Bottled the White Muscadine (Scuppernong) blend

After spending a couple weeks in cold stabilization, a large amount of tartaric acid crystals (wine diamonds) had fallen out.  I removed it from the fridge and let it come back up to cellar temp for a few days.  The wine is extremely clear, so I decided to bottle it.  The flavor is pretty good,  Still young tasting but with lots of promise to be good wine.

The cellar is filling back up

After a few bottlings, the cellar was getting a little bare of batches under-construction. I just added a couple of new batches. My 100% Apple from Fresh, but pasteurized Apple Cider. and a 3g batch from a juice concentrate Cranberry Blend.  I basically followed the same recipe for Welch's Concentrate since it is very similar.

Here is what I did

Cranberry From concentrate

7 cans (12 oz) Cranberry juice blend frozen concentrate
4 1/2lbs granulated sugar (starting SG was 1.094)
3 tsp acid blend
15 drops pectic enzyme
3 tsp yeast nutrient
water to make 3.25 gallon
wine yeast 71B-1122


The rest of what is in the Cellar is: Elderberry 5g (3g no-oak, 2g oak'd), Red Muscadine 4g, Blackberry/Concord 1g, Mead (dry) 1g, and in the Fridge: White Muscadine 1g ( Fridge, cold stabilizing)

Apple Wine update

After averting the near MESS.  I noticed on Thursday that the activity has seemed to have slowed down.  So I check the Specific Gravity and it was down to 1.005.  Time to rack,  put into a 1 gal and 5 gal with a little head space for foaming since it is still fermenting.

November Update

In the past months I have continued to Rack and monitor the following Wines.  Red Muscadine, I racked and Stabilized.  White Muscadine/Scuppernong was racked and sweetened just a little off-dry.  The Elderberry was racked and seperated into 3g and 2-1gal.  In the 1gal I added light toasted American Oak.  After 2months i will evaluated both wines and decide on a blend.  By the way the Elderberry, even being very young, tastes great.  The Elderberry Rose is completely clear and stable so I bottled it today (pictured to the right).

During the last 2 months I started and completed a Wine Expert VR Liebfraumilch  Kit.

Apple Wine batch #3 5 gal.

I started a batch of 100% apple Yesterday and in less than 24 hours I am getting foaming in the airlock.  I even had over 2 1/2" of space in the fermenter. So, I added a blow-off assembly help eliminate a possible disaster. The ferment was also creating a lot of heat. So I placed it in a tub of water and added ice to cool the ferment down a little.  I will try to keep the water between 60-68deg.

Here is the Recipe for what is in the bucket.

Apple Wine (Full Body)

5 gal seasonal Apple Cider with lots of pulp. (pasteurized)
5.75lbs sugar dissolved in 5 cups hot water. Achieved a starting SG of 1.085
1.25oz. Tartaric Acid to get .6TA
5tsp Yeast Nutrient
2tsp. Yeast Energizer
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 pkg. Montrachet Yeast in a starter.

I have had mixed results using Montrachet.  But I have real good results with the first Apple Wine I made.  It did require some aging but it came out great.  I actually still have 2 bottles left.  going open one at Christmas time.

I have had troubles in the past getting my Sugar additions correct until I found Fermcalc .  It is a fabulous tool.  There is an online version as well as a Downloadable standalone application.   If you enter accurate information it will return extremely accurate numbers.

October Updates

I bottle the Welch's White Grape a couple weeks back.  I needed to add some Bentonite to get it to clear completely.  I racked and bottled right off the Bentonite.  The wine turned very good.  It made a very nice light White wine.  I have had $5 - $10 bottles that were not as good.  At about $1.00 a bottle including the cork I cannot complain.  I have racked the Muscadine a my Elderberry wines.  The Elderberry Rose is already clearing and stable at an SG of 1.008.  Added more Pot Sorbate and 2 Campden tablets.  I also started a Wine Expert Liebfraumilch kit I purchased a while back.

