Wine 05-15-08

I racked my wine for the first time tonight. I got home from work, and had enough time for a change. I am reading the book by Terry Garey, "The Joy of Home Winemaking". It is a light and easy read, packed with information. But, according to this, I should have racked my wine a week or two ago. It has been "sitting on its lees" too long. Other sources I have seen, not complete sources granted, have said nothing about this…I just thought you racked once secondary fermentation was done, when you stopped seeing bubbles. I was still seeing bubbles- little tiny ones going to the surface now and again. But, for fear of ruining my wine or turning it to vinegar, I decided to rack sooner rather than later. There has been a thick coat of sediment for at least a week.

I only have one one gallon growler. I did, however, have a 64oz growler that I emptied last night. It was from a local brewery and had been filled with beer. I washed that and sterilized it. I realized that all of my wine would not fit in this other container. What I was hoping for was to rack the one gallon fermentor into the 64oz bottle, then clean my one gallon, rack the stuff in the wine bottle into it, then re-rack my other back to that as well. This was all working fine and dandy...except the 64oz bottle is a dark amber- difficult to see fluid level when you are standing above it. So, before I know it, I have wine spilling over onto the floor. Got that up, and realized that I would have to improvise. In the meantime I tested a sample for SG. Well below 1.000, potential alcohol below 0. Hmm. Guess its done. I then sanitized my primary, finished racking into that, then cleaned and sanitized my secondary as planned. I managed to rack the wine into it, and put the rest into the gallon as well as planned. Except now, because of the spilled wine (which my dog really enjoyed, by the way) my fluid level was too low. I needed to "top off".  I have read a variety of methods to topping off- use water, fruit juice, boiled water, boiled sugar water, etc. I have read about adding campden or not adding campden. Stabilizer, or no stabilizer. I didn't anticipate having to worry about this yet, as I didn't think my secondary fermentation would be done already.

In the end, I ended up boiling just over 3 cups of tap water, adding ½ cup of sugar, 1 campden tablet, and ½ tsp of stabilizer. To top off, I used maybe ½ cup of this solution. I don't know if the campden or stabilizer will even be in a quantity enough to make a difference.

I did taste the wine before adding this. Not bad, tastes like wine. I think I can sense the berry essence, but it's not the greatest. I didn't sample after topping off- will save that for next racking. The wine looks a bit more like Hawaiian Punch right now than wine.

I will note that before next racking I will be getting another gallon carboy. And will be hoping I didn't ruin the wine with my topping off method.

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Wine 05-01-08

Much more progress has been made! By this morning bubbles were moving through the airlock every 5 seconds or so. SG today is to 1.042, so not much longer now before moving to the secondary. Things were still very fizzy. I am apparently very nervous about this next step, as I had dreams of it last night. I couldn't figure out the siphon or anything. Hopefully I will figure it out before then. I don't think there is really much to do with that step, its more the racking to clear before bottling that makes me nervous- adding the right stabilizers, etc. And knowing for sure (source recommendations differ) on whether I do or don't add another campden tablet. Better get to the bookstore.

I am switching to working third shift today, so this might mess up my schedule some too. I will have to plan ahead better to be sure to have enough time in the evenings to do my testing. Though, it seems I won't have to do the daily stuff much longer.

What I have been doing, is filling my cleaned sink with about a gallon worth of warm water and the sanitizer. I put my hydrometer, testing bottle, funnel, and a ladle in the water. I disconnect the airlock, put that in the sanitizer, remove the fermentor lid and put that in sanitizer. Using the ladle, I mix my wine, then ladle about two scoops of fluid through the funnel into my tester. Then add the hydrometer, take a reading. Dump the tested wine back into the bucket, put everything else back in the sanitizer. Then, using the ladle I mix the wine solution again, and push on the nylon sack of pulp a bit.  Replace lid, replace airlock with fresh sanitizer. Rinse tools and put them up until the next day. Moves pretty quickly.

