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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/22/2011 11:20:56 AM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		Malolactic bugs are expensive. They are actually bacteria from what I understand. The store I buy from sometimes has them in bulk (pounds) increments. https://www.fhsteinbart.com/products/index.php. I've found in general a .2 ounce packet sometimes costs same as a pound for this type of stuff. Not that I receommend buying a pound of this stuff, because it would go bad, or die, but pricing seems in line for your malo thingy.

Oak preference is entirely personal choice. I tend to try to use only natural wood (and other products) so I don't even know what oak "oil/liquid" is. Reminds me of a product called "liquid smoke" that I consider an abomination in bbqing (but that's another thread).

Sanitation I use soap on carboys, followed by Oxyclean type scrub and multiple rinses with hot water, final rinse with sulfited water. I love Glass carboys because they are SMOOTH glassware without any of the nooks and crannys steel or plastic can collect. (obviously breakage potential is a big downside). If you don't have one get a couple of Carboy brushes, like giant test tube cleaners, they are bendable and can reach every nook of the inside of a carboy. For a fermenter I use a plastic garbage pail, but with a food grade drum liner inserted as a one time use. I avoid most plastic use too except for some food grade pails that I might let the product sit in for a few days only. For cleaners, the stuff sold in wine shops I think is WAY overpriced, and household cleaners (the correct ones) do the same job. AVOID anything with chlorine, bleach, etc...

I was in a winery last week and they had a garden sprayer filled with high strength sulfite/water mix. Made me proud of my home gallon milk jug of sulfite water that I keep a batch made up to use for ferm locks, final rinses, etc...

< Message edited by ChrisinSunnyside -- 11/22/2011 11:31:44 AM >

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/22/2011 11:50:35 AM   
ckinv368

 

Posts: 985
Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		My experience with malo bugs is that they're very expensive as well. But it's the nature of the beast I guess. For what it's worth, I've found that the malolactic culture that comes in liquid form (in a big test tube) is cheaper than the freeze-dried culture that looks like a packet of yeast.

I tend to steer fairly clear of the soap and water route for inside the carboys. If it's physically dirty, and lots and lots of hot water can't get it off, I use an oxyclean mixture and a scrub brush, then rinse multiple times with really hot water. If it isn't "dirty" per se (but needs to be rinsed), I'll rinse 2-3 times with scalding hot water, then rinse with my handy jug of sulphite solution. I usually put an airlock in when I add the sulphite, and let it sit for a few minutes. The sulphite fumes kill lots of things, in addition to the actual solution.

I use food-grade plastic fermenting buckets with a spigot when I ferment, and it seems to work fine. I'm also a fan of the glass carboy, even though they are pretty fragile (and heavy when full). The PET plastic "better bottles" are handy, but I just don't think work quite as well. But since a 6 gallong better bottle is actually smaller than a 6 gallong glass carboy, it is handy to rack from the glass to the plastic---less wine you have to add to "top up."

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Post #: 62
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/22/2011 1:54:34 PM   
champagneinhand

 

Posts: 10281
Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		Definitely a +1 on the glass carboys and _1 on spending the coins to use chemical resistant, food grade fermenting pails. They are pricey though... My 5 gallons were $13 plus $ for the lids, but the lids are interchangeable with smaller and larger sizes. The 6 gallon pail was $15. If you compare that to $3 Lowe's brand 5 gallon construction bucket, it may sound costly, but you won't get poisoned using the chemical resistant, food grade products either. Plus, the chem res./food grade are white, so filth is usually visible, they don't stain and don't smell of past use when cleaned and dried properly. I am also in the group that avoid chlorine at almost any cost, with the exception that is in tap water. I am pretty sure that we are all on the same page with an Oxy-clean type disinfectant, as I believe they contain some amount of H2O2.

I know another question is the last thing you want to here from me....but do you go with the better real-corks and do you re-use purchased bottles, refillable or different format single use bottles? I know that I am using tall 500ml single use green for the Syrah, as many will be gifts and probably single use 375ml dark brown for the late harvest reisling. I imagine I'll do the same for next year's late harvest if all goes well. I don't have a floor stand corker, but a days rental is only $12. I have been told the floor madels are vastly easier to use for bottling. I have read and got much of my insight from a webpage. Wine-making: the basic steps by Jack Keller, but there is no way to compare notes unless you run into another garagiste in the store or when its time for Juice and grape delivery. Many people are quite secretive about there tricks to the trade. If I was selling a product, that might be understandable but for home brewers, that nuts.

