Cellar Craft CC Showcase Amarone - my first big kit

[foxyrand]

Just starting my batch today. This kit is in the new packaging. Date code 4260, so 9/17/14. For those keeping score, the juice bag is about 15L, as I measured it in my fermenter. The grape pack is 2.6L as stated on the bag. No raisins. Two packets oak dust. EC-1118 yeast. Bentonite, etc...

I filled to 23L and then added the grape pack per instructions. The SG was only about 1.060 before the grape pack. Expecting (hoping) this will go up quite a bit. I believe I will chaptalize if it doesn't come up a good bit, I would like about 14.5% ABV. I mixed it all up and am waiting for 6 hours or so to pitch my yeast, for the SG to work itself out a bit.

I will be switching out the EC-1118 with some BDX yeast. Will be using Go-ferm & Fermaid-K as detailed on the MoreWine articles.

I believe I'll be using the oak dust in fermentation, but will also use some Hungarian medium toast cubes in secondary. But, I also have some French chips on hand I could swap the dust for. Haven't yet decided which.

After that, extended aging. I don't have a barrel yet, so it's all glass. I'm thinking 1 year in the carboy (with appropriate racking) and a year in the bottle before I touch anything but perhaps a few splits. I may not be good at a lot of things, but I'm really good at doing nothing (let's call it patience).

This is my first attempt at a more advanced kit, with some tweaks thrown in. I've done 4 other kits, but have only modified the aging times.

What do you think, sirs?

 

[sour_grapes]

I just made that kit recently. Yes, the grape pack will raise the SG significantly. However, 1.060 sees quite low for a starting point. Are you sure it was well-stirred before you took the reading?

In my case, the juice+water (reconstituted to 23L) had a SG of 1.085. I used a slow-starting yeast, which gave a fair amount of time for the sugars to get out of the grapepack before the yeast start eating it. In my case, the SG got up to 1.106 before starting to fall.

Not that I am any expert, but your plan looks solid to me!

 

[bkisel]

You're showing a whole lot more confidence than I had with 4 kits under my belt. I've tweaked a few lower end kits before having made them straight up but never a big one. However, from what I've learned your tweaks seem reasonable/sensible as you don't appear to be really trying to hit it out of the park.

Even with my big kits there is no way I'm waiting two years before enjoying the fruits of my labor. Maybe had I started this hobby fifty years ago but not now at seventy. As nice as the guy might be I don't want my wife's next husband to be enjoying my wine.

 

[foxyrand]

sour_grapes, I think you may be right. I did stir it up a good bit, but it probably didn't get completely mixed. It's been about 3-4 hours and I've stirred a few more times and it's come up to about 1.1 or so.
I've just been reading the hydrometer out of the bucket, following what I've seen others have done. I have found I can't quite read it as well that way, but it is faster. Before pitching, I'll put it into the sample tube so I can get a more accurate reading. Looks like I shouldn't have to chaptalize, it's getting up to where I want it.

bkisel - I have only done 4 but I spend a LOT of time reading about the whole process. I started with Jack Keller and read a lot of the stuff on his pages, I've read pretty much everything on MoreWine, been reading threads on this board for a few years, information from Brehm, stuff from the library, and pretty much anything I have been able to find. I like reading, and I find that I really like learning about wine making.

 

[heatherd]

I appreciate that you did your homework!

When the kit has oak, I use the dust in primary and cubes/chips/staves in the later phases.

I haven't made this kit, but suspect you could age for a year and then check to see how it tastes. Anyone who has made the kit can weigh in.

Good luck!
Heather

 

[NoSnob]

Some prefer to wait until they've made the kit per the maker's directions once or twice before they begin to make mods. When it comes to kits, I'm basically a by the book guy so I won't venture an opinion about your mods. I guess the thinking is that no one wants your kit to succeed more than the kit makers do. That's not to say you can't improve upon their directions though.

You have chosen an excellent kit, one of the best (maybe THE best) I have made in over 20 kits. Some of the bottles were quite drinkable after only six months or so, almost unheard of. I've noticed some bottle variation though. It's a really good idea to use half-bottles to track their aging progress over time.

Good luck & let us know how it works out!

NS

 

[foxyrand]

Well, the SG never did get above 1.100. Using FermCalc (thank you Steve Gross! That is a very slickly designed program!) I calculated and added around 2 cups of sugar to raise to 1.105, so I could get a slightly higher ABV at the end.

Moving on to the BDX yeast, this is the first time venturing away from the kit supplied yeast, so it's the first time I've rehydrated, fed, etc., so I don't quite know what to expect. The GoFerm had quite a strong odor to it, yeasty and some other smell. I tried to search but didn't find anything saying this was or was not usual. Seemed odd to me, though, but I have no experience. After that was dissolved in the 104 degree hydrating water, I added the yeast and waited for the 15 minutes. Didn't really see any activity. Some movement but that was probably just convection currents in the measuring cup. Some yeast did float to the top. After the 15 minutes, I went ahead and added some of the must to the yeast, per the instructions. Waited the 15 minutes again. Having seen a (very) few bubbles, I figured they were going to work. I departed slightly from the MoreWine directions and added more must, and waited another 30 minutes. Saw a few more bubbles, but nothing too significant. But, having seen some signs of life, I went ahead and dumped it into the primary bucket. Temp difference of only 5 degrees at this point (69F in the primary).

That was 2-3 hours ago and I haven't seen any further activity in the primary, which concerns me a little. Should I have waited to see something more vigorous in the hydration stage? My past kits have always taken a day or two to take off, so I guess I'm not terribly concerned (yet). But I guess I expected a bit more since I went to the trouble of getting it going beforehand. Time will tell, I suppose.

