E. C. Kraus
HOME WINE MAKING NEWSLETTER

Issue Number 18

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*About This Newsletter*

The E. C. Kraus Home Wine Making Newsletter is a FREE publication
that covers issues and topics of general interest to the home
winemaker. You may pass this newsletter on to friends and others,
as long as it is used in its entirety.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

* Taking Good Notes When Making Wine
    - Relying On Memory
    - What Type Of Information Should I Record?
    - Track Hydrometer Readings
    - What Should I Put My Notes In?
    - Related Articles
* Winemaker's Glossary
* LETTER: Pop Goes The Cork
* Wine Making Quick Tips
* Additional Home Wine Making Information

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*TAKING GOOD NOTES WHEN MAKING WINE*

Taking good notes when making a batch of wine is essential to
becoming a consistent and progressing winemaker. While the notes
you are taking may seem trivial at the time, they can become very
valuable pieces of information when later comparing the results
of one wine against the next.

It is this accumulated information over time that will give you
the power to keep improving upon what has been accomplished
before. For example, after taking notes on several batches of
wine you may notice that you seem to like the wines that where
made with one particular type of yeast verses the others. Or,
maybe you'll discover that one type of sugar works better for you
than another.


- Relying On Memory

To rely on memory to recall what you did four batches ago, for
example, can be a desperate endeavor at best. Sometimes, even
when we think we remember what transpired--with great clarity--in
reality it is just our minds playing a cruel joke on us at our
expense.

Even winemakers using packaged wine juices and following the
recipes provided should be taking notes. It's regretful to be
drinking a wine you made months earlier, a wine that you
eventually discover is well to your liking, and not be able to
even remember which brand of juice you used to make it.


- What Type Of Information Should I Record?

The idea here is to record pieces of information that has an
actual bearing on the outcome of the wine. Certainly you don't
want to record things like how the weather outside was when you
added the yeast and such. Instead, you would be concerned with
the temperature of the must when the yeast was introduced. The
more detailed you are with the things that matter the better your
position will be when later trying to make heads or tails of
batches results.

Here are some guidelines as to what information should be
accumulated in your notes:

Ingredients:
The ingredients are the cornerstone of any batch record. The
types of ingredient and their amounts will usually be the most
critical information.

How much fruit was used; the amount and type of sugar, yeast,
fruit acids, nutrients, etc. should all be noted.

Time-Line:
Dates should be kept as well. They can be recorded as a visually
oriented line-graph or you can take them down as a journal entry
such as what you might find in a diary with dated entries. Or,
maybe you have another idea of your own. Which ever you prefer is
fine.

The critical dates are:

- The starting date. This is the time when the yeast is actually
added to the must.

- Dates of rackings. Any time the wine is transferred from one
container to the next, the date should be noted.

- Dates when ingredients are added. Not all ingredients are added
at the beginning of fermentation. Sometimes there are ingredients
that are added a day or two before the fermentation is started.
Sometimes ingredients are added during the fermentation, or even
after it has completed.

- Date the wine was bottled. Nothing special here just note on
what day the wine was transferred in to bottles.

Also, put a date to any comments you may have about the look,
taste or smell of the wine. These may be notes not only taken
during the fermentation but also later as the wine develops with
age.


- Track Hydrometer Readings

Specific Gravity readings should be noted and dated as well. It
is consecutive hydrometer readings through time that will paint a
picture of how the fermentation went along. It is also hydrometer
readings the are used to determine how much alcohol was made.

Hydrometer readings should be taken at: the beginning of
fermentation, during rackings and at the end of fermentation.
Also, if either more sugar or fruit is added to the must during
the fermentation a reading should be noted before and after it is
added.


- What Should I Put My Notes In?

You can use something as simple as a spiral bound notebook for
these records, and this is what many people use. The only
disadvantage with it is your are starting with a blank page. You
have to remember by yourself what pieces of information need to
be recorded. This can lead to holes in your story--so to speak.

Also, the notes might not be consistent from one batch to the
next, making it harder to later compare several batches side by
side. The notes simply are not visually parallel enough to one
another to allow you to come to any solid conclusions.

With these things in mind we have created our own "Wine Log" that
handles these very issues. Simply put, the Wine Log is a bound
book of identically formatted pages that will prompt you for
details about every batch you make in a consistent and complete
manner.

Later you will be able to readily make comparisons between
batches simply by quickly flipping from one identical page to the
next. It is this uniformity that allows things to visually stand
out more clearly when holding one wine up against another.

The Wine Log also has handy conversion charts to help your
convert weights and measures from metric to English and a basic
winemaking overview section for quick referencing when making
your wine.

- For more information on the Wine Log go to the following link
on our web site:
Wine Log


- Related Articles

"Sample Your Wine As You Go"

"Getting To Know Your Hydrometer"


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*WINEMAKER'S GLOSSARY*

PECTIC ENZYME: A liquid that is added to a fruit either after it
has been crushed or at the very beginning of fermentation. It
helps the juice to release from the pulp during the pressing or
during the primary fermentation. Better flavor extraction is also
noticeable with its use.

It is also effective in helping to eliminate hazes caused by
fruit pectin cells. Pectin is the natural jell that holds the
fruit's fiber together. Once it has been broken down and
liquefied, not only is more juice made available from the fruit,
but more of the fruit's character is extracted from the pulp into
the juice as well.

For more information about the Pectic Enzyme we offer go to the
following link on our web site:
Pectic Enzyme

To see more wine making glossary terms go to:
"Winemaker's Glossary"

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*LETTER: POP GOES THE CORK*

Dear E. C. Kraus,

A friend and I go in together and make wine. The last couple of
batches that we have bottled, he keeps half and stores it in his
basement. A lot of the corks are popping. I store mine in a storm
cellar, and have not had any problem. Wonder what the problem is?

