more blackberry wine questions

[brewdy mare]

hello again.
I have just transferred my blackberry wine into my demijohn and wondered as i have managed to have about another 3rd of a demijohn left over in another one, what would happen if i went out today and started another blackberry wine off to be put in a demijohn in a weeks time or even another type of wine, is it possible to add together the bits that i have left over to fill the half empty demijohn ( or at least add together into a new clean one) I hate the thought of just throwing away that bit of spare potential wine juice. With my elderberry i managed to find a glass bottle just big enough to take the left over bit and fitted an air lock to that. But i have no more bottles that fit a bung so ive had to use a demijohn. If i remember correctly wine has more chance of going off if there is a large proportion of air in the demijohn or please tell me otherwise. its all an experiment with the bits left over so do i keep them separate or make a heinze 57, which method has got more chance of working. a small amount in a demi or a full demi with a mix?

 

[BrewStew]

if the primary ferment has finished, and you've added your campden at 1 tab per gallon, it should be safe to have in a half full demi with an airlock. I believe the campden help prevent infection as well as stablising and killing fermentation.

my elderberry has been sat in secondary in a larger bucket (with about 1/3rd headspace) with an airlock for a month now and hasn't got anything growing on it *touches wood*.. havent tastes it yet though and i really should rack it to tertiary sometime soon hehe.

 

[brewdy mare]

by primary fermentation do you mean after a week when the pulp has sunk to the bottom? Also i have not included any camden tablets at this point as i thought they stopped the yeast from working. do you recommend adding to todays wine and also to my elderberry which went into the demi about 2 weeks ago?

 

[BrewStew]

oh sorry mate, i thought you'd already fermented it hehe

if your on about mixing the juices before the ferment, then yes that's ok i reckon... the proper wine makers mix different grapes and fruits to achieve their distinct flavours

 

[BrewStew]

campden is used when you want to stop the ferment early, to leave some sweetness (hence sweet, medium and dry wines) or let it ferment it all the way for dry, stopping the ferment with campden a bit sooner will leave it sweeter... either way, adding campden is a good idea even when the ferments finished for my previously mentioned reasons

 

[brewdy mare]

I added the yeast according to my recipe one week ago and left in the bucket stirring every day till pulp had sunk to bottom and i have put through muslin today and put into demijohns. should i have included a camden tablet earlier either before the yeast was added or before i put it in demi.

 

[BrewStew]

if you're hydrometer's been stable for a few days (ie the fermentation is finished), then yeah adding campden now is a good time. if it's still fermenting and you want it sweet or medium, then that'll take a bit more working out to kill the ferment at the right time for the sweetness you want.

my merlot took alot longer than two weeks to completely ferment, if you dont already have a hydrometer, it's worth the £2.50 for having a bit more information on what the yeast is doing plus you can then control the sweetness of your wines :thumb:

edit: in answer to your question, adding campden when you rack off the first time is the ideal time to add campden

dont forget to stir/swill the demi for 2 mins three times a day for a week when you've racked to degass it or you'll have popping bottles later down the line