Wine making help please

[Justo]

Hi all, well after being dragged around bored out of my head having to pick various berries and flowers with my parents, I've now somehow found myself doing the same to my little one lol.. So I'm definitely a novice here but I suppose it's in my blood.. I did a few marrow rums two years ago which have now matured to be being a very nice drink. Now I'm onto the wine an so far have carrot, elder an black, sloe and blackberry and raisin going... Not bad for a novice lol..
I would appreciate some advice on yeast, hydrometers and of course how to get a good alcohol content.. I purchased some youngs wine yeast and nutrient, an some other various tubs lol.
Now my query is do I need different yeasts for different wines or would this youngs one do and when I used the hydrometer I took a reading when everything first mixed in the fermenting bucket and after my first wine had finished blubbing away in the demijohn I took a reading again.. Think I got a whopping 6.6% lol .... Not very good I'd say 'although it tastes nice already'... Am I using that correctly and if so how do I get the % up to something acceptable ??

Regards

Justin

 

[brumbrew]

I too was dragged around picking things as a child.

However in greatful for the knowledge now. I could survive weeks outside. Just long enough for a quick brew ;-)

Anyway.

One wine yeast will be fine if your just starting. However different wines can be preferable to different yeast. But I wouldn't worry about that yet. Techniques are best mastered.

As usual clean and sterilize everything. It's worth freezing or boiling fruit. Or both to get maximum juice and to inhibit any wild yeast.

Leave the juice to cool with pectin. Pectic enzyme. And a campden tablet. After a few days strain and add to a demijohn or bucket and add your yeast and air lock.

If your just starting I wouldn't worry to much about yeast strains yet. Although I use a lot of the gervin yeasts. They do ones for certain fruits or styles.

The sauternes is a good one for flowers ;-)

I've done carrot wine before and was lovely.

Also if you add more sugar your percentage will raise.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube about how to read a hydrometer. ;-)

Good luck keep us posted :-)

 

[chewie]

The sugar content in the berries etc will determine the alcohol content in your wine, aim for a gravity reading somewhere around 1.080 - 1.100, just add dissolved sugar to your mix until you hit a gravity reading between those numbers.

 

[brumbrew]

You can experiment with honey or brown sugar etc depending on what wines your planning.

Honey though isn't all fermentable. The impurities will cloud or fall hopefully. Most of the time they settle.

My first wine brew in homage to my late grand father was a 'stew' brew.

That's turnip, carrot, beetroot, Apple, banana, berries. Whatever is going rotten or you can find lol.

After opening the last bottle last year it was bloody LOVELY!

I think wine making is just as an adventure as BIAB or AG but as always the techniques are better to learn first IMO.

 

[Justo]

Hi thanks for your reply , just a query , the recepies I've followed have basically been similar in respect to add fruit to boiling water, leave to cool the add yeast into the fermenting bucket, not later in demijohn?? They haven't mentioned Campden tablets or pectin at that stage, in fact only a campden tablet crushed basically before bottling... Are they a bit wrong lol.

 

[brumbrew]

I like to let the boiled must sit for a week in a bucket with pectin (which helps the juice extraction and chill haze later on)

The campden tablet at that stage is just to hinder any wild yeast from starting the brew before you add your own packet yeast.

Wild yeast can be very hit or miss in terms or eating sugars and flavours it can produce.

 

[Justo]

Hi thanks, is that a bit of an unwritten rule then with all your wine making? I.e leaving it for a week before adding your own yeast?? Will certainly give it a go.
Also I've just done my 2nd batch of carrot wine, but left it in the fermenting bucket for nearly 2wks 'not sure if that matters' when I added it to the demijohn an fit the airlock it bubbled briefly an has now stopped??? My other didn't do that and is the same ingredients Etc. Is this still ok?

 

[brumbrew]

I would have thought it's fine. These kinds country wines benefit from long periods left well alone. So long as the air lock is filled with water and tight to the demi

I never judge things from activity in the air lock as bungs etc can always leak small amounts.

Put a torch behind the demi and look for small trails of bubbles. I had a mead do this for 3 months with little to no activity on the airlock.

And the whole leaving the fruit with campden tablets I think is an old way of doing things. It's just what my grandfather thought me so I still do it :-)