Drinkers with a Running Problem

1

Winemaking (Read 312 times)


Feeling the growl again

    My vineyard contains:

    Cayuga White -- 10 4th year, 10 3rd year vines

    Marachel Foch -- 10 4th year, 10 3rd year vines

    Oberlin Noir -- 10 2nd year, 8 1st year vines

     

    This year, I pruned up for a full harvest on all 3rd and 4th year vines -- 20 each of Cayuga White and Marachel Foch.

    Cayuga White is a relatively large and hardy grape.  Problem was I let them hang 3 weeks longer than last year...trying to let the bunches that were behind catch up...and the weather turned the last week.  The grapes didn't like it; I lost abour 30% of the yield and a lot of harvest time picking out the bad ones.

    Marachel Foch is a small little grape.  Last year I lost them all to birds.  I had to invest in bird nets, visible here, to save them this year.  As my vines are still young and it was a dry year the bunches are relatively small; a couple vines on richer/wetter soil had much larger bunches on average.

    The haul of Whites.  I didn't weigh them, but it was probably ~80lbs or more.

    The Foch yield.  Eh.  I have faith it will more than double in a good year.

    All ready to process the whites....

    Mashing.  This was actually kind of fun.

    Pressing the mashed grapes.  You only ferment the juice when making white wine.

    6 gallons and a bit of change in the end.  This went in the kegerator (seen in background) overnight to cool down to around 60 degrees.  Bentonite (a fine clay used to cause settling) was added as well.  By the next day, I had 1 gallon of sedimentation.  I siphoned off the wine into the 5 gallon carbuoy on the left, which was completely filled.  To this I added yeast, and it is currently fermenting at about 60 degrees for 2-3 weeks.  Specific gravity started at 1.080, so I expect about 11% alcohol if all goes according to plan.

    I decided to protect my skin from days-long purple staining.

    For reds, everything goes in the pot.  Ideally I'd have had a stemmer/crusher to separate the stems and add only some of them back in (to control tannins) but I do not have one and these bunches were too small to make picking them out practical.  So we'll see how it goes.  SG=1.092, 12.5% ALC when dry.

    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

     

    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

     

    zoom-zoom


    rectumdamnnearkilledem

      Oooh...you should offer the choice of a beer mile or a wine 5k! Big grin

      Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

      remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

           ~ Sarah Kay


      Prince of Fatness

        Nice pics, but what's with the Coke?  That's what people drink when they make wine?

        Not at it at all. 


        Feeling the growl again

          Nice pics, but what's with the Coke?  That's what people drink when they make wine?

           

          When they're a bit hung over from the previous evening...yes.. Wink

          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

           

          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

           

          Trent


          Good Bad & The Monkey

            Hair of the dog.  More wine fixes the hangover better than Coke.


            Feeling the growl again

              Just pressed out the red primary into a secondary carbuoy.  I am happy, looks like I will get about 2.5 gallons (12ish bottles) of finished wine, which is a bit more than I thought looking at the primary.

               

              I was worried that the air lock did not bubble but then I thiefed it....SG was about 1.00, it's already dried out.  Tasted a shot glass, I think it will be pretty darn good with a little age on it!

               

              The white is still going....the kegerator does not like being set in the 55-60F range, I could pretty much get 64-68 or 48 degrees.  It was going like crazy at 64-68 so I put it down to 48 for now, and it's still got a steady stream of bubbles going.  When it slows down I'll warm it back up a bit to make sure it goes dry.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               


              Ostrich runner

                Marechal Foch was a little hard to come by last year--the Oliver Creekbend vineyard lost its entire crop to weather, and they supply most of the other IN wineries that make it. 

                 

                It's been a while since I've bent any copper line, but I'd be interested in seeing how some of those are distilled as well.

                http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Indy/forum


                Feeling the growl again

                   

                   

                  It's been a while since I've bent any copper line, but I'd be interested in seeing how some of those are distilled as well.

                   

                  A household of 2 or more people can make 200gal of wine/yr as long as they don't sell it, but distilling a drop is a crime.

                   

                  Yeah, I need to get out to Ft Ben to run sometime, it would be an interesting conversation.  Wink

                   

                  Easley Winery lost all their Foch to overspray from a neighboring farm, they're gone permanently.

                  "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                   

                  I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                   


                  Feeling the growl again

                    Racked the white off the last of the lees today onto a little more bentonite and pectic enzyme.  Pretty clear...it will be perfect in a week.  Tasted what was left over in the siphon....tastes like a very nice dry white.  My kegerator would not sit at 60F, so it was closer to 50F average and therefore took well over a month to complete fermentation.

                     

                    I ended up getting a small second crop off the Marachel Foch which yielded an additional half gallon of wine....so I will end up with just shy of 5gal of white and just over 3gal of red.  Within the next week I hope to rack the red and put it on some oak chips for flavor....bottling by January, if all goes to plan.

                    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                     

                    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                     


                    Feeling the growl again

                      Looks like it's whit wine time next weekend...much bigger crop hanging this year.

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills