Making Your Own Wine - Part 4

This is the fourth part of a 4 post series on making your own wine.

 

Ok, we have decided what wine to make, tested it for sugar content and acidity, adjusted for tannins and nutrient, and pitched the yeast..  So what do you do now?  Well, you let it sit and begin to ferment.

 

There are two types of fermenting styles.  One style is closed and the other is open.  Personally, I prefer and open style of fermenting.  This is quite contrary to what most books and other wine makers will tell you.  My rationale for an open system is that since yeast need oxygen to convert the sugar, then more oxygen will help the yeast.

 

  This is the system that I use for my primary fermentation. 

 

This system is primarily a bucket with a large grain/fruit bag tied to the top.  If you plan on using this system, keep it up and away from children and pets.  Primary fermentation will take about 5 - 7 days.  During this time, the solids will float to the top due to the activity of the yeast.  This should be "punched down" or gently stirred back into the fermenting wine at least once a day and if you are able to do it, twice a day.

 

  This is what the solids look like.

 

When it is time to transfer to your secondary, the one thing that I do is to skim the solids off prior to racking over.  Most times I use a slotted spoon to allow any liquid to flow through.  These solids are pretty thick, so they tend not to fall back into the wine when you are scooping it out.

 

  Scooping out the solids.

 

To rack over to my secondary, I use a funnel.  Other people will tell you to use a siphon system.  Personally, using the funnel is easier and quicker so that is what I use.

 

  Secondary fermenter ready for the wine. 

Notice the handle?   Best investment when using glass carboys.

 

Pour the wine into your secondary, put an airlock on it and let it be.  Generally, I'll let my wine sit for a month or two before racking it over again.  It really depends on how many solids have settled at the bottom.  If a lot have settled then I rack it over in about a week or two.  Otherwise, let it clear up a bit before racking again.

 

After about the third racking, I rack the wine into a one gallon jug and put an airlock on it for about two weeks.  Then I cap it.  The one gallon jugs are easier to handle when it comes time to bottle, because I use a funnel to bottle . 

 

  One gallon jug with airlock

 

At bottling time, clean and sanitize your bottles along with your corks or screw caps.  Use a funnel and pour your wine from the one gallon jug into your bottle.  Cap it and let it age for a few months.  I have gone to using screw capped bottles because they are easier to open.  Also, with the screw cap bottles, you can open it and sample it before given it to someone.  It saves on being embarrassed about given your friends some really nasty wine.

 

Well, that's it in a nutshell.  Time, to kick back and enjoy some wine.

 

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Making Your Own Wine - Part 3

The is the third part of a 4 post series on making your own wine.

 

In the first post, we dealt with getting your must ready to be tested for sugar and acidity.  The second post dealt with testing for sugar and acidity.  This part will describe all the other things that go into your wine so that it can ferment properly.

 

One thing that almost all wine needs to get it going is yeast nutrient.  This acts as a jump starter to get the yeast cells motivated to turn the sugar into alcohol.  You don't need to use a lot of this so follow the directions on the label for dosage .

 

 

For wines other than grape wines, you usually have to add a little grape tannin to your must.  I generally only use 1/8 of a teaspoon per gallon.  If you are in a pinch you can use raisins instead of grape tannin.  A handful of raisins per gallon should be enough.

 

                                                 

 

Certain types of fruit will require you to add pectin enzyme to your must.  This breaks down any pectin that is in your wine.  Pectin in your wine makes it very difficult to fine and clarify.  So, for things like peach wine, strawberry wine, apple, wine, etc, use the pectin enzyme.

 

   Campden Tablets

 

Campden tablets or sulphur dioxide is the last thing that you add to your must before adding the yeast.  This will help to sterilize the must and kill any wild yeast cells that are hanging around.  Generally, most people will tell you to add 2 tablets per gallon of must.  Personally, I use about 1.5 tablets to a gallon before the fermentation, 1 tablet per gallon on the second racking and for the last racking prior to bottling.

 

After these items have been added to your must, leave the must alone for at least 24 hours.  Do not add yeast until the after 24 hours because the capmden tablets will kill it if added now.

