Other Tweeking Cheap Kits
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i believe this kit was $51.00
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joeswine
joeswine
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Zinfandel blush
It’s been a while since I’ve created a post of my own; I’ve been primarily helping Joeswine with the upkeep of his posts. I wanted to share this kit with everyone because I’ve tried it before and know that it turns out pretty awesome.
This is a Fontana Wine kit I recently purchased off-line. This traditionally is a 6-gallon kit but I are not making it like so. I am making this a 5-gallon kit as to keep the flavor and better balance between alcohol and wine with the contribution of the one cup of oak (which is traditional to a Chardonnay).
Ingredients:
These are all the basic ingredients that came with the kit. Please see the pictures attached.
What additional changes I’ve made:
-Changing the end volume of the wine from 6 gallons to 5 gallons
-adding the cup of oak
-At the end, by reducing the volume of concentrate, we increased the ABV without even trying.
-Personal preference: I will be adding zest of 1 grapefruit before racking. This will pick up the PH and give it a clean, crisp finish.
See the pictures for the process. J
WERE NEARRING THE FINIS WE LEFT OUR WINE IN THE COLD SINK FOR 14 DAYS AND IT CLEARED QUIT NICELY, WE KNEW RACKING BACK TO A ONE MIX CONTAINER WOULD CAUSE US TO HAVE TO RECLEAR ONE MORE TIME; THE WORK IS NOT A BIG DEAL WHAT IS, THE FINISH.
BEFORE I RACKED I TASTED THIS WINE AND LIKE I THOUGHT, THE WHITES SHOULD GO INTO A 5 GALLONS PROCESS ALSO.JUST LIKE THE REDS, THE WHITES EVEN WITH ALL THE SOLIDS WOULD HAVE NOT (IMOP) HAVE HAD MUCH TASTE, BRINGING THEM DOWN TO 5 GALLONS GAVES THESE KITS LIFE AND WITH THE SMALL AMOUNT OF TWEAKS THAT WE DID, WAS JUSTFIDE .SO WHAT WAS THE RESULTS??
SMOOTH UP FRONT WITH DECIENT FRUIT NOT OVER WHELMING BUT STILL THERE, CRISP ACIDITY WITH A CLEAN FINISH, WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT OUR YIELD WAS WHEN WE BOTTLE AND OUR COST PER BOTTLE.
It’s been a while since I’ve created a post of my own; I’ve been primarily helping Joeswine with the upkeep of his posts. I wanted to share this kit with everyone because I’ve tried it before and know that it turns out pretty awesome.
This is a Fontana Wine kit I recently purchased off-line. This traditionally is a 6-gallon kit but I are not making it like so. I am making this a 5-gallon kit as to keep the flavor and better balance between alcohol and wine with the contribution of the one cup of oak (which is traditional to a Chardonnay).
Ingredients:
These are all the basic ingredients that came with the kit. Please see the pictures attached.
What additional changes I’ve made:
-Changing the end volume of the wine from 6 gallons to 5 gallons
-adding the cup of oak
-At the end, by reducing the volume of concentrate, we increased the ABV without even trying.
-Personal preference: I will be adding zest of 1 grapefruit before racking. This will pick up the PH and give it a clean, crisp finish.
See the pictures for the process. J
WERE NEARRING THE FINIS WE LEFT OUR WINE IN THE COLD SINK FOR 14 DAYS AND IT CLEARED QUIT NICELY, WE KNEW RACKING BACK TO A ONE MIX CONTAINER WOULD CAUSE US TO HAVE TO RECLEAR ONE MORE TIME; THE WORK IS NOT A BIG DEAL WHAT IS, THE FINISH.
BEFORE I RACKED I TASTED THIS WINE AND LIKE I THOUGHT, THE WHITES SHOULD GO INTO A 5 GALLONS PROCESS ALSO.JUST LIKE THE REDS, THE WHITES EVEN WITH ALL THE SOLIDS WOULD HAVE NOT (IMOP) HAVE HAD MUCH TASTE, BRINGING THEM DOWN TO 5 GALLONS GAVES THESE KITS LIFE AND WITH THE SMALL AMOUNT OF TWEAKS THAT WE DID, WAS JUSTFIDE .SO WHAT WAS THE RESULTS??
SMOOTH UP FRONT WITH DECIENT FRUIT NOT OVER WHELMING BUT STILL THERE, CRISP ACIDITY WITH A CLEAN FINISH, WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT OUR YIELD WAS WHEN WE BOTTLE AND OUR COST PER BOTTLE.
