My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know.

I was a little more conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port.

I added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits.

Take Care
Steve
Oregon









On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped to
1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added 4
cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked up
nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the recipe says
"do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to me. So I'll
calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%, I will stop. I
found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how to
do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over, this
takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode, just
pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought.
Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and more
knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G. with a
3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must - and it is
going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled down from all
the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most mentioned for
PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers Manual
- bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching the
PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a little)
Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you know
how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I can't
find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to continue my
search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've killed
yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to make
2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I end up
with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in the
primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana and
raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well to
dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients except
yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add activated
yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and discard pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months (S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1 year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all that
sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions,
that is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know.

I was a little more conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port.

I added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits.

Take Care
Steve
Oregon









On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped to
1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added 4
cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked up
nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the recipe says
"do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to me. So I'll
calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%, I will stop. I
found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how to
do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over, this
takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode, just
pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought.
Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and more
knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G. with a
3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must - and it is
going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled down from all
the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most mentioned for
PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers Manual
- bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching the
PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a little)
Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you know
how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I can't
find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to continue my
search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've killed
yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to make
2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I end up
with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in the
primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana and
raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well to
dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients except
yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add activated
yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and discard pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months (S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1 year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all that
sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

Very cool. Cherry port just sounds delicious doesn't it?


Steve
Oregon



On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 11:32:00 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions,
that is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know.

I was a little more conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port.

I added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits.

Take Care
Steve
Oregon









On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped to
1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added 4
cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked up
nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the recipe says
"do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to me. So I'll
calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%, I will stop. I
found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how to
do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over, this
takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode, just
pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought.
Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and more
knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G. with a
3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must - and it is
going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled down from all
the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most mentioned for
PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers Manual
- bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching the
PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a little)
Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you know
how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I can't
find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to continue my
search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've killed
yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to make
2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I end up
with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in the
primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana and
raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well to
dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients except
yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add activated
yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and discard pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months (S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1 year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all that
sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

An update:
The bubbling has just about stopped (a bubble each 90 seconds), so I
racked again into carboys (a 3 gallon, 1 gallon, 2 liter, and a 750ml)
to ensure it was topped up without airspace. I racked must and all after
stirring for 2 minutes. The S.G. is now at 1.022, a little sweeter than
I'd like. Maybe in a month it will go down some more. Figuring out the
alcohol seems straight forward, but here goes.

Original 1.106 = 13.9
dropped to 1.008 = .9
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
dropped to 1.016 = 2.0
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
is at today 1.022 = 2.8

So I think this calculates to:

original: 13.9- .9 = 13.0 %
1st add: 3.9-2.0 = 1.9 %
2nd add: 3.9-2.8 = 1.1 %
--------
16.0 % alcohol

Acid levels remain at 3.1. It tastes great though a little sweet. Hoping
it drops more over the next few weeks, and will balance out with the
everclear I add to get it up to 18%+. (going to Google Pearson's square
when I get closer to this step)

I only post progress since this is a new recipe not on other sites and
wanted to give feedback on progress, I hope it's not boring. smile.

DAve



Dave Allison wrote:
thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions,
that is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know.
I was a little more conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port.
I added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits.
Take Care
Steve
Oregon








On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped
to 1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added
4 cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked
up nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the
recipe says "do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to
me. So I'll calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%,
I will stop. I found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how
to do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are
removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over,
this takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode,
just pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought. Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and
more knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than
ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G.
with a 3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must -
and it is going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled
down from all the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most
mentioned for PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers
Manual - bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching
the PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a
little) Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you
know how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I
can't find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to
continue my search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've
killed yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to
make 2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I
end up with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in
the primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana
and raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well
to dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients
except yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add
activated yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and
discard pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months
(S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1 year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all
that sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add
sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

Hi Dave

There is an easier way that can save you some of that
number crunching. Only use your interim readings to
provide yourself with an adjusted OG (AOG). In this
example, OG 1.106 plus a total of 36 gravity points of
added sugar gives an AOG of 1.142. You can then use
this AOG for your calculations.

1.142 minus 1.022 equals 120 points of sugar used so far.
Instead of number crunching, just pick up your triple scale
hydrometer and use it to cross reference 1.120 to the PA
scale. You will see that it gives you ~15.9% alcohol, which
is what all your number crunching told you.