 

Last item to add is the yeast.  There are quite a few different yeasts out there, but they fall into 2 categories, dry or liquid.  With the liquid variety, you are able to make more style specific wines.  Personally, I use the dry wine yeast because it is a lot cheaper and because most of my wines are fruit wines.  The 2 major dry yeast companies are Red Star and Lavlin.  I prefer the Lavlin yeast since it seems to make a smoother wine than the Red Star.

 

                                  

 

At this point your ready to make wine.  The last post will talk about fermenting, racking and bottling your wine.

 

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Making Your Own Wine - Part 2

The is the second part of a 4 post series on making your own wine.

 

In the first part we dealt with figuring out which wine to make and getting your must ready to be tested. This post will deal with testing your must before adding the yeast to ferment it. At this stage, it is easy to adjust your acid content as well as your sugar content. Trying to test after the fact is a major pain in the butt, so you want to do this part every time you make wine.

 

Let's start with checking for acid. You can use ph paper but a more accurate way is to use an acid testing kit.

Acid testing kit

You can usually purchase a kit for around $7. Depending on the type of wine you are making, the acid percentage should be around .60% to .85%. The kit tells you what your percentage by generally fruit (peach, strawberry, etc.) and red wines should be lower in acid and the whites should be higher. The kit includes a bottle of sodium hydroxide, coloring agent, testing tube and a syringe.

 

Parts of the acid testing kit

 

The process to test is rather simple. First you take the testing tube and fill it 15 cc of your must.

 

Testing tube with 15 cc of must

 

The second step is to put 3 drops of the coloring agent into the testing tube. Third step involves filling the syringe with 10 cc of sodium hydroxide. Caution -- Sodium hydroxide is very poisonous, be extremely careful around pets and children. The last step is to slowly put 1 cc of sodium hydroxide at a time into the testing tube until it changes color. At that point, you will know the percentage acid in your must. Basically, if you put in 5 cc of sodium hydroxide, then your must has .50% of acid content.

 

Testing tube after it has changed colors

 

After you determine the percentage of acid in your must, then you can make the necessary adjustments. If you need to raise your acid content, add acid blend according to the directions on the kit. If your acid content is too high, then add water and retest. I usually shot for anything between .60 and .70 for most of my wines and I usually don't sweat it if it comes to .70 when it should be .65. What you really don't want it a wine that is too low in acid or too high in acid because it will make some very nasty wine. And, I mean nasty in a bad way, not a good way. Now that the acid testing is complete, we can move to testing for the amount of sugar.

 

To measure sugar content we use an instrument called a hydrometer. A hydrometer looks like a thermometer but with a bubble at the end. For more info on how to read a hydrometer, click here. Basically water will read 1.000 on a hydrometer and most wines will ferment a few steps below that level. For most wines, you want the hydrometer reading to be 1.085 - 1.095. Most hydrometers will have 3 scales on them. Personally, I like the 1.000 system instead of Plato or Brix.

 

Hydrometer in testing tube.

 

 Notice that the hydrometer is barely over the top of the tube. This liquid was 1.000

 

Pour some of your must in the testing tube and then put the hydrometer in. Check the scale, if not enough sugar, add white table sugar a cup at a time. If you have too much sugar (over 1.100), then add some water

 

. Added some sugar.

 

Notice that the hydrometer sticks up higher in the testing tube. This measured about 1.020.

 

In the first post, I mentioned when using juice concentrate to fill your fermenter to the 3 gallon line before adding sugar. What I usually do at this point is to warm up 1 gallon of water and stir in 1 1/2 bags (5 lb) of table sugar. Once that is dissolved, pour it in the fermenter and stir for about 30 seconds. Then test your must for its sugar content. Too high, add some water, too low add some sugar.

 

At this point, we are ready to add the other ingredients and yeast. Which will be talked about in the next post.

 

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Making Your Own Wine - Part 1

This is the first part of a 4 post series on how to make your own wine.

 

So, you want to make your first wine?  How do you get started and what equipment do you need?  Hopefully over the next 4 posts I'll be able to guide you through the process.  This part will take you up to the point where you test for sugar content and acidity.

 

The first step is to decide what kind of wine you plan on making.  Do you plan on making it from fresh fruit? Or, do you plan on using juice?  Let's start with using frozen juice.

