It's been four weeks now. The fermenting probably stopped after three, but I needed to get another fermenting bucket to decant into. So far, so good. The wine tastes remarkably good - even though it still needs to clear.
I've used plastic bucket fermenters, rather than the more traditional glass demijohns. I wasn't sure about this, but it seems to have worked OK. During the early stages, I relieved the pressure periodically. (The lid was showing that there was a build up of pressure inside.) I'm not sure whether this was necessary. I think next time, I'll not do this to see what happens.
I have been concerned that the temperature has not been stable enough. I've kept the wine on a bench in the kitchen - near enough to a radiator to benefit from the warmth, but not so close that the mixture gets overheated. At night, though, the room gets kind'a cold as we're well into autumn now. The past few nights it's been down to freezing point outside; I'm, guessing it goes below 10°C indoors. On first tasting (while syphoning), it seems to be OK, though.
That's all for now - there'll be another update soon. I've been collecting wine bottles and have bought some corks so I should be ready for the bottling in a couple of weeks' time.
Saturday 17 November 2012
Additional kit
For the second stage (after fermentation, the wine needs to clear), I have bought:
- 5 litre brewing bucket: £4.60
- bag of 12 corks: £1.09
- syphon tube: £0.86
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