Wine making

[doc623]

Any wine makers here?
A question for anyone - winemaker or not -
Does any one know the mechanizm of the clarifying agents
such as bentonite, innisglass. and/or egg whites?
Thanks in advance
Doc623

 

[doc623]

That is the mechanizm of action or how do these work?

 

[brian]

yep I been known to wyne :sorry:
you mean you dont just stick grape juice in a bottle
put a balloon on top, and when the balloon gets big
guzzle the contents.?

no wynen capn bragg
BB

 

[Stumpkiller]

I believe the process is reverse ionization. The finings have a magnetic charge. The sediment in solution in the wine hopefully has the opposite. Adding the Irish Moss, etc., causes the particles to form heavy clumps and settle out.

 

I only syphon the wine off the carboy I made it in when it completetly done working and has sat a month afterwards.
I syphon whit the hose a couple inches off the bottom so as to not get the sediment in the syphoned wine.
I will take the sediment left in the carboy and drain it through a coffee filter a couple times for a pre tasteing test.(hell we just drink it)

I then let the first syphon sit for a few months before I bottle it.
When I bottle it i syphon it again in the same method as I did above.
No problem with the wine being clear when bottled.
I don't put any chemicals in it to settle it, or clear it up. I make the wine to be better than you can buy at the store. Good wine is made from grapes and grapes only. Wine from fruit is noway near as good a wine.
Remeber wine makeing is like muzzleloader makeing, it takes time and patients.
No wine sall be bottled before it's time!

Woody

 

[doc623]

That is interesting, however, your answer did not address nor answer my question.

 

Nope don't know . :sorry:

Woody

 

[LFord]

Stumpkiller has it right. If you want to get a bit more into detail here is something to read.

Generally, fining agents work because they possess one charge (positive or negative) and the cloudiness is caused by something that possesses the opposite charge. Opposites attract, creating larger (and heavier) particulates, which fall into the lees. If you use the wrong fining agent, it will repel the particulate and serve no purpose. Indeed, it could exacerbate the problem.

The best -- meaning the most useful -- general fining agents are (in my opinion) Bentonite, Kieselsol, Chitosan, and Gelatin. The first two are negatively charged particles that are useful in removing proteins and some metallic compounds. The latter two are positively charged and useful in removing tannin, phenols, anthrocyanins, yeast cells, and bacteria -- all of which are negatively charged. Casein and Sparkolloid are also useful and fairly common finings. Both are positively charged agents. There are at least a couple of products out there that are two-part clarifiers. They contain both positive and negative charged finings, so if you really aren't sure what is causing the problem and you've tried pectic enzyme without success, these products will usually work. In fact, I've never had one not work for me. The one I've used most often is a product is called Super Kleer K-C, a liquid, whose fining agents are Kieselsol and Chitosan (the "K-C" in the name). One 150-ml dose will treat 6 gallons of wine. Ten days later you rack the wine and, if desired, filter it at that time.

 

[doc623]

Outstanding. Thank you.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Thinking back, I can't remember ever adding a settling agent to wine. I've used Irish Moss and isenglas (wonder who first decided dried & ground swim bladder from a fish helped the beer?), but beer is a different animal. After boiling the finishing hopps in the final moments you sometimes want them (and the boiling hopps which were in much longer) out of the wort to control the taste (hopps in some beer is to be smelled but not tasted), as well as all the cloudy proteins and particles in the mash (the fine grain dust gives a bitter off taste). The finings settle out all the stuff which would pass through cheesecloth or other course filters.

As Les mentions, repeated rackings and time are all you really need for wine. You're better off getting a second carboy so you have a spare to rack it into. Wine has months and months to settle. Beer is born and dies in one or two months.

 

I know absolutely nuthin about wine,.... so, how can I make a passable wine out of a gallon of 100% grape juice???? (in layman's terms :haha

YMHS
rollingb

 

WINE????? REAL men drink hard cider :results: . Gotta go , my quiche is almost ready to eat . :blah:

 

Did I spell keesh right ? ::

 

What's the difference 'tween hard cider, and wine????

Which is the easiest and fastest to make??

