How much yeast to pitch in 50 - 60 gallons must ?

I encourage your attempt to improve on your product. Just a few simple things can make a _huge_ difference in quality.

IMO you should not add _any_ sulfite until after pressing (assuming clean fruit [no rot]), and preferably not until ML is complete. SO2 slows down the ML, and you _want_ that to go smoothly.

You should check your initial pH to make sure it's within acceptable limits.

3.4 - 3.6 is reasonable. Higher than that suggests adding tartaric acid to bring it down to ~3.5 or so.

As far as yeast is concerned, you can hardly overdo that - but let's be reasonable. Right after crushing, sprinkle about 50 grams of dried, cultured yeast (your choice of strains, but Pasteur Red is a good choice) over the top of the must (assuming 700 lbs of fruit, crushed into one container). Leave it alone (covered) for half a day or so. It should begin frothing as it rehydrates, and the easy access to air will help the yeast along. It's not a bad idea to add yeast nutrient at this time to promote yeast growth and prevent potential problems down the line, such as stuck fermentation or "the stinkies". When the fermentation is obviously going (white, foamy mung on the surface), stir it into the bulk of the must. Punch down the cap several times a day during the active fermentation and keep it covered.

As the fermentation slows down, you should keep the walls of the fermenter(s) wiped clean, and it's not a bad idea to lightly spritz the surface of the must (after punching down) with a sulfite solution from a spray bottle, just before putting on the lid. I know I said "no sulfite", but a little here is a good idea.

When the wine is dry, press the juice into drums or a tank. Let it settle for a couple of hours and rack the clear portion into a barrel. Combine all the rest into kegs and let it settle. Rack that too within a day or so. The idea is to separate as much of the clean wine from the lees as quickly as possible. The wine won't be anywhere near clear yet, but the difference between the clearest fraction and the mucky stuff will be quite apparent. You can salvage wine from the muck over the course of time, but at some point the heavy lees may tend to go reductive on you and start to stink like rotten eggs. By then, you should have already separated almost all of the good wine from the goop, so you can just dump the latter. Believe me, it isn't worth the trouble to try to salvage that last little bit. If you have a fraction of clear stuff that's marginally stinky, _don't_ mix it into the good stuff or you'll ruin the entire lot. Put some clean, pre-1982 pennies (or even better, sterling silver) into it for a few days. That might clean up the stink.

Keep the barrel topped up and airlocked until ML is complete. Then sulfite it, top it up and bung it tight. Taste and top once a week or so until it's nearly ready to bottle.

Then it's time to think about fining trials. Come back in a year or two and we can get into that.

Tom S

Tom,

Thanks for taking the time to give me your detailed advice. I really appreciate it.

A couple of follow-up questions if I may ...

I was thinking of adding pectic enzyme to the must immediately after crushing. Would it be acceptable to add the yeast and yeast nutrient immediately after that? Or wait a few hours? Or just skip this step altogether?

I was apprehensive about adding the sulphite during the primary, so I will follow your advice to wait until later. Do you think it would also be a good idea to add potassium sorbate while adding the pot. meta?

Mike

I've never found it necessary to add pectic enzyme to red must - only whites.

Assuming you're making a dry wine, there's no reason to add _any_ potassium sorbate to either the must or wine. That's only added to sweet wines prior to bottling to prevent the fermentation from restarting in the bottle.

FWIW, commercial wineries that make sweet wines usually don't use sorbate either because it imparts a taste that some people (like me) find unpleasant. They sterile filter their wines instead. Sterile filtration is an option for home winemakers too. It really isn't that difficult, but sorbate is definitely easier and cheaper.

Tom S

Tom,

How do YOU do sterile filtering?? If I may ask, what filter do you use and where did you get it?

TIA, Bob

I suppose you can use them for coarse filtration, but they're not a substitute for sterile membrane filters.

I assume carbon filters are not

I think the last I bought was a Membrana. There are others though that should be equivalent.

Tom S