silly twit needs help please (wine fermenting again ?)

[crushagrape]

hello brewers of all things fizzy, am abit embarassed about the situation am in but id kindly ask for your help if you dont mind,

anyway, i brewed a wilkos dry red 30 bottle kit in 23l bucket, using 3.5kg of brewing sugar as suggested, fermentation i gave 7 days as the froth on the top had disapeared by the 7th day (my logic). put in the stabiliser and finnings and cleared for a week, didnt have a syphon went to get one from wilkos but they didnt have any, and didnt for some time.

so after clearing, me, like a nutter, just dipped a clean cup into the bucket and poured that into my wine glass. after having several bottles drank this way, the brew had started to froth up quite abit on the surface and has been like that for about a week, attached is a picture taken today.

i know i was totally dumb and wont do it again, but can the wine be rescued do you know ? would like to get my moneys worth if i can (safely)... all help appreciatted and sorry for babbling on..

p.s. can hear a faint crackling sound coming from the bucket

 

[Chippy_Tea]

First of all take no notice of wine kit timings use a hydrometer as it's the only way to know it's finished.

I am think it had not fermented and it's still fermenting slowly as stabiliser doesn't kill the yeast, if it smells and tastes fine carry on but I would submerge the cup in boiling water just before use as you don't want to infect the wine.

 

[crushagrape]

so once fermented i gather id have to buy some more stabilser and finnings and clear it again, is that right ? also it smell nice id say, more potent possibly, but does smell like proper wine

e2a: also i did notice the wine was very mild in terms of alcohol, which would back up ones thoery

 

[ACBEV]

@crushagrape Leave for another week, at least (don't touch or do anything naughty). Bottle when you get your siphon. I wouldn't bother adding more stuff to it.

 

[crushagrape]

thanks acbev, for your advice and also to chippy tea as always :cheers1:

 

[Dutto]

If you dip that cup into the brew often enough it will remove any need to add stabiliser or bottle it!

1. If the wine was really sweet when you first took a cupful then it definitely hadn't finished fermenting.
2. As it ferments out it will get less sweet and more alcoholic.
3. You have two choices after it ferments out (buy a hydrometer to check). A) Use something like a Wilco Stabiliser to stop the fermentation and then add grape juice to sweeten it. (I would use corked bottles just in case it decides to restart fermenting again.) or B) Let it ferment out and then use a non-fermentable sweetener such as Splenda.

I used this on a Cider for No.1 Son for Christmas 2016. I let the Cider ferment out, added the Stabiliser and then sweetened it with more AJ. The Stabiliser definitely worked for me. As No.1 Son only drank half of the 23 litres and it was too sweet for me, I tried everything to get the fermentation going agains, but without success. (It finished up down the drain! A rarity in this house!)

http://www.wilko.com/homebrew-accessories+equipment/wilko-wine-stabiliser-30g/invt/0022657

They also sell Finings.

Of course, all of the above is dependent on whether or not you are lucky. If you are lucky then you won't have introduced an infection. If you aren't lucky then you will have a ready supply of Wine Vinegar that should last you the rest of the year.

Enjoy!

 

[crushagrape]

hello dutto, i'll stop dipping, feel dirty trust me. appreciatte your input, yes the wine was very very sweet for the few bottles worth that i tasted. and didnt get me much ****** either just lightly tipsy.

i will buy a hydrometer next week, hopefully they are in stock. gonna have to learn how to use one, quite intimidating things when one is pants with numbers, but will learn

wasnt expecting to sweeten the wine so thats thrown me a smidge so thats something else to figure out. i.e how much juice to use if i do sweeten.

hopefully havent made vinegar, only good for my chips and washing the windows lol thanks for the link and the story :

p.s. i think ive got about 17 litres left :)

 

[Dutto]

If you like sweet and fizzy I suggest that you make a Bourru as follows:

• Use a 1.5 litre water bottle.
• Pour in one litre of Grape Juice (red or white as you prefer).
• Fill the bottle up to 1.25 litre with water.
• Shake in a little bit of dried yeast.
• Stand it somewhere nice and warm for 24-36 hours with the cap loosened.
• When it is fermenting away nicely, put it in the fridge for 24 hours.
• After 24 hours it is nicely chilled, not very alcoholic, sweet, fizzy and ready to drink.

