Search results

batavia, exactly. My taste is for drier wines, and I find that the OB kits with the entire F-pack added at the end after stabilizing are too sweet. Using half for sweetening suits me just fine.

Nothing that can hurt you can live in alcohol, but lots of stuff that can hurt you (or not) can live in wine. Wine it typically <15% alcohol, and many things can tolerate that - even the yeast we use to ferment it. That's why we use sorbate at the end of fermentation, especially with back...

I would hold off racking until about 1.010. If the kit came with a nutrient package add it at about 1.040 to the primary.

Welcome to the forum. Upping the ABV will impact the immediate drinkability. I made a Green Apple Riesling and upped the ABV to 11% and for the first three months it tasted like rocket fuel. I recommend that you add half the F-pack to the primary, but no additional sugar. That should put...

Don't let the French see your label. They will object to your hijacking of their copyrighted name.

Yes, the 130 is the model a lot of us have. It will go to 25 in vacuum with no problem. He might not know how to adjust the regulator.

Welcome, Ali. Don't worry about it, especially if it is a dry wine. I add the sorbate with the clarifiers all the time and have never had a problem.

Read the book about a year ago. Thanks for the reminder - I think I'll read it again this weekend.

Wine making is at worst CO2 neutral. All of the carbon in the sugar was originally atmospheric CO2, so when we ferment the sugar we are just giving it back.

Al, "should i stay w the same DE system or go over to a salt system" A salt system is a radical change, so that is your decision. If you stay with a regular system just maintain pH and Cl2 levels. For an algaecide use a product that has the active ingredient...

Using PET for fermentation, both primary and secondary, should be fine as the must/wine is supersaturated with CO2, and thus protected. As stated above, I wouldn't bulk age in it.

I use K-meta exclusively for sanitizing. I never rinse.

OK, time for a brief primer on home water treatments. Softening: Softening is done to remove hardness ions, which are the divalent cations, mainly Ca+2 and Mg+2. These are the ions that cause buildup in coffee makers and shower heads and in your water heater. The normal procedure is to run...

Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallon carboy.

No evidence of air, wade, but most of my experience in vacuum racking is in wines thathave either just completed secondary, or are being racked off the gross lees after clarification. At this point I don't think they are fully degassed.

Alaska, I'm going to guess that what you are really experiencing is a lack of tannins in the wine. A tannic wine gives that "pucker" experience in the middle of the palate. Most kit wines, especially reds, are lacking in tannin because they are not fermented on the grapes. To increase...

The potassium sorbate is only added once at the end of clarification. It prevents the yeast from reproducing and starting a refermentation. Potassium metabisulfite is added every three months during bulk aging to protect against bacterial growth and oxidation. The correct amount to add is...

When using vacuum to transfer the wine, you also degas at the same time. I find my pump pulls about 15" vacuum during the transfer, and with the agitation it's like stirring while under vacuum. Good for degassing. I usually have to stop about 3/4 of the way through to let the foam subside.

You should get some fresh yeast, but other than that it should be fine. As long as the kit was stored under temperature controlled conditions it should not be a problem. I don't know about the quality of the kit, as I do mostly MM kits, but I am planning a lot more RJS and CC kits in 2010.

I wash bottles whenever and store them upside down in wine boxes. On bottling day I sanitize them and bottle.