Who's vinting?

[Kc_Kracker]

Took momma to Larrys Brewery in Kent today, very cheap and fun. got her five 1-gallon jugs, and all the chemicals, air locks, lids, yeast, hydrometer, the works for $40. this will end up as 16 bottles of wine for her in 4 weeks. also got some goodies for daddy to be seen soon enough

[NW-GSP]

I have been brewing beer for a few years now. I just kegged a batch of pumpkin ale a couple weeks ago

[Kc_Kracker]

never tried it, so that being said i hope i got the right yeast for the right juices. she really wanted blackberry and raspberry but could not find those juices anywhere 

[pens fan]

Last years first try...ended up with 67 bottles, mostly blackberry and plum from nearby trees and bushes. Some huckleberry, and raspberry.
All on all, it cost me $200. This year,.since i already have the stuff...about 100 bottles and maybe $30. We also made several gallons of blackberry brandy. Enjoy..KC!

[Kc_Kracker]

so, you have water in the air lock, we have the juice were using in the air lock. does it matter?
also, one of the flavors we tries was pomegranate, and we made sure it was NO preservatives,  but 16 hours after adding yeast all are making foam and bubbling, BUT that one. ideas? 

[Duffer]

Yeah KC, that's bad. The air lock juice will begin to grow bacteria which will find their way into your wine.

I've never had a problem with just water. It won't grow bacteria if it's clean. An alcohol is best tho as it is self-sterilizing.

I'd have to read up on pomegranate but it may have an unusual property like really high acids or not enough nutrients for your yeast to take hold.

[Kc_Kracker]

crapola, thanks guy si didnt know about what to use in the air locks. i dont have any vodka, can i just use bourbon lol? and is it ok to remove them then sterilize and reinstall?

[lokidog]

crapola, thanks guy si didnt know about what to use in the air locks. i dont have any vodka, can i just use bourbon lol? and is it ok to remove them then sterilize and reinstall?

I just use water, sometimes I will add a little sodium bisulfite or campden tablets to it.  I have actually had locks go dry and never had a problem.  Even the juice would be fine as long as none is sucked back in when removing the stopper, but distilled water or vodka I guess, would be better.

What did you sterilize your juices with?  It could be that it was still too active in the pomegranite one.  I would add another batch of yeast to it, stirring the stuff in the bottom probably won't do much.  I've made a lot of different wines and have pretty much used Premier Cuvee for all of the different juices.  The various additives, like yeast nutrient, tannin, acid blends will often help the fruit juices work out better than just plain juice.  Follow the recipes, I also add about twice as much juice and less water though as I like to really be able to taste the fruit.  I have done watermelon, kiwi, and persimmon to name a few of the more odd ones.  The watermelon one went bad on me though.

Good luck
BTW, making beer is called brewing, making wine is called vinting.   

[Kc_Kracker]

thanks loki, and everyone else  i personally dont care for wine its too dry for me but wife loves it, i will take them off carefully, i have campden tablets i can toss in each lock with water   

hey i wanna make some watermelon now that ill drink, "do the watermelon crawl" 

[jay.sharkbait]

thanks loki, and everyone else  i personally dont care for wine its too dry for me but wife loves it, i will take them off carefully, i have campden tablets i can toss in each lock with water   

hey i wanna make some watermelon now that ill drink, "do the watermelon crawl" 

Just be careful with the campden tablets and don't let it get into the carboy as it will kill the good yeast.

I've always used distilled or tap water and never had a problem.

If the Pomagranite doesn't go off by tomorrow i'd pitch more yeast. I have had batches of cider I rushed and i'm sure there was residual campden in the bucket.

have fun

[Kc_Kracker]

cider? what can you do with cider?  they told me anything apple never tastes good  i REALLY want to make her blackberry but could not find any juice that was no preservatives 

[jay.sharkbait]

cider? what can you do with cider?  they told me anything apple never tastes good  i REALLY want to make her blackberry but could not find any juice that was no preservatives 

Well, either press you own or buy CIDER WITH ZERO PRESERVATIVES.

I always use med brown sugar to get the numbers I need and pitch champagne yeast. Last batch I poured into canning jars and stored in the refer. It still has a natural "fizz" when opened.

Try pouring hot cider over a bucket of blackberries ( hot breaks the berry skin) and use a champagne yeast a couple hours later...

[fastdam]

Add the yeast nutrient to the pomegranet batch and if it still doesnt take off, i would throw in a pack of Lavlin EC-1118.  Also, in my experience, some batches are much more vigorous during primary than others.   
 It will probably take much longer than 4 weeks to clarify and mellow.  I automaticly plan on one year for cherry wine. This year i made peach wine and im at 5 months right now with sediment still falling out.  Im shooting for august.  Dont rush it, and plan to rack it over several times.

[lokidog]

   I figure on ignoring mine for about a year before bottling (after three or four rackings), I will often decant some before bottling as needed. 

You can get sweeter wine by checking it as it works and stopping the ferment with the sugar levels where you want them.  You have to use sulfites though or a really, really good filter.  I have tried sweetening wine after it was done but always ended up with an "off" flavor.  A few years ago Mtn Dew put out a sweetened with real sugar soda instead of corn syrup.  It had that same "off" flavor to me, so the next time I sweeten wine, I will try corn syrup.  I usually sweeten a dry wine at the time of drinking it so I don't have to use the chemicals.  I like sweet wines. 

[lokidog]

cider? what can you do with cider?  they told me anything apple never tastes good  i REALLY want to make her blackberry but could not find any juice that was no preservatives 

Cider is good too, you can do sparkling and bottle it like bear or you can do apple wine.  The same thing happens with cider as wine though, it can get real dry (not sweet    ).  I've seen people drink homebrew cider and beer right out of the bottle, yuck, unless you like the taste of yeast sludge.

The last blackberry I made, I used something like 45 pounds of berries for 5 gallons, pure juice, a lot of work but wow.  I would think you could find organic juice?

I added lots of sugar to a cherry batch many years ago figuring that the yeast would die off at 15 or so % alcohol and le3ave a bunch of residual sugar, it actually finished out at 21%.     This is my "happy wife" wine.