Stabilising and Clearing - Stir Vigorously, or else...

As I read through last week's deal at Northern Brewer for 10% off a wine wand, I wondered - what's the point of that tool?  Well we found out during the Stabilizing and Clearing step we performed last week why one might pay $40-$50 for that tool.

We began this step a couple days prior, using the hydrometer to check the specific gravity.  As per the directions, once the specific gravity was consistent for two days in a row, then we were able to go ahead with this next step.

We began with racking the wine back into our primary fermenter bucket.  This process was as exciting as ever and resulted in wine on the floor and pants.  (I promise to refrain from a "wine on the floor, lookin' like a fool with your wine on the floor" joke here...hehe, I just did anyway by saying I won't.)  No one knows the unclassy crap that happens behind the scenes of making wine.  Well here at Peterzberg Winez, we iz keepin' it real.  True dat.

Then I proceeded to follow the directions and dissolved the metabisulphite and sorbate in a 1/2 cup of cool water.  This is where I discovered paying $40 for a wine wand perhaps was a really good idea.  Thankfully the banker had decent arm strength and I think successfully completed the task of "Stir[ing] vigorously...to drive off CO2 gas.  Your wine may not clear if this stirring is not vigorous enough." 

Well that was a little daunting.  In bold lettering it told us that if we wimped out on this step our wine might be ruined.  Fantastic. 

Well after stirring vigorously for far longer than the 2 minutes it recommended, it was time to add the Chitosan.  More vigorous stirring was required by the directions.  The wine wand was not far from my mind as I watched the Banker use the paddle that came with our kit and a helluva lot of elbow grease to move that grape juice around.  I tried my hand at vigorously stirring, and was pooped out pretty quickly.

The last step required topping off the wine with water, which ensued in a dispute between Banker and Librarian and resulted in a compromise of adding just 4 cups of water.  (Perhaps my side is revealed by the word "just" in the preceding sentence.)

Regardless, too exhausted to blog that night, the deed was done.  In a few days we'll be ready for the next step: Racking and Clarification. 

2nd Fermentation...The Banker Can't Handle Nice Things

So while I haven't blogged recently, last week we did the 2nd fermentation, which includes "racking."

Racking is the process of separating wine from its sediment that has settled at the bottom of the container.  Sediment resulting from yeast activity during alcoholic fermentation is referred to as lees.  From Techniques in Home Winemaking: The Comprehensive Guide to Making Chateau-Style Wines

The Deluxe Wine Starter Kit that we purchased included this sweet device called the "Auto Siphon."  This tool is supposed to begin the siphoning process without the old fashioned "suck from the tube to begin siphoning process."  Well in an effort to attach the mesh filter to this device...well, um, something fell off.  And it no longer worked.  Banker fail, but he gave it his best and I was encouraging him to put the mesh filter on the Auto Siphon...oops.

I wish I had a picture to share of Mr. Peterzberg carefully sucking wine through the tube to begin the racking (siphoning), however it was a delicate situation that required our unified attention span to ensure the vino wasn't contaminated with any possible germs in said Banker's mouth.

However we do have some pictures of the process, including us taking turns behind the camera and holding the siphoning tube, looking as lovely as ever.


But first, I promised pictures of using the Hydrometer to check the Specific Gravity.  Enjoy!

 

  And here I am carefully siphoning the wine from the Primary Fermenting container to the Carboy that will hold the wine for the 2nd Fermentation (a 10 day process).

Here we are entering the final step of the 2nd fermentation, applying the airlock.  My camera is not the greatest, but Mr. Peterzberg filled the airlock contraption halfway with water, affixing it to the rubber stopper (called a Bung...a little odd, reminded me of Beavis & Butthead and the term Bung Hole...which is funny because it plugs the hole of the carboy.  But I digress.)

And then affixed it in the Carboy hole.  Neat - the cap on the airlock and the water allows the gasses to escape, while the water and cap keep out any impurities (e.g. dust or cat hair...eww.  This wine has a hint of calico and tidy cat.  *Cough*  It's, um, delicious!)








