WineXpert California Zinfandel

[Tnawal]

I just got my first red kit. The instructions aren’t really as clear as my last kit. On step 1 it says if your kit contains oak chips or granular oak, stir it in now. Oak cubes are added at a later stage.

The kit has a packet of premium oak and another of toasted oak. Since neither of these appear to be chips, I am assuming I add them both on day 1. Is this correct?

Also, if I am doing the math correctly, the kit should be around 11% abv when finished. Has anyone made this kit and added sugar in the beginning to boost the alcohol a little more?

 

[Chuck E]

I just got my first red kit. The instructions aren’t really as clear as my last kit. On step 1 it says if your kit contains oak chips or granular oak, stir it in now. Oak cubes are added at a later stage.

The kit has a packet of premium oak and another of toasted oak. Since neither of these appear to be chips, I am assuming I add them both on day 1. Is this correct?

Also, if I am doing the math correctly, the kit should be around 11% abv when finished. Has anyone made this kit and added sugar in the beginning to boost the alcohol a little more?

Correct, the powdered oak goes in first. You will have to measure your staring sG to figure the alcohol. Tweaking the kit by adding sugar is common. It's called chaptalization.

 

[Atlas.Ink]

Is this the Eclipse kit?

 

[jgmann67]

Is this the Eclipse kit?

This is my question as well.

If it is, you have a skins pack that goes in to the juice. I’d put those in, let it sit over night. After that, stir well and check your sG again. If it’s short on sugar (below 13% potential alcohol), I’d probably add some simple syrup until it got above 1.090. Once you get in range on your sG, you can drop your yeast and start your ferment.

Add the packet of dust/chips in the primary and hold on to the cubes for aging.

I did the Eclipse kit a couple years ago. Happy with it after about 18 months.

 

[Tnawal]

Is this the Eclipse kit?

No it is a wine expert World Vineyard kit.

 

[Chuck E]

This is my question as well.

If it is, you have a skins pack that goes in to the juice. I’d put those in, let it sit over night. After that, stir well and check your sG again. If it’s short on sugar (below 13% potential alcohol), I’d probably add some simple syrup until it got above 1.090. Once you get in range on your sG, you can drop your yeast and start your ferment.

Add the packet of dust/chips in the primary and hold on to the cubes for aging.

I did the Eclipse kit a couple years ago. Happy with it after about 18 months.

I don't think there are skins in this kit.

 

[sour_grapes]

Also, if I am doing the math correctly, the kit should be around 11% abv when finished. Has anyone made this kit and added sugar in the beginning to boost the alcohol a little more?

Well, would you like us to check your math? What SG did you measure?

 

[Tnawal]

I did not start the kit yet, I used the target numbers for starting gravity and stabilizing. Starting is 1.070 - 1.097 and stabilizing is <0.996. This kit does not have skins. I would like to get 13% abv.

 

[sour_grapes]

That is a wide range that they cite! I guess it is a CYA move. So, yeah, I agree with your plan: if the SG is lower than ~1.095, add some sugar to get it to the upper end of the range (1.095-1.100).

 

[Atlas.Ink]

This is a kit I have made multiple times for clients. Many of the WV kits, I boost with 500-1000g of maltodextrose at the start. Depending on the requested ABV. I would not go by the SG range they provide, take your own, always. The range they provide is a wide range.

Cheers

 

[Boatboy24]

As others have said, a little sugar addition wouldn't hurt to bump the SG so you finish in the 13%+ ABV range. A better option if you have it is to add grape concentrate. I'm not talking frozen Welch's though. Look to something like this: https://labelpeelers.com/red-grape-concentrate-1-l/

 

[Tnawal]

I still have some bubbling in the air lock on day 17, about every 30 seconds. I was supposed to be able to stabilize and degas on day 14 if the stabilizing sg is <.996. I measured sg today and it is 1.00. Do you think it could be taking longer due to adding extra sugar or possibly the temperature it is sitting in. The closet it is in says it is 68 degrees.

 

[wrongway]

Temp and Sg will affect fermentation time, that's longer though than any wines I have done but my kitchen averages 76 deg. Good luck and keep us informed. I have had my eye on that kit.

 

[cooknhogz]

I have 3 kits going right now. All fermenting at different speeds. The 14 days in the instructions is a round about time frame. Trust your hydrometer and go by that.

 

[Tnawal]

I wrapped a blanket around the carboy to get it a little warmer and hit an sg of .994 today.