Elderberry update

On the 4th day I checked the SG was at 1.010.  Decided to move the berries and give a light squeeze.  Transfered to a 5 gal carboy and topped up with 500ml of red grape wine I made.  Big mistake topping up, it started to foam and right out through the airlock and down the side. (luckily I placed the carboy in a large tub). Removed some of the wine and after a couple days the foam decreased.  Cleaned up carboy and replaced the airlock again.

I did keep the left over pulp and started a 3g batch of second run Elderberry Rose'.
I used this recipe:


Elderberry Rose’
3gal

Elderberry pulp from first wine
3.0 lb. (0.45 kg) fully ripe bananas
3-12-oz. (355-mL) can white grape concentrate (Welch’s, Old Orchard, etc.)
6.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) granulated sugar
6 Campden tablets
1-1⁄2 tsp. potassium sorbate
3 tsp. yeast nutrient
6  tsp. citric acid  (i will check level and add later)
Cote des Blanc

Step by Step
Bring 6 quarts (6 L) of water to boil. Meanwhile, place elderberry pulp (in nylon straining bag) in the primary fermentation vessel and add sugar and grape concentrate in primary. Pour boiling water over contents of primary and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cover primary. Put another 4-quarts plus 1 pint of water on to boil. Cut bananas, skins and all, into 1⁄2 inch slices and add to boiling water. Cover pot and boil for 25 minutes. Skim any scum off water and strain to remove fruit. Add banana liquid to primary and re-cover primary. When cooled to room temperature, stir in citric acid and yeast nutrients and activated yeast, re-cover primary, and set aside. Stir twice daily for 2 days – 3 if additional color requires it. Remove straining bag, squeeze lightly, transfer to secondary, add one finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet, top up if required, and fit airlock. Rack every 60 days until wine falls clear and no sediments form during 30-day period. Stabilize with potassium sorbate and one finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet and bottle this wine dry. Allow to age one year.

The starting SG was 1.100, I will try to stop the fermentation at 1.005 for a semi-dry finish.

9/22/10  Update.  Remove the pulp this afternoon and checked SG= 1.042

9/24/10  Update:  SG reach the target of 1.010. Racked to Carboy, added Pot Sorbate and  3 Campden Tablets.  Placed in Refrigerator to cold stabilize for 2-3 weeks.

New Batches

I know it has been a while since I updated my Blog.  Don't worry I have been still making and bottling lots of wines.
I have started 3 new batches in the past couple weeks.  Red Muscadine, White Muscadine, and an Elderberry.  A couple weeks back I pick a bunch of Muscadine grapes at Shady Oaks U-Pick.  And I have been collecting Wild Elderberries since July and it is now time to start it.  Below are the recipes used.

Muscadine 5 gal batch (4g yield)

32 lbs Muscadine (red) Grapes  (mix of about 30% Noble and other red varieties)
7.2 lbs sugar.  Water to bring level 5.5 gal on primary
10 drops pectic enzyme. (stir well)

Doing a cold Maceration for 6 days to extract color from the skins.
After 6 days removed from frig.  Checked sg of room temp juice 1.094, made a starter with water and juice.  The juice was sweet, smelled and tasted good.  Could feel a little tannins in the mouth.

Lavlin 71b-1122 yeast
Added 5 tsp Yeast nutrient
Notes: Separated from seeds and Skins after 5 days and SG =1.000.  11 days later racked off the heavy sediment (about 1.5" deep in 5gal glass). to 4gal and 750ml  SG=0.994.

White Muscadine (1g)

6+lbs White Muscadine (scuppernong)
1 can white grape concentrate (Welch’s)
4 drops Pectic enzyme
Sugar to 1.088 (less than 1 lb)
Water level to 5.5 qts (including Crushed grapes)
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
Campden
Champagne Yeast in a starter

Crushed the grapes and placed in a strainer bag.  Checked SG after a little water had been added.  1.030 added a can of White Grape concentrate and raise the level to 3.5qts SG was better but still a little low.  Created simple syrup with a 1lb of sugar adding slowly along with water until the SG was 1.088. Added 1 campden tablet and set aside for 24 hrs.

