Following directions

[PostToastee]

Just looking for some thoughts and opinions. This is my first time trying this. If I am to follow the directions to the letter, should I end up with a decent wine? I am making traditional wine, the first one will be a Winexpert World Vineyard Chilean merlot. If one was to follow the directions to the T, shouldn't you end up with a decent wine? I'm sure that as time goes by, I will learn more but all the discussion I've read thus far makes me nervous about varying at all. What things have you found that make your wines better than just a wine? What subtle changes have you made to the recipe to make it better

 

[cmason1957]

If you are making a wine kit (particularly your first one) you won't go far wrong by following the directions. One thing you can always add is take more time at each step, but for the first do what they say and the wine is drinkable.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

If you are making a wine kit (particularly your first one) you won't go far wrong by following the directions. One thing you can always add is take more time at each step, but for the first do what they say and the wine is drinkable.

Great advice ^^

 

[heatherd]

Welcome to the hobby! Wine kits are engineered for success. You will have something GOOD by following the directions to the letter. You can make something even better by giving more time at every step and aging the wine prior to drinking. If you give the wine a year, you will get your money's worth from the kit.

Heather

 

[shoebiedoo]

I started out following everything to a T and had good results. Like everyone says, is OK to delay things but don't rush! I found out just how much you can delay when I was struck with health issues after starting a batch. I think the wine stayed in secondary (fermentation) for almost a month before I got out of the hospital. after having several more abdominal surgeries throughout the year it took almost a full year to finish the wine. It turned out great. so enjoy the hobby and try not to worry

 

[Bergmann]

I have never done a kit. But I notice often times people become fixated on time frame recommendations in the instructions. Apparently Not all Kits offer Specific Gravity references as well. Even the beginner should acquire a basic understanding of the use of the Hydrometer, and at what specific gravity dryness occurs. I believe that is the most crucial starting point. Armed with this basic wine making knowledge the rankest beginner can produce a pretty good wine from a kit.

 

[PostToastee]

I started a Chilean Merlot yesterday. Here are some things that happened:
1-It's hard to get the top off the juice concentrate! A screw off top would be better, I sprayed a little bit in my kitchen as it finally just popped off.
2-How does one make hot water to dissolve the bentonite? And is there a standard as to what "hot" is? Same question for "warm". Since you have to have the right combo of hot, warm and room temperature to get it between 72 and 75.
3-It says stir the oak under the liquid. It really likes to stay on top! I did my best to at least get it submerged prior to putting the yeast in.
4-My Specific Gravity was 1.094 prior to yeast in.
5-Temperature of liquid was 72 degrees.

Can't wait for the next step!

 

[Angelina]

PostToastee, I can never get the top off the concentrate, I cut the top of the bag from the corner.

 

[Rocky]

You are doing fine! Nice kit to start with. See responses below. Good luck!

I started a Chilean Merlot yesterday. Here are some things that happened:
1-It's hard to get the top off the juice concentrate! A screw off top would be better, I sprayed a little bit in my kitchen as it finally just popped off. There is an inexpensive tool available from most suppliers that makes this a lot easier.
2-How does one make hot water to dissolve the bentonite? And is there a standard as to what "hot" is? Same question for "warm". Since you have to have the right combo of hot, warm and room temperature to get it between 72 and 75. Use as hot tap water as you have. The disparity in volumes of the hot water and the rest of the 23 liters of liquid would have little effect on the final temperature of the must. Pour the hot water into the fermenter and slowly stream the Bentonite while stirring constantly. It is clay, after all, so it can be hard to get the "mud" to dissolve. Some kit manufacturers use a readily dissolvable type of Bentonite and some, like WE, use the gray stuff which takes some time to dissolve. Patience! This is not a race so enjoy the experience.
3-It says stir the oak under the liquid. It really likes to stay on top! I did my best to at least get it submerged prior to putting the yeast in. It does take some effort to get oak powder and oak chips to absorb the liquid. Again, patience is the word.
4-My Specific Gravity was 1.094 prior to yeast in. Great start. You should end up with about 13% ABV if you ferment to dry or about SG 0.994.
5-Temperature of liquid was 72 degrees. Again, a good number. A little higher, 75 to 77 degrees F, would also be great.

Can't wait for the next step!

 

[DoctorCAD]

1. There is a tool made to get the top off the juice bags. It is worth every penny!

2. It really doesn't matter how hot the water is, bentonite is just plain hard to get dissolved. Give it a good stir and smash the little bits with your fingers.

3. Invest in some bagged oak cubes, they are far less likely to clog your racking cane when you rack to the secondary. And you will clog your racking cane when you rack, get ready for it.

4. Kits shoot for 1,092, so you did good!

5. Temperature is fine, any temperature that feels comfortable to you feels comfortable to wine yeasts.

Like others have stated, following the directions will get you good wine. Adding 4 to 6 months before bottling and another 4 to 6 after that gets you really good wine. Adding a year or longer gets you great wine. If you want to make another batch while this one is sitting, try one of the "mist" kits, they can be made in 30 days and you can drink them right away. They are artifically flavored, so no waiting for the flavors to develop. They are pretty sweet and lower alcohol, good summertime drinks!

 

[olusteebus]

I use a channel lock to remove the cap. Not too hard.

 

[sour_grapes]

As the others have said, there is a tool for removing the caps. I made my own tool by taking a small piece of wood, maybe 8" long, and put 4 wood screws in it. I arranged the screws in kind of a V-pattern, so that they grabbed the cap. Then you can easily pry the cap off.

As Rocky says, slowly pout a thin stream of bentonite into the water. I use a kitchen whisk, and whisk away as the bentonite is entering the water.

 

[Rocky]

Clever, Paul. I was over-thinking this and was going to try to make one out of a piece of 3/8" aluminum, machined to the same profile as the cap. Your way is much simpler.

As the others have said, there is a tool for removing the caps. I made my own tool by taking a small piece of wood, maybe 8" long, and put 4 wood screws in it. I arranged the screws in kind of a V-pattern, so that they grabbed the cap. Then you can easily pry the cap off.

As Rocky says, slowly pout a thin stream of bentonite into the water. I use a kitchen whisk, and whisk away as the bentonite is entering the water.

 

[richmke]

1-It's hard to get the top off the juice concentrate! A screw off top would be better, I sprayed a little bit in my kitchen as it finally just popped off.

I got this. It also helps with shrinking a seal over a bottle using hot water.
http://labelpeelers.com/pvc-shrink-tool-bag-decapper-combo/

2-How does one make hot water to dissolve the bentonite? And is there a standard as to what "hot" is?

I put some of the juice in the pail, so the heat doesn't hurt the pail.
I sterilize a small pot (2 cup pot), and an immersion blender
boil about 1 cup of water, remove from heat
while stirring with the immersion blender, sprinkle bentonite into the pot
Pour solution into the pail, and stir in with the immersion blender.

Same question for "warm". Since you have to have the right combo of hot, warm and room temperature to get it between 72 and 75.

Transfer the rest of the juice into the pail.
Sanitize a funnel, and a larger pot (about 2 quarts).
heat water up to about 100 degrees.
Pour about 1 quart into the bag
rinse bag, and pour into pail.
Repeat.
Stir the juice to equalize the temp
Take a temp. Mine is usually in the 60's.
Heat a pot of water up to 120 degrees
Pour into pail. stir to equalize the temp. Repeat until temp is just at the bottom of the range to pitch yeast.
Heat up rest of the water to 75 degrees, or whatever is in the middle of your temp range.

After you get the hang of it, you can heat up water to 120 degrees, and mix that with faucet/room temp water. It is easier to heat up small batches to 120 degrees than to heat up everything to 75 degrees.

 

[cpfan]

Before I got one of the tools designed to take the cap off the juice/concentrate bag, I used an simple old-fashioned can/bottle opener. Slip the can opener between the cap and the bag and twist to pry the cap off. Never had a problem. Actually there's still a can opener in my wine tool drawer beside the 'proper' bag opener. Guess I haven't used it in a while.

Steve

 

[mikefrommichigan]

I agree with DoctorCAD regarding using oak cubes instead of oak chips if possible, or put the chips in a muslin bag next time.

I just racked 3 kits last weekend that all included oak chips. I forgot to get oak cubes to replace the chips, and did not have a muslin bag handy when I made the kits, so I added the chips.

I did not have a problem with the chips clogging the racking cane with the first 2 kits that I racked, but the 3rd kit was a pain. I must have stopped and cleared the racking tube and racking cane at least a dozen times for the first 3 gallons. I then gave up racking and lifted the bucket and gently poured the remainder of the wine using a funnel into the carboy. I know I poured more of the sediment into the carboy than I wanted, so it may not clear as quickly as the first 2. I hope I have not spoiled the 3rd kit.

So a note to self, check if the next kit contains oak chips, if so, get oak cubes. I wish all kits that use oak would include cubes, and not chips

 

[Rocky]

Mike, I hear what you are saying and I agree that the chips and powder can be a pain. However, I don't use cube in my primary fermenter but do use them after racking to a carboy for the finish of fermentation. I am not sure how much oak extraction one would get in primary.

 

[mikefrommichigan]

Rocky, Still being a novice I just follow the kit instructions, but I will add the oak after racking in one of my next kits.

 

[PostToastee]

I am using a Winexpert World Vineyard kit making a Chilean merlot. Instructions say to cover your primary for 5-7 days before proceeding to the next step. Says after 5-7 days to take a sample and make sure your SG is below 1.010 or less before siphoning. I secured the lid on 5 days ago with the airlock. Do I remove the lid completely or is there a way to take sample out? It says if not below 1.010 to test each day until it does. If I have to remove the lid, I'm guessing I should remove the lid, take the sample and immediately place back on if it not at the desired SG level?? I'm going to be sanitizing all equipment today to be prepared since it is now actually day 6. I guess my question is, if I don't rack to carboy because its not at SG, will the air hurt it? And if so, how do I minimize the hurt?

 

[Rocky]

I am using a Winexpert World Vineyard kit making a Chilean merlot. Instructions say to cover your primary for 5-7 days before proceeding to the next step. Says after 5-7 days to take a sample and make sure your SG is below 1.010 or less before siphoning. I secured the lid on 5 days ago with the airlock. Do I remove the lid completely or is there a way to take sample out? It says if not below 1.010 to test each day until it does. If I have to remove the lid, I'm guessing I should remove the lid, take the sample and immediately place back on if it not at the desired SG level?? I'm going to be sanitizing all equipment today to be prepared since it is now actually day 6. I guess my question is, if I don't rack to carboy because its not at SG, will the air hurt it? And if so, how do I minimize the hurt?

I am assuming that you are referring to the initial stage of fermentation when you say to "cover" the fermenter for 5-7 days. In this stage, I just set the cover on top of the fermenter and I do not snap it down securely. I am only trying to keep dirt and critters out of the wine. Some people even cover their fermenter with a towel. You need some amount of oxygen in the initial stage. In doing so, it is an easy matter to simply remove the top and take a sample. I do not add an air lock until I rack to a carboy (i.e. when SG is at or below 1.010).