WineXpert South African Shiraz Cabernet Shipped Today!

[cimbaliw]

Picked mine up yesterday at LHBS. SWMBO is not a huge fan of the earthy quality of SA wines. This may become my private stock.

 

[Boatboy24]

I find that if I squeeze the sleeve with my gloved sanitized hands the bag sinks to the bottom of the fermentation bucket. Over the next 24 hours the sleeve rises to the top of the must. I just squeeze it again getting good extraction repeating the process once or twice daily.

I used to do the same. I've found that merely pressing the bag on the side of the fermenter with your stirring spoon gets the same results with no dirty hands/gloves.

 

[SouthernChemist]

I think the easiest method is (as Gwand mentioned) is putting the straining bag over a bowl and adding the grapes into it. Provided the bowl is wide enough, you won't spill anything, and there's no need to hold the bag open yourself.

 

[bkisel]

I used to do the same. I've found that merely pressing the bag on the side of the fermenter with your stirring spoon gets the same results with no dirty hands/gloves.

Last grape skin kit I switched from the glove method to the one above. SWMBO has a big wooden stirring spoon - worked great.

Also, for the last grape skin kit used the Gand method to fill the cheese cloth bag - again. worked great.

These two methods should now be considered "best practices" on this board. Henceforth no further discussion is necessary.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

I seem to have ordered not one, but two of these kits so I hope it turns out great. I am thinking of doing a science experiment and fermenting the two kits side-by-side with different yeasts. I really like RC-212, so I am somewhat reluctant to swap it out. Any suggestions on a yeast that would be a nice fit for this blend?

 

[Boatboy24]

I seem to have ordered not one, but two of these kits so I hope it turns out great. I am thinking of doing a science experiment and fermenting the two kits side-by-side with different yeasts. I really like RC-212, so I am somewhat reluctant to swap it out. Any suggestions on a yeast that would be a nice fit for this blend?

I've had good luck with D254. RP15 and BM4X4 also come to mind as being good potential subs. Check out the pairing guide:

http://www.morebeer.com/public/pdf/wyeastpair.pdf

I only have one of these kits, so I'm going with the 212 that was in it. This could be a fun experiment. It's not often that we have two kits we can do side by side in the name of science.

 

[zalai]

Boatboy (Jim)

Thank you for this pairing guide . I needed that and I saved it .

 

[sour_grapes]

Boatboy (Jim)

Thank you for this pairing guide . I needed that and I saved it .

You may enjoy this, too: http://www.lallemandwine.us/cellar.php

 

[Schuster1]

I finally received my kit today and notice it had two bags of French Oak. One bags looks like cubes and the other bag looks like oak shavings The directions suggest putting both bags in the primary. But I'm thinking about saving the oak cubes for the secondary fermentation Will that have any impact on the flavor or end results Thanks. Ds


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[Gwand]

I finally received my kit today and notice it had two bags of French Oak. One bags looks like cubes and the other bag looks like oak shavings The directions suggest putting both bags in the primary. But I'm thinking about saving the oak cubes for the secondary fermentation Will that have any impact on the flavor or end results Thanks. Ds


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I have the same kit. My directions say not to put the cubes in the primary.

 

[Schuster1]

So you are thinking to add the cubes to the secondary? I've done that with white wine and noticed a stronger oak taste Ds


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[Gwand]

So you are thinking to add the cubes to the secondary? I've done that with white wine and noticed a stronger oak taste Ds


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Yes, to secondary. I found that those small cubes only give up a bit of oak flavor. Taste as you go. For the WE Eclipse Cab, I added additional oak during bulk aging.

 

[wineh]

another let down

I reconstituted this one yesterday. After 12 hours the SG is 1.08. A far cry from the 1.100 it would need to be to get to the advertised 14.5%. There's no way there's that much sugar i the grapeskin pack. This is the same issue as with the LE2012 Nebbiolo, and I said I would quit the LEs at that time. It won't happen again (again).

 

[sour_grapes]

I reconstituted this one yesterday. After 12 hours the SG is 1.08. A far cry from the 1.100 it would need to be to get to the advertised 14.5%. There's no way there's that much sugar i the grapeskin pack. This is the same issue as with the LE2012 Nebbiolo, and I said I would quit the LEs at that time. It won't happen again (again).

Don't count it out yet. I am in the middle of a CC Rosso Fortissimo. My SG prior to adding the grape pack was 1.082. It got up to 1.105 about 30 hours after adding grape pack.

 

[wineh]

Don't count it out yet. I am in the middle of a CC Rosso Fortissimo. My SG prior to adding the grape pack was 1.082. It got up to 1.105 about 30 hours after adding grape pack.

Sour,
Thanks for the encouragement but... I squeezed the heck out of the grape bag and stirred thoroughly; got it to 1.084.

 

[sour_grapes]

Sour,
Thanks for the encouragement but... I squeezed the heck out of the grape bag and stirred thoroughly; got it to 1.084.

Oh well. Que Syrah, Syrah!

 

[wineh]

Oh well. Que Syrah, Syrah!

Paul, I don't know if it's


Or

or maybe just
I think I'll go with the last one.

 

[Schuster1]

Has anyone had success with freezing and re-using the grape skins on a future batch. It's seems like a waste to dispose of them


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[Runningwolf]

I think you would be wasting your time. You are doing everything you can to extract everything out of them the first time that I don't think anything would be left the second time around. Plus I would be afraid of picking up some extra bacteria between the first and second time around and introducing it to your second batch.

 

[roger80465]

Being extremely frugal (in my case, read 'cheapskate') for more decades than I would care to admit, I had that same idea. I tried it once and found no value to the second run. I would rather add raisins or zante currants to add some flavors rather than used grape skins. My experience and taste buds say that is a safer and more productive route.