How important is the pectic enzyme? My understanding was that it was added to must to help break down solid fruit. Is that incorrect?

As for the tannins, I heard I can add a bit of tea… if I made a half cup of tea and added that to my welches must, do you know if that would do the trick for added tannins?

How important is it to use a hydrometer before starting fermentation? I don’t have one, and was thinking I’d just use the 4 cans of welches concentrate, with the 1kg bag of dextrose, and fill the 5Gal jug until it’s full enough… do you think that is about right?

I was going to start a batch tonight, but the stopper I got with the airlock I bought doesn’t fit my 5Gal water jug, so I will be checking out the hardware store tomorrow to see if they have one a bit smaller, because the wine making supplier near where I live only sold the “standard” size 11. I might just buy a real fermenter but still hoping to use one of the water jugs I have sitting around taking up space.

I’ve always been kind of lazy with the hydrometer. It’s kind of funny, as I also make maple syrup in the spring and my partner in crime on that uses a hydrometer to tell when the sap is syrup. I just look at the way it’s boiling and know it’s done. I guess that’s been my approach to beer also…follow the recipe, watch the temps, sterilize everything, pitch the yeast after making a starter, and call it good. If it has alcohol in it, good enough.

You’re right on the money as to why we beer guys use gelatin to fine…gets those nasties to settle right out in a hurry. I usually do that step about 3 days before I bottle. I have a vegan buddy who uses Irish Moss instead, does the same thing.

I don’t know that I’ll mind something that tastes like alcoholic grape juice, I’m as happy with a bottle of Boones Farm as I am with an expensive bottle of Merlot. Some of the best wine I can somewhat remember was swill around a campfire. So I guess unless it’s so strong that it kills the yeast and fermentation stalls, I’ll probably let it be but reduce the recipe next time. Will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks,

Mike

Did you take a hydrometer reading? You really should, because then you’ll know how much alcohol you’re likely to get. You can compare that to the tolerance of your yeast to see if it will have any trouble.

It’s not just the yeast you should be worried about, though. Reducing the water will concentrate the grape juice just like using more cans of concentrate will. In my experience that makes the wine taste too much like alcoholic grape juice. So, if it were me, I’d split the batch to preserve the water, sugar, grape juice proportions.

I don’t fine with gelatin, so I don’t have a lot of experience with it. I think home brewers use it to remove yeast from their just-fermented beer, and it should behave the same way in wine. Since wine making is often on a longer schedule than beer making (giving the yeast time to settle out on its own), you probably wont need the gelatin.

Let me know what you decide and how it turns out!

Erroll

I thought my carboy was a 6 gallon. Just made this and I’m a gallon shy on the water. Will it be too strong and kill the yeast? Lalvin 71B 1122

I do have another carboy, but I hate to split the batch in two, as I wanted to start another batch in about 6 weeks.

Need I worry? First attempt at wine, but I’ve been making beer for a long time.

It seems like the amount of yeast should scale – one fifth the must, so one fifth the yeast. But the usual recommendation is to use one packet of yeast for one to five gallons of wine. I think this is because it’s hard for home wine makers to precisely divide the packet into fifths. If you’re dealing with small amounts and you can’t measure precisely, then you could be use far too little yeast.

So I would use the whole packet.

Erroll

Erroll