Vineco Kit age - do they go bad?
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Interesting issue. I would contact the seller and tell him you want to return the kit, free of charge, have a newer kit sent to you, again free of charge. If they refuse this, I would ask for a refund.
However, if you are not successful in doing this, I suggest that the kit is probably okay and you should go ahead and make it. I would use fresh yeast and fresh K-meta. The kit is a "sunk cost" so go ahead a make it. All you could lose is some labor.
Just for our information, from whom did you purchase the kit?
Bmd2k1
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The kit came from MoreWine - Winemaking Supplies to Make Your Own Wine at Home
That is very surprising. I always considered them a first rate outfit. I think you have a good chance at replacement or refund.
Glad to hear that you were able to sleuth out how old that kit was & that MoreWine at least offered a refund. Since I was looking at buying that kit also during their recent sale (I did not), it might be worth mentioning for context that it was half price ($90 w/ free shipping vs. regular price of $180 also with free shipping). But even so, it would still be upsetting for me to get a 16 month old kit without them having disclosed that was the reason it was on such a big discount.
All that said, since it is shelf stable I'm sure it will be just fine.
Ideally they refund you your money and let you keep the kit, in which case you should make it and report back on this thread.
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I have made red kits that were upwards of three years old (at a greatly reduced price). I would replace all chemicals and yeast and not expect it to end up quite as good as fresh juice, mine did not, but it was certainly very good. If it were a white kit, I wouldn't go over 18 months.
I use older kits also with no issue. I would only care if I paid full price. 
I've made 3 yo kits (at a good discount) and they came out fine. The concentrate is shelf stable if stored properly.
I would not use the finishing pack (not that you need it with an Amarone), as sorbate has a relatively short shelf life. The yeast? I'd make an overnight starter -- if it takes off, it's fine. If it doesn't, use something different.
I would not use the finishing pack (not that you need it with an Amarone), as sorbate has a relatively short shelf life. The yeast? I'd make an overnight starter -- if it takes off, it's fine. If it doesn't, use something different.
Bmd2k1
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A factory point of view. The thirty minutes which a shelf stable wet food is going through it’s heat processing/ kill step, ,,, or the 45 minutes in an aseptic batching kettle followed by 10 minutes in a steam tunnel lowers the vitamins more than a year in an air conditioned warehouse. Aromatics are variable and some will degrade as fast as vitamin C. Some last years.
From a distribution point of view we put two years on most products knowing they would be healthy beyond that. Spices are a year from process date which translated means that the aromatics in our product could be two years old plus in the supply chain getting to us an additional year/ fourteen months.
Your kit can be looked at as similar to spices/ an ingredient which goes through further processing (fermentation) and then has a few years of shelf life.
@Bmd2k1 If there is a “best by” date in english you have a claim. If there isn’t a best by you have limited rights. ,
,, The number I saw for 2022 was about 45% of the food is wasted (farm to end user). If we break out the end user the US number was 37.2% of what is purchased gets trashed.
From a distribution point of view we put two years on most products knowing they would be healthy beyond that. Spices are a year from process date which translated means that the aromatics in our product could be two years old plus in the supply chain getting to us an additional year/ fourteen months.
Your kit can be looked at as similar to spices/ an ingredient which goes through further processing (fermentation) and then has a few years of shelf life.
@Bmd2k1 If there is a “best by” date in english you have a claim. If there isn’t a best by you have limited rights. ,
,, The number I saw for 2022 was about 45% of the food is wasted (farm to end user). If we break out the end user the US number was 37.2% of what is purchased gets trashed.
With my talent for procrastination, I would be hustling at the last minute to make it in February, 2025!
Thanks. I reached out to Morebeer and they said they consider 18 months on a kit with grape skins and 24 months on a kit without to be in date.
Bmd2k1
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Prepped this kit to pitch yeast starter tomorrow. Swapped out the RC212 pak for a known fresh one. Everything looked & smelled great! The skins/stems/seeds pak was uber jammy. I'm tweaking w/addition of 1cup dried tart MI cherries & 1cup jumbo golden Cali raisins.
Will update thread over time
Cheers!
Will update thread over time
Cheers!
Get some sugar in there!
Never sacrifice a good buzz to a low OG.
In all seriousness I chaptalize all kits to 1.100 on average after comments that one was a little weak on the intended effects.
Kits have changed a lot over the years. I took a quick look at my records of kit making since 1996, excluding "fun wines", non-kit concentrates, and dessert wines.
Year Range | # Kits | Low | Average | High |
1996-2016 | 21 | 1.080 | 1.087 | 1.100 |
2018-2020 | 12 | 1.082 | 1.090 | 1.096 |
2021-2022 | 12 | 1.094 | 1.098 | 1.101 |
The numbers don't look all that different, at first blush, but the details change the perspective.
From 1996 to 2016, I made kits from R J Spagnols, Vino del Vida, Wine-Art, Wine-Kitz, & Winexpert, and consistently shorted the water by 0.5 to 0.75 US gallons, so the OG if reconstituted to a full 23 liters would have been lower.
From 2018 to 2020, I made kits from R J Spagnols and Winexpert, and did not short the water, so the numbers are real.
From 2021 to 2022, I made kits from Finer Wine Kits (2 whites, 2 Frutta, and 8 reds), and the OG is consistently higher, with the lowest OG being slightly lower than the highest OG of all other vendors.
Not that a high OG is always desirable, but if making a big red, it is.
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