Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

First thanks for reading tweaking cheap wine kits, the additions sounds good no need for bags on this one the mango and banana wine's maybe. Stay with your plan. Keep us posted.jp

 

[joeswine]

UPDATE ON THE SANGIOVESE / CHANTI BLEND.. WILL GO INTO THE SECONDARY IN 2 TO 3 DAYS..

 

[joeswine]

REVIEW AND UPDATE THE SANGIOVESE/ CHANTI BLEND WITH A ALL GRAPE FPACK

 

[joeswine]

PHASE #2..SANGIOVESE/ CHANTI..

 

[joeswine]

PHASE #3///////SANGIOVESE//CHANTI BLEND..NOW AT THE BACK END WITH THE GRAPE PACK INTRODUCED I HAVE TO SAY, IT WAS A PAIN ,HOWEVER, THE EXTRA WORK AND COST IN THE END I'M HOPING WILL BE WORTH THE EFFORT.I'm SURE THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN EASIER WAY BUT IT'S OVER..NEXT TO LET IT SIT A WEEK THEN RE-RACK ADD THE CHEMS AND CLEARING AGENTS THEN LET IT SIT FOR A MONTH....I HOPE THAT SOME OF YOU READING THIS THREAD HAVE AT LEAST GAINED SOME BASIC KNOLEDGE AND CAN SEE THAT THESE CHEAP KITS CAN HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WINEMAKING AT THE SAME TIME SAVE SOME OF YOUR CAPITOL,AS ALWAYS (THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

 

[kevinlfifer]

I have not made a kit in a while. I bought 6 Fontana kits.

I'll use Zante currants, Frozen black berries, dried cherries, and whatever else comes to mind to add flavor textures.

We'll see how it goes

 

[kevinlfifer]

Joe has anyone tried adding cocoa powder, like adding tannin powder, for that chocolate note?

 

[Killa J]

How long is everyone aging their Fontana wine kit? I racked mine for aging about a week and a half ago, but just curious what’s the earliest this will taste decent.

 

[joeswine]

Kevinlfifer , iveI always used instant coffee to bring out a chocolate newonce in wine's .Killa j. at least a few months after clearing they are early drinking wine's ,you can however let them sit for a year.then by all means drink them there not going to improve that bmuch with aging that's not what their designed for.Enjoy the experience of making a cheap wine kit and putting your own touches on it.

 

[Cornelia]

matttc

this is not to be confused with the cheaper kits here is the flow below......

Winexpert Sangiovese​

Here is the beginning of the process. We are starting with an inexpensive wine kit from Wine Expert- World Vineyard. It's an Italian Sangiovese. My friend, Katie (Neviawen from the forum here) was here at my house to document the process for us all. I will include pictures throughout the making of this kit, as well as what we are going to do to take an inexpensive kit and make great wine from it.

Step 1: We have acquired our kit, sanitized everything, and laid out all of our tools before we started.

Step2: Added 1/2 gallon of hot water to my fermentation bucket and added bentonite. Stirred until no clumps.

Step 3: Opened up the bag of "grape juice" and dumped into the bucket and stirred.

Step 4; Added 1/2 gal of spring water to the empty bag (where the juice came from, to rinse it out) and swished it around. Added that to the bucket and stirred.

Step 5: Topped the bucket off w/ spring water to the 6 gallon mark and stirred more.

Step 6: Took our specific gravity reading. Posted that on our hanging tag.

Step 7: Added 2 bags of oak chips and pitched the yeast. (sprinkled it on top, do not stir).

Step 8: Cover the top of the bucket with a clean towel. This will prevent anything from falling into it.

Then we wait 5-7 days. We will then move onto the next phase.

Next:
Ok, today is 7 days from when we started this kit. We took our specific gravity reading and it is at 1.028. Slowly it's fermenting dry.
I also put up a picture of what the bucket looks like right now. You can see there are some bubbles and oak chips floating on top. It smells great! Stay tuned- it will be going into the carboy for secondary fermentation soon..

Next:
Sorry this was so late getting posted. I had a few hectic weeks. I did manage to take the pictures to keep up with the process. Here we go- it’s getting interesting!

10 days after we started this kit, we checked the Specific Gravity and it is 1.000- it is almost dry. Now is when we add the raisons and powdered oak (wine tannin powder). We are using 1 pound of black raisons (you can use white raisons for white wines) and we are using 4 tbsp. of the powdered oak.

Here is a picture of the powdered oak and raisons at the bottom of our carboy.

For our demonstration we are using the auto-syphon instead of my wine pump. This is the most basic tool for this job and is what most beginner home winemakers have handy. Transferring the wine from the primary fermentation bucket to the carboy helps to degas the wine.

When you get to the bottom of the bucket when syphoning, you can use wedges to prop up one end of the bucket. This helps you get the most out of your wine.

We now have our wine in the 6 gallon carboy. Let’s stir it up good to get all the raisons and powdered oak mixed well. This also will help degas more.

We are using a 6 gallon carboy but only have a 5 gallon batch of wine. I am filling the remaining 1 gallon of headspace with Nitrogen.Once this is racked again it will go into a 5 gallon carboy.

As always, we write our latest specific gravity reading on our tag and hang it on the carboy.

Cover the carboy up with a towel to keep light out.

Next:
Sangiovese Update: My oh My! It's tasty so far!
Here's our observation:
There was a heavy body to it, medium tanins, nice bite and a zing of acidity. It will be a good wine when aged.
Here's a few pictures. But first, let's explain what were looking at.
There are 3 pictures here. One the side of the glass in the pictures you will notice a "clear smear". This is what we call the wine's "legs". Having these when you tip a glass of wine indicates that the wine has good body and alchohol content.
Next, you will notice the "age line". This is the line that is between the surface of the wine and the distance to the color of the wine. The smaller this line is, the longer your wine has aged. You will see in our pictures that this wine is still very young yet the ring is close. That is the difference in a kit; they are made to age quick so you can drink them faster.