Some folks would accept this estimate as 'good enough',
but geeky old farts like me would say that it failed to
recognize the effect of alcohol on post pitch SG readings.
To compensate for this I would subtract 10 points from the
'sugar used' number. 120 minus 10 equals 110. I would
then go back to my hydrometer and cross reference
SG 1.110 to the PA scale and find that I had closer to
14.6% ABV in the wine when that ISG 1.022 reading
was taken.

It's up to you, but Pearson's square won't do you much
good if you_over_estimate alcohol by 1.4%. HTH

Frederick


"Dave Allison" wrote in message
...
An update:
The bubbling has just about stopped (a bubble each 90 seconds), so I
racked again into carboys (a 3 gallon, 1 gallon, 2 liter, and a 750ml) to
ensure it was topped up without airspace. I racked must and all after
stirring for 2 minutes. The S.G. is now at 1.022, a little sweeter than
I'd like. Maybe in a month it will go down some more. Figuring out the
alcohol seems straight forward, but here goes.

Original 1.106 = 13.9
dropped to 1.008 = .9
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
dropped to 1.016 = 2.0
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
is at today 1.022 = 2.8

So I think this calculates to:

original: 13.9- .9 = 13.0 %
1st add: 3.9-2.0 = 1.9 %
2nd add: 3.9-2.8 = 1.1 %
--------
16.0 % alcohol

Acid levels remain at 3.1. It tastes great though a little sweet. Hoping
it drops more over the next few weeks, and will balance out with the
everclear I add to get it up to 18%+. (going to Google Pearson's square
when I get closer to this step)

I only post progress since this is a new recipe not on other sites and
wanted to give feedback on progress, I hope it's not boring. smile.

DAve



Dave Allison wrote:
thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions, that
is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know. I was a little more
conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port. I
added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits. Take Care
Steve
Oregon







On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped to
1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added 4
cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked up
nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the recipe
says "do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to me. So
I'll calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%, I will
stop. I found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how to
do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over, this
takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode,
just pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought. Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and
more knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than
ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G. with
a 3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must - and it is
going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled down from
all the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most mentioned
for PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers
Manual - bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching
the PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a little)
Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you
know how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I can't
find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to continue my
search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've killed
yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to make
2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I end up
with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in the
primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana and
raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well to
dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients except
yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add activated
yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and discard
pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months
(S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1
year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all that
sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add
sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

"frederick ploegman" wrote in message
...

It's up to you, but Pearson's square won't do you much
good if you_over_estimate alcohol by 1.4%. HTH

Frederick

That's 1.4%ABV.

David:


According to the chart on Jack Kellers Website you're a little over 6
Brix and haven't fortified yet. That''s close! The everclear
addition may dilute the sweetness too or below your target level.

But, everclear is 95% abv and brandy 40% abv. You'd use 2-3/8 times
the brandy to boost the alcohol level of the port vs everclear.

Would using brandy instead of everclear possibly dilute the sweet,
giving you some room to work with? You'll need to pencil this out to
tell.



Steve
Oregon




On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:55:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

An update:
The bubbling has just about stopped (a bubble each 90 seconds), so I
racked again into carboys (a 3 gallon, 1 gallon, 2 liter, and a 750ml)
to ensure it was topped up without airspace. I racked must and all after
stirring for 2 minutes. The S.G. is now at 1.022, a little sweeter than
I'd like. Maybe in a month it will go down some more. Figuring out the
alcohol seems straight forward, but here goes.

Original 1.106 = 13.9
dropped to 1.008 = .9
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
dropped to 1.016 = 2.0
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
is at today 1.022 = 2.8

So I think this calculates to:

original: 13.9- .9 = 13.0 %
1st add: 3.9-2.0 = 1.9 %
2nd add: 3.9-2.8 = 1.1 %
--------
16.0 % alcohol

Acid levels remain at 3.1. It tastes great though a little sweet. Hoping
it drops more over the next few weeks, and will balance out with the
everclear I add to get it up to 18%+. (going to Google Pearson's square
when I get closer to this step)

I only post progress since this is a new recipe not on other sites and
wanted to give feedback on progress, I hope it's not boring. smile.

