Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

What style of wine is it?

 

[rca]

Have you done these before?
I've found they are great for learning with or adding to your stock and are also great for giving away.

My first Fontana and my second wine kit. Thanks for the great thread.

 

[WineJake]

Started a Fontana Malbec yesterday with Joe's tweak: reduced volume to 5 gal, 1 T tannin, 1 cup French Oak (med toast), Fpac (1 cup zante currants, 1/2 cup cherries, 1/2 cup blackberries) saute in 1 cup Malbec. Checked pH 4.0, SA test titration didn't workout. Room temp 70 degrees F. Pitched EC1118 (after rehydrating per instruction). Fermentation started in 24 hours. SG was 1.102. I will keep you posted on my progress. We are Making Wine, NOW! Yahoo!

 

[WineJake]

Crazy question for the forum. I am using a Catalyst fermentation vessel (see attached pic) for my Fontana Malbec primary fermentation, without the lid. It was designed for Beer fermentation. Once the primary fermentation is complete, I was thinking of capturing the dead yeast (lees) in the mason jar by opening the flip valve. Does anyone think it is a bad idea to not transfer the to a carboy until later for clarification and aging? I am a newbie, so your thoughts and suggestions are welcomed. This Forum is awesome and I have learned a lot from doing some daily reading. Thanks for everyone who contributes.

 

[sour_grapes]

Does anyone think it is a bad idea to not transfer the to a carboy until later for clarification and aging?

Sorry, I cannot quite get your question. (Looks like it is missing an important word.) What exactly are you planning to do, and what exactly is your concern?

 

[WineJake]

Let me state my question differently. What is the purpose of transferring the wine to a carboy after primary fermentation?

I am a home brewer. I would like to use as much of my brew equipment as if feasible. The Catalyst (conical fermentation vessel) allows me to pull off the dead yeast and sediment without transferring the beer. I want to do something similar with the wine.

 

[sour_grapes]

Ahh, I see. The purpose of transferring the wine to a carboy is to minimize oxygen exposure at that late stage of the fermentation. The fermentation is no longer active enough to produce a lot of CO2 to push the O2 away from the wine. Using a carboy allows you to top the wine up into the neck, resulting in a small amount of O2-containing headspace.

 

[sour_grapes]

Let me state my question differently. What is the purpose of transferring the wine to a carboy after primary fermentation?

I realize that I omitted one other aspect, viz., getting rid of the gross lees. Originally, I was thinking this was not important in your case, since we are posting in a thread that focuses on juice-only kits, and you already have a plan to get rid of the lees on the bottom of the fermenter. But you also need to get rid of the other detritus in your brew. You have Corinth grapeskins (what you call Zante currants) and other debris floating around in your must. If you leave that stuff in there too long (i.e., during "secondary"), you can wind up with funky odors.

 

[Farmside]

So I just received my Winexpert Island Mist Strawberry Kit. Any seggestions on this kit? I have made the Black Cherry, turned out OK just looking to up my game so to say. Thanks in advance.

 

[Johnd]

So I just received my Winexpert Island Mist Strawberry Kit. Any seggestions on this kit? I have made the Black Cherry, turned out OK just looking to up my game so to say. Thanks in advance.

When I've done the IM kits, have always ordered the extra concentrate and corn sugar to boost the flavor and ABV. Always been worth the few extra bucks in my book.

 

[Farmside]

When I've done the IM kits, have always ordered the extra concentrate and corn sugar to boost the flavor and ABV. Always been worth the few extra bucks in my book.

OK, I did not see that option for extra concentrate or dextrose but on the description it stated for 3 gallons but enclosed in the box it is 6 gallons. Reducing the amount of added water should be the same as adding extra, correct?

 

[Johnd]

OK, I did not see that option for extra concentrate or dextrose but on the description it stated for 3 gallons but enclosed in the box it is 6 gallons. Reducing the amount of added water should be the same as adding extra, correct?

