I put the corked wine bottle on its side and left the two screw-top bottles upright. It is recommended to let them age for two years. Since they have already bulk-aged half a year, only one and a half left. I’ll try the corked one in a few months.
Post Bottling: Day 196
May 16th, 2012Bottling: Day 185
May 5th, 2012Finally! Time to bottle.
I ended up with three 750 ml bottles of wine (and a little extra for my effort 
). The taste was pretty good but could have used a smidgen more sugar.
Originally, I poured boiling water into the bottles and let them simmer for several minutes. The bottles, screw cap, were soaked in sanitizing mixture for 10 minutes, along with the caps and siphon. The wine was siphoned into the bottles, leaving 1 1/2 inches of headroom (not by design). I lifted the wine bottle up to stop the siphoning, but some wine was sucked back into the cubitainer. That was not expected. Next time, I’ll get a shutoff to prevent this.
The bottles will sit in a container for a few days then age for several months.
Stabilizing and Sweetening Done: Day 167
April 12th, 2012Yesterday I stabilized the wine by adding 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate and 1 crushed Campden tablet (in a sanitized mortar and pestle) to one cup wine. Stirred until dissolved then put into sanitized cubitainer. Then I racked the wine into the cubitainer and let it sit overnight. See this post for more details.
Since I have about 3 bottles worth of wine (1 bottle loss due to racking), I added a sugar formula of 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water, boiled one minute. After cooling to room temperature, I poured it into the cubitainer and gently stirred with a sanitized long stainless steel spoon.
The wine will sit about one week to make sure no fermentation starts; then it is bottling time.
Making your own Hot Sauce
February 13th, 2012Making your own hot sauce is very easy. I will add more to this as necessary.
- 5 red jalapenos
- 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 cup bottled water
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- glass jar with lid (I use old mayonnaise or peanut jars)
Wash and destem the jalapenos.
Toss jalapenos into a blender and chop up (5 seconds).
Add water and chop for 2 seconds.
Add vinegar and chop for 2 seconds.
Add salt and chop for 2 seconds.
Transfer to glass jar.
Heat to a boil (to sanitize) then simmer for 10 minutes. I use a microwave and cook it right in the jar.
Age in the refrigerator for 30 days.
Strain the mixture and return to storage jar. I use a fine mesh strainer.
Age. The longer the better.
A few days later…
I sampled the hot sauce. It was pungent and thin.
Tabasco hot sauce, which is very thin, is made up of Tabasco peppers, vinegar, and salt. Period. But it is aged three years in white oak barrels.
Cleaning Stainless Steel Pans
February 4th, 2012I bought a stainless steel dutch oven a while back. Eventually, it had some burnt food on the bottom which could not be removed. I tried hot water/dishwashing liquid, vinegar, and soaking overnight. Nothing worked.
According to Cuisinart, stainless steel pans should not be subjected to steel wool or scraping with metal appliances. The instructions had vinegar, a mild acid, as a possible solution.
Visiting a Williams Sonoma store, I spoke with someone who suggested Barkeeper’s Friend (BKF). Luckily, I had some. I dampened the bottom of the dutch oven with water (BKF says to apply to a damp surface), added some BKF (about a teaspoon), and scrubbed with a sponge. Wow. It worked.
BKF uses oxalic acid as its main ingredient (originally derived from rhubarb leaves) whereas Ajax or Comet is a form of bleach.
Case closed.
Racking Again
January 11th, 2012I racked the wine again. There was sediment (lees) on the bottom so I had to be careful. The lees was noticeably less than when I racked in December. The wine is still a bit cloudy. I lost about 2 cups due to racking. I am going to bulk age another two months before bottling due to cloudiness.
Concord Wine Grape Adventure: Sweetening and Stabilizing
December 15th, 2011The next major step in the Concord wine adventure, assuming the wine will clarify from racking a few times over several months, will be stabilizing and sweetening. The plan is for this to occur in Jan or Feb 2012.
I have been researching the best way to sweeten wine, since Concord wine needs it.
After the wine is clear, it is time to stabilize and sweeten the wine. They both go together because adding sugar back to the wine might restart fermentation so killing the yeast when adding sugar is necessary.
Stabilize the Wine
Add stabilizing chemicals. In our case, 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate (1 gram) and 1 crushed Campden tablet (per gallon wine) . Wait one day before sweetening so the yeast is inhibited.
Free sulfur dioxide, at the time of bottling, needs to be at least 30 ppm. A Campden tablet provides 45 to 55 ppm.
Adding Stabilizer
To add stabilizer, draw out one cup of wine using a wine thief and mix in stabilizers until completely dissolved. Add back when racking as racking will mix the stabilizer.
Sweeten the Wine
Since sugar (granulated white sugar bought at any supermarket) and water can have contaminants, they must be boiled for at least 1 minute (3 minutes if you live over a mile above sea level). Boil (microwave works great. I make the syrup in a large coffee cup) 1/2 cup water then add 1 cup sugar and stir until dissolved. Boil for one minute then let cool to room temperature. Add 1/2 cup syrup to wine, gently stir (I use a sanitized long stainless steel spoon), and taste. Add another 1/4 cup, if necessary.
Put the airlock back on and let sit 1 to 4 weeks (longer the better) to make sure no fermentation starts.
I expanded on the subject here: winemaking: sweetening.
Concord Grape Wine Adventure – Day 44
December 8th, 2011It has been a month since I filled the current secondary fermenter.
After sanitizing the necessary equipment (cubitainer, siphon, siphon hose, hydrometer, hydrometer test tube, airlock), on Dec 5th I racked the wine to a new container. The racking took out all but about 1/4 inch of the wine. There was some definite lees on the bottom.
The clarity is cloudy; hopefully it will go away as the wine ages.
I filled the hydrometer test tube about 2/3 full and measured the specific gravity. It was a little less than 1.000 which means no or very little sugar left.
Why less than 1.000? The alcohol is less dense than water and practically no sugar is left so with a mixture of water, alcohol, and no sugar, the density is less than water itself (1.000).
To measure the remaining sugar, a sugar analysis kit would be needed since the level of sugar is so low (around 1%).
I sampled the sample (about 1/2 glass) and, wow, that wine is for adults only. It will need to be sweetened before bottling, but the yeasties did their job.
I was happy that the taste was good; no off flavors.
Concord Grape Wine Adventure – Day 28
November 22nd, 2011Overview Timeline
Day 1 (Oct 26) – load primary fermenter with grape juice, additives. Measure acid, make adjustment.
Day 2 (Oct 27) – A.M. stir in pectin enzyme. P.M. check specific gravity. Adjust, if necessary. Add yeast. Fermentation starts. 70 degrees.
Day 11 (Nov 5) – fermentation mostly done. Rack into container with airlock (anaerobic fermentation starts). Move to cooler (60 deg) place. Note this should have been Day 7 or Day 8 but I had to restart fermentation.
Day 41 (Dec 5) - rack into container with airlock
Day 71 (Jan 5) – rack into container with airlock
Day 75 (Jan 9) – fining, if necessary
Day 85 (Jan 19) – stabilize wine
Day 86 (Jan 20) – sweeten wine, if necessary
Day 96 (Jan 30) – rack into bottles
Concord Grape Wine Adventure – Day 22
November 16th, 2011Why rack wine every few months? Why not let it sit until ready for bottling?
Autolysis. Yeast cells remaining will eventually feed on the lees. This induces bad flavors into the wine. Racking every few months will prevent this.