Blackcurrant is a bit more active today - still not going daft or anything, but tickling away nicely. I cracked the lids on the strawberry jam ones, and all three let off some gas, so they will need to be degassed when my spoon arrives and then gets modified.
One degassing tool made - £1.30, a bit of heat and a few holes... Not bad for a quick first attempt. Got to watch the motor speed in the old drill though, as it doesn't half chuck itself about with the off-balance end.
@Scrungee - how do you know when you have successfully degassed the wine? I battered the life out of the strawberry wine yesterday, and I am reasonably sure that it free of gas (it tastes a lot better than the last batch of wine, and doesn't have that sharp slightly fizzy texture to it, although it is slightly watery), then I followed up with the pear stuff before adding the finings - again, I battered the life out of it in the bucket and added the finings as per the instructions. By the time I had it moved back into the demijohns to settle out, it looked like dirty water with soap suds on the top? The suds have all but gone today, and it is clearing a bit, but I am still concerned that I might not have gotten enough gas out?
I always do it by shaking in a half filled glass demijohn, when it stops making rude noises from gas being released when I slightly move the palm of my hand away from the neck I know it's done. Found that the certain way of knowing whether it's de-gassed.
I'm not getting this degassing malarkey? Something new and trendy since I last made wine (about 10 years ago, but did so for years, on and off)? We used to wait until there was a reverse suction on the airlock, so it has stopped fermenting... Used to take between 9-12 months...
I only de-gass when making: 1) Quick maturing wine, usually made with 2 cartons of supermarket juice/gall that'll be ready to drink in around 6 weeks, but only if fermented out in 4 weeks then de-gassed, fined, sulphited and left another couple of weeks before drinking. 2) Wines requiring longer maturation that I know are still unlikely to fall clear naturally, even if left 6 months or so. I don't really want to leave these in 25L fermenters for that long sitting on sediment and with a large surface area exposed above, potentially risking autolysis and/or oxidation, and if it's racked off into individual demijohns filled up into their necks it'll mean every single one of them will have sediment at the bottom, plus it'll be a PITA to then fine them all individually, far better to do it at first opportunity in one large batch and rack off crystal clear wine for maturation. Some people sulphite & sorbate/de-gass/fine/rack off clear stabilised wine into demijohns fitted with safety bungs with everything they make.
The pear wine cleared, so we bottled it this evening; There was one bottle that the cork mashed itself to bits, and by the time it was removed the wine had cork floaters - so, it was strained through a fine mesh into a large jug and whacked in the fridge, and tastes pretty good actually - a bit watery/light on body, but perfectly acceptable as a cheapo white wine. I assume that the longer it is left, the more the flavour will develop?
The bonus was that they also went on offer at Tesco at 3 for 2, so for every 3 pouches 'bought' entirely with coupons we got £1 off our other shopping, buying up to 9 pouches at a time. Have been using reduced Wilkos wire to secure mags into 'log' rolls and use in our stove, 'bought' 78 free pouches in total, got £26 'overage' off our shopping, supported Organic products and frugal living, got loads of sustainable fuel, and what doesn't get used for making Organic homebrew will go into food banks. Cor, I feel I've really been doing my bit over the past few weeks. I doubt if the flavour will increase. Did you add acid + some tannin (pear tannin is in the skins and unless pulp fermented may be lacking. With pear I also always use some White Grape Concentrate or a carton of White Grape Juice. Cheap Value Sultanas from Tesco when they have a 3 for 2 on bakery stuff are another option.
I added acid, but not tannin - however, as the pears were boiled up and then it was strained as it was transferred to the fermenting bucket there would be next to no skin to provide any tannin. I didn't add any white grape concentrate either (simply followed the recipe from the book). We had a couple of bottles the other night, and its not too bad to be fair - it tastes like a strong-ish white wine, but no real taste of pear. The blackcurrant high juice one seems to be a bit more promising (it is fermenting away steadily but not rapidly) and when I have had the odd whiff it smells really nice - looking forward to that one.
I now have empty demijohns, but a full fermenter (the blackcurrant juice wine, now going into week four of fermentation) as well as an empty 25L bucket, so I feel as though I should be doing something. The fermentation of the blackcurrant is still going - I had a peek last night and it is still fizzing away, and smells really good - however, with the fermenter being opaque, I cannot see what is happening in terms of sediment etc. I have all the ingredients for another batch of the blackcurrant juice wine, and most of the ingredients for the carrot wine (need to get the carrots, oranges and lemons); so, I am toying with the idea of moving the blackcurrant wine over to the clear demijohns (splitting the batch 5 or 6 ways) and then kicking off another batch in the fermenter - then, later in the week, start the batch of carrot wine (or mixed fruit wine if it would be better?) in the bucket as it is only a 2 gallon recipe? The carrot wine requires 5.5kg of carrots, not peeled, cooked whole and then the liquor transferred into the fermenter, and states that the carrots can then be used for food..... what in the name of the wee man would I do with 5.5kg of cooked carrots?!?! Would the mixed fruit be better? Also, if I do go this way, should I be drilling a hole in the lid of my bucket to fit an airlock to it, or would that be best left as a sealed lid that I crack open a few times a day? @Zigs, @Scrungee, @Jiffy - thought I would tag you in case you didn't see this latest post
Got any Horse drawn buses ? I've drilled a hole in my bucket and fitted an air lock, it still popped the lid the other day though
Is there any city farms near by that may use it (the pigs will eat it) or you could try some horse stables as they feed carrots but them uncooked so worth an ask, I've delivered many a tons of carrots(whole) to farms but farmers have to be carefull in taking cooked food
There used to be an urban farm project over at Heathrow - not sure if it still exists, but its worth an ask to try and find out. Thanks @Jiffy I've just joined a local recycling group, bit like Freagle, and posted a request for wine bottles; been able to respond to two 'wants' requests too as people are wanting stuff that is essentially junk from my loft. What kind of airlocks are you using @Zigs? I have changed over to these cylindrical ones as they are much quieter and so much easier to clean: http://www.wilko.com/homebrew-acces...ndy-airlock-with-rubber-bung-2pk/invt/0240202 What do you reckon to me moving the current batch of blackcurrant into the clear demijohns? Or would splitting it up ruin the fermentation?
Cut the carrots up and open freeze them, you can add them to meals later. No problem with putting the wine in demi johns. Guava was a bit lively
Blimey, it must have been like lava! I thought the carrots would just turn to mush in the freezer as they were cooked? Welcome to the Foundation of Alcohol and Related Technologies