 

[foxyrand]

heather - I decided on going with one of the supplied oak dust packets and one packet of chips (in place of the second pack of dust) in the primary.

nosnob - I hemmed and hawed about it for a good amount of time. Hearing all the amazing reviews, I still wonder if I should have just let it be. But then, there are lots of good reviews about changing out the standard yeast for kits as well. My progression has been to get familiar with techniques on kits and then move into frozen. So I wanted to do a few things on this kit that I will need to know here perhaps this fall. So the only things I wont have experience with by then are pressing and MLF.

But, also, the reviews I've read about this have all been for kits which, as I've understood it, came with a raisin pack as well. So I think that maybe my kit won't compare directly in any case.

 

[heatherd]

Well, the SG never did get above 1.100. Using FermCalc (thank you Steve Gross! That is a very slickly designed program!) I calculated and added around 2 cups of sugar to raise to 1.105, so I could get a slightly higher ABV at the end.

Moving on to the BDX yeast, this is the first time venturing away from the kit supplied yeast, so it's the first time I've rehydrated, fed, etc., so I don't quite know what to expect. The GoFerm had quite a strong odor to it, yeasty and some other smell. I tried to search but didn't find anything saying this was or was not usual. Seemed odd to me, though, but I have no experience. After that was dissolved in the 104 degree hydrating water, I added the yeast and waited for the 15 minutes. Didn't really see any activity. Some movement but that was probably just convection currents in the measuring cup. Some yeast did float to the top. After the 15 minutes, I went ahead and added some of the must to the yeast, per the instructions. Waited the 15 minutes again. Having seen a (very) few bubbles, I figured they were going to work. I departed slightly from the MoreWine directions and added more must, and waited another 30 minutes. Saw a few more bubbles, but nothing too significant. But, having seen some signs of life, I went ahead and dumped it into the primary bucket. Temp difference of only 5 degrees at this point (69F in the primary).

That was 2-3 hours ago and I haven't seen any further activity in the primary, which concerns me a little. Should I have waited to see something more vigorous in the hydration stage? My past kits have always taken a day or two to take off, so I guess I'm not terribly concerned (yet). But I guess I expected a bit more since I went to the trouble of getting it going beforehand. Time will tell, I suppose.

Give it some more time, should be fine.

 

[foxyrand]

Yep, the yeast took off after about 24 hours or so. Now we're at 48+ and it's doing well. Stirring up 3 times a day. Temperature still just about 69 degrees (house is at 68).

 

[foxyrand]

Bananaman

Well, this may be my first dumper.

Distinct odors of banana today. After looking around a bit, it sounds like carbonic maceration. I believe my problems stem primarily from a weak yeast inoculation. Also, lack of oxygen in the fermenter. I stirred it up 3 times daily, but I left the lid loosely on the bucket, rather than just keeping it open or covered with cheesecloth. Once the ferment got going, I probably trapped too much CO2 on the top.

Lessons learned, I suppose. I don't see any fixes for this. Has anyone had luck saving a batch? Besides "Tropical Amarone" labels and 30 gift bags?

 

[jsiddall]

I have had a few batches that smelled of banana. I would wait 2 years before deciding to dump.

 

[roger80465]

This is my all time favorite kit. To me, it makes the best Amarone on the planet so I shed a few tears when I read your post. Please don't give up too easily.

First - just step away and take a few deep breaths. It is way too early in the process to even think about dumping the batch. Give it a few good stirs to release some of the built up CO2. When the SG drops below 1.0, rack to a carboy and continue with the directions. Mostly, give it time. If memory serves, that kit comes with a package of pectic enzyme for the secondary and that may eat some of the funk in the kit. Clearing agents can do it also. I had a WE World Vineyard GSM with skins that I bottled without adding clearing agents (a mistake on my part, not a planned thing). It had a horrible, funky taste a couple months later and I thought about dumping it. Instead, I opened the bottles and returned to the carboy and added kms and the supplied clearing agent and let it sit. After 1 day, there was a crazy amount of gunk (almost a slime) that dropped out and the flavor cleaned up completely. I opened a bottle of that earlier this week and, while a bit young, it is exactly what I planned when I started the kit. Moral of the story is (to quote a wise old TV character) 'have patience, grasshopper'. Time is your best friend. You may well be surprised with the outcome.

 

[Kraffty]

Don't panic and don't ever give up quickly. The smells evolve and change, maybe you could add a bit more nutrient but stay on course and following the steps in the kit. I really doubt you're in trouble.
Mike

 

[foxyrand]

Thanks for the votes of support. I'll continue on and hope for the best. Had planned to age for a while anyway so no loss there.

 

[Enologo]

+1 To what Krafty said. I just had a similiar experience with a WE Amarone kit that had an off oder so I hit it with some nutrient and enegizer and a good stir and a day or two later it was back on track. Great aroma I could of drank it out of the fermenter. Of course YMMV.

 

[sour_grapes]

I totally agree with the others. I really doubt the things you said you did "wrong" will have harmed your wine. Keep the faith.

 

[TemperanceOwl]

Hi, Foxyrand. Do you have any updates on how your CC Amarone worked out? It's about 6 months along now, and early on you were contemplating tossing it.
Nell

 

[foxyrand]

I didn't end up dumping the kit, and that was definitely the right choice. According to my notes, the smell was gone when I racked it a second time a couple months ago. I haven't touched it for a while, things have gotten busy lately. But it seems like it came through OK. Once I get it bottled and take a sample, I'll post again. I plan to do some splits so I can sample as it goes along as well.

 

[TemperanceOwl]

That's good to hear, Foxy! I'll look forward to updates along the way.