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I just got the email from Label Peelers today with this kit mentioned. This sounds like a good white wine to me! I did a search on the forum here, and it looks like the kit was released in 2010 and 2013. The 2013 thread didn't mention anything about a finishing SG, but a 2010 thread showed it...

I had a similar problem with my first ever kit ordered. I think it was ordered from MoreWine, and they were super helpful about it. When I called, they said the same as Johnd: try making the wine anyway (even though they were sending another kit). It ended up tasting pretty good. It was a...

Like others have said, the bottles from homebrew stores are pretty cheap, and the easiest way to cheap out on a bottle is to use less glass. When blow molding glass bottles, if they are starting out with less glass, then they are going to have a high probability to have an uneven distribution...

Has anyone tasted their Kookaburra kit recently? Mine is still in carboy bulk aging, and it received its 9 month racking yesterday. I get a lot of ripe red/dark berry flavors, and both the taste and nose are already on level to commercial GSMs that I've tasted. For me, this kit went from...

I used 1118 for this one. I considered swapping yeast, but I didn't really have a good reason why, so I only ignored the sorbate and bulk aged until my juice buckets were ready.

Has anyone else tasted their Cab Sauv Rosé recently? Ours is just over 7 months old, and we really, really like this kit. I don't typically drink rosés, but my wife wanted this kit, and I'm glad she ordered it. I kept finding myself smelling and re-tasting from my glass because I find it so...

We had a bottle of our Pink Lemonade last night, since it was 91F here yesterday and I did some yard work. It's really weird to rake leaves when it's supposed to be so hot, and I don't recommend it, but hey, there's only 2 days in the weekend and it has to get done. At 6 months old, this...

Thanks for posting! The Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc blend sounds very interesting, and I've never heard of a Negroamaro before. I'll have to buy a commercial bottle and see if I like it.

That's a good kit to get back into it! One thing that I learned on this forum that became a head-slapper to me is to dry the bung, dry the carboy's inside neck, push the bung into the carboy, THEN add the airlock while holding down the bung. The airlock will expand the bung slightly and create...

With my Pink Lemonade kit, I saved the whole F-pack for the end, and I am very happy with it. We had a bottle over the 4th of July weekend, and everyone liked it. Maybe it was the hot weather or just the crowd, but the Pink Lemonade (about 3 months old) and Dragon's Blood (about 17 months old)...

I bottled our Pink Lemonade over the weekend. I got 29 full bottles and 1 partial. That last partial bottle was surprisingly good for only being 3 months old. I added the full F-pack at the end, because I think lemonades should be sweet, and it is everything I hoped for. My wife and I agree...

My reds aren't to that point yet, but for a white: Winexpert Eclipse Dry Creek Valley Chardonnay

Welcome to the forum! Especially for a first timer, I would disagree that taking the SG is a waste of time. When I nervously made my first batch, the hydrometer was a reassuring measure of progress that I didn't mess anything up. Even a year and a half later, checking the SG is an exciting...

Good to know! I'm okay with adding clarifiers if I need to, but I figure I'd give it a shot to do it naturally. I'd just plan to use less clarifiers than the instructions call for. Did you add any k-meta during the extended maceration? Since I am going to wait this one out, I've considered...

I started my Kookaburra kit last night and pitched BM 4x4 this morning. Measured 1.080 @ 71F, but I didn't bother to stir it up with the skins at the bottom of the pail before I pitched this morning. The juice in this kit smells great, but the skins smell/taste amazing. I'm super excited for...

That is an interesting way to do the kit. I figure there would be sorbate in the F-pack to prevent fermentation from starting up while in the package. I've added 1/2 the F-pack up front and then 1/2 the F-pack after adding the sorbate on the Green Apply Riesling kit, and it turned out really...

Mine is sitting in its carboy, happily bulk aging. I probably won't bottle it for another month.

That's pretty close to where my kit finished, and not too far off from where the instructions say you should end up (between 1.010 and 1.020). Check the SG again in 48 hours and we can see if there is still activity.

The timing doesn't always work out perfectly to the instructions, which can be caused by a number of factors. What's important is to follow your hydrometer and the overall process, and think of the timing on the instructions as guidelines. It's possible the fermentation restarted, but let's...

I don't have a ton of experience making wine yet, and the wine I've made has been by following kit instructions with slight to moderate tweaks. It sounds like you might have deviated from the instructions, so you are a little beyond my experience, but we can run down the basics. What have...