Fermenting Wine

Here are a few photos of my poor-man's garage winery. Every day of this week of fermentation, I punch down the cap of skins two or three times per day to keep it moist. It also promotes color and flavor extraction and helps prevent undesirable bacteria from making a home of the grape skins.  Those white containers are plastic fermenation containers which allow the CO2 escape out the rim of the lid yet prevent dust and bugs from dropping in.

I also measure the brix daily with a hydrometer. Today it's down to 15, which means about 1/3 of the sugar has already been converted to alcohol. And that means it's time for a little more yeast nutrients. Very important to keep those yeasts happy so they can finish their job without leaving any sugar remaining.

My other task today is to begin caring for my new oak barrel. I filled it up with water and a little potassium metabisulfite to kill any stray microbes. The water might leak for a few days as the barrel staves swell with moisture until they lock in the liquid. Then it will be good and ready for wine in a few weeks!

~Dave Sienknecht