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When did you buy this kit? I only got one bag of skins in the one I recently acquired. It was a pretty big bag (2L I think) but only one...

Also, to those who made this kit in its original iteration, what was the oak situation? I read through the other forza thread and it sounded like it contained cubes but maybe ppl were just talking about their own cubes added as a tweak. For reference, the kit I got had two bags of chips for the...

I think the basement usually hovers at about 68° but for whatever reason the must was around 65 or 66 last night. The heater got it up to ~72° this morning so I pitched the RC-212. Ill probably pull the heater after about 24h, once it's gotten going. Official starting SG is 1.106.

I did two 8 week EMs side by side on the Master Vintner 2016 limited cab and merlot using a standard bucket. They were 6.5 gallon buckets I think, and just had a little rubber gas relief valve on top. No problems with oxidation that I could tell.

I finally got around to mixing up this kit, ordered a few months ago. Had some whites/early drinking reds to make for Christmas gifts, using my wine making real estate! Mixed up the juice to 1.084. After adding the skins and mixing a bit it's up to 1.106. A little cool in the basement, so I...

What nutrients do you recommend having on hand for a kit like this?

Thanks, good to know. I guess I won't worry about using RC212!

Sounds like a fun experiment!

I checked the other eclipse kits I have, they come with 1118 also. Except the Forza, which has both 212 and 1118. If you're using rc212 instead of ec1118, do you plan to add any extra nutrients during fermentation? I've read here to be cautious about that, but I haven't gotten a good sense of...

I know there are a couple threads out there for this kit, but I have only seen a few comments here and there about doing it as an extended maceration. I plan to do this one as the same way as the other couple extended maceration kits I have done: 8-9 weeks on the skins. @jgmann67 I know in...

This being your third batch are you going to try extended maceration on this one? I just ordered this kit for the first time and I'm trying to decide if I should do EM or by the book. Anyone else do the SLD Merlot by extended maceration? And how did it turn out?

For extended maceration you don't even rack for about 8 weeks. The discussion here is whether 8 weeks is necessary or whether you get the same effect after 5-6 weeks

I've wondered this about EM for kits for a while now... As I recall from Tim V's video and blog about his extended maceration (which no longer seems to exist), EM works on grapes not just because of the extra extraction, but because of the special chemical/biochemical reactions that take place...

I used a bottle of wine preserve for a while, which is just a can of argon and nitrogen I think. It worked in that I didn't get oxidation, but every time I wanted to taste the wine I had to redo it. It kinda went fast. I prefer topping up...

I usually get around this problem by topping up with my own wine. I make enough inexpensive kits that I don't worry much about using a <$3 bottle to top up. Even if you did make only higher end kits, at least then you're always adding higher end kit wine to higher end kits. The other thing I've...

All in one wine pump, and LHBS gift cards!

How much sugar do you think those dried skins add?

That sounds pretty high, what was the final verdict before you pitched the year?

In that case, the wine wouldn't ferment though, since it prevents yeast growth.

I had to go to the store. The raised their online prices recently to pay for the free shipping, but the in-store prices are lower. So it was 99.99 before the 20% off.