 

 

 

 

One of the simple ways to make wine is to use frozen juice concentrate.  I have used Welch's frozen concentrate for numerous wines.  For a recipe, click here. You must use the frozen since it does not contain potassium sorbate.  The potassium sorbate will prevent your wine from  fermenting.  So make sure you buy the frozen kind of juice.

 

You can also buy juice in 5 gallon containers and these are usually specific kinds of juice.  ie Merlot, Syrah, etc.

 

Another kind of juice that you can buy is Vintner's Harvest.  Usually this comes in 46 ounce or 92 ounce cans and is usually fruit.  Ie. Peach, Cranberry, Raspberry, etc.  The side of the can provides generic instructions on making your wine.

 

Ok, back to the frozen juice.  Next you have to decide if you want a light bodied, medium bodied or full bodied wine.  The recipe is pretty easy to remember.  1 can per gallon for a light bodied wine, 2 cans for a medium bodied wine, and 3 cans for full bodied wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next pour your juice into your fermenter.  I use an Ale Pail, like the one pictured.  Fill it to about the 3 gallon mark with juice and water.  This fermenter has a lid and airlock, which I do not use for the primary fermentation.  You can if you want, but I kinda' like to watch my wine ferment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you plan on using fresh fruit, then you must crush the fruit first.  For a batch that is less than 5 gallons, I use a potato masher.

 

 

Crush your fruit and add it to your fermenter. 

 

At this point we need to test for sugar and acidity, which I'll talk about on the next post.

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Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Homemade, Recipe, First

 

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Hops

Boy, things have really changed in the past few years when it comes to hops.  Seems like just yesterday that if you had hops reaching a 9% alpha acid, you had some really strong stuff.  Most of my brewing books do not mention Simcoe, Warrior, or Yukama-Magnum, all hops that have an alpha content in the double digits.

 

I found a nice hops chart at Weekend Brewer that list the hops that they sell along with letting you know if they are bittering or aroma hops.

 

Also, a nice article from the Philadelphia Inquirer that pertains to hops and microbreweries.  Part of that is reprinted below.

 

Next week, I hope to start a four post series on how to make your own wine.  I will be more of a beginner's step by step, with some tips on how I make my wine.

 

Joe Sixpack | Hybrid-hop Simcoe is hot

Philadelphia Inquirer June 09, 2006 We thought, 'Man, wouldn't it be great to make a beer that would be dominated by Simcoe? FORGET cascades hops. The newest beer craze is Simcoe. Cascades, of course, is the classic West Coast hop, the small, vine-grown bud that gives beer its aroma, its bitterness, its spice. For 20 years, the fresh, aromatic, grapefruit-like Cascades virtually defined American-made craft beer, and it still reigns as one of the biggest sellers. But six years ago, agriculture scientists in Washington State introduced a hybrid called Simcoe, and brewers have been boiling it big time ever since. Yards Brewing, in Kensington, used it in its reformulated Philly Pale Ale recipe, and watched sales rocket. Troegs Brewing, in Harrisburg, adds it to Nugget Nectar Ale. In Delaware, Dogfish Head Brewing's Sam Calagione said his brewers were using Simcoe before it even had a name, when it was known only as 'Experimental Hop No. 555.' Today, he said, Dogfish Head tosses a 'load' of it into 90 Minute IPA. Even savvy homebrewers are onto Simcoe. 'There's a latent buzz around it,' said Jason Harris, of Keystone Homebrew Supply in Montgomeryville. 'Simcoe's made a huge impact.' Simcoe is so hot, Weyerbacher Brewing in Easton just named its newest beer after the plant: Simcoe Double IPA. Read more at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Technorati Tags : Beer, Homebrewing, Hops, Simcoe, Warrior, Microbreweries

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Hefe Weizen Beer Recipe

Summer is just about here and time to make a lighter type of beer.  One style that tastes great during those hot, steamy days is a hefe weizen.  Sure, it takes a few to get use to the taste (not your typical beer), but during the summer it sure hits the spot.

 

This recipe was taken from the Tastybrew recipe bank and is primarily geared to extract brewers.

