Topping up the Strawberry

Yesterday evening marked 3 days since I had set the Brewmaker Strawberry wine going, so according to the instructions it was time to top up the demijohn to the 4.5 litre level. Before doing this I measureed the bubble rate again:

Day	Time per bubble (secs)	Gravity
0	infinite	 
1	8	 
3	4	1062

Now onto the topping up. The instructions stated that "tepid" water should be used, so I filled up a sanitised jug a couple of times with cold tap water and a hint of boiled water and topped up the wine to the 4.5 litre level I had marked when starting the Strawberry. The instructions then stated that I should shake the demijohn well. This still seemed very strange given the beer and wine I had done previously required air to be kept out. However, I placed a sanitised bunk in the demijohn and shook fairly lightly for 30 seconds. There was a noticeable sediment layer on the bottle of the demijohn already, so I wonder if this instruction is about re-suspending the yeast (though the instructions only suggest this for certain flavours of wine - and the flavour is only added at the end of fermentation - all very strange).

Anyway, with the demijohn now filled to the required level and mixed I thought I would take a hydrometer reading. This came in at 1062. I then replaced the airlock (after replacing some lost water from it) and took a picture.



I finally placed the demijohn back in the brewery and wrapped the tea towel around it. I will continue to monitor the the bubbles over the next few weeks.