DAve



Dave Allison wrote:
thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions,
that is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know.
I was a little more conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port.
I added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits.
Take Care
Steve
Oregon








On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped
to 1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added
4 cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked
up nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the
recipe says "do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to
me. So I'll calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%,
I will stop. I found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how
to do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are
removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over,
this takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode,
just pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought. Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and
more knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than
ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G.
with a 3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must -
and it is going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled
down from all the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most
mentioned for PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers
Manual - bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching
the PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a
little) Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you
know how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I
can't find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to
continue my search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've
killed yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to
make 2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I
end up with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in
the primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana
and raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well
to dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients
except yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add
activated yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and
discard pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months
(S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1 year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all
that sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add
sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

thanks, spud and frederick.
I will noodle over these inputs. This really helps.

I'll rack, taste and decide. wow. what I learn on this NG.
DAve

spud wrote:
David:


According to the chart on Jack Kellers Website you're a little over 6
Brix and haven't fortified yet. That''s close! The everclear
addition may dilute the sweetness too or below your target level.

But, everclear is 95% abv and brandy 40% abv. You'd use 2-3/8 times
the brandy to boost the alcohol level of the port vs everclear.

Would using brandy instead of everclear possibly dilute the sweet,
giving you some room to work with? You'll need to pencil this out to
tell.



Steve
Oregon




On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:55:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

An update:
The bubbling has just about stopped (a bubble each 90 seconds), so I
racked again into carboys (a 3 gallon, 1 gallon, 2 liter, and a 750ml)
to ensure it was topped up without airspace. I racked must and all after
stirring for 2 minutes. The S.G. is now at 1.022, a little sweeter than
I'd like. Maybe in a month it will go down some more. Figuring out the
alcohol seems straight forward, but here goes.

Original 1.106 = 13.9
dropped to 1.008 = .9
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
dropped to 1.016 = 2.0
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
is at today 1.022 = 2.8

So I think this calculates to:

original: 13.9- .9 = 13.0 %
1st add: 3.9-2.0 = 1.9 %
2nd add: 3.9-2.8 = 1.1 %
--------
16.0 % alcohol

Acid levels remain at 3.1. It tastes great though a little sweet. Hoping
it drops more over the next few weeks, and will balance out with the
everclear I add to get it up to 18%+. (going to Google Pearson's square
when I get closer to this step)

I only post progress since this is a new recipe not on other sites and
wanted to give feedback on progress, I hope it's not boring. smile.

DAve



Dave Allison wrote:
thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions,
that is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know.
I was a little more conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port.
I added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits.
Take Care
Steve
Oregon








On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped
to 1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added
4 cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked
up nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the
recipe says "do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to
me. So I'll calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%,
I will stop. I found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how
to do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are
removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over,
this takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode,
just pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought. Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and
more knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than
ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G.
with a 3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must -
and it is going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled
down from all the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most
mentioned for PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers
Manual - bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching
the PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a
little) Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you
know how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I
can't find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to
continue my search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've
killed yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to
make 2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I
end up with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in
the primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana
and raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well
to dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients
except yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add
activated yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and
discard pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months
(S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1 year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all
that sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add
sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

Dave:

Keep us posted on your trials. As you've probably found there's not a
whole lot at this ng about port winemaking. Everything you post goes
into the archives at Google and can be retrieved by you, me and anyone
else for future reference. I use this site a lot for my info
gathering, so do a lot of folks, like you for instance. Your cherry
port progression is good stuff for reference!

Take Care
Steve
Oregon





On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:53:16 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

thanks, spud and frederick.
I will noodle over these inputs. This really helps.

I'll rack, taste and decide. wow. what I learn on this NG.
DAve

spud wrote:
David:


According to the chart on Jack Kellers Website you're a little over 6
Brix and haven't fortified yet. That''s close! The everclear
addition may dilute the sweetness too or below your target level.

But, everclear is 95% abv and brandy 40% abv. You'd use 2-3/8 times
the brandy to boost the alcohol level of the port vs everclear.

Would using brandy instead of everclear possibly dilute the sweet,
giving you some room to work with? You'll need to pencil this out to
tell.



Steve
Oregon




On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:55:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

An update:
The bubbling has just about stopped (a bubble each 90 seconds), so I
racked again into carboys (a 3 gallon, 1 gallon, 2 liter, and a 750ml)
to ensure it was topped up without airspace. I racked must and all after
stirring for 2 minutes. The S.G. is now at 1.022, a little sweeter than
I'd like. Maybe in a month it will go down some more. Figuring out the
alcohol seems straight forward, but here goes.

