On Oct 5, 11:46*pm, shbailey > wrote:
> On Oct 5, 9:22 pm, Shalom Shachne > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Hi all -
>
> > This is my first attempt at making wine with Concord Grapes grown in
> > my yard. *I am using a beginner's wine making kit, and and a very
> > general recipe for Concord grapes.
>
> > I was not too sure of how much grapes I started with (didn't have any
> > scale), but I ended up with about 5 gallons of liquid from the crushed
> > grapes (but with possibly too high a proportion of grape skins and
> > pulp to liquid -- I didn't add much water).
>
> > Also - I didn't use fermentation bag (although I have one) for primary
> > fermentation (recipe/instructions didn't call for doing that),
> > although I see several instruction sets on line say to use one. *The
> > skins and pulp are in the liquid, and mostly floated to top.
>
> > I am pretty sure this is now at end of primary fermentation period -
> > it started at 1.090 SG and now is at 1.010 (after about 8 days), and
> > have seen quite a few different variations on what the next step would
> > be.
>
> > Here are the questions:
> > 1. *Some instructions say transfer to secondary by pouring wine from
> > primary to secondary through a funnel which has a cheese cloth/
> > strainer on it. *(And then rack in about month, using siphon.)
>
> > I read other instructions which said to pour free juice into
> > secondary, and then press skins through nylon strainer bag.
>
> > Finally, other instructions said to rack using siphon hose into
> > secondary container.
>
> > Which of the above would be best as next step?
>
> > 2. *For secondary fermentation, I have a 5 gallon carboy with plastic
> > air lock. *A few sites said I should put some wine aside to top off.
> > But I don't have another container and another air lock, can you put
> > the top off wine into a mason jar (or something similar?
>
> > 3. *What to fill airlock with, water or sulfite solution? *I've seen
> > someone say that sulfite solution in air lock adds bad odor, and that
> > water is sufficient. *Others say use sulfite? *What's the way to
> > decide which to use?
>
> > Thanks for any advice.
>
> The answers to your questions can be found hehttp://winemaking.jackkeller.net/
>
> You will get more volume and possibly better color if you press the
> pulp.
>
> Make sure your carboy is topped up at the beginning. *If you have
> extra, you can put it in a properly sized wine bottle (topped up) and
> get a small stopper and another air lock. *If you can't do this, buy a
> bottle of commercial Concord wine to top up with. *In order to rack
> (followed by topping up) you will need another carboy in about a month.

Actually, if I could ask a follow up question. Last night I
transferred to secondary. I tried both ways of transferring, pouring
through a funnel with a filter in it, and siphoning. In the end I had
to siphon most of it because it was too hard to pour such a large
amount of liquid with the funnel (I had not big enough - and primary
was messy to pour from). Using the siphon, it transferred some number
of grape skins in addition to pulp. There is a layer (not a huge
amount) of grape skins floating a top of car boy. Will that be a
problem?

Also, ran into the problem that I slightly overfilled the carboy
initially, I thought I had only filled up to below the neck, but the
wine expanded and started bubbling out of top of air lock. I had to
dump some - I think I wasn't exactly sure at what level to top-off to.