Notes:

1. A bottom fermenting yeast looks better because it minimises the krausen floating on top of the Bourru; but it's just cosmetic.
2. Obviously, because it's still fermenting the Bourru is never clear and you drink the yeast along with the Bourru; so drink it in small amounts until you know what your stomach will stand.
3. When the bottle only has about 1cm in the bottom just pour in some more Grape Juice, add the requisite amount of water, put it somewhere warm and away you go again.

It's a perfect drink for warm days.

In France, the season only lasts two or three weeks and the shops announce the arrival of the "Nouveau Bourru" with great fanfare, and these people know a great drink when they see one!

Enjoy!

 

[crushagrape]

bonjour dutto, that recipe sounds really nice, what kind of yeast would i use for that ? would yeast from wilkos be ok ? and how much to use for 1.5l ? also i dont understand what you mean by a bottom feeding yeast, if you clear that up please, many thanks.

 

[Dutto]

I've used all kinds of yeast in making a Bourru (including Wilco's Ale Yeast) but my favourite is a Youngs Lager Yeast.

It's a bottom fermenting (not feeding) yeast that creates very little krausen. (Which makes it look better when your pouring out a glass for the uninitiated who may worry about "that stuff floating on the top"!)

Young's Lager Yeast is sold in 5g packets so about half of a packet would be sufficient (as would a quarter packet of Wilco Ale Yeast.) By recycling the bottom 2cm I've managed to ferment six brews before chucking away the empty water bottle; mainly on the basis that it was starting to look grubby rather than any real need.

Oh, I forgot to mention that after putting in the yeast give the bottle a good shake to distribute it evenly. Also. if you use one of those water bottles with five small "cups" at the bottom take a look at the top of the bottle when it has started to ferment. You will see five small sets of bubbles that correspond to the "cups" in the bottom. "Small things amuse small minds." was one of my Mum's phrases, but it still fascinates me!

 

[crushagrape]

lol did i write bottom feeding ?, what a donut haha ! ive totally gotcha on the cosmetic bit, brilliant, and recycling the yeast is a good idea to save money and faffing about always buying yeast.

with the bubbles, i would notice something like that, seem to notice patterns in things, being most likely autistic, things like that stand out a mile, including busy wallpaper and carpets- that kind of thing drives me absolutely mad !

thanks for all your help, i will be giving this bourru a go when the weather warms up abit and will refer back to this thread, and also dutto have enjoyed your posts, quite entertaining, bet youve got plenty of stories to tell. :thumb:

p.s. will be back with updates for the wilkos wine kit, as of now it is still "working".

 

[crushagrape]

hello brewers, back with a wee update, the wine is still (lightly) crackling away, had just bought a hydrometer and watched a youtube vid on how to use it, i couldnt get a wine thief as wilkos were out of stock, so i sanitised the hydrometer and dropped it into the bucket, the reading was about 1.022/1.024 and the wine has had the best part of 3 weeks fermenting id say (albeit with a break inbetween), does that sound right given its been so cold ?

 

[Dutto]

Sounds okay! If you can still catch an air-lock "glub" then it's still fermenting and as you point out if it's anywhere cooler than 22 degrees it can take many weeks to ferment out. Now don't look at it again for at least another two weeks.

With regard to your lack of a Wine Thief I wouldn't dream of opening up an FV to drop a hydrometer into it; too much of an infection risk. To minimise the possibility, I use an ordinary Tesco Turkey Baster (obviously, very common around Christmas but usually available at other times) to transfer the brew into a Wilco 100ml Trial Jar.

I always taste/drink the sample to see how it's getting on. You get some peculiar results but it's amazing how many times these weird tastes become superb brews.

 

[crushagrape]

thanks dutto, i dont actually use an air lock but i can see little bubbles and hear crackling, will take your advice and wait it out, just aswell ive ordered some heineken to see me through :cheers1:

also for the turkey baster idea (i have a story about turkey basting but i probably shouldnt say anything, it involves a female friend of my gf who wanted to get pregnant ! safe to say i didnt do it lol - she even offered to do things the hot and steamy way too !!!!)

all tips will consider, very good of you sir

 

[Dutto]

..........she even offered to do things the hot and steamy way too !!!!)

........

Some people have all the luck!

 

[crushagrape]

hi brewers, have bought all the gear i need now, took a reading today too, its 1.006, can i put in the stabiliser and start the clearing process now ?..

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I haven't read the full thread but if this is wine you are making 1.006 will be very sweet if you like it that way stabilise and clear it if not wait until it's below .995.

 

[crushagrape]

i was way off, 1.002 now, cheers.