WineXpert Eclipse Stag Leap Merlot Extended Maceration

[crushday]

Hi George it’s been suggested by Swedeman that I get advice on Fastferment from you , as I’ve seen you’re are “the man “ I’ve used mine and struggle to get sediment to drop , I’ve read somewhere about larger base openings , mine is 1 inch wide and maybe restrictive, I see you have the larger Fastferment units which naturally have larger openings is that the key? so please if you can offer tips and tricks to rescue my Fastferment from my dusty shed , thanks William

Good morning. As you have seen, I have been using FF fermentors since 2016 - love them. And, employ nine. What I can do is tell you how I used them and use them now. How I used them: I no longer make kits but when I did I found it best to use a muslin bag for all adjuncts (skins and chips). However, if a kit included oak dust I didn't add that to the must as it surely clogged the collection ball. I found that the collection ball easily held most of the fall out with few exceptions. Most notable exceptions where "big" Cabernet kits and one Super Tuscan but mostly only emptied the collection ball once at carboy transfer. I didn't use sorbate or any clearing agents opting for time to do the clearing. Here's an example of notes from an actual ferment:

RJS Hightail Merlot started on 1/21/19, OG 1.112, FG .993, added dry skins and heavy oak chips to muslin bag, RC212 yeast, (1/26/19 SG is 1.025, 1/27/19 SG is 1.019, 1/28 is 1.013, 1/29 is 1.007, 1/30 is 1.003, 1/31pm is 0.996, 2/1 is 0.995, 2/2 is 0.993), muslin bag removed on 3/9/2019, bulk aged in carboy with 2 spirals, barrel aged 7/1/2019, bottled 5/2/2020.
How I use the FF fermentors now is for secondary fermentation. I only use frozen or fresh grapes now and do my primary fermentation in stainless steel vats. I transfer to the FF for secondary. Here's a recent example:

Frozen Malbec Rattlesnake Hills from winegrapesdirect.com, started 3/15/2020, 5 buckets, added Opti-Red, Rouge Tannin, and Lallyzme EX (a very small amount. Will add EX-V on Wednesday after it arrives), added 150gm of French oak cubes to must, 3/17/2020 must temp is 60 degrees. I pitched the yeast - UVA Ferm BDX. 3/19/2020, I added the CH16 package in whole. Cap is nice and thick. Surprising amount of condensation on the underside of the fermenting pot lid. I opted out of adding the EX-V as I added pectinate a few days ago and the extraction seems to be at a good level. I’ll save the EX-V for the next batch. Temp is 80 degrees. 3/20/2020, nice cap this morning. Beginning to smell more and more like wine. 3/24/2020, I decided to press. SG was down to 1.001 this morning so this afternoon I moved it to conicals. Learned some things. I had 11 gallons of wine via the pump. I had another 7 gallons from the press, 3 of which were free run. The other 4 came from pressing. Note: when I do this again, use a carboy to catch the wine from the press drain. Just checked the gravity: .997, activity in the airlock. 4/21/2020, second fermentation done, transferred to barrels.

Hope this helps. PM if you want a phone call. I'm happy to chat on the phone.

 

[Swedeman]

I’m about to start a Mosti Mondiale kit

It just occurred to me that you are doing a Mosti Mondiale kit. I wasn't aware that you can get them in Europe, obviously only sold in UK. Good for you. The only quality brand we have in Sweden is Winexpert.

 

[WillShill]

It just occurred to me that you are doing a Mosti Mondiale kit. I wasn't aware that you can get them in Europe, obviously only sold in UK. Good for you. The only quality brand we have in Sweden is Winexpert.

Yes I bought them from Spitting Feathers home brew shop in Bolton England “apologies if this isn’t allowed” I also purchased all grape packs 4KG, which I’ve just added to my very full bucket, Winexpert not a bad option although I know the need to experiment with different brands and varieties, I’m sure they’d ship if you wanted to try, I believe alcohol taxes are quite high in Sweden does this apply to wine kits also ?

 

[Swedeman]

I’m sure they’d ship if you wanted to try

Was the shipping expensive to Northern Ireland?

I believe alcohol taxes are quite high in Sweden does this apply to wine kits also ?

Luckily no, just normal VAT (25%).

