kit wine doesn't seem to have alcohol

[zipper046]

Hi all,

Ok, did up a kit wine from California Connoisseur...a chardonnay. Followed the kit instructions...seemed that the SG was achieved rather quickly. However, followed the timelines and added the chemicals that came with the kit at the times they specified.

Bottled it...some bottles have a slight "haze" that swirls when I move the bottle. I think it may be some residual from the Oak chips that were really more of a Oak DUST! We left them for about a month and 1st bottle was OK...2nd bottle was pretty good.

HOWEVER, both the wife and I feel like it doesn't have alot of alcohol in it, or that it has some good body. It's OK for a cheap everyday drinking wine...has some slight fruity hints, but nothing crisp and definitive.

Is this just kit's in general? Or do you need to add more sugar & yeast and other stuff to get the desired alcohol?

Help would be appreciated.

Z-

 

[Tom]

What was the starting gravity?
when did you start,bottle.
We need more details
What do you mean
SG was achieved rather quickly

 

[davewaz]

Kits definitly have the appropriate amount of alcohol. The directions often times are a bit rushed and depending on your house temps and other factors perhaps your kit wasn't done fermenting, or fermentation stopped. At least that's my guess. All my kits have gotten to where they should be.

 

[Runningwolf]

Kits definitly have the appropriate amount of alcohol. The directions often times are a bit rushed and depending on your house temps and other factors perhaps your kit wasn't done fermenting, or fermentation stopped. At least that's my guess. All my kits have gotten to where they should be.

Along with what Dave is saying, you must go by sg reading's and not timelines.

So we need to have all the information Tom has asked for to better assist you.

 

[robie]

Add to the list of questions - What was the ending SG?

Sounds like maybe you bottled based on the timeline and not based on when it actually did clear.

If you bottled wine that was not clear, it will never totally clear in the bottle, other than maybe whatever is causing the cloudiness will eventually settle as sediment into the bottom of the bottle.

Go ahead and answer the posted question; we can certainly help you. You wine is not a loss by any means!

 

[cpfan]

Hi all,

Ok, did up a kit wine from California Connoisseur...a chardonnay. Followed the kit instructions...seemed that the SG was achieved rather quickly. However, followed the timelines and added the chemicals that came with the kit at the times they specified.

Bottled it...some bottles have a slight "haze" that swirls when I move the bottle. I think it may be some residual from the Oak chips that were really more of a Oak DUST! We left them for about a month and 1st bottle was OK...2nd bottle was pretty good.

HOWEVER, both the wife and I feel like it doesn't have alot of alcohol in it, or that it has some good body. It's OK for a cheap everyday drinking wine...has some slight fruity hints, but nothing crisp and definitive.

Is this just kit's in general? Or do you need to add more sugar & yeast and other stuff to get the desired alcohol?

Help would be appreciated.

Z-

I made quite a number of California Connoisseur Chardonnays when I ran a Ferment on Premises (from 2001 to 2007). Numbers that I would expect from this kit are..starting sg 1.082, final sg .992, resulting alcohol about 12%.

Steve

 

[zipper046]

What was the starting gravity?
when did you start,bottle.
We need more details
What do you mean
SG was achieved rather quickly

OK...here goes:

Day 1: 3/13/2011 - Initial S.G. - forgot to get it!!

Followed directions, added water, packaged Bentonite that came with kit, Oak granulars, and SPRINKLED YEAST over top of wine base, then covered TIGHTLY with sealed lid and added fermentation lock per instructions.

Day 8: 3/22/2011 - S.G - .990

Followed directions and moved to carboy (leaving sediment behind). Attached stopped and fermentation lock.

Day 20: 4/9/2011 - S.G. - .990

Followed directions and siphoned into a carboy, added Potassium Metabisulphite and mixed. Stirred over next 2 days to degas.

Day 22: 4/13/2011 - S.G. - .990

Followed directions and added Potassium Sorbate and Fining Agent and stirred thoroughly. Left in carboy on table in about 70 degrees.

Day 28: 4/20/2011 - S.G. - did not check, figured it would be .990 or less....

Followed directions and Bottled from carboy.

Cracked open first bottle on 05/01/2011 - was OK. When moving some bottles, noticed a faint "haze" that "swirled" when the bottle moved (kind of cool looking, actually). Have left bottles since. So figure about 2 month's in the bottles so far.....

