When to fit an airlock?

[Amadeus]

Sorry if these are stupid questions, very new person here.

I've got 4 demijohns on the go using variations of this recipe for fruit tea bag wine

I assumed the airlock had to go on straight away so fitted one and after a few hours was getting lots of burps through it. About 3 a second.
Then reading on the net I found a site saying don't fit an airlock at first because the yeast needs oxygen to multiply.

I've removed the airlocks and covered the necks with kitchen roll (taped up because there's some fruit flies hanging about)

Was this the right thing to do and if so when do I fit the lock?

I also have a 5 gallon drum of Beverdale chardony on the go and the instructions said to fit an airlock straight away.
Can anyone can help here I don't want to ruin my first batch!

[edit]
Just in case it makes a difference here's the details of the 4 DJ's
1) Purple grape SG 1.110
2) White grape juice with Twinings Cranberry, Raspberry & Elderflower SG 1.110
3) Apple juice with Twinings Green tea with pineapple and grapefruit. SG 1.115
4) Red grape juice with Twinings Echinacea & raspberry SG 1.120

All made on sat 17th

 

[Moley]

Airlocks on DJs right from the start :thumb:

Apologies if I'm stating the bleedin' obvious but don't fill demijohns to the top at the start, just to the shoulder. That leaves an airspace so if I'm pitching yeast straight into the DJ (as with ‘tea bag’ or juice wines) there's room to give them a good shake, and you shouldn't have stuff frothing through the trap.

 

[Amadeus]

Cheers! :thumb:

Got the airlocks (bubbler type) sterilizing now and will fit asap.

Hopefully this hasn't ruined the wine.

BTW thanks again on the Twinings idea, if these taste half as good as they smell then I am in for a treat. :

[edit] All fitted now, truth be told I missed the little chorus bubbling away in the background.
Could do without the 5 gallon one though. Whilst the DJ's produce tinkly little tune the 5G bucket just belches every 5 seconds :)

 

[Moley]

If they've been covered against the flies I'm sure they will be fine.

The grape juice & red bags should taste as good as they smell.

I'm not too sure about your Apple combination, to be honest I don't think I'm bothering with any more apple juice wines, it seems slow to clear. I do have a few gallons of apple juice at the moment (currently 50p for 1.5 litre in Lidl) but I think that's all going to make Turbo Cider.

I know what you mean about the chorus of pops. Although it's not disimilar to a dripping tap, it signifies that there will be alcohol and is therefore far more agreeable.
:

 

[shadow47]

it seems slow to clear. :

Yeah, I noticed that, I made Pineapple juice wine and Apple juice wine at the same time, Apple took 10 days to clear, Pineapple 2 (both with same amount of finings and round about the same SG).

 

[Amadeus]

I'm not too sure about your Apple combination, to be honest I don't think I'm bothering with any more apple juice wines, it seems slow to clear. I do have a few gallons of apple juice at the moment (currently 50p for 1.5 litre in Lidl) but I think that's all going to make Turbo Cider.
:

The apple juice is an experiment. I tasted it before adding the yeast and it was really nice.
This ones been the most vigorous bubbler too, maybe the caffeine gave those little yeasties a boost :)
The apple juice was clear not cloudy, would this make a difference?

Thanks for the tip about lidl apple juice, may stock up.
Debating on if to start any more until these die down though.
Got these all going in my front room and my heads getting light!

How long does this intial rush normally last?

 

[shadow47]

2-4 days usually, but it depends on temperature, type of juice and yeast, amount of sugar etc.

 

[Amadeus]

Ok, i'll let these setting before doing anymore then.

Got my eye on some blueberrys... :thumb:

 

[Moley]

How long does this intial rush normally last?

As Shadow says, it depends on a few factors, but at this time of year with temperatures still quite high I would reckon it's safe to be topping the DJs up to the neck (with cooled, boiled water) after around 4 or 5 days. I tend to top half way up the shoulder and leave it a day or two before I fill up.

I let my juice or ‘tea bag’ wines ferment all the way out to dryness and start to clear before I rack, de-gas, add CTs, Sorbate and finings, which is generally about 4 - 5 weeks. I usually back-sweeten to medium-dry with grape juice when I bottle, but that's down to personal preference.

 

[grinchy]

how much grape do you use per 750ml bottle for back sweetening? I've only ever used sugar before now and i'm sure that cant be doing my waistline any good!! :hmm:

 

[Moley]

I generally use around 40 - 50ml to the bottle, which is enough to bring the gravity back up 4 or 5 points. It's all down to individual tastes but I prefer to bottle around .996 - .998

Edit: It's still sugar, just in another form, sorry waistline.

 

[grinchy]

If back sweetening with juice, do i add it before or after fining? I normally use sugar and do it once its all clear and as i bottle....is it the same process?

 

[shadow47]

Yeah, best to add any sugar at the last possible stage before bottling, after fining, stabilizing, adding Sodium Met etc, you don't wanna make wine bottle grenades! Also fining it will take longer because of the extra sugar if you put it in before.