YMHS
rollingb

 

Hard Cder is made from Apple juice
Wine is made from grapes or fri=uit juice or tomatoes. spinich watermellon or anything else that will ferment.
Best wine is made from grape juice
Length of time depends on the temp sugar content amonut of juice ect ect
For a Gallon of grape juice I would use about 3/4 lb of sugar and 1 tabl spoon of brewers yeast with a 1/2 tsp of nutriant put it in a jug bigger than a gallon with an air lock on it and let it work (ferment) until no more air bubbled up through the airlock
The amount of sugar will make it either a dry wine or a semi dry or sweet wine.
Wine makeing is about as much fun as ML.

Woody

 

Thanks!!... Thet sounds real innerest'n!! :thumbsup:

.... and is the same proceedure used to make hard cider???

Wher do I find one'a them "air lock" thingys?? ::

YMHS
rollingb

 

[LFord]

Just look for a homebrew shop in your area and they can hook you right up with an airlock, if there aren't any nearby there are about a thousand of em online.
Cider is one of the easiest things to make, if you want an all natural hard cider just get yourself a gallon of un-pasturized apple cider and stick an airlock in the jug. Stick the whole thing in a cool (65 degrees or so) place and it will ferment on it's own. This is the absolute purest way to make cider,however the results can vary from really good to making you want to lick a cat's butt to get the foul taste out of your mouth.
For a more consistent product I use pasturized apple juice and about 2 pounds of raw sugar per five gallons. Heat up a gallon of the juice and disolve the sugar in this and add to your fermenter with the rest of the juice, for yeast I generally use Red Star Cote des Blanc. This will give you a drink along the lines of one of the commercial hard ciders out there. The total time from start to drinking is about 4 to 6 weeks.
As far as all the different additives like clarifiers, tannin and acid blends, you can use them or just let nature take it's course. I have a wine that I bottled in January where I just killed off the wild yeast and added a fresh wine yeast the next day. It is not nearly ready to drink but showed some real promise when I bottled it.
Wine generally takes alot longer, especially when you don't use any clarifiers and re-rack to clarify it.
If you have want to read up on making your own wines, cider, beers, meads, or any other fermented happy juice here is a great place to go.

http://home.sunlitsurf.com/~mshapiro/

Just be warned, I started off 15 years ago with one pot and one carboy and now have a whole section of my garage devoted to brewing equipment.

Fermentation and civilization are inseparable.
John Ciardi

 

Les Ford,.... THANK YOU!! :master: :master: :haha:

I find this very interest'n!! :thumbsup: :haha:

YMHS
rollingb

 

Howdy rollingb , I don't know for sure which is easier since I've never made "genyoowine" wine , but hard cider is basicly apple wine . Fermenting the cider is easy , the labor intensive part is the bottling . First and foremost , everything you are using or working with has to be clean and sanitized (I use an iodine sanitizer I get at a homebrew supply store , near where I work), second , you don't want dust blowing around in the room you're working in , close your duct vents or windows , and make sure the "cider" (actully apple juice , in the old days , it wasn't cider until it was fermented) you start with , is free of preservitives of any kind , pasturized is OK , in fact , I think all sweet cider sold in the US , has to be pasturized . Read the label carefully , I've seen plenty of "pure apple cider" that contained preservitives . You can ferment your cider by simply putting it in a carboy , add the yeast , put on the air lock , and wait for it to stop bubbling and clear out . This will give you a tart apple flavor and an ABV (alcohol by volume) of around 6 or 7 % . Or you can fool around with it a bit . My favorite recipe is , 5-1/2 gal. of cider , 1 lb. Sunmaid baking rasins , and 5 lb. sugar . First , I put the 5-1/2 gal. of cider in a 6 gal. carboy , next I add 2-1/2 lbs. of sugar , then I mix it up , then I add the rasins and 2 packs of EC11118 champagne yeast , then I put on the airlock and wait for it to start kickin' . During the fermentation the rasins will rise to the top , and a layer of sediment will form on the bottom of the carboy . When the fermentation slows down (2-4 weeks) , I rack (transfer) the cider , minus the rasins and the sediment to a 5 gal. carboy , add 2-1/2 lbs. sugar , mix , add one pack of EC11118 yeast and put the airlock on . When the cider is clear (4-8 weeks , maybe a little more) I bottle it . I like to let my joy juice set in the bottle for at least 3 months before I drink it , you don't really have to , but the longer it sets , the better it gets :results: . The stuff I'm drinking , was bottled 14 months ago :thumbsup: .

 

54 Renegade,.... Thanks for the info!! :applause: :applause: ::

I think, I'm gonna start a new "hobby"!! :thumbsup: :haha:

YMHS
rollingb