Thanks
Larry B.

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Dear Larry,

What is happening is the wine is starting to ferment again in the
bottles. This can happen when sugar has been added to a wine
before bottling for sweetening or when residual amounts of sugar
are still left from the original fermentation when the wine is
bottled.

If no wine stabilizer such as "Potassium Sorbate" is used when
either of the two above situations occur, then simply put, there
is no reason why the fermentation shouldn't eventually become
active again within the wine bottles.

A fermentation can stay dormant for days, weeks or sometimes
months and then restart again when the conditions are right.
Realize that only a very tiny amount of fermentation activity is
required to create the gases that are necessary to push a cork up
and out of the bottle.

More than likely, the reason your friend is having a problem with
corks popping out and you are not, is because the temperature you
are storing your wine at is slightly cooler than the temperature
he is storing his.

The wine you have is in a storm cellar, which is presumably 50 to
60 degrees F. all throughout the year. Your friend's wine is in a
basement which will, in the coolest months, typically only go
down to 65 F. and in the summer months can be as warm as 75 F.
This is assuming that the house has air conditioning; if there is
no air conditioning then obviously it can get even warmer in the
basement.

The cooler temperature that your storm cellar provides is
currently helping to inhibit any fermentation in your bottles.
But be warned, you may be developing the same problem as well
only at a slower pace. If given enough time you may find your
corks are also pushing out as well.

The only real solution to the current problem is to carefully
decant the wine into a common container, mix in a single dose of
"Potassium Sorbate" and "Sodium Bisulfite" and re-bottle.

The re-bottling process should be done in a manner that does not
splash the wine around any more than necessary. This will help to
keep excessive amounts of oxygen from getting into your wine.

The Potassium Sorbate is being added to stop the small amount of
yeast cells that are currently in your wine from multiplying in
to a greater--more menacing--numbers. In others words, it's
putting a lid on the problem and making sure the situation does
not become worse.

The Sodium Bisulfite is being added for two reasons. It will help
to drive out any oxygen that may have made its way into the wine
during the re-bottling process. And secondly, it will help to
incapacitate or marginally destroy yeast cells that are still
trying to be active in the wine.

Prevention of this type of problem is fairly simple. In the
future, verify that the fermentation has completed, with the aid
of a hydrometer, before bottling. You should be looking for a
reading of 0.998 or less on the Specific Gravity scale of your
hydrometer.

If a Specific Gravity of 0.998 has not been reached, then the
fermentation is not done. Readings higher than 0.998 indicate
that there are still sugars in the wine than need to be
fermented.

Even if the fermentation has stopped and 0.998 has not been
reached it still is not done. If this is the situation then
action needs to be taken to remedy the problem so that the
dormant yeast will start again and finish the job.

It is important to note here that bottling a wine with a Specific
Gravity reading just slightly higher than .998, for example 1.001
or 1.002, will have more than enough sugar in it to support a
fermentation capable of popping a cork out of a bottle.

It is also recommended that a sulfite, such as Sodium Bisulfite,
be added to the wine right before bottling. This will help to
inhibit any residual fermentation that my want to occur.

If you are adding sugar at bottling time for sweetening or you
are not completely sure that all the original sugars have been
fermented out, then it is very important to add Potassium Sorbate
along with the Sodium Bisulfite. These two together will
dramatically help to keep your wine stable while in bottle
storage.

Hope this helps you out.

Best Wishes,
Customer Service at E. C. Kraus

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- For more information about the Potassium Sorbate we offer, go
to:
Potassium Sorbate


- For more information about the Sodium Bisulfite we offer, go
to:
Sodium Bisulfite

- Related Articles:

"How To Stop A Fermentation"

"The Many Uses Of Sodium Bisulfite"

"Getting To Know Your Hydrometer"


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*WINEMAKING QUICK TIP*

For every additional pound of cane sugar you add to a 5 gallon
batch of wine, you will increase the "potential alcohol" level of
that batch by 1 percent. If you are making a 6 gallon batch, then
its every 1.2 pounds of cane sugar that you add. These amounts
are not scientifically exact, but they are extremely close.

For example, if you put together a 5 gallon wine recipe and the
potential alcohol on your hydrometer reads only 8 percent, you
can increase the potential alcohol to 10 percent by adding 2 more
pounds of sugar.

Please realize that yeast can only ferment so much alcohol, so if
you are shooting for alcohol ranges higher than 13 percent it is
possible that you can end up with a wine that is too sweet for
your liking. Simply put, any sugars that are not converted into
alcohol by the fermentation will contribute to the sweetness of
that wine.

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*ADDITIONAL HOME WINE MAKING INFORMATION*

- If you are new to home wine making and would like more general
information about making wine at home, see the following article

listed on our web site:

 "How To Get Started Making Wine"

- For a listing of our home wine making recipes, go to our

"Home Wine Making Recipe Page"

- Also, for a general overview of the home wine making process
see the article

 "The Seven Easy Steps To Making Wine"


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*VISIT US ON-LINE*

Visit our web site at www.eckraus.com to view the complete line
of products we have to offer. All products are listed with
detailed information so you can learn as you shop. Purchase
products on-line with our completely secure shopping cart. Never
has shopping on the web been more safe.

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*NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES*

If you would like to look through previous issues of this
newsletter go to our:

"Home Wine Making Articles Page"

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* The E. C. Kraus Home Wine Making Newsletter is produced by:

E. C. Kraus
Home Wine & Beer Making Supplies
733 S. Northern Blvd.
Post Office Box 7850
Independence, MO 64054
Phone: 1-800-383-1906
Fax: 1-816-254-7051

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* Copyright(c) 2004, Kraus Sales, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
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