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Post #: 63
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/22/2011 3:33:32 PM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		Corks I use best grade I can find, usually $0.60-0.75/cork, at my winery shop. I buy by the hundred if they have the high grade ones in bulk.

Bottles I recycle from our own collection bins of empties, cleaning and sanitizing is a pain and label removal is whole other obsession of mine, but we always seem to have an ample supply of different bottle shapes . One other source I have available from talking with other home vintners, but have never used directly, are tasting room empties. Our valley has 100 wineries with NO coordinated recycling program for glass. A true shame and I've discussed with people even potentially starting a wine bottle repurposing business. Others have tried and failed from what I hear. Anyway, on my '09 Riesling I required uniformity on all my cases, so traded around until I had 7 cases of identical blue "hock" style bottles most of which originated from a single tasting room.

They took a nice picture...


My take on bottle recycling is that I'd clean anything I bought from a factory anyway, and I know I can get mine just as clean at home. For stubborn sediment or label, throw it away and try another.

I found a second or third-hand bench style corking machine (and my crusher and my basket press) on e-bay. Those things are all antique age, if not grade, and with a bit of spiffing up are very functional. I think I spent less than $40 for my corker, shipping was a lot since it came from someplace back east, but all of those tools are one-time investments (I hope) and if I ever tire of the hobby, I'll re-sell them on e-bay or craig's list myself.

Here's a photo of my corker in action from '09.




< Message edited by ChrisinSunnyside -- 11/22/2011 3:35:48 PM >

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/22/2011 4:15:53 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		Nice, I think I'll troll the local craiglist first since I have a used iPhone 3G and many on the Clist are up for trading. With the finger lakes just 20 minutes away, I have huge access to wine rooms as well. I will check out what the tasting rooms do with the bottles. I'm shocked that your part of WA has no mandatory glass recycling. Both times I lived in the Seattle area, it was mandatory recycling and you paid $3 per cycle for doing it...strange you would think the reverse to be the case. Anyhow, we had to separate clear glass, colored glass, plastic, paper/cardboard and metals. We also had to use clear trash bags in the trash can so you could be fined if you didn't do it. After a while it seemed easy enough to do and became routine.

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/22/2011 11:10:40 PM   
ckinv368

 

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Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		Also have a floor corker. Such a nice little machine. Bought mine new for $60 from the wine shop in town. He said the parts will last for around 100,000 bottles---which made me think how much of a drinking problem I'd have if I created that much wine for home consumption!

Looks like what I did with the Barbera seemed to work, and got rid of the slight Hydrogen Sulphide smell. No having to add copper sulphate (thank goodness!) A good racking / double-decanting off of the lees is a good alternative to adding more chemicals, that's for sure. Now, unfortunately, I think it stopped malolactic from continuing (we'll see after a week or so), but it's a small price to pay for keeping the wine sound and drinkable.

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/23/2011 6:23:01 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		That malo bacteria should be hardy enough to survive a little racking. I'm sure they are just getting settled back in to their new accommodations.

I had a good laugh in response to the mathematics problem the local wine shop gave you with your floor corker purchase. so funny!

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/23/2011 9:21:50 PM   
ckinv368

 

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Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		I hope you're right champers. My only concern is that the added sulphite in the carboys I racked into, and the siphon, and hose, etc., may have added enough sulphite to make the little bugs unhappy.

That said, I still have hope---while there are no small bubbles in the neck of the carboy, the airlock is SLOWLY showing signs of pressure build-up. So I'm hoping it's the malolactic, rather than the wine just naturally de-gassing itself. Either way, the wine smells much happier, that's for sure!

Yea, the 100,000 bottle issue really got me---I thought "is there a home winemaker that really has tried that out?" "Is there a commercial winery that still uses a floor corker?" "Would I live to see the 100,000th bottle?" "Would my corpse be flammable if I got close to the 100,000th bottle?" So many unanswered questions!

