Winexpert Classic - Italian Pinto Grigio

[buddsy]

hahaha I think it was a case of I know what will be a good idea followed by the dawning a couple of hours later of that might not have been a good idea after all!

 

[Seanav]

I just remembered a mistake I made with the last red WinExpert kit I made with my conical fermenter and am pointing out so others dont make the same mistake.

Usually I use mine for beer making and its usual to apply a bit of CO2 to either purge air out or during transfer. Im trying to remember exactly what I did but I think after racking into the conical I purged with CO2 and I think I added a bit of pressure so it would be easy to bottle via the floating dip tube. Couple of days later I realised what I had started to do was to carbonate the wine! I don't remember how long or how much pressure I added but the wine was slightly fizzy and took me a couple of months after re degassing to finally remove it. During which time it sat in a carboy with a airlock.

Im not sure what I was thinking...or not.

buddsy

I don't have a fermzilla (yet!) and have only read about brewing beer under pressure , but just to be clear (and going for this months Homer Simpson D'oh! award ) did you apply too much pressure or should you never brew wine under pressure ?

 

[buddsy]

I don't have a fermzilla (yet!) and have only read about brewing beer under pressure , but just to be clear (and going for this months Homer Simpson D'oh! award ) did you apply too much pressure or should you never brew wine under pressure ?

Once you've fermented your wine mostly people go to great lengths to degas their wine with various things often mounted in electric drills.

Homemade degassing wand

So no I dont think you would ferment wine under pressure.

Brewing under pressure is done to reduce esters formed from the yeast at normal temps...I think?

Pressure fermentation allows larger to be brewed warmer which speed up fermentation while giving a clean taste. I guess the sweetness of wine doesnt make it suffer in the same way as a larger. I dont know but thats my guess.

From what Ive read I believe the tradition way is just to let it sit in a carboy with a air lock and the CO2 comes out over time. maybe 6 months. Unless you wanted sparkling wine I dont think you would want slightly fizzy wine as its not very nice.

I dont ferment my beer under pressure as if I brew larger I brew in my fridge four weeks at 11 deg C. That said adding a bit of Co2 to transfer the beer doesn't matter as its always going to be carbed up at some point.

Does that make sense?

My wine has been fermenting for a week and 9 days and it still going pretty strong.

According to the instructions after 14 days (this Sunday) FG should be 998 i think.

If fermentation has finished by then Ill take a reading and then be doing the next additions and degassing.

Ill post some pics of what I do.


all the best buddsy

 

[Chippy_Tea]

should you never brew wine under pressure

To add to what @buddsy has already said -
In the many years i have been a member here I don't recall anyone using this method why complicate an easy process.

 

[buddsy]

Fermentation has slowed but still bubbling.

The yeast has been dropping out to the bottom.

Ive given the fermentor a few slight rotating swirls and some of the debris on the sides has fallen to the bottom and the wine is much brighter.

buddsy

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

As chance would have it, I'm enjoying a glass of the WinExpert Pinot Gris at the moment - and very nice it is too if I say so myself
Lovely drop and so easy to brew compared to beer - it's the waiting around bit that kills me... I think I brewed this about a million years ago

 

[buddsy]

Yes its like watching paint dry!

I had a delivery from the Malt Millar today. They had a WinExpert Pinot Noir slightly out of date for £35.00 so I couldnt leave that with them

Trouble is I also bought some malts and want to do an IPA & a Larger before Xmas so the red wine will probably have wait till the new year.

buddsy

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Fermentation has slowed but still bubbling.

The yeast has been dropping out to the bottom.

Ive given the fermentor a few slight rotating swirls and some of the debris on the sides has fallen to the bottom and the wine is much brighter.


View attachment 75950View attachment 75951

buddsy

I tend to give the metal upright a good 40 or so bangs with my fist and that is very good at shaking the side accumulation down.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I made a sparkling elderflower in my fermentasaurus. Open ferment at first then I put the spunding valve on to let it carbonate, then clod crashed and cleared it before counter pressure bottling it. Worked a treat.
But sparkling wine is meant to have some fizz.

Few more weeks here before the elderflower is on the bushes and I can make an elderflower Saison, elderflower IPA and maybe some more elderflower sparkling.

 

[buddsy]

So I checked the fg which has to be under 0.996. Mine I measured at 0.994.

Racked off in to a clean carboy.

Added the next packs of chemicals then degassed.

Someone was asking about wine degassing. This is how I do it...Not sure if its how its meant to be done but seemed to work out well last time.





buddsy

 

[buddsy]

After clearing for a week I transferred the wine to a clean carboy.

Looks to have cleared up really nicely. Im going to give it a couple of weeks before I bottle



buddsy

 

[RoomWithABrew]

So I checked the fg which has to be under 0.996. Mine I measured at 0.994.

Racked off in to a clean carboy.




Added the next packs of chemicals then degassed.

Someone was asking about wine degassing. This is how I do it...Not sure if its how its meant to be done but seemed to work out well last time.





buddsy

I've got a very small vacuum pump that runs on AA batteries and that I've rigged up through the gas post to the fermentasaurus. I just drop the yeast out of the bottle at the bottom and then add the clearing agents and swirl it to mix it all, this is pretty easy on the wobbly stand. Then plug the pump in and it lowers the pressure a bit over the wine and the bubbles come out. It's a bit of a hands off approach but works well.

 

[ChrisT]

@RoomWithABrew Does that work with a "flexible" fermentation vessel? I tried a similar approach but only on glass demijohns and it works quite well. I got a little 5V pump and power it from a USB charger, a bit of hose from the pump and the hose through a rubber bung. Doesn't work so well on a bucket and lid but it's probably too powerful and the bucket too flexible.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I have found that I don't need the pump to run for long, it seems to have some kind of setting so it cycles on and off. It was used as a device to produce low pressure over wounds and so doesn't keep going just when it senses a rise in pressure.

 

[buddsy]

I've got a very small vacuum pump that runs on AA batteries and that I've rigged up through the gas post to the fermentasaurus.

Hi any chance you can add a link of the type of pump you are using? Id be interested to see that.

buddsy

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Hi I'll get some photos of it when I get home. I upcycled it as it was used for a demonstrator in a dressings talk / promotion by the dressings company.

This page has a video and picture of the little pump. You might be able to get a demonstrator off a Smith and Nephew rep with some blagging.

https://www.smith-nephew.com/key-products/advanced-wound-management/pico/

 

[ChrisT]

@RoomWithABrew You've got some very interesting gadgets, I thought I had a problem, but I'm so jealous!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@RoomWithABrew You've got some very interesting gadgets, I thought I had a problem, but I'm so jealous!

If I can snaffle another one I'll put it in the suitcase when I come over for Christmas and post it to you.

 

[ChrisT]

See if we can actually meet! Although I'm going to be in Cambridge, then Minehead and back to Bristol over the Xmas and New Year.

 

[ChrisT]

Here's a picture of the pump I constructed, no details on the pump itself other than it's powered from a USB charger, i.e. 5V.

And a short video of it in action in a demijohn.