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.However, surfaces treated with Clorox must be rinsed carefully.UseClorox with care, and do not breathe the fumes.Dirty BottlesDirty wine bottles usually contain mold, yeast and a variety of bacteria.Dirty bottles are always a potentialsource of contamination, and home winemakers should not store dirty bottles in the winemaking area.Thebottles should be washed as they are collected.Then the clean bottles should be stored upside down inclean cardboard cases.Liquid dish washing detergents are difficult to rinse away when used for washing old wine bottles, and theycan leave unsightly water spots.A cup of automatic dishwasher powder in three-gallons of very hot watercleans bottles well, and the residue rinses cleanly.A teaspoon of liquid detergent should be added to thedishwasher powder if the water is hard.Power Bottle BrushMost bottle brushes have a loop on the end of the wine handle.Some home winemakers remove the loopand chuck the wine handle in an electric drill.This power bottle brush will remove stubborn bottleresidues quickly.However, this method must be used with care and only with low drill speeds.Jet Bottle WasherA jet carboy washer attached to a water facet or hose is a great convenience for washing old wine bottles.These washers are made of brass, and they last for many years.The washers are inexpensive, and theysave much time and large amounts of hot water.Auto Wheel Brush143 Brushes with long handles can be purchased in large automotive supply stores.These stiff-bristled brushesare used for washing auto hub caps and wheels, but home winemakers find them handy for scrubbing allkinds of winemaking equipment.The long handles make these brushes particularly useful for scrubbing theinside surfaces of small fermenters and tanks.FERMENTATION TECHNIQUESThis section contains practical information and several suggestions on how to cope with some commonproblems encountered during primary fermentation.Under-ripe GrapesTrying to make a dry, red table wine from under-ripe grapes is seldom successful.When under-ripe fruit isused, wine flavor and bouquet will be lacking, and wine color will be poor.Most red grape varieties are notripe until the sugar level reaches 22½ to 23½ Brix.Unfortunately, home winemakers often have little controlover when their grapes are picked, and under-ripe fruit is often encountered.Most under-ripe, red grapesare best used to make blush wines.The low alcohol content, skimpy flavors and the high acid levels aremore appropriate for light, fruity blush wine.White grapes are not ripe until the sugar level reaches about 22 Brix, and Chardonnay grapes are oftenpicked well above 23 Brix.Riesling grapes, on the other hand, are usually picked at low Brix values beforethey lose their greenish color.Overripe, white grapes are often best used for producing dessert wines.Atthe other extreme, under-ripe white grapes can be used to produce excellent sparkling wines.Adding sugar to under-ripe grapes seldom produces high quality wine.The sugar increases the alcoholcontent, but the added sugar does nothing to improve the poor color, the puny flavors or the lack of varietalintensity.Sugared wines are usually too alcoholic, pale colored and under flavored.In addition, under-ripe,red grapes often produce wine with unpleasant green or vegetal characteristics.Sulfur DioxideMaking and aging high quality table wine without using small quantities of sulfur dioxide is difficult, and mostwinemakers add small quantities of sulfur dioxide when the grapes are crushed.About 1/2 level teaspoonof sulfite powder for every 100 pounds of grapes is the right amount.Practically all of the free sulfur dioxide disappears during fermentation, so winemakers add 1/4 levelteaspoons of sulfite powder for every five gallons of wine when fermentation is complete.This quantity ofsulfite powder will add about 40 milligrams per liter of sulfur dioxide to the new wine.However, about halfthe sulfur dioxide will combine with other materials in the wine quickly, so only 20 - 30 milligrams per liter offree sulfur dioxide remains in the new wine.The sulfite powder should be dissolved in an ounce or two ofwater before it is added to the wine.Wine should always be tested just before bottling time, and the free sulfur dioxide content should beadjusted to about 25 milligrams per liter.Wines bottled with less than 20 to 30 milligrams per liter of free144 sulfur dioxide oxidize quickly, and they are short lived.Table 15 shows how much sulfite powder is neededto produce 25, 50 and 75 milligrams per liter of sulfur dioxide invarious quantities of wine.The values given are in grams.Forexample, Table 15 shows that 5.8 grams of sulfite powderGals 25 50 75of mg/l mg/l mg/lproduce 50 milligrams per liter of SO2 in 15 gallons of wine.Wine SO2 SO2 SO2Hydrogen Sulfide1 0.2 0.4 0.62 0.4 0.8 1.2All wine yeasts produce small quantities of hydrogen sulfide gas3 0.6 1.2 1.8(rotten egg smell) during fermentation, but under normal conditions, 4 0.8 1.6 2.45 0.9 1.8 2.7the quantities produced are very small and of little consequence.10 1.8 3.6 5.4The primary cause of excessive amounts of hydrogen sulfide is15 2.9 5.8 8.7elemental sulfur on the grapes.Sulfur is used to control mildew in20 3.8 7.6 11.4vineyards, and sometimes excessive amounts of sulfur remains on30 5.7 11.4 17.1the grapes.Here, the winemaker should complete fermentation,40 7.6 15.2 22.850 9.5 19.0 28.5and then copper sulfate can be used to remove the hydrogen60 11.4 22.8 34.2sulfide.Some types of wine yeasts produce more hydrogen sulfidethan others.Montrachet yeast is a particularly bad offender, and itTable 15.Grams of sulfiteshould not be used with grapes containing sulfur residues.powder needed to produce 25,50 and 75 mg/l of SO2Besides the sulfur problem, yeast often produces objectionablequantities of hydrogen sulfide gas when the grapes lack nitrogen,micro-nutrients or vitamins.Commercial wineries and some homewinemakers added small quantities of yeast nutrients and a substance called pantothenic acid tofermentations specifically to reduce the production of hydrogen sulfide.Pantothenic acid is a commonvitamin, and it can be purchased at any drugstore.Crushing by HandA mechanical crusher is not necessary for making red wine.Several hundred pounds of fruit can be crushedin a few hours using the following technique.(1) Put a clean plastic milk crate on a clean plastic trash can.(2) Put a few pounds of grapes in the crate.(3) Scrub the grapes through the holes in the bottom of thecrate into the trash can.(4) Remove the stems from the crate.(5) Add a few more pounds of fruit andrepeat.Some grapes will not be crushed, but whole grapes are not a problem.The juice from theuncrushed grapes will be recovered when the fermentation is pressed.Punching DownA handy gadget for punching down small fermentations can be made quickly with a few hand tools.Find asmall block of wood and an old broom stick.A 6 x 6 x 12 inch piece of wood is fine.The exact size is notimportant.Bore a hole in the middle of the wood block, apply glue and insert the broom stick.The new puncher downer will be easier to keep clean if it is finished with three or four coats of varnish
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