Do you generally have to "tweak" the kits, or just follow straight up? I'm hoping to get a couple good kits going then venture into buying frozen must or actual grapes and doing it myself....

Help appreciated.

Craig

 

[millwright01]

I don't think it says so in the directions, but I always rack right before I bottle. There are always some fines that have settled so I rack it off so it doesn't get stirred back in. The kit should have had the right amount of sugar and with the initial SG you could have figured out the actual ABV.

 

[robie]

Not knowing the starting SG means we will never know how much alcohol is in your wine. However, if it finished at .990, I am sure your wine has plenty of alcohol. It is just not ready to drink quite yet. Give it some time.

You are stuck with the haze (or sediment from it), unless you pour wine back into carboy, let it clear, then rebottle.

 

[EdwardLongshanks]

It says in the directions Day 28 siphon wine into a new Carboy or primary fermenter making sure to leave the lees(sediment) in the carboy. Its a vital step to getting clear wine. Some people will do that, and then rack again in a few days just to be sure there is no sediment left, and then bottle from from there.
Also I wouldn't judge all Kit wine on the brand you used. It is a great brand and many people I know use it exclusively, but it is value entry level kit. At only 7.5L of Juice and concentrate there isn't much aging potential but the plus side is the wine is very drinkable young. Once you do a couple you should go to at least a 10L, although im not sure what you have local to you for selection, and then go from there depending on your tastes. My dad is totally a quantity over quality type of wine drinker but I figured since Im putting the time in to wash the bottles, clean carboys, ect ect I might as well use quality ingredients to make it worth my time.

 

[Wade E]

By any chance did you top this kit up with water? First off in my experience I can say some kits are not balanced very well. Some kits have had too less alc while others way too much and of coarse some were just perfect. Ive never made the brand you are speaking of but most smaller kits seem to be on the weaker side but thats also because they are typically thin on body so lots of abv would not be good for a thinner wine!

 

[zipper046]

By any chance did you top this kit up with water? First off in my experience I can say some kits are not balanced very well. Some kits have had too less alc while others way too much and of coarse some were just perfect. Ive never made the brand you are speaking of but most smaller kits seem to be on the weaker side but thats also because they are typically thin on body so lots of abv would not be good for a thinner wine!

No water added. Might just be the case you outline above...just a thinner wine. I've definitely noticed a difference in an early bottle vs. one that has aged the last few month's. Guess just need to let it go a bit longer.

Next time, I'll also rack another time before I bottle, only racked once into the carboy, then bottled (and made sure not to get any sediment...:-( loss of some wine, but price of getting a clearer wine I guess! )

Thanks everyone for weighing in. I'm going to order a couple more kits, will try a WineXpert one and another....any suggestions!!!???

Z-

 

[Tom]

You now have made wine. Now its time to start to practice the 3 "P's"

Patience

Patience

Patience

 

[sly22guy]

along with the three P's should be figure at least 3 racks probably only need 2 with most kits. Even the kits i do which aren't many i let them bulk age for at least 3 months before bottling.

 

[SpoiledRotten]

Day 20: 4/9/2011 - S.G. - .990

Followed directions and siphoned into a carboy, added Potassium Metabisulphite and mixed. Stirred over next 2 days to degas.

I'm still very, very new to this, but I read this in his details and wondering if this is part of the cloudiness issue. I can be corrected and put back into the corner if I'm out of line but, just "stirring" isn't going to get the gas out this quickly, is it? I mean just stirring two days without really whipping it up (near the bottom) or with vacuum. Did he really degas? Does the gas possible have the particles suspended?

Again, new here, but I'm definitely reading what you pros post.

 

[ajhughes]

Most of the kits I've made advocate using a drill mounted whip, but provide instructions for stirring by hand. The RJ Spagnols kits I make have a total of about 10 mins of stirring in the instructions (if I recall correctly). I have found at the right temperature and with the time-lines in the instructions, this is generally sufficient. I have recently started using a vacuum as a security measure (for my own peace of mind) but virtually all the wines I made prior to having the vacuum degassed fine with only moderately more stirring than the instructions asked for. I have found though that temperature plays a big part in how easily you can stir out the gas.

 

[Runningwolf]

Andrew's advice on the right temp is correct. A wine temp of 75* will degas a lot easier than a temp of 65*. Spoiled rotten is also correct that a wine will not clear that was not properly degassed. The gas will keep sediment suspended in the wine.