 

[WillShill]

Good morning. As you have seen, I have been using FF fermentors since 2016 - love them. And, employ nine. What I can do is tell you how I used them and use them now. How I used them: I no longer make kits but when I did I found it best to use a muslin bag for all adjuncts (skins and chips). However, if a kit included oak dust I didn't add that to the must as it surely clogged the collection ball. I found that the collection ball easily held most of the fall out with few exceptions. Most notable exceptions where "big" Cabernet kits and one Super Tuscan but mostly only emptied the collection ball once at carboy transfer. I didn't use sorbate or any clearing agents opting for time to do the clearing. Here's an example of notes from an actual ferment:

RJS Hightail Merlot started on 1/21/19, OG 1.112, FG .993, added dry skins and heavy oak chips to muslin bag, RC212 yeast, (1/26/19 SG is 1.025, 1/27/19 SG is 1.019, 1/28 is 1.013, 1/29 is 1.007, 1/30 is 1.003, 1/31pm is 0.996, 2/1 is 0.995, 2/2 is 0.993), muslin bag removed on 3/9/2019, bulk aged in carboy with 2 spirals, barrel aged 7/1/2019, bottled 5/2/2020.
How I use the FF fermentors now is for secondary fermentation. I only use frozen or fresh grapes now and do my primary fermentation in stainless steel vats. I transfer to the FF for secondary. Here's a recent example:

Frozen Malbec Rattlesnake Hills from winegrapesdirect.com, started 3/15/2020, 5 buckets, added Opti-Red, Rouge Tannin, and Lallyzme EX (a very small amount. Will add EX-V on Wednesday after it arrives), added 150gm of French oak cubes to must, 3/17/2020 must temp is 60 degrees. I pitched the yeast - UVA Ferm BDX. 3/19/2020, I added the CH16 package in whole. Cap is nice and thick. Surprising amount of condensation on the underside of the fermenting pot lid. I opted out of adding the EX-V as I added pectinate a few days ago and the extraction seems to be at a good level. I’ll save the EX-V for the next batch. Temp is 80 degrees. 3/20/2020, nice cap this morning. Beginning to smell more and more like wine. 3/24/2020, I decided to press. SG was down to 1.001 this morning so this afternoon I moved it to conicals. Learned some things. I had 11 gallons of wine via the pump. I had another 7 gallons from the press, 3 of which were free run. The other 4 came from pressing. Note: when I do this again, use a carboy to catch the wine from the press drain. Just checked the gravity: .997, activity in the airlock. 4/21/2020, second fermentation done, transferred to barrels.

Hope this helps. PM if you want a phone call. I'm happy to chat on the phone.

Hi George thanks for your message, I’d love to try fresh grapes sometime if available but unfortunately I’m in Northern Ireland and grapes don’t grow here, I think I’ll try clearing bottle in the future and reduce sediment prior moving into carboy, do you leave some sediment in your stainless primary fermenter ? , also do you fill Fastferment and reduce headspace? that would be great for clearing and bottling or even straight into my new barrel, Thanks

 

[WillShill]

Was the shipping expensive to Northern Ireland?

Luckily no, just normal VAT (25%).

No the seller paid 50% as I purchased two kits and two grape packs, £125 , a really nice guy , he imports directly from Canada, if you could get other winemakers interested you could ship a pallet.

 

[SLM]

SLM is about to start a SLM!
Reading through this thread, there doesn't seem to be a consensus on EM. If anyone has further experience with EM vs non-EM on this kit, please share.

 

[WillShill]

SLM is about to start a SLM!
Reading through this thread, there doesn't seem to be a consensus on EM. If anyone has further experience with EM vs non-EM on this kit, please share.

I have very little experience in general and was ready to quit making wine kits completely, I’m not talking about this kit either but I started my first EM last July, six weeks from pitching yeast, I had then only had a sip of the wine before transfer to carboy and it was totally different to my other kits no after taste or anything negative, I left it under airlock until two weeks ago when I got concerned about headspace and topped it up with shop bought wine, I tasted both and surprisingly mine was better, if that’s EM I’m glad I’ve another one finishing on Wednesday and giving me hope to achieve quality home made wine.

 

[jgmann67]

After experimenting with EMs for a few years now, I’m not entirely sure I will do an EM on my next series of kits. It tends to mute the brighter fruit tastes (IMO). For big Italian kits, I’d say go for it. But, for the SLM - and I’m doing one right now - I’m going non EM to see if I like the difference better.