Note:  I have no press so to extract more of the flavor and juice I need to ferment with the skins.  The juice taste very fruity with the taste of the original grapes maintained, but sweeter.

Elderberry

15 lbs elderberries
8.0 lbs. granulated sugar, approx. (adjust to SG of 1.095)
4-12-oz. (355-mL) can red grape concentrate (Welch’s, Old Orchard)
30 drops Liquid Pectic Enzyme
5 tsp. yeast nutrient
14 tsp Acid blend (TA=0.60%)
Oak Chips (optional)
1 sachet Red Star Pasteur Red, wine yeast in a starter

Simmered berries to extract liquid and attempt to fix the color better.  Dissolve about 6lbs sugars in the simmering berries. Adjusted to 1.095 at 5.5gal, added 1-3/4lb sugar.  Placed the simmered berries in a strainer bag and added the cans of concentrate.  Check acid level was at about .2% added 14 tsp acid blend and now at .60%  Let cool to room temp.  Adjusted the liquid level to the 5.5gal mark with berries, while adjusting to an SG of 1.095

Mead...

Bottle the Mead Thursday.  I am very happy with the Mead.  I turned out exactly as I thought it would.  I actually like it better than the commercial Mead I had last year.  It ended up a Semi-Sweet with an SG of about 1.012 and at about 11-11.5%abv. It is a nice balance between sweetness, acidity and Alcohol.  Very nice, but also very young.  It has only been 5 months since it was started.  After few months in the bottle it may actually improve a little more.  If it lasts that long.

June Updates

Started 3 new batches this month.
Peach Wine from my neighbors peaches.
Blueberry Burgundy
Welch's White Grape (from Concentrate)

Existing batches:
Racked the Cabernet kit of the heavy sediment and added more oak since the oak powder supplied did not seem to leave much of an impact.
The Porto Corinto sat on some additional oak after stabilizing and clearing for 1 month and has now been bottled.
My Semi-Dry Muscat has been bottled.
The Grapefruit and Apple Wines are stable, clear and sweetened a bit.  And are now aging
The Clean out Freezer Berry is finished fermentation and is just aging and clearing.
The Mead is just waiting to be bottled.

Welch's White Grape

Since my first batch of Welch's White Grape turned out so well I though it was time to start a second one.  This time a little bigger 3g.  I followed the below recipe:

• 7 cans (11.5 oz) Welch's 100% frozen grape concentrate
• 3-1/4 lbs granulated sugar
• 4 tsp acid blend
• 9 drops pectic enzyme
• 3 tsp yeast nutrient
• water to make 3.25 gallon
• wine yeast (RJ Spangols unknown yeast, probably EC-1118)

6/28/10
The starting SG was 1.094 after temp correction.  I just so happen to have 4 gallon Pet 1 bottle that works real good for fermenting my all juice 3 gallon batches.  Made a starter and pitched the yeast in the evening. 

Blueberry Burgundy

Started a new wine from scratch.  I had this can of Sun Country Burgundy Concentrate and thought this would be a good idea for a wine.

Blueberry Burgundy

6 pts  Blueberry (about 4 ½ lbs)

1 (46oz)Can  Sun Country Burgundy Concentrate

3tsp Yeast Nutrient

3 Campden tablets

3 tsp Acid Blend

30 Drops Pectic enzyme

Approx. 4lbs sugar to 1.095 with temp correction

Cote des Blanc Yeast

6/28/10

Rinsed and froze blue berries after purchase.  Thawed berries and crushed into sanitized primary bucket. Added the Sun Country juice concentrate.  Water to 2.5 gallons 3 Campden tablets added..

6/29/10

 After 12 hours added Pectic Enzyme, Yeast Nutrient and Acid Blend.  Checked SG 1.055 and used Ferm Calc and came up with 10 cups water 4 lbs sugar to get 3.4 gallons must at 1.093.  Created starter with 1 cup water and 1tsp sugar and adding 1 tsp every couple hours.  Boiled 9 cups and added 4 lbs. sugar to water.  After cooled added sugar water mixture to the 3 ¼ gallon level.  Checked SG and it was at 1.095 with temp correction.