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Wine 04-30-08

Wine is looking a bit better in the new, smaller bucket. It was VERY fizzy today, almost like it was carbonated. I stirred it before getting my sample for the hydrometer. I don't know if that is proper. I figure it gives me a better profile of the entire bucket in that sample, but the bubbles and fizzing make it hard to read the hygrometer. I also noted that the bucket did not show any sign of lid concavity or changes to the air lock. I think its because I couldn't get the lid on tight. It does have markings and an imprint reading "to remove lid cut/break bottom of slots".  I cut/broke nothing and wonder if that's why I couldn't get the lid on.

The SG was down to 1.065 today. Improvement, but don't know what level of improvement to expect over a 24 hour period. Did not note the really yeasty smell like yesterday though; it definitely seemed more fruity.

After stirring again, mashing the nylon bag of fruit pieces/pulp, I replaced the lid. I did use wire cutters to clip the bottom of the slots, soaked the lid in cleaner again, and put the lid on. I still had to put the bucket on the floor and really get over it to put the lid on properly. We'll see how things look tomorrow- if the lid tightening makes a difference. I think there's less likely to be oxygen leakage to mess anything up this way, so hopefully…

Addendum: Ten minutes after writing the above, I looked at my airlock- it is sending up big bubbles every 10-15 seconds. Ferment away little yeasties!!

3:19 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Wine 04-29-08

Oh boy. I did a bunch of reading today, and just began to realize how much I don't know. I am thinking that maybe I should have started with a kit while so green and in the brand new to learning process. I am seeing information on treating yeast before adding if dry, evaluating sugar content for the specific brew based on potential alcohol by volume %, how oxygen affects fermentation, and on and on and on.
Thus it dawned on me. How the heck was I gonna make 1 gallon of wine in a 6 gallon secondary fermentor. You have to "top off" to get rid of as much air as possible…uh, that would mean that my wine would be almost purely water. So, back to Siciliano's I go. I ended up getting a 1 gallon growler with a bung to fit for the next steps, rather than using el gigantor fermentor. Also got a smaller primary fermentor with more of a 2-3 gallon capacity, which is perfect for the volume I have including the fruit in nylon still sitting in there.

So then the question was, if decreased oxygen volume is important, thus the airlock, etc., wouldn't it make sense to move my concoction to the smaller bucket when I test the SG today? Guy says no, let it be…but I can't test the SG without taking the lid off, thus refilling the dead space with oxygenated air anyhow. Unless there is a magic technique of which I am unaware to get the wine into a testing bottle.

What I ended up doing was sanitizing a ladle, a funnel, the testing bottle, the hydrometer, and the small bucket. Used ladle and funnel to get potential wine (is it still "must" at this point??) into testing bottle, then used hydrometer. The specific gravity today is 1.074, with a potential ABV of 9.9%. I am assuming this (SG) is down from yesterday (beginning to see how maybe it's a good idea to test every step of the way) but don't really know what fermentation process may be going on. I also think that the 9.9% ABV reading may indicate % to go, not end product. So maybe yesterday the potential ABV was more like 12?  I did note the air lock had changed and the lid of the fermentor was convexly bowed. There was quite a yeasty odor when I removed the lid, too, and when stirred my mixture seemed to bubble or fizz. I think those are good signs?

Once the value was noted, I poured everything into the smaller bucket, put the lid on, and attached the airlock.

We'll see if this makes a difference by tomorrow. Meanwhile, I guess I have a LOT more reading to do. I see a trip to the bookstore in my near future.

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Wine 04-28-08

Concoction looks much the same today, except I mixed in the stinky yeast. For this batch I am using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, I.N.R.A.- Montepelier, I guess the letters and numbers are more an ID of what genetic strain. Anyway, this is a Lalvin product, K1-V1116 which is evidently recommended for fresh fruit wines. There are other varieties I saw, some more for red wines, another for second wines, etc. I went with the fresh fruit, since, well, I am using fresh fruit. Next step is mixing every day for the next five days and checking the specific gravity. Only one problem- the fluid is too shallow to check the SG using the hydrometer by just putting it in there. I am guessing I will have to transfer some liquid to a deeper container, properly sanitized as well, to test. I think this is what the tall decanter test tube type things at the supply store might be for; sure would make things much easier. We will see how the next couple of days go, but I think that is on my shopping list. My starting SG is supposed to be 1.090-1.095. Didn't test today, so I will assume.

