Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[cmason1957]

I would think you should probably add 1/4 tsp of Potassium Metabisulphite (K-Meta) at this point in time. and then not add any at bottling time or let it go and add some at bottling time, but not both.

 

[joeswine]

That's correct its done let it rest until your ready just make sure you have a good air lock on it and positive bubble.

 

[RocketBee]

@cmason1957 right now I'm planning to stir in the additional K-Meta into the wine when I transfer into the bottling bucket at bottling time. What do you think if I used K-Meta to sanitize my bottles, leaving a trace amount in the bottles at bottling time instead?

 

[cmason1957]

@cmason1957 right now I'm planning to stir in the additional K-Meta into the wine when I transfer into the bottling bucket at bottling time. What do you think if I used K-Meta to sanitize my bottles, leaving a trace amount in the bottles at bottling time instead?

I think that the amount left in the bottle is insufficient to provide long-term protection from oxidation.

 

[Johnd]

I think that the amount left in the bottle is insufficient to provide long-term protection from oxidation.

@cmason1957 right now I'm planning to stir in the additional K-Meta into the wine when I transfer into the bottling bucket at bottling time. What do you think if I used K-Meta to sanitize my bottles, leaving a trace amount in the bottles at bottling time instead?

Here's an interesting way to look at that question:

Consider some facts:
75,708 drops in a gallon
3 TBS sulfite in a gallon of sanitizer (assumed)
1 TBS = 3 tsp
You want 1/4 tsp in your 6 gallons of wine
1 TBS = 12 each 1/4 tsp
3 TBS in a gallon of sanitizer would contain 36 each 1/4 tsp
There are 36 each 1/4 tsp in 75,708 drops
Each drop contains .000476 of 1/4 tsp
You'd need 2101 drops to equal 1/4 tsp
2101 drops divided by 30 bottles in a carboy means you'd need to leave behind 70 drops of sanitizer in each bottle to equal the dosage of adding 1/4 tsp sulfite to a 6 gallon carboy
There are 20 drops in a ml, so you'd need to leave 3.5 ml of sanitizer behind in each bottle to equate to the 1/4 tsp for a 6 gallon carboy

Just fun food for thought.....................
I'm sure that @sour_grapes will check my math / thought process.............

 

[joeswine]

That's a lot of. Math way to complex for me.

 

[joeswine]

Good to see this thread is #1 on Facebook and Google...

 

[joeswine]

What was the last cheap wine kit you made???? these are just a few of about 30 did for others and what tweaks did you do? and how did they turn out and would you make adjustments on the next one ?
I keep saying its starts with the base and then there's you.

 

[Spiros]

What was the last cheap wine kit you made???? these are just a few of about 30 did for others and what tweaks did you do? and how did they turn out and would you make adjustments on the next one ?
I keep saying its starts with the base and then there's you.

my last kit was an rjs grand cru Malbec 10L kit, added a tbsp of tannin and 1.5 cups of zante currents and I doubled up on the oak tea packs that come with it. It tastes great but wasn’t too impressed with the colour, when I do this kit again I will try making it to 5 gal instead of 6

 

[joeswine]

Remember ( less is more). Try 5.5 gals.,remember let your hydrometer be your guild that's the balancer .less on the currents 1 cup will do usually 16ozs. of fruit will do not to take away from the original taste of the wine unless that's what you want that's also correct.

 

[RocketBee]

Yesterday, I bottled the ABC Crafted (from Wine Lovers) Sauvignon Blanc that I started back about three months ago. @Rocky I used zest from a medium- to large-sized grapefruit -- a bit more than you used proportionally per your suggestion. Also added a 16 oz of seedless grape Fpack, 1 oz of American Oak and 1 oz of French Oak both medium toast. One of my own additions was adding 1 gram of FT Blanc Soft tannin. Early tastings had an overpowering grapefruit flavor, but over time that grapefruit zest moved more into the background. It mostly shows up in the aftertaste. I targeted a finish ABV of about 12%, came up a little short (calculated at about 11.7%). This is probably one of the best, if not the best, kits I've ever made. I yielded 27.5 bottles and my total cost with recycled bottles is $2.57. @Rocky and @joeswine thanks for all your tutelage. It was very good at bottling time and so my lovely bride and I quaffed most of the short-bottle with our grilled chicken, asparagus/mushroom and instant pot potatoes. I will make this kit again and look forward to what it will taste like in a few months.

 

[joeswine]

good to hear from you and keep on Thinking Outside The Box.
always remember when ZESTING less is more you can always add it before bottling.