 

Killer Bee Wheat

Name	Killer Bee Wheat
Description	A Perfectly Balanced Honey Weizen
Added by	Matt Wilson
Date Submitted	Sun, 15 Dec 2002 03:49 AM (GMT)
Ingredients
6# Wheat LME 3# Clover Honey 1/2# Carapils 2 oz Saaz hops 5 oz corn sugar Muntons Gold Ale Yeast 1 Tsp Irish Moss 1 package Knox unflavored gelatin
Preparation
8 oz Carapils in 2 gallons cold water, heat to 170 and hold 30 minutes.Remove Carapils and bring to boil. Add 6# Wheat LME and 1 oz Saaz in hop bag.Boil 45 minutes.Add 2# Clover Honey. Boil 10 minutes. Add 1oz Saaz and 1 Tsp Irish Moss in hop bag. Boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat add cold water to make 5.5 gallons. Cool to 80 degrees and pitch yeast. Primary ferment 3 days, rack to secondary fermenter.Pasterize 1# Clover Honey @ 180 degrees for 30 minutes, add to secondary fermenter for 14 days. Fine with 1 package Knox Gelatin 3 days before bottling. Condition 2 weeks @ 65-70 degrees.
Specifics
Style	Hefe-
Recipe Type	Extract
Batch Size	5 Gallons
Original Gravity	1.060
Final Gravity	1.018
Boiling Time	60 minutes
Primary Fermentation	plastic 3 days
Secondary Fermentation	glass 14 days
Other Specifics	IBU=10 color= 3HCU Alcohol content 5.4%
Comments
I tried this tonite after bottling on thanksgiving and I cant stop grinning! This is far and away the single best homebrew I ( or my wife and a few friends) have ever tried. It is very carbonated, next time I will cut the priming sugar back to 4 oz. The head is thick and tall and lasts the length of the glass.Color,clarity,and balance is perfect. I think the honey in the secondary really kicked it up a notch.This batch won't last long. Technorati Tags : Beer, Homebrewing, Hefe, Weizen, Recipe

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To Sulfite or Not To Sulfite

 

Some random articles that I found on the web that I thought would be of interest.  The homebrewers article talks about homebrew clubs and the fellowshiping that happens.  If you have never attended one, you should really try.  It is fun. 

The article on sulfiting your wine brings out a lot of points that I know most beginners hear.  I personally like to stretch things to a limit and experiment with different techniques.  Sometimes they work and other times, they are dreadful. 

While we are talking about experiments, the tea wine experiment is fermenting quite nicely.  The yeast took an extra long time to get started (I just add dry yeast), so I'm about 2 weeks behind where I would have liked to been.  More on that at a later post.

 

Amateur brewers trade tips and tastes

An informal band of beer brewers known as the Rum River Wort Hogs gathers the second Monday evening of each month at Billy's Bar and Grill in Anoka.

Last update: June 06, 2006 – 11:08 AM

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Sampling homemade brew

RAMIN RAHIMIAN, STAR TRIBUNE

An informal band of beer brewers known as the Rum River Wort Hogs gathers the second Monday evening of each month at Billy's Bar and Grill in Anoka.

There, the dues-paying members of the most prominent, if not the only, home-brewing club in the north-metro area and one of only a handful in the state have sampled brews, swapped tips and shared tales about beer for about 11 years.

Read more at the Star Tribune

On a personal note, I have visited my local homebrew club on several occasions.  It is always nice, to swap stories and ideas over some great homemade beer.

 

Aerating your wort.

Someone at a local brewpub was talking about homebrewing and was saying that when doing a batch sparge that the mash should not be stirred at all after adding the strike water and to just let it sit for the hour. I thought you were supposed to stir the mash every 15 minutes or so?

Secondly he said that after the runnings are being poured off into a kettle (before boiling) that it is crucial to not aerate this at all? That it must be poured off gently and not distrurbed until boil begins. Do you agree?

Thank you.

Read more at The Brew Board

 

To Sulfite or not to Sulfite, that is the question.

Ian over at the Homewinery has a interesting post about sulfiting your wine.  Seems he disagrees with one of the articles. He states:

"Finally had a chance to read through this current (June-July 2006) issue of WineMaker Magazine. Some really interesting articles and some country wine recipes provided by Jack Keller.

One article though in particular, the “Winemaker Profile” column on Chuck Blethen really caught my attention. In fact, there are two things he is quoted as saying that I wonder about."

Read more at The Homewinery

 

Personally, I have cut down on the use of sulfites in my wines.  I add Campden tablets with the original must but do not add any more until the final racking.  I originally would add Campden tablets after each racking but I felt that I was over sulfiting.  And, there was the occasional batch that smelled like rotten eggs because of it.

 

One winery in Pennsylvania, Foxburg Winery  does not add sulfites at all.  Their wine is very good and has more body than others that I have had.  Maybe a full bodied wine will cellar better without the sulfites?  Sounds like an experiment to me.

 

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Winemaking Terms - Yeast Starter to Zymase

Yeast Starter:

 

A media in which a wine yeast is activated and encouraged to multiply to a high density so that when added to a must it will have a better chance of populating it successfully. There are several ways to make a starter. To make a really vigorous starter for inoculating a must initially or restarting a stuck fermentation, in a quart jar dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of yeast nutrient in 1 cup of warm water (less than 104° F.). To this, add 1/4 cup of the juice from the must to be fermented. Sprinkle 1 packet of active dry yeast on the surface of the liquid. Do not stir. Cover the jar with a paper towel or napkin held in place with a rubber band. Wait for the yeast to become active. This could become obvious in as little as 15 minutes or could take as long as 2-4 hours. If no evidence of activation in 4 hours, the yeast was too old or dead from exposure to temperature extremes (usually heat, but possibly extreme cold). In such a case, sprinkle another packet of yeast into same jar and recover. When yeast (first or second sachet) is evidently active, add another 1/4 cup of juice from the must and recover. Wait until vigorous activity returns (usually 30-90 minutes) and add another 1/4 cup of juice. When again vigorously active, add yet another 1/4 cup of juice. Wait 1-2 hours and gently pour half the liquid over the surface of the must. Do not stir. The idea is for the starter to remain on or close to the surface where there is plenty of air for the yeast to "breath." Cover the primary fermentation vessel with a sanitized cloth or sheet of plastic. After 2-4 hours, the surface of the must should have small bubbles rising from fermentation or a healthy layer of yeast culture. Stir shallowly and recover the primary. Wait another 2-4 hours and fermentation should be more vigorous. Add the remainder of the starter and stir deeply. Recover primary. If the starter does not produce a vigorous fermentation in the primary, add another 1/4 cup of juice to the reserved half of the starter media. Wait 2 hours and add yet another 1/4 cup of juice. This starter is now 2 parts juice and 1 part water. When this is fermenting vigorously, add half of it to the must as before and try again.

 

Zest:

 

While "zest" is a quality a good, fresh wine might possess, when mentioned as an ingredient in the recipes on this site, zest refers to the grated rind of lemon, orange, grapefruit, or lime. Only the colored portion of the rind is used, as the white pith is bitter and will spoil the batch. When a recipe calls for 2 lemons, both the zest and the extracted juice are intended unless otherwise stipulated.

 

Zymase:

 

The name given to the group of enzymes which yeast use to transform sugar into alcohol.

Source: Jack Keller

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Blonde Ale

With lawmower season upon us, now is the time to brew a lighter style of beer. This is an original recipe that has been generated using Promash software. The grains in this recipe are to be crushed and steeped for about and hour. Add the Irish moss when you put the second batch of hops in and allow to ferment for about a week.

This is a good base recipe to use to make other beers, so experiment with it.

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

03-A Light Ale,

Blonde Ale

Min OG: 1.045

Max OG: 1.060
Min IBU: 15

Max IBU: 33
Min Clr: 2 Max Clr: 8

Color Yellow Gold

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00

Wort Size (Gal): 3.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 6.00
Anticipated OG: 1.051

Plato: 12.65
Anticipated SRM: 6.3
Anticipated IBU: 18.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 30 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

---------------------------------------------

5.00 lbs. Light Dry Malt Extract

.50 lbs. Crystal 10L
.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt

Hops

-------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Cascade Pellets for 30 min.
1.00 oz. Fuggle Pellets for 20 min.

Yeast
-----------------------------------

Lallemand Doric

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Winemaking Terms - Yeast to Yeast Nutrient

Yeast:

 

A unicellular fungi, principally of the genus Saccharomyces, capable of fermenting carbohydrates. Before adding yeast to a liquor or must to initiate active fermentation, it should be "started." After mixing the primary ingredients, but before adding crushed Campden tablet or other sterilizing compound to the must, set aside one cup of the liquor or juice into which the yeast nutrient (or energizer) is dissolved. Add 1/2 to one tsp. yeast, stir gently, and allow to sit, covered with a clean towel or cloth, in a warm place. Allow the culture to "bloom" (grow) a total of 24 hours since adding Campden to the must. Then add this cup of yeast culture to the must, stir and cover, and allow the yeast to "do its thing."