Final step to our Sangiovese kit: Bottling!



Before we started, we got all the tools out of our toolbox that we would need. We also sanitized all our bottles and had them ready.
What we had ready before we started:
Sanitized Bottles
Funnel
Ferrari Bottle Filler
Long Stirring wand
seals
corks
Packets of Sorbate and K-Met that came with the kit
my bottle sealing tool (don't know what it's called but it holds the seal on top the bottle while I dip it into boiling water), notice we didn't filter, that's because we racked down to clear.

Next, we dumped the 2 packets of ingredients into the carboy and gave it a stir w/ the wand (I didn't take a picture of this, you all know how to just give it a stir.)

I then placed the Ferrari bottling tool on top of an empty bottle, put the larger hose into the carboy and applied suction to the smaller hose to start the syphon. Once the wine starts to flow I place this smaller hose into an empty bottle just so it's out of the way.

What is great about this tool is that once a bottle is full it automatically stops the wine flow so that it doesn't overflow. You will see that it gets to a certain level in the little chamber and then it stops filling. When this happens you put the Ferrari tool into the next bottle and proceed.

When you have all bottles filled, you cork them. Once they are corked you seal them.

Fit the seal over the bottle, I use a tool that holds the seal on top the bottle for me as I dip them into boiling water. I dip it in, give it one twist real quick and pull it out. (Literally takes 2 seconds and it's sealed.)

View attachment 27068

Thank you for this excellent thread! So far I have only made kits according to instructions but am very interested in starting a few experiments.
Just wanted to confirm that you are adding the Sorbate and K-met at the bottling stage. How long will it need to bottle age when using this process, and do you use Kieselsol and chitosan?

 

[joeswine]

Here's what I've found out in 20 years of doing this in all facets of wine making we have basic rules and you need to follow them.( with) kits follow the directions there, there for a reason with all the enhancements, I do I have great sanatation practicess( key) and follow the instructions till the finish. I don't know what ( wine kit taste is ) what i have is a good finished wine product as a rule. Have fun with your wine.

 

[kevinlfifer]

I added 1 Heaping Tbs of cocoa powder to a merlot kit with 12 oz of dried cherries.
I added 2 Tbs coffee beans to a sangiovese kit with 2 lb frozen blackberries
I added 32 oz raspberry preserves to a chianti kit
I added 16 oz dried mixed berries (cranberry, blueberry and cherry) to a valpolicella kit

I've got another merlot and a sauvignon blanc to play with yet.

 

[joeswine]

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate for what you have left think about making them as they are but smooth and deep in structure, with tannins .

 

[kevinlfifer]

I will oak the reds with home toasted oak during clearing.

I did add a TBS tannin to the Chianti, forgot to list it.

I will try some grapefruit or pumello zest to the white.

I'm really surprised at how good they smell. To bad I can't upload a scent.

 

[joeswine]

Go easy on the zest a little goes a long way Really. You can always add more but you can't take it out
.

 

[mocha]

Hi, silly questions from a newb, if I make a 6 gal kit into a 5 gal kit, I need a 5 gal carboy so there isn't too much space to oxidize, yes? Also I would love to start a red but my house in the summer is about 75-80 in the office/winemaking room, is that Ok? Or do I have to sadly wait til fall?

 

[joeswine]

Start off in a larger vessel for primary then reduce in the secondary you'll be surprised how much boil off you'll get.if your limited on space and tools then I would suggest a fermentation bucket,,s5and 6 gallon carboy as my workhorses also don't let temp stop you,go for it.

 

[mocha]

Start off in a larger vessel for primary then reduce in the secondary you'll be surprised how much boil off you'll get.if your limited on space and tools then I would suggest a fermentation bucket,,s5and 6 gallon carboy as my workhorses also don't let temp stop you,go for it.

Thank you, I'm going to get a 5 gal carboy and some oak, I can't wait to see what I can make of a nice cheap kit

 

[joeswine]

Go slow read the directions have a plan then work it ,alwa al remember sanatation is the key,stay the course.

 

[dodahman]

This thread is dedicated solely for the purpose of inexpensive wine kits regardless of brand and what you can do as a beginner, as a novice, or experienced winemaker to "think outside the box" and create a good wine on an economical budget. Anybody can create a good wine with an expensive kit, the premise behind this thread is to show ways to enhance, correct, and ultimately make a descent bottle of every day wine at very little cost. The average kit for what we will post on this thread costs approximately $45.00. Using amazon prime, shipping was free.

Remember, this thread is dedicated to inexpensive wine kits and experiences we have had making them. Please feel free to comment on these kits, ask questions, etc., and most importantly, provide your input of what you have done (or have not done) when tweaking these kits.
Yours truly, Joeswine and Neviawen

Looks like ya got me fired up! I have been making wine for years from kits then "graduated" to wine snob level and started buying boxes straight from Napa during harvest. One year my group had 2000 lbs shipped and we pressed and processed them ourselves, a lot of work and expensive but I took a flew golds and places with it. Then I lost the fun factor when I tried to make a desert wine.

I plan or starting back with a decent kit but want to try something weird . . . I want to try to force carbonate some of it making a "champipple" Fred Sanford would be proud of! Some years ago I bought a cider wine kit and it finished fantastic with plenty oF carbonation in the bottles. Sadly they stopped making that kit.

So . . . has anybody tried bottle carbonating to get a dry champagne type finish?