AN UPDATE ON MY HOME WINEMAKING

So far the progress of my winemaking has reached three five-gallon batches on the go, along with a five-gallon batch of cider (there was such a glut of apples this year).

The first was a blend, a winemakers dream, of my greenhouse vines, being Black Hamburg, Seyval Blanc and Merlot.

This has had a second one-pound batch of sugar added, once the fermentation came to almost a stand-still, and once the bubbles in the winemakers fermenter subside again, it will be due for its next racking to remove any sediment.

There is another barrel containing neat Seyval Blanc juice (from the outdoor vines), with no skins allowed near – it is a white wine, so no tannins from skins, pips or stalks are needed. This must was a little sweeter than the mixed one, but I have still added sugar to bring the S.G. up to 1.040 before adding the yeast. This one, being a white, has a slightly acid taste to it, which is how it is supposed to be.

The other batch is the Merlot (the outdoors again), but this one had the skins left in for about 5 days before it was strained and the skins pressed to extract the juice, and again I added the needed sugar to raise the S.G. to the starting level and the yeast.

These musts are literally grape juice with added sugar and yeast, and absolutely nothing else.

They are all bubbling away nicely now, and I am considering using the balance of the grapes I have in the freezer to produce more in a few gallon demi-johns I have spare. I may have to top up the barrels as the winemaking progresses owing to the racking, so getting a spare gallon on the go will keep the levels topped up.

I always find that in winemaking, it is usually the winemaking equipment that I run short of first, and I always finish up scratching round for something to start a new batch off in.

Til next time,

George