Muscadine day 7 update

Transferred wine to secondary container and removed the pulp and seeds. I now have 2 gals of beautiful deep ruby red Muscadine Nobel Wine and actually doesn't taste to bad. SG was 1.032 at the time of transfer from a starting level of 1.111 on 8/23. When it was time to transfer I only had 1 airlock and the only thing large enough (2gal) was my 2.5 gal primary bucket. Transferred to that, but by morning it did not see the bubble rate I expected to see. But by afternoon my other airlocks arrived. So I transferred to two 1gal bottles. I am not sure the bucket had an air tight seal, since these are bubbling quite well still.

Muscadine Wine 54hr.

The Must is really bubbling and still putting off a strong odor, but not quite as strong. SG down to 1.060 this morning, was 1.081 at the 36hr. mark. Color is a real nice dark ruby red. Probably will be down to 1.030 to 1.040 by tomorrow afternoon and time to remove the skins and seeds.

Muscadine Day 2: The Yeast

Gave the strainer bag a squeeze to get some more juice out. Checked the SG today it is at 1.110. Higher than my target was color of the juice is a dark pink. Added the Yeast Nutrient to the Must and created a yeast starter with Pasteur Red yeast. An hour after re-hydrating the yeast in 1 cup of warm water, added 1/4 of the juice every 1.5 hours until I added 1 cup of juice. The started was realing foaming and bubbling good (should have taken a picture). Stirred into the must and with in a couple of hours it is already bubbling real good.

Went the Grapes of Kath vineyard for the annual grape stomp celebration. Tasted some very interesting wines today. Picked some grapes (Muscadine Noble) while I was there. After arriving home almost immediately crushed the grapes and started my first batch of Muscadine wine. Took measurement of SG and calculated what should have been the correct sugar amount. Disolved and added. Oops too high. I was going for a dry wine. Added some water and brought the SG down to 1.120 still higher than I want. So I guess I will be making a semi-sweet wine instead. I will be using Pasteur Red Yeast so it might push the alcohol higher instead only time will till. Added Potassium Metabisulfite and pectic ezyme. Now tomorrow i will check the SG again before adding the yeast.
Lesson learned: go slow with the sugar and add in small quantities.

Weekly Update (Going Grape Stomping)

It has been 2 weeks since my first batch of wine was started. The fermitation looks like it is long finished. There is positive pressure in both bottles and the wine is starting clear a little. Very tempting to open and taste, but I need to wait 2 more weeks. I will be going to a Grape Festival in Sebring Fl. tomorrow at the Grapes of Kath Vinyard and Nursery. I plan to pick up a couple a supplies and some U-Pick Muscadine grapes and start a batch of some Muscadine based wine from grapes. Stay tuned and there will pictures.

1 Week Update

Tried a little experiment today with the 20oz bottle on the left. I had added some water to it already just to get the level up some. Here is what I tried today; Poured off a little of the wine. Made a simple syrup with about of 2tbls of sugar and added to the bottle. It appeared that there is no fermentation activity as of today. I figured the added sugar will either start the yeast back to work or sweeten the wine.

What I pored off was a little clearer then when I racked it into the bottle. Took a small taste and it was not to bad. Very dry with a good bite, but a yeasty smell. I guess time should cure this issue. The small bottle should be a good representation of what is in the 3L bottle, but a little diluted because of the water I used to top it up.

Day 5 First Racking

Checked the batch this morning and did not detect a bubble in the few minutes I watched it. Not using a hydrometer, so decided it was time to rack into the3L (could not find a 1gal) glass jug. It did not all fit so added the last bit to a clean 20oz bottle with a balloon (poor mans airlock). The wine? looks OK smells closer to wine. Took a small taste, almost completely dry tasting but not good. But it does have wine taste and feel, just very raw, a little yeast taste, but it also very cloudy still. Time is now going to be our friend I hope. Not much to do for a few weeks now but watch it. Hurry Up and Wait

96 hours

Checked wine and it resumed the bubbles through the airlock. The rate is the same as this morning still a 65-66 seconds between bubbles. Still going strong.

Day 4

Another quick stir and let it sit. Bubbles have slowed from 23 seconds last night to 66 secondes this morning. Actually smelling closer to wine than bread, unlike previous days.

Thought I messed it up

I checked on my batch a few hours after giving the must a stir and there were no bubbles after watching for a few minutes. I am thinking I messed it up, but I figured I better leave it alone. Checked this morning and bubble rate resumed to the same as before I stirred it. Now just let it go for a few days until the bubbles slow down.

Nearly 48 hrs since pitching (adding) the yeast; Still a good strong fermentation going on. The Must has gotten real cloudy. Gave it a quick mix and refitted the lid and Airlock. Disturbing or not disturbing the Must? About a 50/50 opinion on it. I noticed a good layer forming on the bottom, it will resettle in a couple of days. Probably rack into a clear glass jug in about 3-4 more days.

hour 12

Got up this morning and checked on the Must. No bubbles or foam, So being the rookie and chicken to mess it up I fitted the lid and airlock to the container. Yeast is working quite well, lots of bubbles coming through the airlock. I guess I could have left the paper towel covering and been ok. Better safe than sorry.

Started my first batch of homemade wine tonight. A very simple concoction from Frozen concentrate white grape juice. Mostly to get a feel of the wine making process in the simplest form. And maybe I will actually make something drinkable.