Fermentation Has Begun

Five days ago I began making a six gallon Shiraz wine kit. As I go I’m recording videos on how it’s done, here’s the first video on what comes in a winemaking kit.

Today I wanted to share my first update on my wine. I’m four days into the wine making process. After the first day the airlock started bubbling away signifying that the primary fermentation had begun.

When fermentation first began the airlock was bubbling quite rapidly. The lid to the fermenter was pushed up in the middle from all the pressure, so much so that I was wondering if that little airlock was going to shoot out like a rocket.

The fermentation has since slowed down and it doesn’t look like the airlock will be flying through the air. There is still a steady stream of carbon dioxide bubbles coming out, however, it no longer looks like it’s boiling. This tells me that the yeast is starting to run out of sugar to convert to carbon-dioxide and alcohol.

Over time the smell of the fermenting wine has changed. In the beginning it smelled amazing! The smell was worth the effort of making wine by itself. However, as time has gone on it now smells like somebody sopped up spilled beer and grape juice with an old towel. This is all part of the process.

Over the next few days the bubbles will continue to slow down up until it’s time to rack the wine. In another two to three days I’ll be testing the specific gravity of the must again to make sure it’s where it needs to be. If the specific gravity is 1.010 or less it’ll be time to stop the fermentation and rack the wine into my glass carboy.

Please stay tuned for upcoming videos and more updates on how my Shiraz is progressing. Comments or questions? Jump right in!