How do you handle blow off with fruit wines?
- Thread starter keepitlow
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3) Use a bucket and a fruit bag so you can more easily control pulp and must volume. Only once with a bucket have I managed a sticky floor. Doing a 5gal fruit wine, I'll often split it into 2 buckets just to make room, second smaller bucket of sugar-water plus nutrients plus yeast, mix it all back in when you take out the fruit bag.
3) Use a fermenter much larger than your batch (like double). Then there is no blow off, no MEAs, and no worries.
That is what I was talking about.
After the 1st fermenting in the bucket I strain and transfer to the carboy. In the carboy with the blow off house, if I leave lots of air there is no blow off but oxidation issues. If I fill carboy up it blows out and leaves some air. How do you handle this shortage of must?
When fermentation is done (finished, finito, no more gravity drop),, there should be no more "blow off". There will be CO2 dissolved in the must and when you rack there should be some bubbling as it comes out of solution, but it should not be enough to cause spillage. If you use a whip de-gasser, you could have some problem, but if you start gently, it should be okay. So you should be able to fill it up to within an inch or two of the stopper with the airlock in a carboy.
How exactly are you getting blow-off?
How exactly are you getting blow-off?
Am trying to make sweet- ish fruit wines.
I ferment fruit with natural yeast for about 5 days in bucket. I strain and add 3 pounds sugar per gal of liquid. I transfer this to 1 gal bottle with cork and hose vented in glass of water.
If I fill up the jug to half an inch below cork it blows off about 6 oz of liquid. If I leave an airspace there is no blow off, but worry about oxidation.
I ferment fruit with natural yeast for about 5 days in bucket. I strain and add 3 pounds sugar per gal of liquid. I transfer this to 1 gal bottle with cork and hose vented in glass of water.
If I fill up the jug to half an inch below cork it blows off about 6 oz of liquid. If I leave an airspace there is no blow off, but worry about oxidation.
So you have not completed fermentation before you've transferred it. Meads are generally not finished in 5 days, so yes, that would leave you susceptible to having MEAs and blow off. My suggestions would be either let it finish in the primary, or leave plenty of headspace when you transfer so that you don't have the eruptions. That headspace will be rapidly filled with CO2 during the active fermentation so you don't have to worry about oxidation. You also don't have to worry about oxidation if you let it finish (or nearly finish) in the bucket.
Once the fermentation is finished, you need to eliminate the headspace so it does not fill with air.
Once the fermentation is finished, you need to eliminate the headspace so it does not fill with air.
Yes, mead (without fruit) seems very slow to ferment. (But have next to no experience.)
I have just started first (show) mead, but have my first 4 fruit wines going.
The way I have been doing it is to save some of the fruit wine must in a can jar and leave some head space in the 1 gal jug for a week or so. Then I add more must from the can jar to it to bring it up near the cork when it has calmed down.
I have just started first (show) mead, but have my first 4 fruit wines going.
The way I have been doing it is to save some of the fruit wine must in a can jar and leave some head space in the 1 gal jug for a week or so. Then I add more must from the can jar to it to bring it up near the cork when it has calmed down.
The same goes for fruit wines as it does for meads. If you are adding sugar (or honey) and then continuing to ferment, your fermentation is not complete. Leave it in the bucket until it is complete (or almost). It puts off enough CO2 at this point that you do not need to worry about headspace.
Then transfer it to your carboy where you can eliminate as much of the headspace as possible. You will not need a blow off tube at this time because you have removed the solids and it is no longer producing large amounts of CO2. Put on an airlock and forget about it.
Then transfer it to your carboy where you can eliminate as much of the headspace as possible. You will not need a blow off tube at this time because you have removed the solids and it is no longer producing large amounts of CO2. Put on an airlock and forget about it.
Just for the record too, not that I'm an experienced fruit wine maker or anything, but you're the only person I've ever heard using this odd 2 step primary, where you ferment just the fruit in their own juices/whatever water you added, and then when that seems to be slowing down you add the sugar which represents the bulk of the fermentables.
I would just add everything up front, I cannot figure out what gain by adding the sugar later other than a headache and possibly pushing your yeast past their alcohol tolerance by step feeding, or the opposite, make them die early because you stressed them out with osmotic shock when you added the sugar.
Where did you get that from? I'm really curious as to what their reasoning was.
I would just add everything up front, I cannot figure out what gain by adding the sugar later other than a headache and possibly pushing your yeast past their alcohol tolerance by step feeding, or the opposite, make them die early because you stressed them out with osmotic shock when you added the sugar.
Where did you get that from? I'm really curious as to what their reasoning was.
Yea, from what I'm seeing, you're kind of working backwards. 
For your primary fermentation, you want to put your sugars (like AToE said, the bulk of your fermentables) so that the yeast have room in the bucket to really work. Some people will add fruit (never heard of sugar or honey) to the secondary fermentation because the flavors that are imparted are stronger this way.
I, personally, throw everything (fruit, sugar, nutrient, water, etc) into a bucket, give it a good stir, and then pitch the yeast. My meads bubble FURIOUSLY for a few days, but once I transfer them into the bucket there is no issue, and I can always add more fruit if the flavor isnt strong enough.
The problem here is that you are adding the majority of your fermentable material when you put it into the carboy, and the point of using a bucket is giving room for most of your fermentable material to be converted into alcohol and CO2 without blowout.
For your primary fermentation, you want to put your sugars (like AToE said, the bulk of your fermentables) so that the yeast have room in the bucket to really work. Some people will add fruit (never heard of sugar or honey) to the secondary fermentation because the flavors that are imparted are stronger this way.
I, personally, throw everything (fruit, sugar, nutrient, water, etc) into a bucket, give it a good stir, and then pitch the yeast. My meads bubble FURIOUSLY for a few days, but once I transfer them into the bucket there is no issue, and I can always add more fruit if the flavor isnt strong enough.
The problem here is that you are adding the majority of your fermentable material when you put it into the carboy, and the point of using a bucket is giving room for most of your fermentable material to be converted into alcohol and CO2 without blowout.
