My first wine kit - Thanks joeswine !!

vacuumpumpman · Jul 13, 2015

Well I have never made a real wine kit before - until now. It has always been juice buckets or fresh grapes or fruit. Well I must say that I tasted joeswine amarone and it was definitely one of the best wines that I have drank !!
He took the time to explain alot about a kit that I was not aware of and I told him that I would make a kit soon - so here are the pics - ( or it never happened right )

I will give a quick step by step tutorial as it was soo much easier than my traditional way of making wine -

First this is the kit I bought -

then I added bentonite and stirred it all in -

Then added the juice packet after making sure that there is no residue -

I then marked my spoon to a 6 gallon height, and added water -

I then added the oak packets -

Then the F-PAC as I made sure to rinse it out with the juice, I also added raisins for extra body -

This is my hydrometer reading -

I would like to thank everyone as this was ever so much easier than previous wine making - looking forward to the end product !!

jumby · Jul 14, 2015

That's a very good kit! I made it twice and it's on my list to make again.

jgmann67 · Jul 14, 2015

I wondered about this kit quite a bit... If Joe prefers it, that says a lot. I've been debating between it and a few others for my late fall entry. Question: A 1.090 OG, fermented to dry will yield about 13% ABV. Are you waiting a day or so before pitching your yeast to see what that FPac does to your OG?

JohnT · Jul 14, 2015

Good luck with it VPM!!! Post more pics as things progress!

jumby · Jul 14, 2015

jgmann67 said:
I wondered about this kit quite a bit... If Joe prefers it, that says a lot. I've been debating between it and a few others for my late fall entry. Question: A 1.090 OG, fermented to dry will yield about 13% ABV. Are you waiting a day or so before pitching your yeast to see what that FPac does to your OG?

This kit comes with a sugar pack. It's added during fermentation once your OG drops to 1.020 to drive up the final ABV. Then you ferment it dry.

joeswine · Jul 14, 2015

Amarone the king of italian reds

great job so far and not that far left to go,nice pics by the way..keep the tread fresh.

vacuumpumpman · Jul 14, 2015

Well it has been only 2 1/2 days since I first pitched the yeast -

Here is the temp of the must which has stayed the same from the beginning -

DO NOT FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BY DAYS - I noticed that it mentions 5-7 days the Hydrometer should be at 1.020 - Well It only took 2 1/2 days before I reached that reading !!

I heated up some water and stirred in the dextrose

Then I let it clear and boil for 2 minutes and let it cool down prior to adding it to the must and start the Chaptalisation process

This is the hydrometer reading after adding the sugar -

The one thing I learned doing a kit so far is to use the HYDROMETER really close and not count the days by the instructional manual.

wineinmd · Jul 15, 2015

It's very surprising to hear that the temperature hasn't changed considering how active your yeast must have been to get down to that point already.

vacuumpumpman · Jul 15, 2015

I am fermenting in the basement and the temperature is around 68 degrees. That's probably why ?

vacuumpumpman · Jul 16, 2015

Well the hydrometer reached 1.00 at day 4 -1/2

I am at (secondary fermentation ) according to the instructions. I really do not know why that they call this Secondary fermentation as there is no more sugar added ?
I decided to use a strainer to remove all the skins and excess pulp to help clarify.

Now it is time to set up doing a transfer -

Using the Allinonewinepump - I was able to partially degass as I transfer at the same time - I added some sparkolloid to help the initial clearing.

I also added some tannins to help the body - Now it is time to let it set for at least 10 - 14 days.

JohnT · Jul 17, 2015

Secondary fermentation is a bit misleading, ill admit.

It is really the same fermentation and means only the wine has been transferred to a secondary fermenter.

Having made beer in the past, and also champagne, I came to understand that secondary fermentation refers to the adding of yeast and priming sugar to induce carbonation.

I admit that this confused the heck out of me.

joeswine · Jul 17, 2015

Amarone the king of italian reds

usually when we (kit makers) state that we are going into secondary it refers to the step 2 after primary when most all of our work is already done and time for stabilization or enhancements to start if not done in the primary, degassing and settling out- at the same time that's when we tweak for background flavors and balancing out the tannins if applicable. Not that different from fresh grape macerations, punching down the cap ,adding the chems,settling out and pumping over.

vacuumpumpman · Aug 3, 2015

Well I finally got around doing my 2nd transfer !!

