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Current Toolkit
Remember! These tools are now open for free useage until December 15th 2004. Have fun using them. We are sure they will help you out a lot when making your wine. Make sure to sign up today for membership to our website, so you won't miss a day of access. You'll also get full access to the forums too! (Your paid time will start after Dec 15th 2004.)
In order to see and use the live online tools on this website, your browser must have the Java plugin installed. If you do not see the toolbox below, then you will need to Click Here to install Java from the Sun Microsystems Website. All of our Java tools are 100% safe to run... We use them ourselves all the time!
Predicting must and wine volumes from the weight of grapes crushed. There are other tools which permit prediction of must and wine volumes for fruit wines and for musts containing signifficant additions of water, concentrate etc.
Controlling oxidation and organic spoilage with metabisulphite (also known as potasium metabisulfite). Conservative amounts are calculated for crush, racking from lees, racking during ageing, and bottling. Account is taken of malolactic fermentation (if desired or likely) and several other factors such as grape quality and acidity.
Simplified sugar and acid corrections(Chaptalization) to balance alcohol levels. This requires a measurement fo specific gravity (SG) using an inexpensive hydrometer. Wines with low alcohol are more unstable than properly balanced ones. These tools include simplified grape or fruit juice or must corrections for total acidity. Inexpensive acidity test kits are available. Their use is economical for even the lowest volumes of wine production. Low acidity is the most common cause of dull tasting wines and very often leads to rapid organic spoilage. If you are only willing to do one test (and adjustment), make this the one ! These tools includes both simplified corrections for potential alcohol (sugar) and acidity.
Fruit and grape must adjustments. A grape or fruit must is produced by crushing grapes or fruit. For fruit with stones, the stones must be removed before crushing. For the simple corrections tools, the must contains, juice plus skins and often seeds. It is assumed that no stems are present in the must. Musts that are pressed become juices. See the link to the tool for juice corrections below.
Fruit and grape juice adjustments. A juice is produced by pressing a must. Juices contain no skins but typically do contain considerable pulp. If the pulp is separated befoe fermentation a weak uninteresting wine is the most likely result.
Advanced adjustments (including Chaptalization) to balance wines. Specific gravity or Brix measurements (from a refractometer) may be used. Temperature corrections are computed. Port style wines may be made by the addition of spirits at a specified fermentation limit. Other additions such as concentrates and water are permitted in order to control acidity, alcohol level. Sweetness (if any) is predicted.
Making false wine using pressed grape skins. A light and rapidly maturing wine can be made from the material that is left after pressing. Red wines are typically pressed after several days of fermentation on the skins. White or rose wines may be pressed either before primary fermentation or after only partial primary fermentation. When whites or roses are made from red grapes, a good light red wine can be made in this second run. When white grape skins (and considerable pulp) are removed before (or early) in the primary fermentation, a rustic style wine can be made from the discarded material by fermenting a white wine on the skins. Many red wine drinkers will prefer this type of white wine to the classic low extraction white wines which are essentially juice wines. The cost of this wine is mostly just the cost of the sugar added !
Measuring final percent alcohol by volume. This is the most economical way to measure the strength of your finished product ! In addition, if you know the approximate total acidity of the wine (or must that produced it) and have a wine thermometer, this tool will make a rough estimate of the total sweetness and the amount of fermentable sugar in the finished wine. A correction for any glycerin added prior to testing is made in the estimation process.
New And Coming Soon
How to measure specific gravity (SG) which predicts final percent alcohol by volume.We will test and certify your skills.
Now to measure total acidity (TA) which helps to predict organic stability and is required to prevent production of dull tasting wines. We will let you simulate total acidity titrations and certify your skills.
Creating custom wine musts from fruit and other components. Compose a wine must from the materials that you have available. The tool recommends any additions required to make a balanced wine based on the composition that you create.
Calibrating and testing your hydrometer, acid blend, total acidity titrations, thermometers and pH meter etc.
Controlling fermentation temperature. Easy methods for applying heat or for cooling fermentations.
How to safely move fluids using syphons to rack juices and wine. Sanitation is vital in all steps of winemaking. Careful racking (transfer of juice or wine from one vessel to another leaving some deposited material behind) is important to reduce oxidation and to prevent biological contamination.
Practical sanitation in winemaking. Cleaning equipment before and after use.
Simulate fermentations to produce temperature, acidity, SG, cooling charts etc. The simulation process shows the relative importance of many variables including the amount fermented, type and geometry of fermentation vessel, winery temperature, initial Brix (or SG) etc.
Additives. Limits to the amount of grape tannin, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme etc. that may prudently be used in fermentations.
Book Reviews. Reviews are in preparation for the books on our list
Yeast Data. Although good wine can be made with almost any commercial wine yeast, there are cases in which greater care is required. In many cases, if you know what properties of yeast are consistent with the type of wine you are making, it is possible to make a noticeable improvement in your wine quality by selecting specific yeasts. Aside from taste, certain fermentation difficulties may also be avoided by the careful selection of yeasts.
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