 

Yeast Energizer:

 

An extraordinary nutrient, energizer is useful when making wines of high alcoholic content (over 14%) and to restart fermentation when the secondary fermentation seems "stuck." Yeast energizer contains many ingredients not found in normal nutrient, such as Riboflavin and Thiamine. The energizer is best used by dissolving 1/2 tsp. in 1/2 to 1 cup of the must or wine before adding. If the fermentation is truly "stuck" and not simply run out, the energizer may be dissolved in 1/4 cup must or wine and 1/2 cup warm (75 degrees F.) water and a pinch of fresh wine yeast added and allowed to bloom under cover over a 12-hour period. An additional 1/4 cup of wine or yeast is then added and the yeast given another 12 hours to multiply before the enriched solution is added to the fermentation bottle.

 

Yeast Nutrient:

 

Food for the yeast, containing nitrogenous matter, yeast-tolerant acid, vitamins, and certain minerals. While sugar is the main food of the yeast, nutrients are the "growth hormones," so to speak.

Source: Jack Keller

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Strawberry Wine

With strawberry picking season just around the corner, I thought that I would dust off this recipe and republish it.  It was almost a year ago when I made my first batch of strawberry wine.  I still have about 2 gallons to bottle and 1 gallon is being used in my "wine bag" experiment.  The unbottled wine is pretty dry, around 14% alchohol and has a pretty good taste without it being sweetened.  So, for you country wine fans, grab your pail and fill it with berries.  Then come home and get started on your wine.

 

 

 

 

Hey, that's me picking strawberries. Well actually it is my assistant Jake. It was his first adventure out to a farm and Grandpa put the boy to work. Gotta' teach them early. This was my first ever batch of wine made from strawberries and I have to admit, it did not turn out bad. Generally, after the wine has completely fermented (and it is usually a dry wine), I go back and sweeten it up. For this batch, I used Splenda because somewhere I read that Splenda does not ferment. Here is the recipe if you wish to give it a try.

 

 

 

Strawberry Wine

20 lbs of fresh strawberries
10 teaspoons acid blend
5 teaspoons yeast nutrient
50 drops pectin enzyme
1 ¼ teaspoons grape tannin
10 campden tablets
23 cups sugar (about 10 lbs)
2 ½ gallons water
2 frozen Welch's white grape/raspberry juice, 11 oz size

Crush the berries and add all the ingredients to a 5 gallon primary fermenter. Add the yeast or the yeast starter the following day. Allow to ferment for about 7 days before racking over to a secondary fermenter. In about 3 months, check with a hydrometer and if stable enough, bottle.

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Winemaking Terms: Wood Aging to Yeast

Wood Aging:

 

This is the process of maturing wine in barrels or casks prior to bottling. This process allows young wines to soften and absorb some of the wood's flavors and tannins and allows the wine's flavors to become concentrated through slight evaporation through the wood. While oak is the overwhelming wood of choice for wood aging, mesquite, hickory, pecan, apple, orange, and cherry wood can also contribute unique qualities to wines aged with their chips or shavings. The taste a wood tends to impart in wine is that of its smell. 

 

Woody:

 

A wine fault denoting too much contact with wood, usually oak.

 

Yeast:

 

A unicellular fungi, principally of the genus Saccharomyces, capable of fermenting carbohydrates. Before adding yeast to a liquor or must to initiate active fermentation, it should be "started." After mixing the primary ingredients, but before adding crushed Campden tablet or other sterilizing compound to the must, set aside one cup of the liquor or juice into which the yeast nutrient (or energizer) is dissolved. Add 1/2 to one tsp. yeast, stir gently, and allow to sit, covered with a clean towel or cloth, in a warm place. Allow the culture to "bloom" (grow) a total of 24 hours since adding Campden to the must. Then add this cup of yeast culture to the must, stir and cover, and allow the yeast to "do its thing."

 

Source: Jack Keller

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Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Woody, Yeast, Aging

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