 

[Rocky]

Yesterday, I bottled the ABC Crafted (from Wine Lovers) Sauvignon Blanc that I started back about three months ago. @Rocky I used zest from a medium- to large-sized grapefruit -- a bit more than you used proportionally per your suggestion. Also added a 16 oz of seedless grape Fpack, 1 oz of American Oak and 1 oz of French Oak both medium toast. One of my own additions was adding 1 gram of FT Blanc Soft tannin. Early tastings had an overpowering grapefruit flavor, but over time that grapefruit zest moved more into the background. It mostly shows up in the aftertaste. I targeted a finish ABV of about 12%, came up a little short (calculated at about 11.7%). This is probably one of the best, if not the best, kits I've ever made. I yielded 27.5 bottles and my total cost with recycled bottles is $2.57. @Rocky and @joeswine thanks for all your tutelage. It was very good at bottling time and so my lovely bride and I quaffed most of the short-bottle with our grilled chicken, asparagus/mushroom and instant pot potatoes. I will make this kit again and look forward to what it will taste like in a few months.

RB, thank you for the kind words but Joe deserves all the praise. I was just following his suggestions. I am very pleased that you are happy with the wine.

 

[my wine]

Has anyone used Trader Joe's Superfruit spread to tweak a wine kit? I've been eating this for years on biscuits, P&J sandwiches, etc and recently read the ingredients again. Ascorbic acid is the preservative. the rest is blend of fruits.

 

[sour_grapes]

I'm going to stay away from anything that has the words "Super" and "Spread" in the title!

 

[hounddawg]

Here's an interesting way to look at that question:

Consider some facts:
75,708 drops in a gallon
3 TBS sulfite in a gallon of sanitizer (assumed)
1 TBS = 3 tsp
You want 1/4 tsp in your 6 gallons of wine
1 TBS = 12 each 1/4 tsp
3 TBS in a gallon of sanitizer would contain 36 each 1/4 tsp
There are 36 each 1/4 tsp in 75,708 drops
Each drop contains .000476 of 1/4 tsp
You'd need 2101 drops to equal 1/4 tsp
2101 drops divided by 30 bottles in a carboy means you'd need to leave behind 70 drops of sanitizer in each bottle to equal the dosage of adding 1/4 tsp sulfite to a 6 gallon carboy
There are 20 drops in a ml, so you'd need to leave 3.5 ml of sanitizer behind in each bottle to equate to the 1/4 tsp for a 6 gallon carboy

Just fun food for thought.....................
I'm sure that @sour_grapes will check my math / thought process.............

that's it,, you've officially drove me to drinking, lol
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

I'm going to stay away from anything that has the words "Super" and "Spread" in the title!

sounds like a chemical cocktail,,, just a simple ole country boy,,, now i remember why i raise my meats , vegetables , fruits when not to dry, hehe, got a propane burner on my table with a 30 qt American pressure canner, sitting beside my water bath canner . for excitement ,, i watch flies die of boredom, well if it is to hot to harness the mules, um or drink a little wine,,,,
just had a discussion with my nephew about the difference between cheese and cheese product yesterday , ,,,
Dawg

 

[joeswine]

Don't use .

 

[RocketBee]

@joeswine in the tweaking of kits with some notable exceptions your recommended yeast is normally the EC-1118 because it's a "work horse" and probably because it's easy and difficult to screw up (which is quite important for neophytes like me). However, I spent some quality time with the Scott Laboratory 2020 Winemaking Handbook and found that the only wine that EC-1118 is recommended for is sparkling base wines. My questions:

1) Why not use different yeasts that are more compatible with certain grapes? Yeast is a cheap tweak, with the understanding that there are other protocols that you have to pay attention to, like nitrogen requirements, fermentation temps etc., but those seem quite manageable in my opinion.

2) Would swapping yeasts affect your usage of Fpacks? For example, a friend gave me a boatload of ICV-D21 yeast which is highly recommended for fermenting Cab Sauv, Merlot, Shiraz and Zinfandel. If I picked up a cheap 5.2 liter Shiraz kit from Wine Lovers and decided use the D21 would you follow the same tweaks you would if you were using EC-1118?

 

[cmason1957]

@RocketBee, Not Joe, but I'll give you my answer, which may or may not be similar to any one elses.

Kits aren't the same as dealing with raw grapes and they may or may not react and produce the same effects.

I also go by the rule, if you have to ask if the tweak you are thinking about is a good idea, my answer is always no.

I also wonder about the impact of the yeast, does it really make that big a difference and I don't know the answer to that question. I do know I have on more than one occasion been sampling more than I should have been and put in the wrong yeast into the mix and it has turned out at least okay.

Now, if I changed the yeast, would I do other tweaks? Probably, I would, those are known for sure going to do something, the yeast, who knows.