3:18 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Wine 04-27-08

For my 31^st birthday, my husband bought me a beginning Vintners kit. I have loved wine most of my adult life and wanted to give it a go in the make-it-yourself world. I had gotten him a Mr. Beer brew kit for Christmas and he really liked that, though now he is looking at getting a more advanced kit so he can buy his grain and hops and make up his own beers.

For my debut, I wanted to start with Pomegranate wine. I went and bought all supplies for this, but then couldn't find pomegranates available this time of year. The recipe book was at home so half guessing bought a pint of blackberries and four pounds of strawberries. The hope was once we got home, between fruit and supplies, there would be enough to get going. Luckily, I had everything needed.

The kit I got came with the cleanser, a non rinse type which made things easy. I put a gallon of warm-hot tap water in the primary fermenting bucket, and added 1 tbsp of the cleanser. All supplies that I anticipated needing I dipped in that and laid out to dry.
Next to start on the fruit that needed cleaned and readied. I decided to use the strawberry wine recipe, but instead of using 3.5 lbs of strawberries, I would use the pint of blackberries, then enough strawberries to make 3.5lbs of fruit total. Once the fruit was prepared, I put it in a small sized, coarse filtering nylon bag. The fruit is to be crushed in this bag, allowing the juice to flow out into the clean primary fermentor. Once the fruit is all crushed, it is left in the bag and the bag tied off. I used a plastic potato masher to crush the fruit. That royally sucked- the end of the masher kept digging into my hand, and crushing the fresh fruit wasn't as easy as I had imagined. I had the bag of fruit in the bottom of the primary fermentor bucket, spread it out some in the bag and mashed it against the bottom of the bucket. The bucket was on the floor so I could get over it and use that leverage which helped, but the tool was not ideal. I will have to figure out something better for the next batch, and will have to make do for this one, unless I find a better recommendation somewhere.

Once the fruit was crushed to my satisfaction, it was time to add all other ingredients, other than the yeast. The first task was to add 7 pints of water…FYI one pint is equal to two cups, so 14 cups of water went in. Then went the two pounds (!!) of sugar, acid blend, tannin, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, and campden. The campden comes as tablets. Don't know why, and what the heck it is is research yet to be done. The campden does need to be crushed. Luckily I have a mortar and pestle, but I had not thought to get that out and sanitized. Note to self: don't forget next time. But, the campden did crush easily. With all that added, I mixed all the ingredients together, put the lid on, and attached the air lock. I haven't put water/cleanser in the airlock yet, but plan to do so tomorrow after I add the yeast. I don't figure fermentation and gas exchange is too much a concern yet, but didn't want that blow hole in the lid open to dust.

We'll see how the concoction looks tomorrow.

3:17 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Gained a nephew, lost part of myself.

2:52 PM - 3 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

La dolce vida (PIOB)

Reading my other posts, I seem to be a real positive energy sucker...really come across as a bitter bitch, eh.

Well, as I had noted before, I have had a philosophy change. This was thanks to two people...a friend and a coworker. I was (obviously from posts) feeling frustrated with life. Frustrated with work, with trying to get pregnant. This was overshadowing all aspects of my life.

Then we had a "Compassion fatigue" meeting at work. No, this doesn't mean we had a meeting about getting tired of giving a shit, but rather the mental and emotional exhaustion that comes with doing what we do for a living. Feeling other people's grief, all the time. Having the responsibility to soothe, support, and be the bearer of often very bad news. It sucks. Literally- sucks the life right out of you. At that meeting, a coworker (who I have emailed a great big thanks to) was commenting about a ring she had bought. It is a simple silver band with the words "la dolce vida" inscribed into it. This translates to "the sweet life". She said that, yeah, she has a sweet life. Sometimes she gets overcome by frustration, exhaustion, sadness, etc, but then she looks at that ring and is reminded of what a sweet life she has, and is reminded how lucky she is and what good there is in life. After this, I started thinking. There were only two major frustrations that I was dealing with. Work, and trying to get pregnant. These two frustrations I was allowing to overshadow all other parts of my life. I have the worlds best husband. I have a warm house, good pets. I have a great family. I have a ton of sisters (and a brother) who are some of my best friends and support system. I have an education, a brain, independence, a steady income. My bills get paid on time. I get to do fun stuff, go on vacations here and there. And, in the scheme of things, I have a pretty kick-ass job. Just my boss sucks, really. And the hours, but what I do is great! The people I work with are great! Why, with all this wonderful stuff in my life was I allowing two bad things over which I have very little control to override all the good stuff. Why not focus on the good stuff and let THAT overshadow the bad. Since making that realization, I have been so much more content. So much more happy, optimistic, and positive. My office manager commented that I seem to be in good spirits latelety. I guess its working.