It’s been a while since I’ve created a post of my own; I’ve been primarily helping Joeswine with the upkeep of his posts. I wanted to share this kit with everyone because I’ve tried it before and know that it turns out pretty awesome.
This is a Fontana Wine kit I recently purchased off-line. This traditionally is a 6-gallon kit but I are not making it like so. I am making this a 5-gallon kit as to keep the flavor and better balance between alcohol and wine with the contribution of the one cup of oak (which is traditional to a Chardonnay).
Ingredients:
These are all the basic ingredients that came with the kit. Please see the pictures attached.
What additional changes I’ve made:
-Changing the end volume of the wine from 6 gallons to 5 gallons
-adding the cup of oak
-At the end, by reducing the volume of concentrate, we increased the ABV without even trying.
-Personal preference: I will be adding zest of 1 grapefruit before racking. This will pick up the PH and give it a clean, crisp finish.
See the pictures for the process. J
WERE NEARRING THE FINIS WE LEFT OUR WINE IN THE COLD SINK FOR 14 DAYS AND IT CLEARED QUIT NICELY, WE KNEW RACKING BACK TO A ONE MIX CONTAINER WOULD CAUSE US TO HAVE TO RECLEAR ONE MORE TIME; THE WORK IS NOT A BIG DEAL WHAT IS, THE FINISH.
BEFORE I RACKED I TASTED THIS WINE AND LIKE I THOUGHT, THE WHITES SHOULD GO INTO A 5 GALLONS PROCESS ALSO.JUST LIKE THE REDS, THE WHITES EVEN WITH ALL THE SOLIDS WOULD HAVE NOT (IMOP) HAVE HAD MUCH TASTE, BRINGING THEM DOWN TO 5 GALLONS GAVES THESE KITS LIFE AND WITH THE SMALL AMOUNT OF TWEAKS THAT WE DID, WAS JUSTFIDE .SO WHAT WAS THE RESULTS??
SMOOTH UP FRONT WITH DECIENT FRUIT NOT OVER WHELMING BUT STILL THERE, CRISP ACIDITY WITH A CLEAN FINISH, WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT OUR YIELD WAS WHEN WE BOTTLE AND OUR COST PER BOTTLE.
Final value /cost per bottle $2.02, yield 22 bottles. Remember we reduced this kit from a 6 gallon to a 5 gallon kit then we started and I’m glad we did. Read the tweaks they make all the difference.
Katie’s Chardonnay Kit
This is a Fontana Wine kit I recently purchased off-line. This traditionally is a 6-gallon kit but I are not making it like so. I am making this a 5-gallon kit as to keep the flavor and better balance between alcohol and wine with the contribution of the one cup of oak (which is traditional to a Chardonnay).
Ingredients:
These are all the basic ingredients that came with the kit. Please see the pictures attached.
What additional changes I’ve made:
-Changing the end volume of the wine from 6 gallons to 5 gallons
-adding the cup of oak
-At the end, by reducing the volume of concentrate, we increased the ABV without even trying.
-Personal preference: I will be adding zest of 1 grapefruit before racking. This will pick up the PH and give it a clean, crisp finish.
See the pictures for the process. J
WERE NEARRING THE FINIS WE LEFT OUR WINE IN THE COLD SINK FOR 14 DAYS AND IT CLEARED QUIT NICELY, WE KNEW RACKING BACK TO A ONE MIX CONTAINER WOULD CAUSE US TO HAVE TO RECLEAR ONE MORE TIME; THE WORK IS NOT A BIG DEAL WHAT IS, THE FINISH.
BEFORE I RACKED I TASTED THIS WINE AND LIKE I THOUGHT, THE WHITES SHOULD GO INTO A 5 GALLONS PROCESS ALSO.JUST LIKE THE REDS, THE WHITES EVEN WITH ALL THE SOLIDS WOULD HAVE NOT (IMOP) HAVE HAD MUCH TASTE, BRINGING THEM DOWN TO 5 GALLONS GAVES THESE KITS LIFE AND WITH THE SMALL AMOUNT OF TWEAKS THAT WE DID, WAS JUSTFIDE .SO WHAT WAS THE RESULTS??
SMOOTH UP FRONT WITH DECIENT FRUIT NOT OVER WHELMING BUT STILL THERE, CRISP ACIDITY WITH A CLEAN FINISH, WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT OUR YIELD WAS WHEN WE BOTTLE AND OUR COST PER BOTTLE.
