Cwalker935
Member
So when your uncle calls and says I got some grapes that need picked you drop everything and go pick 2 1/2 bushels of grapes (Sept, 2018). You then take any grapes left over after your mother gives grapes away to all her neighbors and return home.
The next day you convince your wife, Lida, into helping you clean, de-stem, and crush 81 lbs of grapes (less several lbs that your wife ate while helping clean them). Remove 3 1/2 lbs of the grapes to make jelly, mix the remaining crushed grapes add some sugar, Camden tablets to kill any wild yeast, and mix in some peptic enzyme to improve the wine. After waiting 24 hours, I added yeast to start the primary fermentation.
While the wine juice is fermenting, we used some of the grapes that we set aside to make jelly. My first time making jelly. I managed to upset Lida by using a pot that was too small and letting the pot boil over making a sticky hot mess. Just to be different, I added some of my home made jalapeño wine to the jelly. I did a little taste test and I think the jelly will have a hint of jalapeño taste and just a touch of heat.
Once primary fermentation was over,Lida and I transferred 8 gallons of wine into carboys (jugs) with airlocks to finalize the fermentation and allow sediment to settle out. The air locks allow CO2 to vent off while keeping oxygen from contacting the wine. If the CO2 is not vented off you the pressure could build up inside the carboys and cause the carboys to explode. Needless to say that would not be a good thing. So over the course of several months, we racked the wine a few times to get rid of sediment.
Today, we sanitized a bunch of bottles, sampled and adjusted the sweetness of the wine (concord is not the best grape for wine and ours turned out pretty tart) and stabilized it. I then siphoned it into 38 bottles. Between the siphoning, sampling, adjusting the taste, and more sampling I am feeling a little buzzed. The wine is not the highest quality but it will "git er done". Oh the sacrifices that have to made to produce a decent product.
Process progression:
The next day you convince your wife, Lida, into helping you clean, de-stem, and crush 81 lbs of grapes (less several lbs that your wife ate while helping clean them). Remove 3 1/2 lbs of the grapes to make jelly, mix the remaining crushed grapes add some sugar, Camden tablets to kill any wild yeast, and mix in some peptic enzyme to improve the wine. After waiting 24 hours, I added yeast to start the primary fermentation.
While the wine juice is fermenting, we used some of the grapes that we set aside to make jelly. My first time making jelly. I managed to upset Lida by using a pot that was too small and letting the pot boil over making a sticky hot mess. Just to be different, I added some of my home made jalapeño wine to the jelly. I did a little taste test and I think the jelly will have a hint of jalapeño taste and just a touch of heat.
Once primary fermentation was over,Lida and I transferred 8 gallons of wine into carboys (jugs) with airlocks to finalize the fermentation and allow sediment to settle out. The air locks allow CO2 to vent off while keeping oxygen from contacting the wine. If the CO2 is not vented off you the pressure could build up inside the carboys and cause the carboys to explode. Needless to say that would not be a good thing. So over the course of several months, we racked the wine a few times to get rid of sediment.
Today, we sanitized a bunch of bottles, sampled and adjusted the sweetness of the wine (concord is not the best grape for wine and ours turned out pretty tart) and stabilized it. I then siphoned it into 38 bottles. Between the siphoning, sampling, adjusting the taste, and more sampling I am feeling a little buzzed. The wine is not the highest quality but it will "git er done". Oh the sacrifices that have to made to produce a decent product.
Process progression:
