First kit started tonight!

[Johnd]

I'd love to do that, but I'll need a lot of hand holding! If you think you can stand all of my questions and lack of skills, I'm in.

Done. No sense wasting years working your way up to grapes when you can dive on in.

 

[pgentile]

Great way to start Scott. What everybody said before me, ditto. My first kits were Fontana kits. If you get a chance check out the thread "Tweaking cheap kits" lots of ideas. But being this is your first, stay the course.

And as some have warned, be careful, carboys do multiply before you know it. Thought I had hit my the limit at 14, then I ran into @mainshipfred at the meetup and acquired 3 more. Now I have 17 full ones in my basement.

 

[Scott Harbison]

Great way to start Scott. What everybody said before me, ditto. My first kits were Fontana kits. If you get a chance check out the thread "Tweaking cheap kits" lots of ideas. But being this is your first, stay the course.

And as some have warned, be careful, carboys do multiply before you know it. Thought I had hit my the limit at 14, then I ran into @mainshipfred at the meetup and acquired 3 more. Now I have 17 full ones in my basement.

pgentile, I am about half way through the "Tweaking Cheap Kits" thread! Lots of information there! I did drop my volume back to 5.5 gallons for this and I added the oak chips. I considered doing an fpac, but as this was my first kit, I wanted to make sure what I make will be drinkable, so I didn't experiment too much. My next kit is a WE Eclipse Lodi Cab, so I'll probably do that one by the book. But I can see the fun in doing some tweaking on my next cheap kit! Then again, if JohnD teaches me how to make wine with fresh grapes....I may not get back to the kits!

 

[Scott Harbison]

Done. No sense wasting years working your way up to grapes when you can dive on in.

Very generous of you! Just keep me in the loop as to what you need from me!

 

[Scott Harbison]

With not knowing you except from your posts and what appears to be your interest in gaining some knowledge before you got started I think you will be very happy with your first wine. But as John said the cost of an all grape batch is the same or cheaper then a quality kit. All grape is a little or maybe a lot more work but for me the fun in it is unmatched not to mention the quality you will get.

mainshipfred, I'm excited to get the opportunity to try real grapes! JohnD has been very, very helpful and I'm looking forward to learning more from him! I didn't change much in the Fontana kit, so I'm hoping my first attempt comes out ok.

 

[Johnd]

Very generous of you! Just keep me in the loop as to what you need from me!

As soon as I get the Fall grape offerings from the supplier, we’ll chat about the grapes and you can decide what you want to do and we’ll order. Nothing to do after that til late September / early October, when the fun begins.

 

[Scott Harbison]

As soon as I get the Fall grape offerings from the supplier, we’ll chat about the grapes and you can decide what you want to do and we’ll order. Nothing to do after that til late September / early October, when the fun begins.

Sounds like a lot of fun! Thank you again for including me!

 

[WinoDave]

Scott's going to have the opportunity to start where I wish that I would have, aging good kit wines in barrels. My first barrel, now neutral, is wineless, sitting in the cellar, full of sulfite water waiting for his first entry.......Lodi Ranch Cab.

I have a 5 gallon bourbon barrel that that I’ve used for a Imperial Stout beer and currently a BarleyWine beer. When I siphon off the BarleyWine Beer could I sulfite the barrel and use it for wine??? I’m clueless on putting wine in a barrel.
Appreciate any input you or anybody else may have.

 

[Johnd]

I have a 5 gallon bourbon barrel that that I’ve used for a Imperial Stout beer and currently a BarleyWine beer. When I siphon off the BarleyWine Beer could I sulfite the barrel and use it for wine??? I’m clueless on putting wine in a barrel.
Appreciate any input you or anybody else may have.

Don’t know jack about brewing beer, so I don’t know if it has anything in it detrimental to wine. If you’ve ever had a beer with Brett in it, that’s definitely a deal killer.

 

[Scott Harbison]

Day 3 and a lot of bubbling going on in the Big Bubbler! Now I know what you all mean about watching the bubbles! I'm tempted to keep going back and uncovering the top and peeking in to watch the action and take a whiff of the must! It's smelling good so far!

 

[jgmann67]

Welcome to the obsession.

Quick question for the good of the order: if your OG is 1.092 and you ferment your wine to dry, isn’t your potential ABV more like 13.4%?

 

[Scott Harbison]

Welcome to the obsession.

Quick question for the good of the order: if your OG is 1.092 and you ferment your wine to dry, isn’t your potential ABV more like 13.4%?

You may be right. That was my first time to read the hydrometer and try to understand those readings, so I may be somewhat off.

 

[mainshipfred]

You may be right. That was my first time to read the hydrometer and try to understand those readings, so I may be somewhat off.

I have to admit my first few times reading it were questionable. Seemed so simple.

 

[Ajmassa]

I assume Scott was just reading the “potential alcohol” off the hydrometer at that point. Ending point of “till dry” is kinda relative tho- finishing at .990 would have different abv than .996- but both essentially dry.
The “potential abv” I think is based on finishing at 1.000. Not positive though.

 

[mainshipfred]

The “potential abv” I think is based on finishing at 1.000. Not positive though.[/QUOTE]

I always wondered about that. Makes sense potential has to be based on some value. Thanks for the info.

 

[Ajmassa]

The “potential abv” I think is based on finishing at 1.000. Not positive though.

Never actually crunched the numbers to check- but “potential abv” definitely seems logical that it’s based off 1.000.
Scott there’s a “calculator” many of us use that has all kinds of conversions and formulas pre-loaded for all different aspects of winemaking. Fermcalc. It’s a nice crutch when needed. http://web2.airmail.net/sgross/fermcalc/FermCalcJS.html

 

[jgmann67]

I just did the math based on an OG of 1.092 and a finished SG of 0.990 and assumed a constant temp... I get 13.4%. So, yeah - a respectable ABV.

When I use the term “potential” I mean “highest you could see.”

 

[Ajmassa]

I just did the math based on a OG of 1.092 and a finished SG of 0.990 and assumed a constant temp... I get 13.4%. So, yeah - a respectable ABV.

When I use the term “potential” I mean “highest you could see.”

Gotchya. I was just referencing the “potential abv” actually printed on the hydromter. Which is actually the minimum abv if fermented “dry” to 1.000 - but realistically Scott, most healthy ferments to dryness will finish somewhere between .990 to .997. (I’ve never gotten red wine below .993)

 

[Scott Harbison]

Never actually crunched the numbers to check- but “potential abv” definitely seems logical that it’s based off 1.000.
Scott there’s a “calculator” many of us use that has all kinds of conversions and formulas pre-loaded for all different aspects of winemaking. Fermcalc. It’s a nice crutch when needed. http://web2.airmail.net/sgross/fermcalc/FermCalcJS.html

Thank you ajmassa! I appreciate any help I can get!

 

[mainshipfred]

I just did the math based on an OG of 1.092 and a finished SG of 0.990 and assumed a constant temp... I get 13.4%. So, yeah - a respectable ABV.

When you say constant temp are you referring to a calibrated reading or does the fermentation temp have something to do with the ABV?