I was shocked on how much CO2 I was able to remove during my transfer using my Allinonewinepump - I added the sorbate and sulfite packages

I really wanted to use this wine for my video on headspace removal and CO2 removal - but there was no CO2 to be removed.

This is the sediment that was left behind after I transfered it -

Norton · Aug 3, 2015

I recently did a few kits that came with skins. I had the same issue, hydrometer said time to transfer sooner than the number of days listed in the instructions, so I did the transfer. In retrospect, I think I should have decided to go with the number of days listed as I think the amount of time the skins are in contact with the must may be more important than the hydrometer reading at that point.

vacuumpumpman · Aug 3, 2015

Norton said:
I recently did a few kits that came with skins. I had the same issue, hydrometer said time to transfer sooner than the number of days listed in the instructions, so I did the transfer. In retrospect, I think I should have decided to go with the number of days listed as I think the amount of time the skins are in contact with the must may be more important than the hydrometer reading at that point.

Why would you say that ?

When I do wine juice with skins it also can go that fast - and If I choose I can cold masculate it to slow down the fermentation process and extract more of the tannins and color from the skins.

They give you little skin to liquid contact in my eyes to make that big of a difference - that is why JOe mentions about adding additional raisins and tannins.

If I went with days - my Amarone would be sitting on the dead yeast bed extracting all the bad flavor from it -

This is only my personal opinion - as this is my first Kit that I am making at this time. BUt I do have 12 years + of winemaking skills under my belt.

joeswine · Aug 4, 2015

time and chemistry

the kit winemaker has a reason for every item you receive and has a time and purpose for the item. The wine manufacture doesn't know who, what skills, or what sanitations are observed, nor the environment that the wine is being done in.
hydrometers readings are a the onlyway of following the wines progress from juice to wine, the amount of time isn't, other factors are involved which can impede or speed up that timing.

Steve, the flow looks good so far now you need time in the carboy..

Norton · Aug 6, 2015

I go with the number of days as I assume it is important to have as much contact with the skins as possible. If you keep the temps per the directions 7 days in a primary isn't going to hurt, but I think that each day you rack sooner is approx 15% less skins contact. I also don't worry about the extra lees exposure, especially in a kit. In short , I think the extra skins contact is worth it.

joeswine · Aug 18, 2015

Adding to the mix

IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT STEVE IS DOING HE IS ACTUALLY NOT ADDING ACTUAL GRAPES SKINS TO THE MIX,BUT RE- HYDRATING (Seeded/SKINs) FROM WHAT EVER THEY PROVIDED AND EXTRACTING WHAT IS AVAILABLE FROM IT. TIME IS NOT REALLY THAT IMPORTANT TO THE MIX JUST THE CHEMICAL REACTION AND THE TIME THAT IT TAKE TO TRANSPIRE ( hydrometer readings ) ,THIS IS WHERE WE ACT LIKE REAL WINE MAKERS AND APPLY CHEMISTRY,TIME IS WHAT THE WINE REACTS TO after it is still and been age in the carboy, cask or bottle.

Steve the process is spot on at this point ,remember all good things come in time bad things come in bunches. STAY THE COURSE..... :wy

...your taste will improve wit time, how long from start to this point in the process?

vacuumpumpman · Aug 23, 2015

Well just an update - it is now day 40

I did a transfer and I was able to go into a smaller carboy and vessels so I can bulk age from this point forward.

It tastes ALOT better just in the short time it sat. The body is incredible ! Looking to trying it at the first of the year and then putting more than 1/2 away for a period of 18 months of bulk aging in the carboy.

jrm1443 · Nov 6, 2015

Thanks for the thread Steve. I started the same kit last Sunday with an SG of 1.090 initially and by Thursday it was just below 1.020. I think by keeping it in a room that maintained 72-74 all four days helped it move quicker. I added the sugar to boiling water but it never got as clear as your pictures before I added it to the must. I hope that doesn't matter. The SG immediately went up approximately .15 after stirring in the sugar. I also noticed you did not put the grapes in a muslin bag that came in my kit. I assume that is just preference or experience? I do have to stir the wine daily and push the bag under the must. So far so good. Another week (or less depending on the SG) and then I will transfer to a carboy using the AIO pump.

My first wine kit - Thanks joeswine !!

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