Home Cooking Gourmet Blog

Post Bottling: Day 196

dd — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:45:56 +0000

I put the corked wine bottle on its side and left the two screw-top bottles upright. It is recommended to let them age for two years. Since they have already bulk-aged half a year, only one and a half left. I’ll try the corked one in a few months.

Bottling: Day 185

dd — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:42:21 +0000

Finally! Time to bottle. I ended up with three 750 ml bottles of wine (and a little extra for my effort ). The taste was pretty good but could have used a smidgen more sugar. Originally, I poured boiling water into the bottles and let them simmer for several minutes. The bottles, screw cap, were [...]

Stabilizing and Sweetening Done: Day 167

dd — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:54:10 +0000

Yesterday I stabilized the wine by adding 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate and 1 crushed Campden tablet (in a sanitized mortar and pestle) to one cup wine. Stirred until dissolved then put into sanitized cubitainer. Then I racked the wine into the cubitainer and let it sit overnight. See this post for more details. Since I [...]

Making your own Hot Sauce

dd — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:44:12 +0000

Making your own hot sauce is very easy. I will add more to this as necessary. 5 red jalapenos 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar 1/2 cup bottled water 1 1/2 tsp sea salt glass jar with lid (I use old mayonnaise or peanut jars) Wash and destem the jalapenos. Toss jalapenos into a blender and [...]

Cleaning Stainless Steel Pans

dd — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:38:21 +0000

I bought a stainless steel dutch oven a while back. Eventually, it had some burnt food on the bottom which could not be removed. I tried hot water/dishwashing liquid, vinegar, and soaking overnight. Nothing worked. According to Cuisinart, stainless steel pans should not be subjected to steel wool or scraping with metal appliances. The instructions [...]

Racking Again

dd — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:13:31 +0000

I racked the wine again. There was sediment (lees) on the bottom so I had to be careful. The lees was noticeably less than when I racked in December. The wine is still a bit cloudy. I lost about 2 cups due to racking. I am going to bulk age another two months before bottling due [...]

Concord Wine Grape Adventure: Sweetening and Stabilizing

dd — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:19:52 +0000

The next major step in the Concord wine adventure, assuming the wine will clarify from racking a few times over several months, will be stabilizing and sweetening. The plan is for this to occur in Jan or Feb 2012. I have been researching the best way to sweeten wine, since Concord wine needs it. After [...]

Concord Grape Wine Adventure – Day 44

dd — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:51:11 +0000

It has been a month since I filled the current secondary fermenter. After sanitizing the necessary equipment (cubitainer, siphon, siphon hose, hydrometer, hydrometer test tube, airlock), on Dec 5th I racked the wine to a new container. The racking took out all but about 1/4 inch of the wine. There was some definite lees on the [...]

Concord Grape Wine Adventure – Day 28

dd — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:54:14 +0000

Overview Timeline Day 1 (Oct 26) – load primary fermenter with grape juice, additives. Measure acid, make adjustment. Day 2 (Oct 27) – A.M. stir in pectin enzyme. P.M. check specific gravity. Adjust, if necessary. Add yeast. Fermentation starts. 70 degrees. Day 11 (Nov 5) – fermentation mostly done. Rack into container with airlock (anaerobic fermentation [...]

Concord Grape Wine Adventure – Day 22

dd — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:42:51 +0000

Why rack wine every few months? Why not let it sit until ready for bottling? Autolysis. Yeast cells remaining will eventually feed on the lees. This induces bad flavors into the wine. Racking every few months will prevent this.