# 4 Week, 6 Week, 8 Week kits ?



## timber (Dec 15, 2011)

Regarding Wind Kits, I keep seeing 6 Week or 8 Week etc.
Does this time period relate to total fermentation time?
Would this relate to the amount of sugar in the kit (therefor finished alcohol content). 
Haven't been able to find an explanation of this yet.

Thanks,


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## roblloyd (Dec 15, 2011)

This is just marketing fluff. They mean the time from start to bottle and possible drink. Don't believe any of it.
The part to understand is the longer it takes (8 week kit) the better the wine. They are usually better because they have more juice in them so they are a higher ratio of grape juice to water. They all make 6 gallons so the lower end kits are about 3 gallons of juice and 3 gallons of water. The higher end kits are 5-6 gallons of juice. More juice = better wine.

Other than Skeeter Pee and the breeze/wine cooler type kits I don't think any of them are really ready to drink in 2 months. 
On here most of us practice the 3 P's - patience, patience, patience.

Whites are usually good at 6 months and reds 1+ years.

I hope that helps?!


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## Dugger (Dec 15, 2011)

These time frames relate to the minimum amount of time from start to bottling when following the instructions from the kit. Many extend these time frames beyond the minimums, generally for clearing or bulk aging.
The 4 week, 6 or 8 week designations also generally indicate the size and quality of the kit, with the longer the time, the bigger and better the kit.
By the way, there is also a 5 week kit, the RJS GC International and there may be others.


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## timber (Dec 15, 2011)

Thanks to you both!
Glad to get past that and onto the serious (fun) stuff.
I was trying to picture a high end product claiming 8 weeks from Primary to bottling and it just didn't jive.
I guess with marketing, everyone's in a hurry ... not me, I just want to get started and keep makin' it so I'll eventually always have a batch that's a year to two old. Wish me luck on that ...


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## roblloyd (Dec 15, 2011)

I started my 8-week kit back in February. They are still in carboys aging away. The directions are close in timeline with fermenting, clearing etc but I stop at that point and let it age until I need the carboy.
The main thing with the kits is ignore the "after 10 days do this". And use your hydrometer to tell you when it's ready for the next step.


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## timber (Dec 15, 2011)

roblloyd said:


> The main thing with the kits is ignore the "after 10 days do this". And use your hydrometer to tell you when it's ready for the next step.



Good to know roblloyd, thanks for the input!


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## North_Ga_Jug-Or-Not (Dec 16, 2011)

While it IS possible to make a decent drinkable wine in 8 weeks, I recomend that you take 8 weeks(minimum) between each racking after your in secondary. Once your secondary ferment is comlete and you rack off of lees, let it sit 8 weeks, then repeat. After 2 post ferment rackings if your wine is cleared to your liking its really up to you from that point what you want to do. Taste it, smell it, if you like it at that point bottle. If you think its "good" but still holds potential do like most and let it sit there for 6 more months. lol

**Also, during this taste, smell period is when you decide if you would like to back sweeten or keep a more dry taste to your wine. Only difference is obvious enough, if you do back sweeten youll need to air lock it and keep an eye on it for a few more weeks to see that it hasnt restarted your fermentation.


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