Newbie red wine maker (UK) needs help / advice!

what was the time frame between adding the campden tab (and how many tabs did you add) and the yeast? The SO2 (campden) can kill the yeast. How much juice are you dealing with?

If i send you a file can you open a zip file.

It sounds like fermentation stopped prematurely, which would account for the

1.025 SG and the syrupy character of the must. Don't be too concerned about the consistency. Right now your main priority is to get the fermentation started again so you can ferment to dryness. It's possible that your yeast did not have enough nutrient, so you should add Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) or other yeast nutrient, and add another packet of yeast (if you add the dry yeast directly, sprinkle it carefully on the top of the must, but don't stir). Don't add anything else right now, and make sure the ambient temperature is not too hot or cold. Fermentation should begin in a day and continue for several days to completion. Check the SG each day to monitor progress. To get an accurate SG reading, don't test directly in the fermenter - carefully extract *liquid* from the fermenter, put in a cylindrical vessel, and use the hydrometer there to get a reading.

Hope this helps. Best regards.

Gary

You probably started at an SG of 1.085 to 1.100. Did you take a readinge then? If so it has dropped about rigth and I would say your fermentation is going just fine. My guess is that your meathod of pressing the must through the muslin somehow yielded a lot of very fine pulp passing through as well. If this is the case, don't worry about it. It will settle out during secondary. Just watch it and when it really stopes fermenting you will probably have a lot of sediment. Do not let it set on this very long. I would rack off of it within a week or 2 of finishing fermentation. I think everything will be fine.

Also, Berry is an excellent source for fruit wines but not that great for grape wines. You might consider a copy of "From Vines To Wine" by Cox.

Ray

Um... they went in at the same time, but there was fementation happening afterwards so maybe I got lucky there?

I have 1 demijohn with about 7 pints (Imperial) and another with about

3 pints.

In the 7 pint I added about 26 oz of sugar and in the 3 pint propotionally less. I have added the disulphate and yeast to both now and they are fermenting - loads of bubbles coming through the traps.

Any advice based on this?

Grunt

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Hi Stephen, yes I can access zip files - the email address is as in the posting header but remove .removethispart

see my other answers >If i send you a file can you open a zip file.

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Thanks Gary, see my other postings for info and progress.

I'm glad you said not to worry about the consistency - I didn't want to wind up with wine jam!!

Unfortunately my hydrometer jar bit the bullet yesterday, I forgot to hold onto it whilst trying to spin off bubbles - today I have washed the kitchen floor on some rather hacked off instructions from my better half!!

The fermentation in both demijohns seems to be going very vigourously! fascinating to watch - better than a fish tank - and you can drink it later (possibly!)

Grunt

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Thanks Ray. I would agree on the Berry, loads of good stuff on fruit wines, but no "idiots instructions" for the grapes. The info I need is (probably) all in there just not in a very obviously accessible layout.

I did notice that while the juice was in the demijohns, before sugar + disulphate + yeast was added, and while I was panicing and reading Berry and writing my query to this NG, that the top inch of the larger demijohn had cleared down quite a lot. Berry seems to say the same as you that perhaps we needed 2 or 3 layers of muslin to filter rather than the one we used, although it did appear to be very effective at filtering most of the hard stuff.

I am hopeful of avoiding the production of red wine sauce... and eventually I will kill all the damn vinegar flies that appeared in the house when we brought the harvested grapes in!! I should add that the grapes were protected from them but in the day or so between harvesting and pulping there was mold growth on the woody parts than t we had to strip out.

Bob

"In this world you can be either very very smart or very very pleasant. For years I was smart.. I recommend pleasant". The wisdom of Elwood P. Dowd Remove "removethis." to email

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One other comment. I have made lots of red wine (as well as others) and I do not use muslin to filter at this stage. Commercial vineyards do not either. Just ferment on the skins for a period of time, 5 - 10 days, then press it. No muslin. It will clear on it's own as it finishes. Red wine rarely needs any filtering. It is very good about clearing.

Ray