To bottle or not to bottle??

[Padster]

Great, thanks, Chippy! Bubbling is slowing down now. Would be great to drink at Christmas! Cheers!

 

[chrissyteacup]

I'm jealous padster something ready to drink at xmas I've had to buy this years!

 

[Padster]

I'm jealous padster something ready to drink at xmas I've had to buy this years!

Well, we don't know if it's going to be drinkable yet, so I'm keeping fingers crossed! :pray:

I've have just bottled and tried my first sloe gin which is fantastic, so if all else fails, I can drink that!!! :grin:

Chippy - does the bubbling have to stop altogether before I can say that fermentation has stopped? I'm down to about 3 "bloops" a minute at the moment and it is looking less cloudy with quite a thick sediment at the bottom.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I leave mine until it only bubbles once every couple of minufes, you then need to leave it seven days forthe yeast to cleam up after itself then you can stabilise, if you don't leave it the extra seven days drinking it will gat you plastered but it will also give you bad guuts.

 

[Padster]

Great, thanks! I'm beginning to realise the key to all this is patience, patience and then yet more patience!!!

I will be patient!

 

[oldbloke]

Patience is indeed the key. Wines/beers/meads can easily be spoiled by proceeding too soon, but almost never by giving them a bit longer.
After 18 months or so of brewing you'll suddenly find you almost accidentally have a winerack with over 60 bottles in it and your hardest decision will be which one goes best with whatever meat is being roasted this Sunday. And where to put a second winerack.

 

[Padster]

I'm being patient .... honest! ..... but I'm now down to 1 bloop every 3 minutes or so. Do I rack it first onto a campden tab then leave for another 7 days or wait 7 days then rack it?! :)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Wait another 7 days then rack onto a crushed campden tab, degass, stabilise and clear.
I find the apple/raspberry and wgj tastes great even when it has not been aged.

 

[Padster]

Wait another 7 days then rack onto a crushed campden tab, degass, stabilise and clear.
I find the apple/raspberry and wgj tastes great even when it has not been aged.

Thank you! Patience is my new middle name!!!

 

[Padster]

Just thought I'd update on my apple/raspberry WOW! I ended up bottling it on Christmas day and I'm pleased to report it is delicious! I need to do a better job with the topping up as I ended up with only 5.5 bottles, but that's a lesson learned! I'm really pleased with my first attempt and now have an orange WOW on the go. Need to get more DJ's/PETs so I can do more at the same time. 3 DJs is just not enough, particularly when one is being used by a blackberry wine which needs several more months!!

I do have a question ref temperature for keeping wine in when it's still in the DJ. I don't have much room for storing wine and have moved my blackberry DJ into the garage while it continues to clear. I have no heating in the garage so it gets pretty cold in this weather. Is that okay? My new WOW is currently in the airing cupboard at a constant temp while initial fermentation bubbles away but would need to move this out once that's finished. Can I move that into the garage too or would that be too cold?

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

Need to get more DJ's/PETs so I can do more at the same time. 3 DJs is just not enough, particularly when one is being used by a blackberry wine which needs several more months!!

My recommendation is to buy one DJ every six to eight weeks. That should ensure you never run out. Alternatively, keep your eye on eBay - there are often large collections of old DJs going cheap as long as you can collect them yourself. For quick-maturing wines like WOWs, use a 5L plastic water bottle (aka PET) with a 9mm hole drilled in the lid for the bubble lock.

I do have a question ref temperature for keeping wine in when it's still in the DJ. I don't have much room for storing wine and have moved my blackberry DJ into the garage while it continues to clear. I have no heating in the garage so it gets pretty cold in this weather. Is that okay? My new WOW is currently in the airing cupboard at a constant temp while initial fermentation bubbles away but would need to move this out once that's finished. Can I move that into the garage too or would that be too cold?

As long as the garage doesn't get below freezing, it should be fine for the blackberry wine.

For the WOW, fermentation may continue for a month or more so you'll need to keep it at room temperature (17-22C) for a while.

 

[Padster]

Thanks Tim.

 

[chrissyteacup]

glad to hear it turned out well for you padster ive just started my first 2 wow's :) there in the garage with a heating belt on so not seen the super fast start that others have but then its quite chilly in there but its still bubbling away and you can hear it fizzing I'm excited!! hee hee!!