WineXpert Topping of f WE Kits

[vscottcolorado]

My local Homebrew guy told me not to top off after stabilizing and clearing. He also advises not to make the World Vineyard or Vintners Reserve kits to 6 gallons but do 5. I have read several posts about throwing off the kits if you do not follow the directions. Somy last VR Chardonnay I made to the full 6 gallons. Had a pretty low SG but other than that things are coming along nicely. <?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
In another post from
2 questions...
1). Should I top off a WE kit with water or a commercial wine?
2). Am I correct after reading the post to make the WV and VR kits to a full 6 gallons?
Many thanks as always

 

[vcasey]

Any kit that you make should be make to the full 6 (or 3 for those kits) gallons. It does make a difference in the balance of the wine and my local brew shop also swears by the 5 gallon thing. I think they are counting on folks drinking it very early. WE says you can add up to a liter of water extra to the kits with no problems. If you want to top it off with a similar homemade or commercial wine - that's all right as well.
VC

 

[vscottcolorado]

So do you make the kit to 6 gallons + 1 liter?

 

[vcasey]

No I make them to 6 gallons. The first racking I'm not to picky about the lees that transfer over and the next racking I give them time to really pack down and I use the tilt the carboy to one side method so most of the lees will slide over which will help in getting more wine, which equals less needed to top off. If you want to avoid topping off your wine, rack to a 5 gallon carboy and use bottles, half gallon jugs to keep the extra in. You will need the small # 2 stoppers for the bottles and the #6 works for most of the 1 and 1/2 gallon jugs.
VC

 

[v1rotate]

Depending on how much sediment is thrown by a batch and how careful you are to leave most of it behind, you could end up adding as much as 2 full liters of liquid to top off. I have added nearly that much water early on and ended up with very thin wine, no surprise there. WE allows for up to 920ml if I remember right, of water to be added to top off after fermentation. Personally I won't add more than 500ml of water with the rest being any red wine for my red kits. I have had very good results with these 10L WE kits:

Zinfandel
Chianti
Mezza Luna Red
Trinity Red
Aussie Chardonnay

All were made to 6 gallons, and all the reds were quite good at the 6 month point. The chard was good at bottling, day 33.

Making a kit to 5 gallons yields over 16% fewer bottles and gets you buying your next kit more than 16% sooner....

 

[pelican]

... And if something goes wrong, and want the 'warranty' coverage then you don't have that if you don't follow the manufacturers directions...

What I really like about this forum and about The Winemakers Toy Store is that these folks and George at the shop, make wine -- and beer too... whereas the local homebrew shops (local is stretching it though) I go to on foot, they make beer, and oh yeah - here are wine kits you can buy.

 

[dfrancis80]

Just like to add another 10L kit to the list - WV California Zinfandel/Shiraz is excellent!

 

[PolishWineP]

Another option you can consider in addition to the topping off with water or another wine, (I suggest wine always) is to use sanitized marbles. Treat them as you would any other wine making equipment. If you choose marbles, be sure when it's clean up time that you pour them into a collinder in your sink, not down the drain!