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Post #: 68
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/24/2011 11:46:34 AM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		Gravity is a beautiful thing. Riesling after about 15 hours in cold storage. It was still bubbling, but a taste told me I need to drop acid or add sugar later anyway, so I stuck it in a frig late yesterday. Now dropping dead stuff and hopefully some acid crystals.



< Message edited by ChrisinSunnyside -- 11/24/2011 11:56:57 AM >

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/24/2011 1:17:02 PM   
musedir

 

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From: At 2534ft in Asheville near Royal Pines
Status: offline 		What's this dropping acid stuff... Wasn't Ken Kesey from your neck of the woods? Hmmm.....

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/26/2011 2:45:43 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		to drop the acid, couldn't you add a little Calcium Carbonate (oyster shell) which would raise your pH and give the wine a more mineral back bone?

And for musedir...Their is a winery in the Finger Lakes that the acid thing would fit right in. Their most popular wine being Purple Haze. The winery store looks like an artillery operations base from Vietnam. Green tented tops, sand bags and camo netting throughou the shop, all with posters of "the Doors", "Janis Joplin" and of course "Hendrix." Their son is a Marine and they have a 50' American flag painted on their equipment barn, but the proprietors are pure hippie. I think they came to Woodstock in 1969 and decided to buy so property and make wine. Their wine is sweet and colorful, but meant for pleasing a specific palate. One that most folks on this forum don't currently have.


oops made a mistake.

< Message edited by champagneinhand -- 11/26/2011 2:46:23 PM >

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/27/2011 12:57:13 PM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		Racked everything today for the last (??) time. Lost ~ 2 bottles worth of Syrah as sludge, now into 3 5-gallons with a 1.5 L magnum and 1 750 ml leftover. Decided to oak with chips to control a bit better. 1 carboy and the bottles left un-oaked for now, 1 carboy with ~2-3 ounces medium toast American Oak, 1 carboy with ~3-4 ounces medium toast French Oak. I'll taste along every week or so and decide when to remove the chips, add more and/or blend. The wine tasted still a bit yeasty to my palate today, but the fruit, body, and spice notes are nice and with some rounding should be very quaffable. I don't think it has done any secondary fermentation yet, but I'm not worried about it since I like the flavor and acid profile now (by taste only). If it mellows a bit from the oak and/or malo kicking in later, fine.

The Riesling is now in 1 6-gallon carboy and a 1 gallon jug only about 2/3 full. Good yield considering I dumped a few gallons on the floor during carboy breakage and a lot of what I threw away this time seemed to be tartrate. I'll move the not full jug into bottles but I need a couple more of those locking bottle stopper thingies. Flavors on the riesling: very nice nose of stone fruits, apricot, peach, with palate of tart grapefruit and mineral. A bit dryer than last time around, but flavors very similar. Still considering adding back some sweetness and may even up with 2 wines, dry and off-dry. For now it needs to clear up, still pretty hazy, but I moved it back into the frig for further clarifying by gravity I hope. The tartrate crystals left behind from this racking coated the inside of all three carboys/jugs pretty well.

I'll subject my family to some tasting trials over the Christmas holidays.


< Message edited by ChrisinSunnyside -- 11/27/2011 6:51:07 PM >

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 11/27/2011 8:53:57 PM   
ckinv368

 

Posts: 985
Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		So, the holidays are officially over. Family left this morning. Some are tee-totalers, and are offended by the sight of too much alcohol, so I decided to stash my wine-making experiments in my (locked) cellar for a few days. Figured a few days at 55 degrees couldn't hurt them too much. Took them out this morning to come back to room temperature. Started taking readings tonight to determine next steps.

Viognier: So I decided to start battonage on my viognier (which I think is a fancy term for stirring the fine lees over and over until a nice backbone shows up). Will probably stir once per week for at least 8 weeks. Maybe 12. Also added 9 medium-toast oak cubes (which is significantly less than a full oak treatment) as well, just to give a "hint" of oak, without over-oaking. After battonage and the hint of oaking are over, I think I'll rack, add a little bit more sulphite (very little), let it sit in my cellar for another 3-6 months, then bottle. So it's now sitting in my cellar for 2-3 months, just chilling (literally).