If it's a 6 gallon kit, you should make it to 6 gallons. Shorting a little bit of water is OK, but not 3 gallons. Consider strongly doing it as follows, from the LabelPeelers website:

"*If you're a fan of the Island Mist Series kits but like your wines a little bit stronger, consider "bumping" them with 1 pound of corn sugar and 1 liter of grape concentrate.

"Boosting" Guide:

The boosting of an Island Mist series kit is easy and brings the alcohol content to approx 9.5-10%. Simply adding corn sugar alone will boost the alcohol of your kit without adding body or mouthfeel to support this increase. Doing this will leave your wine tasting "hot" and unbalanced. The addition of white or red grape concentrate leaves your wine with more balance and produces a more enjoyable end product. Both the 1 lb corn sugar and 1 liter of grape concentrate should be mixed in stage 1 after adding your main juice pack and before topping up to the 6 gallon mark with water."

If your Mist kit has a red wine base (like cab, merlot, pinot noir, malbec, shiraz, etc.), you'd want to order the red grape concentrate. If your Mist kit has a light or white base (like chardonnay, pinot gris, white zinfandel, white merlot, etc.) you'd want to order the white grape concentrate. In either case, also get the 1# corn sugar and go to town. When I've done the Mist kits in the past, when ordering from LabelPeelers, the options to add the corn sugar and concentrate pop up, you just add them to your cart, and you're good to go. Since you already have your kit, you could get the proper concentrate and sugar boost from anywhere you like.

 

[Farmside]

"*If you're a fan of the Island Mist Series kits but like your wines a little bit stronger, consider "bumping" them with 1 pound of corn sugar and 1 liter of grape concentrate.

Thank you, and this is why it is a good idea to ask if your not sure. I do have both on hand, letting things come to room temperature before I do anything. I’m learning and appreciate your input.

 

[Johnd]

Thank you, and this is why it is a good idea to ask if your not sure. I do have both on hand, letting things come to room temperature before I do anything. I’m learning and appreciate your input.

Quite welcome! Since you're using your own concentrate / sugar additive, make sure to check your SG after you have everything mixed up really well.

The last thing to think about is how sweet you want your finished wine to be. Once you're finished fermenting and get on to the stages where you are adding your sulfite, and sorbate, you'll also be adding the flavoring pack, which will add some sweetness to finished wine. Those of us who don't mind a little sweetness in wine, but frown on really sweet stuff, will sometimes add half of the flavoring pack in the beginning, and the second half after the sulfite / sorbate addition. This will reduce the amount of sweetness in the finished wine. I've not made the Mist kit you are doing, but maybe someone else has and can give you some guidance about how sweet it ends up with the whole flavoring pack added at the end versus half in the beginning and half at the end.............

 

[joeswine]

just got done bottling 2 Fontana kits for Carol a Melbec and a shiraz both turned out with decent yields, took a sip of both and i'll tell you truth a decent early drinking wine.
Next 2 kits are for Kate . a wild grape moscato and cab ,interesting kits I'll fill you in later. Remember all these kits you need to constantly check you alcohol level in the beginning to adjust it to your taste.

 

[Country]

I started the Black Cherry Pinot with a couple of tweeks. I added sugar to 1.070, two pounds of cherries, the skins from a cab kit that I just racked into secondary, and water to 5.5 gallons.

Orange Chocolate Kit also got a bag of already used skins, sugar to 1.070 and made to 5.5 gallon volume. Also added 2 cups of currants.

 

[joeswine]

W
Question? Why would you want to put skins in a orange/ chocolate kit. Just asking.

 

[Country]

Just had them and figured they couldn’t hurt. But I understand you asking, probably not going to do much/anything for the flavor profile of that wine.

 

[joeswine]

Could make it not so good, time will tell.
Happy wine making.

 

[Farmside]

I was thinking of capturing the dead yeast (lees) in the mason jar by opening the flip valve. Does anyone think it is a bad idea to not transfer the to a carboy until later for clarification and aging? I am a newbie,

I have the same setup, did a Black Cherry kit complete in the fermenter but when it came to bottling the first gallon I put into a carboy (you will get some lees off the sides). I’m thinking it may be best to rack from the top first, then use the bottom bottling feature to put into carboy for further separation.