Mislabeled kit volume

[toadie]

So this is a little odd. I picked up the Chateau Merlot at costco on the wknd. What a terrible name, though coming from someone who has made and consumed Skeeter pee, I ain't throwing stones. It was on sale (in Canada), a double kit for $64 seemed like a real deal for what I hope could possibly be a week night drinker. I was doing some tweaks to it, a la joeswine, last night and noticed the label on the bag of concentrate clearly said 6L as I was emptying it into my bucket. The box clearly states that it contains 2 7L kits. To be clear I feel like the kit represents fair value for money (if it is drinkable). But it sure does feel deceptive.

I put 6 L of water into the bag this morning to compare it to the unopened bag of concentrate in case the labelling was wrong. They look to be the same size. I didn't weigh them.

Anyone notice this before or have an opinion?

 

[BernardSmith]

Not so much an opinion but test the gravity. What is the expected SG after adding the specified amount of water? If you added that amount of water and the SG is more or less the advertised SG then you have added the "correct" volume of water, and no pain , no foul. If after adding the "correct" amount of water sepcified by the kit maker and the SG is considerably out of spec then the box is mislabeled.
One thought is that they kit maker has changed the concentration but failed to change the labels.

 

[toadie]

That's a good point. My SG is almost 1.1 and they suggest 1080 to 1095 or higher (I'm doing just over 5G vs 6G). From what I've been reading on this forum they have been decreasing the volume of a lot of kits. So that does make sense.

 

[winemaker81]

Your SG sounds about right, if you're reconstituting closer to 19 liters than 23.

The volume of the juice/concentrate bag does not affect the reconstitution volume. A 23 liter kit is designed to be reconstituted to 23 liters, regardless if the juice bag contains 8 liters or 16. Side note -- I made 2 Winexpert kits last fall and both came out great, so I'm believing their new process is at least as good, if not better, than the old one.

Although I've shorted the water in kits for years, I've come around to the idea that the vendor knows what they are doing (at least the ones I have used). The kit is balanced for reconstitution to 23 liters, and shorting it throws it out of balance. I've recently had 2 red kits that are acidic, something that did not previously occur. YMMV, but I've changed my opinion to add adjuncts to the kit to improve it, not short the water.

 

[toadie]

That is interesting. This is my second kit, the first one is still aging and I shorted the water as well. The pH ended up around 3.1 (RJS Cab Merlot) and does not seem to be clearing though I didn't use the chitosan and keiselsol. I assumed that aging would clear it eventually but wow it is a dark purple.
I really didn't need another kit because I'm going to be flooded with fruit this year despite the late frost. The price got me and the challenge of making something interesting with a less than premium kit was a consideration.

 

[winemaker81]

I'd use the kieselsol/chitosan. While a lot of folks focus on the fact that kits are designed to go into the bottle quickly, we need to keep in mind that the entire winemaking process is orchestrated and optimized for success.