First country wine

I'm going mad 18ltrs is nearly 4 gallon, mind you there's fruit nearly up to 1 gallon mark. 2ltr of banana water may be added if I'm lucky and it goes far enough maybe in 2 or even 4 doses.

 

In this case i think the error will work in your favour

Very high initial gravity can inhibit fermentation from getting going and can damage the yeasts ability to go all the way,
Starting off with an og which will give a theoretical 16% is still high !!!

I think your measurement "accident" will have done you a favour.

 

So carry on as I planned add liquid fruit water later top it too 20ltr, that will give me 3gal too rack off later.? Or should I top up with tepid water now.?

 

Yes once its "Going" you can add what you like.

With a high alcohol wine generally speaking the more body and flavour the better.

Once its finished its likely to benefit from a good period of maturation.

 

I expect a year to 18 months after initial rackings and leave in demis. I just want to make sure there's enough flavour now really.

 

Just stirred it and fitted the airlock until its going better although it has definitely started and smells very nice.

 

Good.

Pop a post here in a few days to say how well its fermenting

 

Bubling like mad from last night so left lid loose this morning and living room stinks, so she wasn't impressed. Still there. So at some point I would like to put another kg of bananas or liquor of banana but don't want to loose track of abv.

 

just put the chopped up bananas in.Bananas are good for "body" in a wine. esp a high abv one.
They dont contain so much sugar that they will upset your calculations.

 

Will do thanks John, just been making candi syrup and dme mixed for my euro larger come Belgium concoction, oh is it OK just chop them or boil first?, is the lid better loose or airtight John, thanks.

 

Well it's really enjoying those bananas, constant now, great, bang on 19ltr mark now.

 

Stirring once or twice a day but eggy smell tonight so added a tsp wine nutrient dissolved in a tiny bit of orange juice from a fresh orange tonight whilst giving it a stir, it's fermenting very well at 18_20c

 

Sounds amazing. Parsnips and banana could be a match made in heaven. Never tried it. Hope it works out.

 

Yes I hope so, there is 2kg of sultanas in among the bananas and parsnip liquor, its going good at moment. Thanks

 

OK so been storing daily but a bit of eggy smell again tonight and so over last two nights I've added 3 tsp of yeast nutrient and decided to leave lid not sealed after a good stir, I think I will leave it this way until it calms down a bit.

 

I can smell the alcohol already in this, so it will be 7 days the Saturday, its just a question of how long to leave, do I feed anymore or leave it as is and at what point to put either secondary 5 gal bin or demis? What would you do John?
Thanks as ever.

 

At this stage coming up you did the right thing by adding nutrient.
However i would not add any more,I have overdosed with it in the past and the taste is not very nice,But more important there is nothing you can do about it.You will be stuck with salty wine.

As regards the hydrogen sulphide smell it normally goes by itself,or if persistant there are things that can be done to get rid of it.

It is an unusual brew so at this stage I think keep your nerve is the best thing.

Keep in touch.

 

I don't smell anything now so I do think it's been nipped in the bud, I looked back to my own posts and on line, I put some nutrient in at start then another as soon as it was smelled, so came home tonight, I couldn't smell anything but she could so put two more in as I stirred and seems fine again, I also do believe leaving airtight was to blame, anyway no smell lid loose and enough nutrient for now so yeast seems very happy now no off smells, it's my baby so luckily reacted in time but it's not over yet, it's got four level tsp for 19 ltr with all fruit in so it's about right for a higher abv as I've read. I'm lucky it's at the side of me and not in another room out of the way, oh and your help John, cheers. Should it get to bottling fine, you deserve a delivery.

 

If you read my post about sugar feeding you will see i talk about using plain granulated sugar.

However i notice in one of your posts you say you are making belgian candy.

When "feeding" time comes around if you feed with the candy you will get better results than plain sugar and a higher max abv.

 

If I feed I'll make some syrup.