Cabernet Sauvignon Kit

On May 1st, I went to Custom Winery, Vinters Cellar, in South Lakeland. They were going out of business and clearing out their inventory.  I picked up some Carboys $10 each, some wines and a Cabernet Kit.  The lady at the shop said the kit is better at 5g instead of 6g.

5/10/2010      My largest batch yet.
Started the kit and added water to 5g and a little more.  Checked sg and it was 1.090. it looks like here advice was good.  At 6g this would have been a batch.  Added the bentonite and created Yeast starter and added it. After a day it was really going strong and starting smell up the house.

Clean Out the Freezer Mixed Berry Wine

4/12/2010:
My Wife was looking for some fruit in the freezer to make a smoothie.  She came across a couple of bags that had been there awhile.  She decided that they were not good enough for a smoothie.  Instead of just tossing it in the trash I though a better use would be some wine.  So here is what I came up with.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(all fruit amounts as estimated)
2.5lbs Frozen Strawberries
0.5lbs Frozen Raspberries
Handful of Blackberries
12oz Grape Juice concentrate
1.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
0.5 tsp Yeast Energizer
10 drops Liquid Pectic Enzyme
4 cups of sugar
Campden
Montrachet Yeast


Intial SG 1.030 after sugar addition 1.100
starting vol 5qts
Must has a very strawberry taste
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thawed fruit with Grape Concentrate water and Pectic Enzyme and 1 Campden Tablet for 2 days in the fridge. Brought to room Temp overnight.  Checked SG and adjusted with sugar to 1.100. Added Yeast Nutrient and Energizer.  Re-hydrated Yeast and added to the must.


4/19/2010.
SG 1.010 Strained through a strainer bag and yielded 1 gal and 375lt.


4/23/2010.
Fermentation appears to have slowed to almost stopped with lots of sediment.  Racked to clean Carboy. When racking accidentally knocked the 375 on the floor and broke the bottle. So all I had was the gallon, Racked, stabilized and topped up with 9oz water. Since the taste of the wine is very pronounced the water should not hurt it in flavor, just lower the Alcohol a little.

Port Kit

Started a Port kit a couple weeks back.  The kit is Porto Corinto by Cellar Craft.  It currently has been in the Secondary for a couple of weeks now.  The smell on this kit during the Primary fermentation stage was wonderful.  Starting SG was 1.160, after a few days it was down to 1.060 so I move it to the Carboy.  Ended up with 3g and 1lt.  More updates coming

Good Stuff

I opened a second bottle of the Apple Wine this week.  Wow this came out very good.  I think a large batch is going to be in the works soon. You would never know this wine was almost completely dry (SG 1.001). Very full body and nice mouth feel with a slight taste of apple. definitely a winner.

April Wine Updates

I know it has been a while since I wrote anything.  Not to worry I am still making wine.  Just nothing to really update. everything is just aging and clearing. It is getting time to do some racking in the next couple weeks.  The last I checked the Blackberry/Zinfandel had a good taste and mouth feel. It may be ready to bottle soon.  The mead is just aging. since its first racking and stabilizing when the SG was at 1.012. It appears to be clearing on its own.  My Grapefruit is completely clear.  The 2 gallons of Muscat is also clearing nicely. The Apple Wine I made Is looking good and I added to Oak chips the other day to try and add some vanilla taste to it.

Down the Drain

I had to pull the plug on the Cinnamon Wine. The fermentation stalled at 1.052. Which gave it about 10.5% alc. But it was the taste that did it. The cinnamon taste was ok, but there was a woody taste that followed. Something like I was sucking on an old popsicle stick. So down the drain she went.

Muscat

Started another new batch of Vino.  This is from a can of Sun Country's Muscat Juice Concentrate.  Originally I was going to blend this with peaches for a 3 gallon batch of Peach/Muscat Wine.  But I decided to just make a 2 gallon batch of a full/medium body Muscat Wine.  Using the Recipe from the can as a guide here is what I came up with.