Barbera: I was pretty sure after my Hydrogen Sulphide incident last week that this one couldn't be left on its own, and that I should artificially stop malolactic, introduce a decent dose of sulphite, and rack again today. Turns out, the off-smell is all gone, and it appears that malolactic is actually still active. Did pH and TA tests, and it appears acidity is lower and pH is higher, telling me malolactic is working. Since all smells like Barbera should at this point, I think I'll leave for at least another week, then sniff, test, and see where I'm at.

Cab Kit: Well, this one has been a little dissapointing. I wasn't sure the wine would actually go through any malolactic (made me wonder whether I should have listened to those who said it wouldn't), but did a pH reading anyway, and it appears that the pH has risen just slightly over the past week. So I'm thinking this may be the world's slowest malolactic fermentation, OR some tartaric acid crystalized and settled into the lees. Who knows? Either way, the wine smells pretty tasty, and the air lock continues to slowly bubble, so I'm going to leave for at least another week, then see where we're at. The waiting game continues!

The riesling pics look pretty good to me. My viognier was the exact same (and still is now that I've stirred up the fine lees). Amazing what gravity can do!!




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Post #: 73
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 12/7/2011 11:25:52 PM   
ckinv368

 

Posts: 985
Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		So, I think malolactic has gone about as far as it's going to go for the Barbera. Racked it off what was left of the gross lees (after my minor hydrogen sulphite issues got rid of the rest of them) into a new carboy, added some meta, and about 3 ounces of american oak cubes (house toast---whatever that means), and topped up just a little bit. Now it's just a waiting game for 2-3 months.

Cab kit still hanging out---will probably rack and add oak soon. But it looked like malolactic bacteria was still working a little bit, as the pH was slowly creeping up. So will leave it another week or so, then rack, add oak, etc.

Viognier---super happy with this little girl. Started out so nasty looking but has really seemed to come around. Smells great, tastes great already, and now think I'm mainly just fine-tuning. I stir the lees once / week or so to give the wine a little backbone, and in 6-8 more weeks will rack the wine off the lees, add a bit of meta, let it age for a few more months, then it's off to the bottle and the table!!

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 12/12/2011 10:07:01 PM   
ckinv368

 

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Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		Well, I racked and sulphited the cab winemakers select lodi kit this evening. Tasted a bit of it. Not impressed. Thin, still grapey, and while wine, not somethign I'd be that interested in drinking. Of course, it's technically only just now done with secondary fermentation, so I guess it's a bit too early to tell. Patience has never been my strong suit.

Added 3 oz of french oak cubes (medium toast), and topped off, and now it's just a waiting game to see what happens.


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Post #: 75
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 12/12/2011 10:37:35 PM   
dsGris

 

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Status: offline 		What I found interesting is how the wine evolves from fizzy fruit juice to something that tastes pretty awful to end up tasting better and better until it is all gone.

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 12/12/2011 11:22:37 PM   
ckinv368

 

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Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		I'm sure you're absolutely correct. And, because this is a full-bodied red, the process just takes longer than a fast-aging white like the viognier I'm making (which actually tastes pretty great already).

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 12/13/2011 11:01:54 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		I was actually glad to see dsGris notes. I am a little disappointed in the re-tasting of my Syrah. It still smells so fruit forward and I have some tartaric acid crystals present. No longer does it taste like juice or a recognizable Syrah wine. It seems to be overly sweet, though no brix remains. I can smell the alcohol and a bit of tannin, but I can't really call this wine. I have oak chips in the carboy and I am thinking of leaving the carboy alone for another few months before racking again. I think that it needs some time to mellow the massive fruit smells and sweet taste and strange taste. I think it need some time in the carboy to start to integrated. I will re-taste in early Spring and consider re-racking at that point for the final aging stretch. I haven't given up on this yet, because I know that wine changes massively during its time of carboy aging. I am in this for the long run.

