RJ Spagnols Orchard Breezin' Suggestions

[CBell]

Picking up 5 assorted OB kits this weekend...

Kiwi Mellon Pinot Grigio
Green Apple Gewurztraminer
Watermellon White Merlot
Black Berry Merlot
Banana Pineapple Viognier

It seems like the general consensus on the forum is to add about half of the f-pack up front and then the other post-stabilization as directed.

The price on these kits was right, but they're really not the type of wine I am interested in as a general rule. I tend to drink dry reds and an occasional pinot grigio when it warms up some. Skeeter Pee and Dragon Blood I only sweetened with half the recommended amount of sugar, and find them to be palatable, but I kind of wish I had made a few bottles dry to see how they aged out.

Bumping the sg to 1.08-1.09 and 1/2 the f pack at the end seems what everyone says, but how high does this raise the finishing sg to? How sweet would you say it is with 1/2 at the end? Anyone have any suggestions that might help me enjoy my kits a little more? again, I would've bought a big red kit with grape skins, but the price on these was right and they were local (plus I need to let my Cab kit get some age on it, and plan on juice buckets this fall, will need some early cheap early drinkers), picking them up this weekend, so anything I can do to improve them and make sure I enjoy them would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
CBELL

 

[cpfan]

Bumping the sg to 1.08-1.09 and 1/2 the f pack at the end seems what everyone says, but how high does this raise the finishing sg to?

There should be no change to the sg at the end of fermentation, ie it should be about .995

Steve

 

[rjb222]

These will not be dry. The sweetness is needed though to balance these wines. These will be great sitting on the porch with a little ice and sipping away. I do not consider these wines for dining with. More of a easy drinking get to know you wine. Using half the f-pack in the end should bring you in to about 2-3 on the sweetness scale. Where as using the whole f-pack at the end and not raising the sg will leave you with a 5+ on the sweetness scale.

 

[CBell]

Thanks for the advice; in addition to adding 1/2 f pack in primary, bumping sg to ~10-12%apv, and adding the second half of f pack for flavoring/sweetness at the end, is there anything else to improve these kits to their full potential, or is that it?

Obviously I'm already voiding the warranty and fiddling with them, so interested if there is anything else that can improve them?

Thanks

 

[cpfan]

Obviously I'm already voiding the warranty and fiddling with them, so interested if there is anything else that can improve them?

Waiting till the wine has been in bottle a month or more.

Steve

 

[CBell]

Yeah, that's part of the plan. Fiddling with the APV will allow them to preserve/ be aged at least a little bit, but we're talking about 125 bottles of wine total here, so I'm hoping to make a product I will really like and that will hold up to at least some age, because face it, I can't gift/drink more than 60 bottles a month, no matter how good of a drunk I am.

 

[GaDawg]

I put 4 lbs of sugar (simple syrup)in mine. Ended with a ABV of 12%

 

[CBell]

Started the first OB kit last night, Kiwi Mellon Pino Grigio. Added 1/2 of the F Pack up from, gravity was 1.060 with that addition. Added 4# sugar to bring gravity up to 1.085. Decided that for the white kits, this is all the tinkering that they will get.

For the red (Blackberry merlot) I may add the entire F Pack up front, or at least 75% of it. Really don't like sweet reds. And kick in some bananas in primary, raisins in secondary, and oak during aging. If at the end it isn't doing well being a dry wine, I can always backsweeten and make my own F Pack, it's blackberry season here anyway and they should be going on sale over the summer.

 

[robie]

For the red (Blackberry merlot) I may add the entire F Pack up front, or at least 75% of it. Really don't like sweet reds. And kick in some bananas in primary, raisins in secondary, and oak during aging. If at the end it isn't doing well being a dry wine, I can always backsweeten and make my own F Pack, it's blackberry season here anyway and they should be going on sale over the summer.

I wouldn't do that without some further consideration. The quality of the must used for the summer or mist wines is very low. They can be so because all the additional flavorings will cover up most lack of quality in the actual wine.

What you will end up with is a dry red you could buy for about 2 dollars a gallon, and I don't mean a typical Two-Buck-Chuck, which are much better than this dry wine ever will be.

If you want a dry red, buy a dry red kit.

 

[CBell]

Thanks for the advice

 

[rjb222]

As Robie says this is not a wise plan. These are 100% concentrate and even lower quality. Their design is to add the F-pack for complexity and structure and flavoring. If you add more than 1/2 up front the whole structure will go out of balance. If you want to get more complexity get a low end red ferment that then add your F-pack to that this will give you more of what you want and still have a properly structured wine. My mom always said you can not make a silk purse from a sows ear and in this case that statement holds very true.

 

[etownmickey]

edit: NVM, I was asking if I would be ok adding half of the f-pack later in the primary (I started it last week). I decided to go ahead and try it out

 

[calvin]

IMHO these wines will not turn out without at least some of the fpack after fermentation. That's where all your flavor is coming from. I'm not an expert by any means


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

 

[Runningwolf]

Calvin I agree with you. Save at least half the fpack for the end.

 

[GaDawg]

Calvin, IMHO these things need at least 1/2 of the f-pack and most likely all the f-pack. The wine is just not good enough to stand on its own. Orchard Breezin is intended to be a sweet wine, and if one does not like a wine this sweet maybe another wine will suit better. Something like a Riesling?