RJ Spagnols Orchard Breezin Green Apple Gewurztraminer

[Wade E]

Awesome deal! Did you at least put 1 cork in using a hand corker so that you know how much better these are? Glad you liked/loved this kit!.

 

[DirtyDawg10]

lol...no, I never actually had the pleasure of using a hand corker. I'm spoiled

For an inexpensive and quick drinking kit this one is definitely a winner IMO!!

 

[DirtyDawg10]

Surprisingly this wine keeps getting better. Opened one tonight and it had stepped up a notch. I'm beginning to learn much more about tasting wine. I thought it was good a few weeks ago. Now I can definitely see the alcohol flavor mellowing out and the fruit flavors coming more to the front. The best part being that my wife really enjoyed it as well tonight. I'm looking forward to what this wine is like in another 6 to 8 months. Not sure how many will actually make it that long though.

 

[DirtyDawg10]

Hey Dawg, I made this kit quite a while ago and for what is suppose to be a 6 week kit, it is much better a year later.

Just opened up a bottle of this for Mother's Day and after 1yr this wine was so different from when I first tasted it. It has really matured into a nice wine. I will be making this one again and not touching it for a year. The good news is I still have 8 or 9 bottles left

 

[Tess]

Im glad I read all of this. I started my OB Green Apple Reisling Yesterday. Pitched the yeast last night. Then started reading this. Had no sugar in the house to speak of so ran out first thing this morning and bought a 4 lbs bag. Added about 2 1/2 lbs of sugar and 1/3 of the fruit pack. Its fermenting well so when I added the sugar it almost exploded. Glad I read all this before it was to late

 

[Tess]

The one thing I didn't do was make a simple syrup out of the sugar before I added it. I hope its OK. I have gone down several times to stir it

 

[JoyofWine]

I'm glad to hear this too, my kit should be ready to bottle soon. I'm not sure how many bottles I'll be able to keep for a year, but I'm definetly going to put at least ONE bottle aside! ;-)

 

[DirtyDawg10]

It should be fine as long as you stirred it in. You may get a much higher ABV since you did the 2.5lbs of sugar and part of the F-pack. Were you able to get an SG reading before and after adding the sugar and F-pack?

 

[Tess]

SG was at 1.052 and now 1.070

 

[Tess]

Could go up even more as the sugar could dissolve more still yet

 

[DirtyDawg10]

That should be fine then.

 

[Tess]

Thanks. I did want to bring the Abv up a bit. I read in the review at midwest supply where I bought the kit that many of them did add 4 lbs to bring the ABV up to 12% I don't want it that high. I think your gonna compromise the taste. Im happy with about 9- 9 1/2 % , so I added 2 1/2 Lbs instead

 

[Bartman]

9 to 9.5% alcohol is on the borderline of the alcohol level needed to preserve the wine in the bottle. Historically, wine could be kept for years without refrigeration because the alcohol preserved it; now we use added sulfites and sorbate. Be sure to keep your sulfites at the right level and definitely use the potassium sorbate packet before bottling to prevent fermentation in the bottle. Sorbate is necessary with sweet wines that have residual sugar (from the f-pack) when you bottle, but not really necessary with dry wines as the sugar is fully fermented (sorbate keeps the yeast from starting back up; sulfites, like alcohol, inhibit yeast and other microbe growth).

 

[Tess]

9 to 9.5% alcohol is on the borderline of the alcohol level needed to preserve the wine in the bottle. Historically, wine could be kept for years without refrigeration because the alcohol preserved it; now we use added sulfites and sorbate. Be sure to keep your sulfites at the right level and definitely use the potassium sorbate packet before bottling to prevent fermentation in the bottle. Sorbate is necessary with sweet wines that have residual sugar (from the f-pack) when you bottle, but not really necessary with dry wines as the sugar is fully fermented (sorbate keeps the yeast from starting back up; sulfites, like alcohol, inhibit yeast and other microbe growth).

Iv made much stronger wine then this. Thanks for the tip Bartman. I don't plan on aging this one for a long period This one is purely for the girls and fun!!