The other thing was a friend of my husband and mine. We were over at their house for the (extremely booring and unfortunate) UofM/Ohio State game. I was talking to her about my frustrations and malcontent with life. She asked if maybe my frustration at trying to get pregnant, one big thing in my life, was maybe transferring over to work, another big thing in my life. Like I was projecting the negative emotion from one thing onto something more concrete. I had to admit that overall my job isn't that bad. The level of frustration and distaste I was having for it was really not quite proportionate to the true bad aspects of the situation. Another humbling moment where I was forced to re-evaluate my thinking.

So, from now on, I will try to post only happy things, or truly sad things. I will try to stifle those bitter, cynical thoughts. I will try not to feel betrayed by other's good fortune. And, damn it, I will get pregnant!

4:02 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Too early for Halloween (original post on cafemom)

On occasion, just out of sheer boredom, I will get a "level 2" hair dye. I usually pick a light auburn/strawberry blonde tone, just to go a bit red for awhile. Usually it turns out great and is fun for a few weeks until I fade back to my usual plain-old-blondeness.

The other day before work, I use another color-in-a-box. This was by Natural Instincts, one of my favorite brands. It must not have been a color I used before. Of course, it seemed like a brilliant idea to do this about an hour before work. So, I mixed the stuff up, put it on, let it sit for the 10 minute period advised. Followed directions rinsing it out. And, Oh My God!!! I had this bright red-orange punk colored hair. Admittedly, it was kinda cool in an end of October sort of way. More color than I would usually go for, much bolder than I would choose. I figured it would tame down to something liveable as time wore and it got washed. This was last Friday. Between needing to sleep between work shifts, and also thinking that some sort of dietary intake in that time might be adviseable, there was no time for corrective measures. It just kept getting worse! It started to fade- leaving streaks of pink and orange amongst the odd sort of rusty base color. It looked like Strawberry Shortcake and Raggedy Ann were fighting on my head. It was horrid! It definitely could not wait the full 28 shampoos.

Luckily (or maybe this is a comment of my lack of learning curve) I had done this before years ago, and recalled that there is a product to rescue us adventurers when things do go awry. Yesterday was my first day off. I zipped over to Sally's Beauty Supply and bought this wonderful box of stuff called ColorFix. Mix Bottle A with Bottle B, apply to head, cook for 20 minutes. It smelled like a cross between perm solution, rotten eggs, and a backed up toilet, but within 5 minutes, I could see improvement. After the 20, I rinsed as recommended, applied the setting lotion, and conditioned.

I am happy to report that I am back to my sane, if not a tad booring, blonde self. My hair did bleach a bit, so looking a bit more summer-like. At least I have left the cartoon hair behind!

10:02 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Fucking fall (originally posted on cafemom)

That joyous time of year when innocuous little allergies morph overnight into sore throat, scratchy sinus, snotty, sneezy full out colds. Yuk. To sleep, you have choices. If you sleep on your back, you wake up choking on post-nasal drip. On your sides, you wake up with the nostril/sinus of the downside plastered shut, and it is in such a place that you can't snort it in or blow it out. You're left making the snorting/snuffing sounds of a five year old while making no progress whatsoever on actually clearing the blockage. You take meds that clear you out, only to knock you out. Finally get the runny nose under control so you need a humidifier to moisturize. Then, from the constant attempts to blow the nose, the painful little zits form around the cracks and creases of your nostrils, so you end up looking like a middle school geek. The couch and comfort food beckon, meaning that the good intentions to go religously to the gym are scrapped, and you put on the extra 2-3 pounds you just worked 2-3 months to lose, in time for winter when all hope of weight loss is postponed until sunshine hits again.

Don't you just love fall?

(originally posted on Cafemom, copied here)

10:00 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment