Perhaps it was because the Petite Sirah juice was beginning to ferment or some other reason, however, when I added just the beginning of the 2.5 pounds of sugar to the Petite Sirah juice there was an immediate reaction. The juice was filled to almost the top of the six-gallon container. As soon as the sugar hit the juice it began to foam. It quickly resembled Act 1 Scene 1 from Shakespeare’s MacBeth, however the foam was pink. Quickly spilling over onto the floor, Kathy sprang to action finding maroon bath towels. At the same instant, I stopped pouring sugar into the juice and began transferring a quart at a time to an empty fermentation bin. After several long moments, the juice settled down and stopped foaming.
I added about two gallons of juice to the fermentation bin and then added the rest of the sugar. It didn’t foam nearly as much. After adding the sugar and there was no more foam, I added the remainder of the juice and stirred the mixture. It had settled down and by now we had the floor cleaned up. The juice in the fermentation bin measured to the six-gallon mark, so we didn’t lose very much during the foaming episode. Originally the juice measured 19 brix with a specific gravity of 1.074. After adding the sugar the brix measured 22.5 and the specific gravity was 1.090.
In the future, if I have to chapalize, I’ll add a couple of gallons of juice to the fermentation bin, then add the sugar. I can then add the rest of the juice.
Cheers,
Terry
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