Experiment please help

[Pohammer]

by Pohammer » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:12 pm

Hi everyone.
just wondering, i have a whole bunch (excuse the pun) of grapes on the vine that are just going to go bad i have however taken some (about 3/4 of a 10ltr brewing barrel) crushed them to a pulp added about 750 gm of sugar disolved in a bit of hot water and............
about 3 teaspoons of Edmonds surebake yeast, that was 3 days ago. within an hour of concocting the brew it was bubbling away nicely.

my Questions are

will it work can i make alcohol from it
am i wasting my time
and what should i do with the rest of the grapes
Pohammer
Novice

Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:43 pm

[rad14701]

How much water did you add and what was the total volume of the wash...???

Did you measure the Specific Gravity...??? That will tell you how much sugar you could have added to the wash, if needed...

Sounds like plenty enough yeast to do the job if the SG isn't too high and/or the alcohol content doesn't kill off the yeast colony...

The more information you give us, the better we will be able to help you along...

[Durace11]

my Questions are

will it work can i make alcohol from it

If it is bubbling, it is making alcohol

am i wasting my time

You wont know until it finishes, this is why most people would suggest to stick to the Tried and True recipies until you get the hang of fermenting, then branch out into recipe creation

and what should i do with the rest of the grapes

Same thing, or just eat them

[Pohammer]

cheers guys
it was about 6ltr of just grapes crushed up the about a cup of hot water to dissolve the sugar then added that then topped up barrel to about 10ltr with water.
looking at the brew it has about 3-4 inches of floating grapes and pulp then under that looks relatively clear like a wash that has cleared but the mix is still bubbling in the barrel

[Pohammer]

ok i have watched the wash for 5 days now and have noticed that the grapes and pulp have separated from the liquid underneath and is sitting on the top i opened the barrel and mixed the wash again. i took a sample of the wash liquid and it was sg of 20 if that sounds correct
the wash was quite sweet tasting. put it all back together and its away bubbling again

[Coaster]

.....i took a sample of the wash liquid and it was sg of 20 if that sounds correct.....

@ Pohammer

No. A specific gravity of 20 does not sound correct.

Suggest visiting the New Distiller Reading Lounge and review the 'How to read a Mash Hydrometer' thread ->

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=14928

Regards,
Coaster

[Pohammer]

the 20 mark is where the reading was

[Prairiepiss]

That is 1.020. If you look up the .999 should have a . Before it. Then it goes up as you go down the hydrometer. 1.000 being water. I thought it explained that in the thread provided?

[Pohammer]

oh ok now i understand thank you
so is that good that it is at that reading?

[Coaster]

@ Pohammer,

You need to re-read the 'How to read a Mash Hydrometer' thread in its complete entirety. Knowing how to use and read a Mash Hydrometer is one of the basics home hobby skills that is necessary to effectively distill sprit products.

Reading the information in the contained in 'How to read a Mash Hydrometer' clearly reveals “When the mash goes below 1.000 and the bubbling stops and it is starting to clear it is done!”

Regards,
Coaster

[Pohammer]

i knew that when the wash was at below .980 it was ready to dist i have never tested when the SG was above that.
i was always on the understanding that you tested after the wash stopped bubbling.

i was taught by a person who "knew it all" apparantly, so i am sorry for my ignorance in some things, but that is why i am here, to expand what i already know and learn a whole s**tload more.

[Pohammer]

ok the bubbling has stopped and the wash liquid has a SG of .998, i have separated the pulp from the liquid getting 6 litres of wash. i dont drink wine so i got a freind to taste it and he said it definately has a winey taste.
i took a reading on my Alcometer and was showing a reading of 9%

now i am going to let the wash clear and decide what im going to do with it after that.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

[rad14701]

now i am going to let the wash clear and decide what im going to do with it after that.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Let it clear and either drink it or distill it...

[Dnderhead]

Old grapes,especially after frost should have higher sugar content than "good" grapes.(look for "frost wine")
adding water/sugar is a no-no in making wine/brandy, but its yours so you can do as you want.
some states allow sugar in "fruit wine" (but never in brandy) . here in in the sates most distillers use grape
brandy then add fruit during ferment or after and it becomes "fruit flavored" brandy.

[Pohammer]

cheers guys now is there a step by step to brandy i can find?

[Dnderhead]

No step by step but brandy is distilled wine.its as simple as that.mine i like "singled" or run once threw a pot still.
to make it "legal" when making fruit brandy use white grape concentrate to bring up the SG instead of sugar.
as stated,I like to run once this saves flavor.I run once saving the harts and add "feints" to the next run.
by the way,you will have less wast/more harts from white wine than red.

[Coaster]

@ Pohammer,

Suggest performing a Forum or Google search for the topic “Brandy”.

Perhaps you might want look over Forum Member’s Tater ‘Peach Brandy’ recipe in the Tried And True Recipes to get an idea of what is evolved in making Brandy ->

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =14&t=2902

With only 1.5 gallons of a 9 percent ABV wine it will be very difficult to make any appreciable amount of Brandy. After making Foreshot/Head/Hart/Tail cuts there isn’t going to be much Brandy to drink.

From looking over your Forum postings it appears that you haven’t actually distilled a Sprit product. Before tackling making Brandy I would suggest that you make a couple of simple sugar washes and learn the tricks of the trade before attempting to make Brandy. Suggest visiting the Tried And True Recipes sub-forum try one of the simple sugar washes such as “Gerber”,
“Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash” or “All Bran Recipe”. Then move up to making your Brandy.

If you rack off your “Grape” wine into a glass vessel and cap if off and it will keep for a very long time. Once you get you distilling procedure down part with the simple sugar washes you will more likely be successful in make Brady from your “Grape” wine.

Regards,
Coaster

[Pohammer]

@ Coaster
in the last month i have put down 6 washes putiing out at between 90-94 % i have had my still (Essencia 25ltr reflux ) for nearly 5 years and feel i am pretty competent at a simple wash and distilling.
However that is all i have done, simple washes and adding flavours to the alcohol, as this is all i know i have not tried anything else.
i don't know what else i can do with the raw products ie undistilled wash, cleared wash, unclear wash, fruits and other types of things, i recently acquired a SS super reflux still that i was thinking of detuning to a pot still as I have never used one before.

So i am sorry if i came across as someone who doesnt know anything at all, but I do know a little and I have been into lots lots of the topics on this and other forums and have gained alot of information that i did not know.
before i came to HD i knew nothing of Cuts except take the first 50-100ml off as it is poison.
i have only had what the brew shop has told me.
so that is why i ask the questions i do

Cheers Pohammer

[Dnderhead]

as stated,brandy is distilled wine,cheapest to experiment with mite be fruit juice from the store.
experiment with that then when confident move on to raw fruit that is much more work and
can be expensive depending where you live.

[Pohammer]

cheers dude will try that way but i think i will clear what i have atm and see if it makes a tastful wine

[Pohammer]

well have now put just under 5ltr into bottles and will wait to see how it goes after a bit of ageing
before i bottled i ran it through some filter paper.
so will just have to wait and see how it goes.