rob i have got about a 2 in gap so when i rack it it will be even more of a gap and i have no more elderflower wine to top up with

 

[bobsbeer]

White grape juice is fine to top up with, but you need to let it carry on fermenting.

 

[RobWalker]

during fermentation that's fine, as long as there isn't a massive amount of room. you will be aiming to get it on the shoulder so you've got room for the foam caused by fermentation. the co2 it produces protects it from nasties.

when it's finished fermenting you want to rack it off the **** at the bottom and then top it up to the neck. other elderflower wine would be best, white wine is less good, water is even less good.

thats brill rob i have got about a 2 in gap so when i rack it it will be even more of a gap and i have no more elderflower wine to top up with

that's what I'm saying though, you *need* to top up or it can spoil your wine - if it's elderflower wine, white wine or water, you need to use one of them to minimize the headroom. A lot of winemakers keep a bottle of every brew they make for this very purpose (and it usually takes 1/3 bottle so the rest gets put to good use :drunk:)

For future reference, Rhubarb Wine is also very good to top up with as it takes the flavour of other wines on very well.