Wine racking 101

Hey all, been really busy and no computer for a while. Sorry. Well, here is the long-awaited wine racking procedure.

Here is my 5-gallon carboy full of raspberry-apple wine. Time to siphon it off and add stabilizer and sparkloid powder...

After I do this, it takes a couple weeks before I can bottle it. This is the 3rd racking, but the first time I have added these ingredients. This wine is nearly done, except for clearing and bottling. I had three kinds going at once this winter...Raspberry-Apple, Wild Grape, and Raspberry. I only got 3 gallons of raspberry, which I am actually making for a friend who has a longing for scratched arms and mosquito bites. And a passion for raspberries!

Here are the jugs of the other kinds. The wild grape is still working, and also the best tasting at this time. The one with the expanded balloon is the grape. I sometimes use balloons because it gives me a better indication of when the yeast is done working. When the balloon goes down, the wine is usually done. Here are the two wines, side by side. I have racked them and added clarifier and stabilizer, along with a bit more sugar. The wines I make are very dry. Most of the people in my hubbies family like sweeter wine, therefore I sweeten it up a bit. I was most successful at white grape and honey wine last year. I also made 2 kinds of strawberry, neither of which I liked. I didn't really know how to make wine last year, and I didn't add the right ingredients. Some of the strawberry exploded in the basement!!!

After adding the sugar, my grape wine started working again, and started bubbling. That won't last. Neither will this wine. Want some???

Too bad I can't sell this stuff! Against the law and all that. I did make some great labels, however, and included the alcohol content...13% by volume. Plus a warning about drinking responsibly, and returning my bottles!

I give all my wine away at Christmas, anniversaries, and family functions. The joy is in the making and the giving. Not everyone likes my homebrew, but they are just so used to the boxed garbage that their tastebuds have become immune to the good stuff. My husband calls it my "science experiment". He only likes it if he adds enough maple syrup to kill the taste. He figures it should taste like, Lord forbid, grapes, or strawberries, or fruit. I just told him to buy fruit juice if that's what he wants!!! Here is the finished product, although the clarifier and stabilizer make it a bit cloudy...

This doesn't show off anything special, just the raspberry wine bottled, no label.

It is just the leftovers from racking; the stuff that didn't fit in the gallon jugs, because I added a bit of sugar water to sweeten this wine a bit. We get to drink it tonight!

Here is the sludge on the bottom of the jug. This is the lees. It is the dead yeast cells.

Now, if you are ready to try this at home, here are a few sites you will find helpful. One is

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ , where I get all my supplies. Very good place to purchase from. The other is http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/ , a great place to start looking at recipes.

Well, that is the extent of my knowledge. Everything gets better with time, including your ability to make wine. I am hoping to eventually bottle some and enter it in a contest. Or not.

Have a good time looking at those sites. You can get lost in there....