# Goofed-added f pak before yeast



## Hhpiper (Jan 16, 2012)

I goofed and added the f pak when I added the juice not realizing that it was not a juice. I started the fermenting and it s going well. Did I ruin the wine or is there anything I can do. The kit is the peach apricots Chardonnay.


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## BlueRidgeBilly (Jan 16, 2012)

I am a beginner myself and not experienced enough to answer your question. I will say that the first time I made wine. I studied my recipe numerous time before I actually made the wine. I laid everything out in order and it seemed to help by having a check list so I would not leave out anything or get ahead of myself. I hope you can salvage your kit. It sounds like it would be a great one.


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## shen (Jan 16, 2012)

Hhpiper said:


> I goofed and added the f pak when I added the juice not realizing that it was not a juice. I started the fermenting and it s going well. Did I ruin the wine or is there anything I can do. The kit is the peach apricots Chardonnay.



Contact the kit manufacturer. Most of them guarantee them against mistakes. A woman I work with did this with a Winexpert kit and they sent her a whole new kit. The guy who owns the shop where she bought it from helped her salvage the one she messed up. She said it ended up better than when she followed the recipe. I think she just ended up back sweetening it when it was done fermenting. 

Let us know how you make out.


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## Putterrr (Jan 17, 2012)

Hhpiper said:


> I goofed and added the f pak when I added the juice not realizing that it was not a juice. I started the fermenting and it s going well. Did I ruin the wine or is there anything I can do. The kit is the peach apricots Chardonnay.



your still good

When I made a few of these kits in the past I always added the entire F-pack at the start since I don't like sweet wine. It did not prevent fermentation at all. The only thing that it did was raise the ABV up by 2-3%. Just keep it warm, let it ferment dry and use a simple sugar solution to backsweeten to your tastes. If you like it drier, then try glycerin to give it some body

cheers


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## Bailey (Jan 17, 2012)

Did you take a specific gravity reading prior to adding the F-pac?

If so, you could add water to get back to that reading and let it ferment.

If not, check it now. If it's out of the range the kit specifies (or above 1.085) you could add water to dilute that concentrate back to a good s.g.

Then ferment as directed.

If you'd like to sweeten or add to that wine after fermentation is done you can make your own f-pac.

Doesn't sound like this is a lost cause at all..

Good Luck!


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## robie (Jan 17, 2012)

The wine will end up being dry, so you will need to backsweeten.
The apricot flavor will also be much less. In the end, it will be as though you never had an F pack.

If I were you, I would contact the manufacturer and see if they will send you another F pack.


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## Flem (Jan 17, 2012)

+1 to what Robie said. With the entire f-pac being added up front, virtually all that flavor and sugar will be converted to alcohol leaving you little, if any peach and apricot flavor. I'd also contact the manufacturer.


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## Hhpiper (Jan 18, 2012)

Thanks to everyone for your input. I contacted the producer and they said to continue with the fermenting and add simple syrup at step 3. The wine will have more alcohol than otherwise and won't be as good. They are also sending me a replacement kit. I will let you know how the flavor turns out.


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## shen (Jan 18, 2012)

Hhpiper said:


> Thanks to everyone for your input. I contacted the producer and they said to continue with the fermenting and add simple syrup at step 3. The wine will have more alcohol than otherwise and won't be as good. They are also sending me a replacement kit. I will let you know how the flavor turns out.


That's great news that they are sending you a replacement. I'm glad it worked out.


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## Bailey (Jan 18, 2012)

Who is the kit manufacturer? 

It's great to know they are willing to help!

Has anyone else had this type of experience from a kit manufacturer? Who else stands behind their product like this? And, for that matter, who doesn't?

Thanks!


Glad to hear it's working out.....


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## LanMan (Jan 18, 2012)

No offense but I cant believe they will replace the kit for you because of a mistake that you made. 

Do you have to return the origonal


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## Bailey (Jan 18, 2012)

*LanMan:*

I think it's great a manufacturer would replace a kit even though it was a slip-up by the owner. What wonderful customer service!

I think they realize that if they can make 'wine making' a rewarding experience for a novice they will have enough return business they will more than make up for the initial loss.

Kudos to them!


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## Wade E (Jan 18, 2012)

Actually many people here and other forums add about 1/2 the f-pack in primary to boost up the abv of these lower alc kits and then use the rest after-wards. Doing it this way they dont end up with such a sweet wine and get as much flavor as possible out of these kits. I myself make these for my wifes friends and up the abv in primary with about 3lbs of sugar and use about 2/3rds the fpac at the end depending on the kit as some are very sweet but some are actually very well balanced., IMO the kit you are making is not of the very sweet one and is actually very balanced IMO.


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## Hhpiper (Feb 26, 2012)

Results of the Wine Goof
The wine is ok but tastes watered down. Some like it that way but I prefer the properly prepared wine.
My thanks to the folks at Winexpert for their help and the replacement kit. They really went above and beyond the call of duty.
We received lots of opinions about the goof; some correct and some not. Thanks for your help as well.

*Sooner or later, you have to pay the Piper*


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## Wade E (Feb 26, 2012)

That has nothing to do with adding the fpac upfront. These are mist style kits and are low on abv which actually you upped it above whats normal by adding more sugar (fpac) upfront which in turn gave the yeast more sugar to ferment but besides that these dont contain much at all for body also.


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## g8keeper (Apr 14, 2012)

i know this is an older thread, but i made the same mistake myself with the first kit i ever made, about, oh, 7 years ago.....it was a WE VR liebfraumilch....instructions said you may have more than 1 pkg of like ingredients, and if so, add all at same time...well at that time, both the concentrate bag and f-pack bag, were the silver mylar style bags, and except for the f-pack one being smaller, looked like the same thing....i was entirely new to winemaking, so what did i know about f-packs???....lol...so after reading through the instructions AGAIN for about the 4th time, i said "oh S*#@", and realized my mistake as i went looking for the "f-pack"....so i went to WE's website, and sent cust. service an email....i received a prompt reply, but because of the information i needed to supply them with, such as where i purchased the kit, unbenounced to me, they also forwarded my lhbs my email, as well as their response....it was funny, i went walking into the store, which i had already began to become known at, and the owner right away mentions that he knew about my little dilemma, and that WE was preparing to supply me with a replacement f-pack....unfortunately though, because of inport/export laws and such between canada and the u.s., they could not ship it directly to me, so they shipped it to my lhbs....at the time, WE assured me all was not lost....all i had to do was continue to give the must a good stir, and get some oxygen in there during primary fermentation, and that the affects of the sorbate in the f-pack could be overcome....except for having a higher abv, the wine actually turned out very nice...i'm sure we've all made mistakes in the beginning, but the trick is learning from those mistakes....just figured i'd share my little story....just hope it didn't bore anyone to tears....lol...


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