Katie’s Chardonnay Kit
This is a Fontana Wine kit I recently purchased off-line. This traditionally is a 6-gallon kit but I are not making it like so. I am making this a 5-gallon kit as to keep the flavor and better balance between alcohol and wine with the contribution of the one cup of oak (which is traditional to a Chardonnay).
Ingredients:
These are all the basic ingredients that came with the kit. Please see the pictures attached.
What additional changes I’ve made:
-Changing the end volume of the wine from 6 gallons to 5 gallons
-adding the cup of oak
-At the end, by reducing the volume of concentrate, we increased the ABV without even trying.
-Personal preference: I will be adding zest of 1 grapefruit before racking. This will pick up the PH and give it a clean, crisp finish.
See the pictures for the process. J
WERE NEARRING THE FINIS WE LEFT OUR WINE IN THE COLD SINK FOR 14 DAYS AND IT CLEARED QUIT NICELY, WE KNEW RACKING BACK TO A ONE MIX CONTAINER WOULD CAUSE US TO HAVE TO RECLEAR ONE MORE TIME; THE WORK IS NOT A BIG DEAL WHAT IS, THE FINISH.
BEFORE I RACKED I TASTED THIS WINE AND LIKE I THOUGHT, THE WHITES SHOULD GO INTO A 5 GALLONS PROCESS ALSO.JUST LIKE THE REDS, THE WHITES EVEN WITH ALL THE SOLIDS WOULD HAVE NOT (IMOP) HAVE HAD MUCH TASTE, BRINGING THEM DOWN TO 5 GALLONS GAVES THESE KITS LIFE AND WITH THE SMALL AMOUNT OF TWEAKS THAT WE DID, WAS JUSTFIDE .SO WHAT WAS THE RESULTS??
SMOOTH UP FRONT WITH DECIENT FRUIT NOT OVER WHELMING BUT STILL THERE, CRISP ACIDITY WITH A CLEAN FINISH, WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT OUR YIELD WAS WHEN WE BOTTLE AND OUR COST PER BOTTLE.
Katie’s Chardonnay Kit
This is a Fontana Wine kit I recently purchased off-line. This traditionally is a 6-gallon kit but I are not making it like so. I am making this a 5-gallon kit as to keep the flavor and better balance between alcohol and wine with the contribution of the one cup of oak (which is traditional to a Chardonnay).
Ingredients:
These are all the basic ingredients that came with the kit. Please see the pictures attached.
What additional changes I’ve made:
-Changing the end volume of the wine from 6 gallons to 5 gallons
-adding the cup of oak
-At the end, by reducing the volume of concentrate, we increased the ABV without even trying.
-Personal preference: I will be adding zest of 1 grapefruit before racking. This will pick up the PH and give it a clean, crisp finish.
See the pictures for the process. J
WERE NEARRING THE FINIS WE LEFT OUR WINE IN THE COLD SINK FOR 14 DAYS AND IT CLEARED QUIT NICELY, WE KNEW RACKING BACK TO A ONE MIX CONTAINER WOULD CAUSE US TO HAVE TO RECLEAR ONE MORE TIME; THE WORK IS NOT A BIG DEAL WHAT IS, THE FINISH.
BEFORE I RACKED I TASTED THIS WINE AND LIKE I THOUGHT, THE WHITES SHOULD GO INTO A 5 GALLONS PROCESS ALSO.JUST LIKE THE REDS, THE WHITES EVEN WITH ALL THE SOLIDS WOULD HAVE NOT (IMOP) HAVE HAD MUCH TASTE, BRINGING THEM DOWN TO 5 GALLONS GAVES THESE KITS LIFE AND WITH THE SMALL AMOUNT OF TWEAKS THAT WE DID, WAS JUSTFIDE .SO WHAT WAS THE RESULTS??
SMOOTH UP FRONT WITH DECIENT FRUIT NOT OVER WHELMING BUT STILL THERE, CRISP ACIDITY WITH A CLEAN FINISH, WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT OUR YIELD WAS WHEN WE BOTTLE AND OUR COST PER BOTTLE.
Final value /cost per bottle $2.02, yield 22 bottles. Remember we reduced this kit from a 6 gallon to a 5 gallon kit then we started and I’m glad we did. Read the tweaks they make all the difference.