---

Dry Muscat (Concentrate) 2 gal

1 Can  (46oz) Sun Country "Muscat" Juice Concentrate
Sugar to SG 1.085 about 2 cups (just a little over)
Water to 2g + Finger width over Mark
2 tsp Yeast Nutrient
3 tsp Acid Blend (acidity to .6-.7)
4 drops Liquid Pectic Enzyme
Lavlin  71B-1122 Yeast
1oz Light Toast American Oak

Added Concentrate and most the water near the 2gallon mark, took SG reading 1.070.  Created a simple syrup of sugar and water bases upon some calculation from charts I have found at Jack Keller's site. and then added in and checked SG.  with temp correction measured 1.085. right were I wanted it.  Adjusted the Acid level and added Yeast Nutrient and Pectic Enzyme. soaked the Oak in Sulfite solution for 30 mins and then added to the primary fermenter (actually a 4 gallon carboy I have).  Re-hydrated yeast and made a starter.  Added The yeast starter after 60 mins and lots of foaming action.  I am trying for a Dry Muscat wine with a little hint vanilla maybe from the oak in the primary.  Alcohol between 11-12%. I plan to leave the wine for 3 weeks before racking. Stirring twice daily for the first 5 days and then adding an airlock. Hopefully this achieve my desired outcome.

Zinfandel/Blackberry Updates

12/27/2009:  Created starter with Premier Cuvee.  After adding the Yeast energizer it appeared to die.   Started a new Yeast Starter with Montrachet without energizer.  After a few hours the starter was foaming real good.  Added to Must.

1/1/2010:  Stirred the must twice daily until the SG was 1.023 in the AM.  Racked in the afternoon.  Split between a 3g and 3l carboys.

1/14/2010 Checked SG 0.990  Waiting for my Orange Muscat to reach 1.030 to free up my 3.5g carboy.

as of 1/20/2010 still waiting  Orange Muscat is now at 1.036

2/27/10:  Taste tested today for Oak Level.  The Oak is definitely present in the wine and at a level I think will be good.  So I racked it off the oak and topped up the 3g carboy with the non-oaked wine in the small second container. The Mouth feel of the wine is getting better with a nice Oak taste on the palette.

New Label (Cranberry)

She did it again.  I need a label for my Cranberry wine, so I asked my daughter, and she pulled out real winner again.

Bottling day

Bottled the Orange/Muscat Port Kit today.  It's taste is good.  I think it will get better with time. Here is the picture of another killer label from my daughter.

Grapefruit

I was in Webbs Candy the other day and was looking at their Florida Wines.  They sell a lot of Wines made by Florida Orange Groves Inc, and Winery.  I noticed a wine from Grapefruit, it had a nice pale straw color. Then I remembered I had a fellow co-worker give me a big bag of Ruby Red Grapefruit the other day. I got thinking, OK, I could make make Grapefruit wine.  Did some looking on the internet, of course Jack Keller was the first instinct.  And of course he did not let me down.  Several versions of Grapefruit Wines.  And here is the one I decided on using:

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GRAPEFRUIT WINE (Dry) (1)

• 6 large grapefruit
• 2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
• water to 1 gal
• 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 1 crushed Campden tablet
• 1 tsp yeast starter
• Sauterne yeast

Scrub grapefruit clean. Peel one grapefruit thinly, making sure no white pith adheres to peel. Put peel in primary with half the sugar, the crushed Campden tablet, juice from all six grapefruit, yeast nutrient, and enough water to bring up to one gallon, stirring well to dissolve sugar. Cover primary with clean cloth. After 12 hours, add pectic enzyme. After additional 12 hours, add yeast. After two days of vigorous fermentation, add remaining sugar, stir well, and allow additional two days vigorous fermentation in primary. Discard peel, transfer to secondary and fit airlock. Rack every 30 days, topping up each time. After fifth racking, bottle and set aside at least 6 months. [Adapted from Dorothy Alatorre's Home Wines of North American

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I did not have what I would call large Grapefruit, so I used 8.
I added 1.5lbs of the sugar. Fermex Yeast Nutrient and used Montrachet Yeast.
SG=1.080
Recipe calls to add 1lb more sugar, the only problem that would put the PA way above where I would like it.  So I will probably add only 5-8oz more sugar to add 0.015 to the SG. This should make a nice dry wine around 12-13% abv.

