Day 7 - 23/07/06
Well, the first violent fizzing is slowing down so its time to pop our must into the large bottles well finish off the fermentation in (demijohns). So, we put sterilising solution into 2 demijohns and leave them to sterlise. Then we rinse them twice. If you havent seen the icon of home brew this is a demijohn
The first think is to get rid of the fruit in the straining bag. Warning blackcurrant stains to all get out. So, we carry the whole primary fermenter out to the compost heap. We remove the lid, lift out the bag and let it drip. Dont squeeze (squeezing forces the mush through the mesh of the straining bag and its hard to get rid of).
This is what the must now looks like. Youll see some little clumps of material this is a combination of yeast and tiny blackcurrant particles well get rid of them in a bit. The little ripples are CO2 rising up
So, lid back on and we carry the primary fermenter back in and set it up on the kitchen counter. Now well see a good reason for using a beer brewing vessel it has a tap on the bottom. We fit a bit of plastic pipe on the tap (run in under the hot tap first to soften it). This rig mates getting the must into the demijohns much easier.
Now, to strain out any large bits, well put a nylon tea strainer into a funnel. We then fill the demijohns through this set up
Now, Ill introduce you to a few more bits of High tech kit J. On the left we have an air lock, on the right a rubber bung sized to fit the neck of the demijohn. It has a whole through it the size of the stem of the airlock. You can make an airlock out of a bit of plastic tube bent into an S shape if you dont have one. In fact the whole demijohn, cork, airlock arrangement can be lashed up out of an old 5 litre water carrier and 6 of plastic tube.
We put enough water into 1/3 fill the airlock it should look like this
We firmly press the bung into the neck of the demijohn. It should look like this
Fairly quickly the CO2 will force its way up the stem of the airlock. As it passes the bottom of the curve (see photo) a bubble of CO2 will rise through the water and, with the pressure relieved, the water drops back to the bottom. The pressure builds again and so on. When the bubbling stops fermentation is complete.
Finally I rig a light proof jacket up for both demijohns out of brown paper. They are going to sit on my windowsill for a few weeks now and I dont want the light to bleach that lovely dark colour out.
This secondary fermentation takes about a month. Can be more or less dependant on temperature. As it slows down, we will siphon the wine into a fresh demijohn leaving any sludge behind (racking off). Once the fermentation stops, we will clear the wine, stablise it (to stop any further fermentation) and sweeten if we want to. Well then put it through a wine filter for a final polish, cork it into sterilised bottles, label and seal it.
Red
Well, the first violent fizzing is slowing down so its time to pop our must into the large bottles well finish off the fermentation in (demijohns). So, we put sterilising solution into 2 demijohns and leave them to sterlise. Then we rinse them twice. If you havent seen the icon of home brew this is a demijohn
The first think is to get rid of the fruit in the straining bag. Warning blackcurrant stains to all get out. So, we carry the whole primary fermenter out to the compost heap. We remove the lid, lift out the bag and let it drip. Dont squeeze (squeezing forces the mush through the mesh of the straining bag and its hard to get rid of).
This is what the must now looks like. Youll see some little clumps of material this is a combination of yeast and tiny blackcurrant particles well get rid of them in a bit. The little ripples are CO2 rising up
So, lid back on and we carry the primary fermenter back in and set it up on the kitchen counter. Now well see a good reason for using a beer brewing vessel it has a tap on the bottom. We fit a bit of plastic pipe on the tap (run in under the hot tap first to soften it). This rig mates getting the must into the demijohns much easier.
Now, to strain out any large bits, well put a nylon tea strainer into a funnel. We then fill the demijohns through this set up
Now, Ill introduce you to a few more bits of High tech kit J. On the left we have an air lock, on the right a rubber bung sized to fit the neck of the demijohn. It has a whole through it the size of the stem of the airlock. You can make an airlock out of a bit of plastic tube bent into an S shape if you dont have one. In fact the whole demijohn, cork, airlock arrangement can be lashed up out of an old 5 litre water carrier and 6 of plastic tube.
We put enough water into 1/3 fill the airlock it should look like this
We firmly press the bung into the neck of the demijohn. It should look like this
Fairly quickly the CO2 will force its way up the stem of the airlock. As it passes the bottom of the curve (see photo) a bubble of CO2 will rise through the water and, with the pressure relieved, the water drops back to the bottom. The pressure builds again and so on. When the bubbling stops fermentation is complete.
Finally I rig a light proof jacket up for both demijohns out of brown paper. They are going to sit on my windowsill for a few weeks now and I dont want the light to bleach that lovely dark colour out.
This secondary fermentation takes about a month. Can be more or less dependant on temperature. As it slows down, we will siphon the wine into a fresh demijohn leaving any sludge behind (racking off). Once the fermentation stops, we will clear the wine, stablise it (to stop any further fermentation) and sweeten if we want to. Well then put it through a wine filter for a final polish, cork it into sterilised bottles, label and seal it.
Red