-Ms. Peterzberg

Read Yer Bookz, They'z Good Fer Ya

A good librarian checks multiple resources, not just relying on one source for information.  Well thankfully the banker is a reader too, because one of the books I mentioned in the previous blog post gave us superior advice to the wine kit.  I'll tell you what and why.

In the wine ingredient kit directions it mentioned pushing down the top layer and stirring it just once a day for the first week (the Primary Fermentation stage).  In the book The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home it recommended, "Punch down twice a day for about a week" (page 8).

Well we decided to go with the book based on the assumption that the kit is going to recommend directions based on what the consumer can get by with to make the wine with minimal effort.  This makes the kit more appealing, being a lower maintenance method.  Kits are made and marketed for people who are either new (like us) or want an easy way to make wine.

But the book's integrity is not relying on consumer comfort, but a consumer who is interested in making the best possible product.  People who buy (and actually read) books are interested in taking the time to learn every aspect of the process.  Trust me, I'm a librarian, I know these two types of information consumers exist.

So here we are,  punching down the top layer back into the juice.

Ms. Peterzberg

Banker Does Art...or does he

I couldn't resist...the first post on a new blog is always the worst.  Here goes the 2nd.

So the Wine Making Journal I've mentioned has a nifty spot for you to put a label for each batch of wine you make.  A cute way of personalizing the wine and visually identifying bottle label to recipe/log page in journal.

I've been encouraging the Banker, our creative director, to design a label for this first batch.  This blog post is my public encouragement (nudge, nudge) for said Banker to get going on this.  My journal looks so sad without its label!  And the Librarian doesn't do art...unless you'd like some awesome stick figures holding gunz (my specialty, a little worrisome to my mom during the high school years).

Ms. Peterzberg

In the beginning...

There was a bucket and some grape juice and grape must, a packet of yeast, and some oak chips (toasted and premium from the kit manufacturer).

Well we're only on Day 2 of our first attempt at making wine. We bought the Deluxe Wine Making Starter Kit from Northern Brewer in St. Paul as our annual joint Christmas present. Being the beginners that we are, we decided to go with a wine ingredient kit which included the items I mentioned above.

The guy at Northern Brewer was very helpful with advice for newbies. He mentioned that we don't have to buy bottles when we hit the bottling stage if we start saving our empty bottles of wine. Cool!

Being a librarian and wanting a good set of reference books for this endeavor, I did some research and found some great books on wine making, including a journal which I'm finding very helpful to stay organized (linked below).

Our first wine is a Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, (Selection Estate brand). It included the following ingredients:

Bag of Grape Juice concentrate (not sure how many gallons)
Approx. 1/2 Gallon Grape Must
15g Bentonite
60g Toasted Oak Chips
93g Premium Oak Chips
4g Potassium Metabisulphate
5.5g Potassium Sorbate
Approx. 2 Cups of Chitosan
Yeast: Lalvin's Bourgovin RC 212 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae B.V.I.B)

Probably the most confusing part of the Day 1 Primary Fermentation process (the ingredient kit directions were pretty easy to follow) was testing the specific gravity of our wine sample using the Hydrometer. Turned out to be pretty simple. It involved using the Wine Thief to get a sample of the wine, putting the sample in the tall plastic cylinder, and dropping the hydrometer in the cylinder so that it floats in the wine - all these items were included in the Wine Making Starter Kit. (I'll try to add a picture when we test this again.)

We carefully followed the last step for the Primary Fermentation stage evenly sprinkling the yeast on top of our wannabe wine mixture, and voila! A bucket of wine beginning the fermentation stage!

Now I'm tempted to buy another carboy to start a second batch once this batch goes from bucket to carboy...

Here are the resources (kits & books) I purchased to begin our wine making journey. The Northern Brewer ships their products, so even if you don't have the luxury of St. Paul living you can order their goods.

Northern Brewer Wine Kits
Selection Estate Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon







Ms. Peterzberg