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Post #: 78
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 1/12/2012 7:16:06 AM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		Racked and "blended" my Syrah last night. I had to look here to see how long my oak chips had been soaking, it had been 7 weeks. To my palate that was long enough. Oak was noticable but not overpowering. Also all the chips had sunk, which may mean nothing, but they probably had yielded about all the flavors/tannins these chips had available. I'm really glad a I did the 3 batches separately, French Oak, American Oak, no oak. Remarkable difference is flavor profile, the French was my favorite all along with more subtle vanillins, the American was obnoxious/harsh for the first few weeks, now very big sweet notes, while the unoaked/baseline carboy, remained pretty unchanged, fruity but a little rough. The other members of the tasting panel always preferred the French last and switched from preferring unoaked to liking the American oak best by yesterday. My final blend has nice complexity from those choices and is recognizable as wine. As my MIL said, "I've had worse" (which might be a good name for this wine). Very minor losses in volume through this process, so I have 3 full carboys and a magnum about 2/3 full. Ready to bottle sometime when other chores will allow just have to get bottles ready. I think I have enough sloped shoulder empties, but have another case or two to remove labels and sanitize.

My Riesling is also clarfied and ready to bottle pending sugar tasting trials. I made four 500 ml samples at Christmas time, but chaos prevented those from ever getting tasted. They've been hanging out on my back deck in cold stabilization/settling mode in bottles with corks pushed halfway in by hand. Maybe tonight my tasting panel will get to test those. I marked the corks and I used Karo syrup 50/50 in hot water to create the "sugar" then adding at ratios of .5, 1, 1.5, and 2%. Final % added sugar is about 1/4 those percentages I think since bottled Karo is 50% sugar to start with (I think). Anyway, I'll blend by taste but I do need to find/buy some potassium sorbate to insure the yeast doesn't come back to life after bottling with new sugar.

What's everybody else doing? Besides waiting?

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 1/12/2012 3:31:44 PM   
musedir

 

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Status: offline 		esterday. My final blend has nice complexity from those choices and is recognizable as wine. As my MIL said, "I've had worse" (which might be a good name for this wine).

LMAO!!!

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 1/12/2012 8:44:37 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Status: offline 		I will due my final racking towards the end of the month or at the beginning of Feb. I will rid the sludge and remove the oak and possibly bottle at the end of Spring, at worst early Summer. I'm glad to see this thread up here because I had been wondering about the last racking. Is anyone going to filter their wine at all? I might use nylon mess, and I might not. I'll have to decide at the time of bottling.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 1/13/2012 12:05:06 AM   
dsGris

 

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Status: offline 		I never filtered, but they threw a lot of sediment.

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Post #: 82
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 1/13/2012 8:57:09 AM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		I've never filtered either. Plenty of settling time in the carboy and careful racking leaves all the big stuff behind and I like the texture of reds that are unfiltered.

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Post #: 83
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 1/13/2012 4:43:46 PM   
ckinv368

 

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Joined: 3/15/2011
From: Dallas, TX
Status: offline 		I'm still in Madrid for work, so haven't been tending to myy wine (although my girlfriend has been). Cabernet and Barbera are still chilling with their oak cubes. Will leave them for 3 months total, then evaluate. Viognier is being stirred, battonage style, once per week, to give it a little body and complexity. It has a (very) few oak cubes in it as well (something like 9). It won't add much in the way of oak, but it will hopefully add a bit of complexity. I'll rack that one more time when I get back, then bottle it in a few months. So for me, it's still just a waiting game.

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RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 2/3/2012 11:05:12 PM   
champagneinhand

 

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Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		So I did what I hope will be my last racking and its really tasting like a very young wine. stiff tannins matched with serious acid. The fruit smell is also overwhelming. I imagine if I let it sit until late June and bottle, the wine might have integrated a little more, though I know this Syrah is going to take a few years cellared in the bottle. The alcohol was noticeable when I got a mouth full starting the suction hose. Usually Big Fruit, healthy tannin and solid acidity with a touch of oak make for a good start. Time will only tell.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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Post #: 85
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 2/4/2012 9:15:17 AM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		Broke my Riesling into 2 3-gallon batches today and added a healthy dose of potassium sorbate to kill any yeast cells. My tasting trials are telling me this need 2-3% sugar to be quaffable, so I'll let the KSorbate do it's thing then sugar up in a few weeks, then go ahead and bottle. Two levels of sweetness are still a distinct possiblity, but totally dry the acid is too much to my palate.

My Syrah is slumbering nicely and the long awaited malolactic fermentation is happening on it's own. I think. Tiny bubbles atop all threee carboys and my "top off" bottle was under pressure today when I removed the stopper to top off my tasting sample. I might do some lab work, or find some wine lab to do it for me, just for my own knowledge. And I may need to figure out how to stop MLF if I want too. Wine's color is still pretty but not too dark, and flavors are melding and smoothing. In a year or so this might even be drinkable too.

< Message edited by ChrisinSunnyside -- 2/4/2012 2:06:14 PM >

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(in reply to champagneinhand)
Post #: 86
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 2/4/2012 11:00:23 AM   
champagneinhand

 

Posts: 10281
Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		I'm sort of worried about my Syrah. I don't want it to turn out like Auz Shiraz. It has almost a gallon of commercial wine mostly Cab Sav, Cab Franc, Merlot with a little Malbec, but I did use some pomegranate juice during fermentation. I wish I had not done the Malo period, because I actually had to add acid and now its strong. Grant it that I will give a glass a chance to aerate fully at room temp and try to see if its drinkable but if it looks as though its going to need 10+ years in the bottle to mellow out, then maybe I just might make it into Port. I can put the Port into wood boxes and not think about it for 10+ years and it won't take up room on my racks. I've never made a Syrah so I just don't if this stout character is unusual when it is fully dry and has only had 4 months in the carboy with oaking, which definitely upped the tannins.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

(in reply to ChrisinCowiche)
Post #: 87
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 2/12/2012 11:17:12 AM   
ChrisinCowiche

 

Posts: 7845
Joined: 12/16/2009
From: Cowiche, WA
Status: online 		I'm pretty good at math, I'm even not unfamiliar with chemistry, at least I have a piece of paper that says so, but I had the damnedest time figuring out how much cane sugar to add to my Reisling to get to the desired sweetness % level. I had done my trials with Karo syrup in solution, but that has vanilla flavoring, or at least what I had does, so I wanted just sweetness with no extra flavors. After much angst and making up a very sticky water solution, I made another trial glass, more or less scaled it up to the whole batch, and shot low since I know the sugar will become more pronounced after laying down a bit.

But 32 bottles got filled (my smallest batch ever) and I had about 2 glasses left over, which we sampled last night. Drinkable and we're all still alive today. Still haven't killed anybody with my wine!!!


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(in reply to champagneinhand)
Post #: 88
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 2/12/2012 11:25:56 AM   
musedir

 

Posts: 23486
Joined: 2/25/2010
From: At 2534ft in Asheville near Royal Pines
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: ChrisinSunnyside

I'm pretty good at math, I'm even not unfamiliar with chemistry, at least I have a piece of paper that says so, but I had the damnedest time figuring out how much cane sugar to add to my Reisling to get to the desired sweetness % level. I had done my trials with Karo syrup in solution, but that has vanilla flavoring, or at least what I had does, so I wanted just sweetness with no extra flavors. After much angst and making up a very sticky water solution, I made another trial glass, more or less scaled it up to the whole batch, and shot low since I know the sugar will become more pronounced after laying down a bit.

But 32 bottles got filled (my smallest batch ever) and I had about 2 glasses left over, which we sampled last night. Drinkable and we're all still alive today. Still haven't killed anybody with my wine!!!



And so Goat Rocks rocks!

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(in reply to ChrisinCowiche)
Post #: 89
RE: Warning: Don't Try this at Home - 2/12/2012 9:05:42 PM   
champagneinhand

 

Posts: 10281
Joined: 5/30/2011
From: Upstate New York, California born.
Status: offline 		Chris, are you using dextrose to sweeten the wine. Just was curious of which sweetener I might used if I make a magnum into a port. I figure I might just crush a few quarts of Blueberries and macerate them, using the juice to add some sweetness and use several ounces of brandy to cork that stuff with just a painted year mark on the large model.

I guess I'm not making any big decisions until June. Maybe I'll wait on adding fresh juice to the brandy bottle instead of blueberry juice. I really think this Syrah could use as much time in the carboy and bottle as possible.

_____________________________

As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

(in reply to musedir)
Post #: 90
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