RJ Spagnols Old Vine Zin

[wineforfun]

OK, bought my first kit. RJ CC Winery Series Old Vine Zin. Hopefully I don't screw it up and it turns out being a nice zin. Looks like a good kit. First time ordering from FVW, so I will see how that goes.
I only have 3 gal. carboys for now so my plan is to ferment in a 7 gal. primary, then rack into the 2 3 gal. carboys to finish off. Hopefully that will work.
Any suggestions with my plan or insight with this kit would be great.

 

[Boatboy24]

You're going to be pushing the capacity on a 7gal primary with 6 gallons of must, plus the grape pack. Keep a close eye on it. Should be a great kit.

 

[wineforfun]

Should I get a larger primary? Wasn't sure how big they made them as this is my first venture into the larger quantities. If I need a larger priimary, 8 gal. or so, can that be bought somewhere other than a LHBS?

 

[WI_Wino]

I have seen (on the forum) several people use the Hefty Brute garbage cans, you can find them at Home Depot. Amazon and other online retailers sell specific fermenting buckets > 6.5 gallons as well.

 

[Rocky]

DJ, the typical fermenting bucket is 7.9 gallons. As Boatboy points out, you are going to be testing the capacity of a 7 gallon with that big kit plus grape pack. If you get a violent fermentation, it could get messy. I recommend going for something larger.

As far as going to 2 each 3 gallon carboys for secondary fermentation, I see no problem except that you will have to divide the k-meta, k-sorbate, kieselsol and chitosan in half before adding them to the carboys.

 

[wineforfun]

Thanks Rocky. I will try and locate the 7.9 this weekend. I was assuming I would just have to divide all chemicals, etc. in half, so I was on the right track.
Sometimes my way of thinking doesn't always seem to work out correctly.

 

[WI_Wino]

You may also want to consider racking both carboys to a bucket before adding k-meta, clearing agents, etc. Stir and then rack back to the two carboys. Should ensure a more even distribution.

 

[Rocky]

You may also want to consider racking both carboys to a bucket before adding k-meta, clearing agents, etc. Stir and then rack back to the two carboys. Should ensure a more even distribution.

I was going to suggest this as an alternative too, but I thought it was a lot of extra work to go through just to be sure that you have divided the stabilizers and fining agents equally. I believe there is enough tolerance in the amounts in the packets that as long as one gets reasonably close to half, there should be no issue. I was also concerned about the additional exposure to air in going back into the primary, stirring and going back to the carboys. You are totally correct, though. It certainly is another way of doing it.

 

[wineforfun]

I was just reading through the instructions I printed of of RJ's site and it mentioned something like that, ie: rack from primary to secondary bucket, then into glass carboys. Air exposure was my concern to, but didn't know how much that air would bother it. I will probably try to evenly distribute the chemicals between the two carboys (I am pretty anal about measuring, etc. so I should be ok).
I really appreciate everyone's help as this is new territory for me.

 

[GaDawg]

Wouldn't putting the chemicals in a 1/2 cup of water make them easy to divide?

 

[WI_Wino]

Just noticed that you are doing the same kit I did several months ago (winery series old vine zin). I used a 7.9 gallon fermentor (this one from Ritebrew) and did not have issues with space with the grape pack or a violent fermentation. I fermented in my kitchen, about 70F ambient. Stirred and squeezed grape pack daily.

 

[wineforfun]

Just noticed that you are doing the same kit I did several months ago (winery series old vine zin). I used a 7.9 gallon fermentor (this one from Ritebrew) and did not have issues with space with the grape pack or a violent fermentation. I fermented in my kitchen, about 70F ambient. Stirred and squeezed grape pack daily.

I did just get a 7.8 gallon fermentor this weekend so hopefully I will be good to go. How did the kit turn out for you? Good taste compared to some of the store bought versions of OVZ? What did your ABV turn out to be? Will get it started tomorrow.

 

[WI_Wino]

I did just get a 7.8 gallon fermentor this weekend so hopefully I will be good to go. How did the kit turn out for you? Good taste compared to some of the store bought versions of OVZ? What did your ABV turn out to be? Will get it started tomorrow.

It is still bulk aging for me, I haven't tasted it really and I haven't bought a lot of commercial Zinfandel in the past so I don't have much to compare it to. According to my notes, I had a starting SG of 1.104 and it finished at .996. So looks it's going to be about 14% or so.

 

[wineforfun]

It is still bulk aging for me, I haven't tasted it really and I haven't bought a lot of commercial Zinfandel in the past so I don't have much to compare it to. According to my notes, I had a starting SG of 1.104 and it finished at .996. So looks it's going to be about 14% or so.

So you didn't bottle at day 42 like they said. You have just left it in the carboy to age?
I wondered if it would be around 14%, like most zins are, as the instructions state the SG will be around 1.095-1.100 which would be closer to 12-13 ABV.
Thanks.

 

[bkisel]

So you didn't bottle at day 42 like they said. You have just left it in the carboy to age?
I wondered if it would be around 14%, like most zins are, as the instructions state the SG will be around 1.095-1.100 which would be closer to 12-13 ABV.
Thanks.

I've started an RJS Winery Series kit but mine is their Washington Merlot. Based on what I'm learning on this board about bulk aging I'm going to rack to a carboy instead of bottling on day 42 and let sit for the 2-3 months it would have been in the bottles. I then intend to bottle and let sit a month, because of the bottle shock I've been reading about, and then consider ready for consuming.

Note: The instructions I got in my kit (2007RJS) are newer than the instructions that I see online (2006RJS). The main difference being that the old instructions keep you in the primary bucket until hitting the dry SG.

I would invest in a 6 gallon carboy.

Good luck!

 

[WI_Wino]

So you didn't bottle at day 42 like they said. You have just left it in the carboy to age?
I wondered if it would be around 14%, like most zins are, as the instructions state the SG will be around 1.095-1.100 which would be closer to 12-13 ABV.
Thanks.

Correct, I did not bottle at day 42.

A starting SG of 1.100 and final of SG of .996 should give you 13.5% or so ABV. The equation I use is ABV = 131 * (OG - FG).

I am expecting this kit to be in line with commercial Zins. I also have an oak barrel that I am planning on running this wine through for a couple of months.

 

[tonyt]

Wineforfun, many of us place our primary buckets (regardless of size) in a large Rubbermaid type plastic action packer. Plastic fermenters have failed in the past on many of us, with the bottom falling out. This problem seems to have been fixed by the manufacture now. Also, ferments have been known to overflow smaller buckets, and spills happen when stirring with drill mounted mix-stirr. Note the wine in the action packer rather than in faulty primary bucket.

 

[wineforfun]

Wow, good advice Tony. Will keep that in mind. Don't really want my blue carpet turning purple.

 

[Boatboy24]

Wineforfun, many of us place our primary buckets (regardless of size) in a large Rubbermaid type plastic action packer. Plastic fermenters have failed in the past on many of us, with the bottom falling out. This problem seems to have been fixed by the manufacture now. Also, ferments have been known to overflow smaller buckets, and spills happen when stirring with drill mounted mix-stirr. Note the wine in the action packer rather than in faulty primary bucket.

That's the scariest picture I've ever seen. From now on, I'm putting my 7.8 gallon fermenter inside a 10 gallon fermenter. I'm going to put that 10 gallon fermenter inside a 30 gallon brute trash can.

 

[tonyt]

That's the scariest picture I've ever seen. From now on, I'm putting my 7.8 gallon fermenter inside a 10 gallon fermenter. I'm going to put that 10 gallon fermenter inside a 30 gallon brute trash can.

As NASA says, "triple redundancy"