Original 1.106 = 13.9
dropped to 1.008 = .9
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
dropped to 1.016 = 2.0
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
is at today 1.022 = 2.8

So I think this calculates to:

original: 13.9- .9 = 13.0 %
1st add: 3.9-2.0 = 1.9 %
2nd add: 3.9-2.8 = 1.1 %
--------
16.0 % alcohol

Acid levels remain at 3.1. It tastes great though a little sweet. Hoping
it drops more over the next few weeks, and will balance out with the
everclear I add to get it up to 18%+. (going to Google Pearson's square
when I get closer to this step)

I only post progress since this is a new recipe not on other sites and
wanted to give feedback on progress, I hope it's not boring. smile.

DAve



Dave Allison wrote:
thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions,
that is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know.
I was a little more conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port.
I added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits.
Take Care
Steve
Oregon








On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped
to 1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added
4 cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked
up nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the
recipe says "do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to
me. So I'll calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%,
I will stop. I found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how
to do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are
removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over,
this takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode,
just pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought. Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and
more knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than
ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G.
with a 3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must -
and it is going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled
down from all the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most
mentioned for PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers
Manual - bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching
the PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a
little) Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you
know how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I
can't find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to
continue my search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've
killed yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote:

Hi!

I found Sweet cherries real cheap today. Bought 17 pounds to
make 2 gallons of port. I'll probably do 17 pints of water so I
end up with 2
gallons. Since I've done so many KITS, I added Bentonite at the
beginning like many kits do. Thanks for any insights, I really
appreciate it.

Would love your inputs and thoughts:


Here is what I think is a good recipe:

Cherry Port (2 gallon recipe)

• 1 tsp Bentonite
• 16 lbs sweet eating cherries
• 1 banana (& ? pound raisins)
• 7 lbs sugar (to S.G. 1.140+)
• 14 ? pints water
• • 3 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp tannin
• 2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 2 tsp yeast nutrient
• Port wine yeast
• Later:
o Sorbate to stablize
o add 75ml brandy? An idea.

Bring water to boil, add Bentonite slowly stirring until
dissolved. Meanwhile, de-stem, wash and crush the cherries in
the primary without
breaking any stones. Pour sugar over cherries, mashed banana
and raisins. Pour the boiling water over the mix and stir well
to dissolve.
Cover and set aside until cool. Add remaining ingredients
except yeast;
cover and set aside for 12 hours. S.G. 1.120-1.150Add
activated yeast
and ferment 5 days. Strain juice into dark secondary and
discard pulp
and stones. S.G. 1.060 ?Add 1 pound sugar, stir. Rack after 30
days and
again when wine clears. S.G.~1.060 After two additional months
(S.G.
1.030) stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, wait 20 additional days,
rack until clear, then bottle, and store in dark place for 1 year.
Another point, after the initial ferment, I would not add all
that sugar
at once. I usually keep a check on the SG as it ferments and add
sugar
syrup in quarter pints over a longer period.

Wow. I had to read this 6 times, but I got it! thanks.

frederick ploegman wrote:
Hi Dave

There is an easier way that can save you some of that
number crunching. Only use your interim readings to
provide yourself with an adjusted OG (AOG). In this
example, OG 1.106 plus a total of 36 gravity points of
added sugar gives an AOG of 1.142. You can then use
this AOG for your calculations.

1.142 minus 1.022 equals 120 points of sugar used so far.
Instead of number crunching, just pick up your triple scale
hydrometer and use it to cross reference 1.120 to the PA
scale. You will see that it gives you ~15.9% alcohol, which
is what all your number crunching told you.

Some folks would accept this estimate as 'good enough',
but geeky old farts like me would say that it failed to
recognize the effect of alcohol on post pitch SG readings.
To compensate for this I would subtract 10 points from the
'sugar used' number. 120 minus 10 equals 110. I would
then go back to my hydrometer and cross reference
SG 1.110 to the PA scale and find that I had closer to
14.6% ABV in the wine when that ISG 1.022 reading
was taken.

It's up to you, but Pearson's square won't do you much
good if you_over_estimate alcohol by 1.4%. HTH

Frederick


"Dave Allison" wrote in message
...
An update:
The bubbling has just about stopped (a bubble each 90 seconds), so I
racked again into carboys (a 3 gallon, 1 gallon, 2 liter, and a 750ml) to
ensure it was topped up without airspace. I racked must and all after
stirring for 2 minutes. The S.G. is now at 1.022, a little sweeter than
I'd like. Maybe in a month it will go down some more. Figuring out the
alcohol seems straight forward, but here goes.

Original 1.106 = 13.9
dropped to 1.008 = .9
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
dropped to 1.016 = 2.0
added sugar to 1.030 = 3.9
is at today 1.022 = 2.8

So I think this calculates to:

original: 13.9- .9 = 13.0 %
1st add: 3.9-2.0 = 1.9 %
2nd add: 3.9-2.8 = 1.1 %
--------
16.0 % alcohol

Acid levels remain at 3.1. It tastes great though a little sweet. Hoping
it drops more over the next few weeks, and will balance out with the
everclear I add to get it up to 18%+. (going to Google Pearson's square
when I get closer to this step)

I only post progress since this is a new recipe not on other sites and
wanted to give feedback on progress, I hope it's not boring. smile.

DAve



Dave Allison wrote:
thanks for the input. I'll be more conservative in future additions, that
is good advice.
Thanks for the Pearson's square words to search on. !!

The port is bubbling again and today is down to S.G. 1.020.

More later,
DAve

spud wrote:
My Fellow Port Maker:

That might be a bit much sugar at one 'feeding' for both the yeast and
your sugar levels. But, I don't really know. I was a little more
conservative, if fermentation doesn't restart on
one of the additions then you may end up with a way too sweet port. I
added sugar to 6 Brix at each feeding and ended up with a calulated
abv of 18%. When it finally clears I'll go to 20% abv with everclear
and sugar to ~ 5 Brix then adjust to taste.

Use Pearson's square for everclear additions. DAGS of: wine pearsons
square, turned up 500,000 hits. Take Care
Steve
Oregon







On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:13:48 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

update on the recipe:

I ended up with two (2/3rds full) 3 gallon carboys. The S.G. dropped to
1.008 (or less) today so I took out 1/2 gallon from each and added 4
cups of sugar - which put them back to 1.040+. The bubbling picked up
nicely again. I will do this a couple more times, though the recipe
says "do it until it stays at 1.000" which makes no sense to me. So
I'll calculate the alcohol level and when it gets to 16%-18%, I will
stop. I found Everclear in Tennessee
so can raise it to 20%. I have to do some Googling to figure out how to
do that. i think I'll end up with 3 gallons when the lees are removed.
I assume for calculating alcohol I would do this:

initial S.G.
S.G. prior to sugar addition.
add those.
new S.G. after sugar
add S.G. prior to sugar addition.

when done add those sums up.

Hope that makes sense.


more later,
DAve

Dave Allison wrote:
Well, I added the yeast last night and it is foaming nicely. As I
monitor the S.G. down to 1.020 and then add sugar over and over, this
takes more care than kit wines. smile.
I'm heading to Tennessee today, maybe they have everclear... hmm.

Once I had Apple Cider wine push the corks out, but didn't explode,
just pushed up the cork and leaked.

Steve, let me know how your's turns out.
DAve

spud wrote:
Dave:

I used Premier Cuvee as well and got the abv up to ~18% before the
yeast quit. I will be adding everclear to 20% abv. Since I'm not
filtering I fear adding sugar then bottling up port grenades. Yikes
what a mess that would be. Just a thought. Steve
Oregon


On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:30:04 -0400, Dave Allison
wrote:

Well, I learned so much this past few days.

I now have a BRIX to S.G. chart
(http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php), a PH tester (Henna), and
more knowledge than I've had on the chemistry of wine making than
ever!

The Cherry Port recipe mentioned below, is intially 1.106 S.G. with
a 3.2 PH. I pre-pitched the yeast in 3/4 cup of the must - and it is
going gang-busters! I will add when the must has cooled down from
all the boiling water added. P. Cuvee was the yeast most mentioned
for PORT, (or EC1118) so I used that.

I know I may give fredrick a heart-attack, but here is the recipe,
which I followed almost exactly, thanks to the Home WineMakers
Manual - bless who ever maintains that!
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt21.html

I used the Berry Port recipe and used Cherries instead - watching
the PH and S.G. closely as I added the sugar and other ingredients.

I will add oak essence liquid later to give it the oak flavor...
maybe 1-2 ounces. (says 4 oz for 20 gallons, so need only a little)
Must and water is now at 6 gallons in volume.

thanks all for your insights, this helped me a lot. I'll let you
know how it goes.
DAve


Dave Allison wrote:
Got it, Shane. thanks.

As i stated above, I have to rethink the recipe, but since I can't
find a Cherry Port at the regular sites, I will need to continue my
search.

I like the thought of adding slowly all that sugar, as I've killed
yeast before by adding to much. thanks. DAve

Shane Badham wrote:
Dave Allison wrote: