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This is my 2nd attempt to make wine. I watched a youtube video and simply went ahead. Because of Corona lockdown, I could not buy the right equipments.

Steps I took to create my white wine.

  1. Pressed 7 kgs of green grapes and put them in a 10kg steel container
  2. Since the grapes were not too sweet and I did not have the equipment to measure gravity, I added 1kg of sugar. I thought that would be enough. I did not add any yeast as the video said, that fruit already have natural yeast which will help in fermentation.
  3. For 8 days, everyday, I would open the container and mix the contents as shown in the youtube video.
  4. On the 8th day, I separated the juice and tasted it. It was way too acidic.

I have searched the internet and I can't understand how to fix this. I ordered a ph meter and a hydrometer to measure the gravity. The ph is 2.7. The hydrometer is yet to arrive.

How do I fix the wine? I think I need to add more sugar and referment it? I have ordered brewers yeast and airlock as well in case I have to ferment it again?

Can someone please help me? I do not want to pour 5 litres of grape juice down the drain :D

Update

The hydrometer came in today

This is what the values look like after 8 days of fermentation. So if I go as per This Video, the fermentation didn't happen. The value had to go below 1?

enter image description here

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Do you have time and patience? Because that is what helps making your wine nice.

I make every year wine from my own grapes, and after fermentation, I put it in a cool place. This way, the wine clears, and a whole amount of tartaric acid drops out. This lowers the acidity of the wine. But that takes a month or six.

Refermenting will not increase your pH. The sugar contents only define the amount of alcohol that your wine will contain after fermentation. Acidity is defined by the grape variety and their ripeness.

Wine acidity is (normally) not measured with a pH meter, but it is possible. Search for "titratable acidity".

Also, try to find a book for beginners about wine making.

Edit after seeing pictures:

Your starting gravity is way too high, your yeast would not ferment out, unless you maybe used a turbo yeast, or a champagne yeast.

Two things to do:

  • Dilute your juice with 1.25 l (boiled and cooled) water from 5l to 6.25l. This will move your gravity from 1.110 to 1.080, with a final ABV of 10.5%.
  • Buy a good (classic) wine yeast
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  • Do you have time and patience? Yes. Search for "titratable acidity". Also, try to find a book for beginners about wine making. Will do. But what do I do with this wine right now?
    – Siddharth Rout
    May 10, 2021 at 10:50
  • @SiddharthRout: just leave it for now, make sure the vessel is filled to the brim, put it in a dark, and possibly cool, place. If there is no air present, and it is racked off the yeast, your wine will not spoil with that acidity and its alcohol level. Then if you studied the necessary theory, you can take a sample to test acidity and solve it.
    – chthon
    May 10, 2021 at 17:04
  • @SiddharthRout: and adding 0,2 gram of potassium or sodium metabisulfite will also help against spoilage, by binding oxygen.
    – chthon
    May 10, 2021 at 17:05
  • Thanks M8. Did you see the updated post with the pics that I put in there?
    – Siddharth Rout
    May 10, 2021 at 17:23
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    I had to mix water to increase the pH and also add more sugar to fix the gravity. It has come out really nice! I have kept the wine for cooling so that it settles down and then I will bottle it after 7 days. Thanks again for staying with me on this.
    – Siddharth Rout
    May 18, 2021 at 17:02

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