Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

I'll check into it

thanks

 

[joeswine]

thanks

Will do a conversation , ok , thanks

 

[winemaker81]

thanks

Once the reply count gets above 1,000, the count is by thousands. Currently there are ~3,200 replies -- until the number reaches 4,000 you will not see a change.

 

[joeswine]

Once the reply count gets above 1,000, the count is by thousands. Currently there are ~3,200 replies -- until the number reaches 4,000 you will not see a change.

Ok thanks

 

[joeswine]

So here’s we’re we’re at ,
The cab and pino Grigio will be. Bottled next week.
The Sauvignon Blanc 2 weeks , I’m going to use , peach extract , almond extract and vanilla extract . This are a test experiment the balance went into Spumonte, concord / Sharaz is a blend
And the Blueberry my next contest winner , yes indeed

 

[joeswine]

So here’s we’re we’re at ,
The cab and pino Grigio will be. Bottled next week.
The Sauvignon Blanc 2 weeks , I’m going to use , peach extract , almond extract and vanilla extract . This are a test experiment the balance went into Spumonte, concord / Sharaz is a blend
And the Blueberry my next contest winner , yes indeed

They all have a nitrogen cap for now

 

[GretchenR]

Here is an update to my post from June of 2022. In December I started two kits of On the House Merlot ($37.50 per kit including shipping). One I made exactly per the included instructions (batch 1), and the other (batch 2) I tweaked -- blackberry fpac, Chaptalized to just under 1.10 S.G., added yeast nutrient and made a yeast starter, and I used RC212 yeast. In secondary I added a teaspoon of tannin. My notes don't show any oak, but there was probably oak for the primary included in the kit so it would have gone into both batches. After some bulk aging I tasted them. To be honest, I was prepared to pour kit 1 down the sink because I expected it to be terrible. It really wasn't. It wasn't distinguished in any way, but it was drinkable. Kit 2 was better, more flavorful, but had kind of a weird mouth feel. Anyway, the thing that surprised me was that we all really liked a blend of kit 1 and kit 2, half and half. This is nine months in. I bottled a case of kit 1 and a case of kit 2, and the rest I mixed together and bottled, and I'm very pleased with it. Nothing to brag about, but it's pleasant to drink and has a nice flavor and enough alcohol to taste balanced. For an early drinker, I'm perfectly satisfied with this wine. It gives me something to drink (along with my tweaked Malbec and Yakima Valley Blend from ABC Crafted, both of which I also really like) while my expensive kits are aging to perfection.

 

[joeswine]

That’s the spirit , tweak and have fun

 

[joeswine]

Blueberry wine complete , yield 22 bottles .
Taste : good fruit up front nice legs at the finish , just enough tannins great color .
This one’s a winner . Remember I also used fresh blueberries .

 

[joeswine]

What are these kits typically starting with, juice wise? 10L?

5 to 6 gallons depending on your ABV that you want

 

[joeswine]

See attached

 

[joeswine]

one of my favorite REDS

 

[joeswine]

569k views, thank you all.
I've been making champaign basement style I'll start them coming on here soon.

 

[SteveM]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I tried searching and couldn't find an answer, and there may not be a direct answer, but I am hoping you can at least get me started. I have purchased a few of the ABC Crafted Series 6 gal kits and compared to the WinExpert kits the ABV is 2-4% lower as I'm sure you already know.
So if the starting SG is 1.08 and I want to increase it 1.09-1.1, and using the recipe in this thread for Simple Syrup (2-1), my question is how much Simple Syrup would I need to add to my 6 gal batch. Or maybe the better question is, how much Simple Syrup added to 6 Gals of water increases the SG by .010?
Even though these kits are fairly inexpensive, I don't want to ruin 6 gals of wine or end up with something that tastes like pure alcohol. Thanks for any help.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I tried searching and couldn't find an answer, and there may not be a direct answer, but I am hoping you can at least get me started. I have purchased a few of the ABC Crafted Series 6 gal kits and compared to the WinExpert kits the ABV is 2-4% lower as I'm sure you already know.
So if the starting SG is 1.08 and I want to increase it 1.09-1.1, and using the recipe in this thread for Simple Syrup (2-1), my question is how much Simple Syrup would I need to add to my 6 gal batch. Or maybe the better question is, how much Simple Syrup added to 6 Gals of water increases the SG by .010?
Even though these kits are fairly inexpensive, I don't want to ruin 6 gals of wine or end up with something that tastes like pure alcohol. Thanks for any help.

The simplest, and safest answer is to add some sugar and recheck your hydrometer.

 

[Khristyjeff]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I tried searching and couldn't find an answer, and there may not be a direct answer, but I am hoping you can at least get me started. I have purchased a few of the ABC Crafted Series 6 gal kits and compared to the WinExpert kits the ABV is 2-4% lower as I'm sure you already know.
So if the starting SG is 1.08 and I want to increase it 1.09-1.1, and using the recipe in this thread for Simple Syrup (2-1), my question is how much Simple Syrup would I need to add to my 6 gal batch. Or maybe the better question is, how much Simple Syrup added to 6 Gals of water increases the SG by .010?
Even though these kits are fairly inexpensive, I don't want to ruin 6 gals of wine or end up with something that tastes like pure alcohol. Thanks for any help.

Hi Steve. Here's a screenshot from the app FermCalc. I have info for SS but have to dig further.

 

[Huba Huba]

You need to use your hydrometer.
Roughly, 1 lb of sugar will raise the sg of 1 gallon by 0.450, so it would increase 6 gallons by 0.075. You would need 21 oz of sugar to increase sg by 0.010.
You need add part, stir thoroughly, check this with a hydrometer then repeat until you reach your desired sg.

 

[SteveM]

@Huba Huba I Love the calculator. So I think this tells me exactly how much sugar I would need in 1 gal of water if I want to pre-dissolve it then fill my bucket up to the 6 gal Mark. Correct?

 

[Khristyjeff]

@Huba Huba I Love the calculator. So I think this tells me exactly how much sugar I would need in 1 gal of water if I want to pre-dissolve it then fill my bucket up to the 6 gal Mark. Correct?

I learned about FermCalc on this site. They just put it on the App Store recently so I downloaded it instead of going to their website. Plus it's free. Of course always check with your hydrometer to confirm.

 

[winemaker81]

@Huba Huba I Love the calculator. So I think this tells me exactly how much sugar I would need in 1 gal of water if I want to pre-dissolve it then fill my bucket up to the 6 gal Mark. Correct?

Use the numbers in @Khristyjeff's post. 3.5 lbs sugar is WAY more than you need. Off the top of my head, adding 3.5 lbs to 6 gallons of must at 1.080 will bump the must over 1.105.

If you make a sugar syrup, the volume will be changed. However, if you add plain 'ole table sugar, the volume will be little changed. When chaptalizing a wine, I add sugar in a thin stream while stirring.