2/21/10:  Added the rest of the sugar about 6oz raised the SG by 0.010 so the effective starting SG would be 1.090 which will put it in the 12% range when finished.

Cranberry Bottling

Cranberry stayed clear and only small dusting on the bottom of the carboy after racking off the Bentonite 2 weeks ago.  Wine finished at about 13% abv with some residual  sugar at a SG of 1.012, for a semi-Dry Finish, Tastes a little like a White Zinfandel with a some tartness from the Cranberry.  Now to let it age for a couple months before tasting.  Hopefully it will smooth out some.

Mead

I have friend who brought up the idea of making some Mead.  I have tried mead only once, Chaucer's Mead.  It is sweet mead at 10% abv and not too bad.  I thought that possibly a little more Alcohol and not as sweet would be a good start. for some Mead.  I did a lot of searching and decided to use Jack Keller's Recipe for semi-dry as a guideline.

2.5 - 3 lbs quality varietal honey
1-1/4 tsp yeast nutrient
1-1/2 tsp citric acid (Acid Blend)
1/4 tsp yeast energizer
Water to make up 1 gal (about 3 liters
1 sachet Montrachet yeast (Côte des Blancs)

My Actual Recipe

9 lbs Clover honey
4 tsp yeast nutrient
1-1/2 tsp Acid Blend
3/4 tsp yeast energizer
Water to make up 3 gal + a finger width
1 sachet Côte des Blancs

I decided to make a 3 gallon batch since I have a 4 gallon carboy and a 3 gallon emptying soon.  I got 9 lbs of Clover Honey from Wal-Mart.  I decided to use a different Yeast than Jack used.  I did some research and decided to try Côte des Blancs.It appears to have some favorable characteristics for Mead making.  Starting SG 1.103 (with temp adjustment)
Target SG 1.015
This will put it near 12% abv and Semi Sweet.  Just what I am looking for.
Stay Tuned

2/16/10  The little yeasties appear very happy this morning
2/20/10  Checked SG this morning 1.040

New Wine Batches

Started 2 new batches. Cinnamon Wine and another batch of Apple Wine.  Used the same recipe as the Tennessee Apple since it came out so good. But the juice is from Whole Foods here locally.  Got the jug of juice when acquiring 1 gallon jugs.

Cinnamon Wine?

Ben Evert posted this Cinnamon Wine recipe on his Beer and Wine Making Blog. It sounded interesting and the next day I just happened to be at Dollar tree and there was a pack of a 18 Cinnamon Sticks.  So I thought I would give it try.  I also thought I could blend some of the finished wine with some Apple that I am starting at the same time.

Here is the recipe:

---------------------------------------------

Cinnamon Wine

* 12 six-inch cinnamon sticks

* 3 lbs granulated sugar

* 7-1/2 pts water

* 1 tsp yeast nutrient

* 1/8 tsp tannin

* 3 tsp acid blend

* 1 crushed Campden tablet

* Champagne wine yeast

Put cinnamon sticks and one quart water in a pot with a tight-fitting lid.

Bring to a simmer and hold for 10 minutes with the lid on, turn off heat, and let steep for two hours.

Strain the water into a secondary and discard the cinnamon sticks.

Add sugar to remaining water and bring to a boil.

Turn off heat and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Add all remaining ingredients to secondary except Campden and yeast and then pour in the sugar-water.

Cover with a napkin held in place with a rubberband and allow to cool.

Add Crushed Campden, stir, and allow to sit 24 hours covered.

Add activated yeast and recover.

