Topic: Primary fermentation

[spacehopper]

Sorry if this is a daft question, we're new to this..
What is the purpose of fermentation in the big bucket?
What if you did the soaking/mashing in the big bucket but not add the yeast, and then add the yeast to the demijohn?
The reason I ask is because I have inadvertantly done this!  :P Will it be ok? I dissolved the sugar in some of the juice before pouring it in the demijohn, topped it up with more juice, added the yeast and put on an airlock. It seems to be bubbling away ok.

[muddy boots]

Not sure what you're brewing but, when I used to make dry cider, I added just sugar (2.2lbs per gallon of apple juice, which used to result in very dry, 18% proof cider after about six months.  Had too much juice for my barrels one year and decanted cider/sugar juice into demijohn, added a teaspoon of wine yeast compound which resulted in 24% proof dry apple wine!  ;D

[spacehopper]

Making elderberry, and plum wine so far.

[flatcap]

hi
your wine shud still turn out ok ours did when we done it  :) watch out for it cumen through the airlock though makes a hell of a mess  ;D

[adrianhumph]

Hi caz & baz,
                       Usually when you make a fruit wine the initial fermentation is done on the pulp, that is the fruit goes into a bucket,  you then add sugar (dissolved in hot water) nutrients , pectolase, and make up to the required volume with more water. Then you add a suitable yeast, preferably one that you have started off by dissolving half a teaspoon of sugar in a small glass of warm water & adding the yeast to this & leaving it to stand for 10 mins before adding to the pulp. This mix then is kept somewhere warmish & stirred twice a day. After 4 days you then strain out the fruit solids & continue fermentation in a demijon. As a winemaker for 25 years and also a national wine & beer judge this is the way I have been making it.
 To muddy boots, sorry to dissillusion you but there is no way that you can have achieved the stated alcohol levels . one pound of sugar in a gallon will yield a maximum of 6% ethanol , to reach 18% alcohol requires a specialist yeast & nutrients & careful additions of sugar. In a dry cider , in any case this level of alcohol would result in a very poor balance of flavour.
 To reach 24% of alcohol is completely out of the question, unless you are distilling, so I don`t know how you worked out the figures but unfortunately they
are wrong.

                  Adrian.

[Curryandchips]

To add to Adrian's excellent description, if the yeast is not added to the fruit when it is in the bucket, then natural yeasts in the atmosphere will start the fermentation. Now it is possible that those yeasts may yield an acceptable result, but it is all so very risky, and the chance of spoilage is high. The only way I could determine this myself is by tasting, if the brew tastes disgusting, then probably so will the final wine.

Adrian, muddy may have been quoting alcohol on the proof scale, rather than as a pecentage, 24 proof sounds possible ... this would be about 12% ?

[muddy boots]

Yep, the proof not pure alcohol level :D

[spacehopper]

great info folks, thanks.  :D

[adrianhumph]

Hi all,
      "  Adrian, muddy may have been quoting alcohol on the proof scale, rather than as a pecentage, 24 proof sounds possible ... this would be about 12% ?"

  Ok, sorry about that  ::)  I am so use to seeing alcohol quoted in percent that I did not see the PROOF bit. Memo to myself, read the thread properley before commenting.
                         Adrian.       

[muddy boots]

No worries :D