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Wild Berry Wine
TrevorM:
That sure is an awesome color! I've not really ever messed with filters, I assume it's one of those plate type you put the mesh pad in. What micron did you use? I know normally you start larger and work down. I'd expect you to still have residual yeast unless you went right for the .5, but maybe the shock of the filtering process (and probably a temp change too) stalled the fermentation process.
Do you have a pH meter or strips? You could always test how much change you'd get a different pH's.
So I've got to ask, is doing a secondary as debated a subject in wine making as it is in beer? I'm sure there are several different considerations, but if that were beer I'd tell you to stop messing with it ;D
le0n:
^^ thanks. i too, like the color.
no pH strips. i may pick some strips before it's all said and done though.
oh, and it was just a cheap coffee filter placed in a funnel. i don't do filters either, but i wanted to see the color without the chunks of pulp in there.
and you're right, i think it just stalled for a bit or only allowed a small amount of yeast through.
i unscrewed the top a day later and it was carbonated. i through an airlock on the vial because it fit, hah hah. it's still bubbling this morning. a little top-heavy, but it hasn't gotten knocked over yet.
the secondary vessel is really to get the wine away from the decaying yeast that can potentially produce flavors/aromas if left in contact with the wine. because of the alcohol content, this will not happen right away; but it will happen over time.
This morning 1.038 SG Corrected:
I don't know beer making at all. This still has some sugars in there that I want to get converted, but if you wanted to, you could definitely stop it here. It's at 8.12% ABV and would be on the sweet side of things. I'll sneak a raw glassful to enjoy when I rack in a couple of days and let you know what it's like ;)
TrevorM:
You should be able to find fairly cheap meters and/or strips at a pet store, people use them for fish tanks. You could of course find them online too, but you'll probably find they're more from a beer/wine store.
Ah OK, wow I would have thought that would have been much quicker. I googled it and coffee filters tend to be in the 10 - 20 micron range, so it would have only really taken out the pulp. It might have shocked it some, I think by draining through the filter all the CO2 that was in suspension would have been knocked out (which would have to build up again) and since fermentation would be slowing at this point as well that might take a bit of time. For future reference if you don't have an airlock that fits or one spare you can just use foil, just lay a piece over the top and smush it down around the edge. As long as there aren't wild temp changes nothing will get in.
Remember how I said I had some mead waiting? After several years it's still on it's yeast cake, and I'm not worried about it at all. Infact Mead makers do that frequently. ;D Autolysis really is one of boogie men of brewing. Can it happen? Sure, but in healthy cultured yeast that you're keeping in a fairly temp controlled environment and nothing else to interfere it'd take a very long time to have enough that you'd even be able to detect it. There are lots of other reasons brewers give for doing a secondary, I can shoot those down for you too if you want... I know I know I'm starting to rant :laugh: :o :-X
le0n:
yeah, the strips are about $6 at the supply store down the road from my office. better off visiting them because they have their craft brews and wines on tap to "test" while you shop. much more tastier than an online or pet store purchase 8)
i'm not in a hurry for it to finish and i'm kind of glad the conversion rate isn't so quick too. it leads me to believe that the kitchen counter temps are not too warm for the "moderate speed" yeast i've chosen. i keep wondering if i should add enough sugar to have a final 16% ABV. supposedly the yeast can handle it, however, i don't know if the temperature conditions in my house would maintain a desirable environment for it to achieve this.
some wine makers do leave the yeast like you say for the desired flavors that come from doing so. the wine in its current state already tastes good to me and will seemingly taste even better when it dries out. i'm going for clarity on this batch in hopes that it can present itself nicely in a glass.
le0n:
tonight 1.034 SG Corrected:
hah hah:
clarity of the filtered vial (tonight):
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