Ferment 5-7 days, or until specific gravity falls below 1.030.

Fit with airlock and continue fermentation 30 days.

Rack into sanitized secondary, top up, and refit airlock.

Ferment another 3 months, rack again and ferment additional 3 months.

Stabilize, sweeten to taste, and let sit under airlock additional 10 days.

Rack into bottles and store in dark place.

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Tennessee Apple: Bottled

The Apple stayed nice and clear after sweetening. I got five bottles and a glass. Well of course I had to drink it.  I think it came out really good.  It has real good body and hint of the apple on the taste buds.  The alcohol is not over powering but gives it a nice little bite.  Should be about 12-12.5% abv.  I stabilized it at 12.9% but with rackings and topping up I am sure it dropped a little.   After a couple months in bottle it should be even better.  I will make this again.  Soon

Wine Updates

1/22/10:  Racked and stabilized the Zinfandel/Blackberry and my Orange Muscat Port.  The Orange Muscat finally got to an SG of 1.034. That puts it about 17% alc. Followed the instruction for the Orange Muscat which included adding the Fining agent as well.  The next morning it was amazing how clear the wine actually was.  And in the days to follow even better.  It looks ready to bottle, but no I need to wait 3 more weeks to rack again.
The Black/Zin I racked and stabilized also added some Medium Toast French Oak chips to the carboy.  SG is at 0.990, this stuff is real dry and a little rough to taste, unlike the Orange Muscat which actually almost is drinkable already.

1/26/10: The Tennessee Apple is real clear after the last racking.  There is a little sediment, so I racked the wine off the sediment.  Did a little taste test, one sweetened just a little and one not.  By adding some sugar it brings out more of the Apple Flavor.  Added just 2oz. of sugar which raised the SG from 0.996 to about 1.001. that seem to get the results I was looking for. If in 2 weeks if no sediment is dropped, into bottles it goes.

Starting the Vineyard

I have a good size Backyard and one half is pretty much unused.  We have tried a couple of different Landscaping options but with the Florida Heat, bugs and the weeds constantly taking over, we gave up.  So this past year my wife agreed to give that half of the yard.  So I plan to install a small Vineyard and a Garden area.  The Garden will include some  fruit trees and raised beds for some vegetables.

The Vineyard will consist of 3 40 foot long rows.  I will be planting 3 varieties of Grapes that grow here in Florida.  2 Muscadine Noble. 2 Bronze Magnolia Scuppernong, and 4 Black Spanish Hybrids.

I started work on the Vineyard area yesterday. I have included a couple of photos to show the progress. First I had to remove the pond I install years ago for the Turtles and fill in the hole.

After filling in the hole from the pond, day 2 was all about making sure the ground was somewhat even and packed.  Then to install the trellis system.  I got it all laid out and posts are set.  Here are a couple of pictures to show progress.

1/21/2010:  Adding the support wires today.  I think I will probably make a change by adding a tensioning device to the wire later.

Orange/Muscat Updates

1/3/2010:  SG was at 1.080 today.  According to the instructions it is time to rack to secondary.  My secondary bottle must be larger than 3 gallons.  When I racked it over it was not even close to the full.  So I added 4 cups of water with 1 1/2 cups sugar to the secondary.  Still not full, but ok.  the SG was maintained at 1.080 so the finished alcohol level will be the same.

1/14/2010 SG at 1.038

1/20/2010 SG at 1.036

Muscadine Final Bottling

I bottled the final 5 bottles of my Muscadine wine.  I got 10 bottles in all from 2 one gallon batches, both were finished differently.  First, I bottled "All Noble" a Semi-Dry 2 weeks ago, I had sweetened to an SG of 1.006 and added a small amount of Tannin. Second I bottled "Sweet Noble" yesterday I sweetened to 1.012 originally then I added more sugar a couple of weeks later to about 1.020. Waited a couple weeks and bottled it. The All Noble is a little rough but there is some potential, I will see in a few months. My Sweet Noble actually isn't too bad right now, but a little time in the bottle will definitely do it some good.