Last edited:
joeswine
joeswine
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2007
- Messages
- 8,859
- Reaction score
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Cabernet sauvignon rose'
a great kit to do ,the finish is spot on and the aroma and color is awesome,adding the strawberry fpac was a good thing and only added to the overall taste appeal of the finish product / semi dry..with a touch of springtime i'd make this one again.follow the flow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,because of the fpac i needed to rack 3 times for clarity but it was all worth it,sometimes thinking outside the box is well worth the extra effort.
a great kit to do ,the finish is spot on and the aroma and color is awesome,adding the strawberry fpac was a good thing and only added to the overall taste appeal of the finish product / semi dry..with a touch of springtime i'd make this one again.follow the flow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,because of the fpac i needed to rack 3 times for clarity but it was all worth it,sometimes thinking outside the box is well worth the extra effort.
Ron0126
30 batches my first year, still learning
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2017
- Messages
- 266
- Reaction score
- 269
Holy cow. I've read the whole thread. This needs to be turned into a book.
I'm out of town for a couple of weeks for business but I'm planning to do a couple of Fontana kits when I get back. Just bought 10 carboys for $100 from a guy who had 20 and needed more room in his basement!
I'm out of town for a couple of weeks for business but I'm planning to do a couple of Fontana kits when I get back. Just bought 10 carboys for $100 from a guy who had 20 and needed more room in his basement!
Ron0126
30 batches my first year, still learning
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2017
- Messages
- 266
- Reaction score
- 269
Thanks Joe! You and the others on this thread have been an inspiration!
I just started in February and jumped in with both feet.
Question: When you speak of a wine's "flavor profile" is this what you're referring to?
View attachment flavor-profiles-red-wine.pdf
View attachment flavor-profiles-white-wine.pdf
Zintrigue
Senior Member
Well, jumped in.
Got a Fontana Shiraz. Decided to make a fruit pack out of black grapes from the grocery store (2lb, boiled and mashed) and oak chips. Why black grapes? They're delicious and I wanted to give them a whirl.
I raised the starting SG to 1.098, then filled to 6 gallons, reasoning that my grocery store grapes and juice will be pretty strong. Worst case, I have a less than perfect table wine, right?
The yeast was pitched yesterday and I have to say the smell is euphoric. Smells almost exactly how my favorite bottle of red zin tastes.
I'll add some tannins in secondary, I think. Wish me luck.
(Sorry pics are sideways, don't know how to change that on my phone)
Got a Fontana Shiraz. Decided to make a fruit pack out of black grapes from the grocery store (2lb, boiled and mashed) and oak chips. Why black grapes? They're delicious and I wanted to give them a whirl.
I raised the starting SG to 1.098, then filled to 6 gallons, reasoning that my grocery store grapes and juice will be pretty strong. Worst case, I have a less than perfect table wine, right?
The yeast was pitched yesterday and I have to say the smell is euphoric. Smells almost exactly how my favorite bottle of red zin tastes.
I'll add some tannins in secondary, I think. Wish me luck.
(Sorry pics are sideways, don't know how to change that on my phone)
Zintrigue
Senior Member
Thanks Joe! You and the others on this thread have been an inspiration!
I just started in February and jumped in with both feet.
Question: When you speak of a wine's "flavor profile" is this what you're referring to?
This chart is an amazing help to this tweaking business, thank you!
Saw my pretty neighbor lady the other day...I got her into wine making. One of the first things I told her was to read this entire thread and the When good Wines Gone Bad thread. She has since made numerous different batches.
Anyway, she shows me this much used notebook and tells me she finally finished reading both threads!! Her notes are a small Ebook size. Said she may actually tweak the the next batch now...all of hers have been straight up by the the instructions, and not bad either...but she thinks she can use this info and make better wine. I think she can too!
Anyway, she shows me this much used notebook and tells me she finally finished reading both threads!! Her notes are a small Ebook size. Said she may actually tweak the the next batch now...all of hers have been straight up by the the instructions, and not bad either...but she thinks she can use this info and make better wine. I think she can too!
Zintrigue
Senior Member
Tons of great info here. My Shiraz is coming out a bit on the watered down side, much to my dismay. My bucket isn't marked correctly, as there was way too much to fit in the carboy when I racked. This six-gallon business is a whole different ballgame, more things to learn. I'll do better next time.
I'll do another dragon blood in between batches, then I'll jump into a Fontana pinot noir with cherries and (possibly) rose petals. Still debating the oak. Will probably change the yeast to something like RC 212.
Loving this cheap kit tweaking.
I'll do another dragon blood in between batches, then I'll jump into a Fontana pinot noir with cherries and (possibly) rose petals. Still debating the oak. Will probably change the yeast to something like RC 212.
Loving this cheap kit tweaking.
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