Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[sugar]

Less is More...yep.
I made 7 Fontana kits...
Used 4 gal. Spring water and topped off with deep well water.
It's worked for me.
Used Cane sugars simple syrup also and used a can of frozen grape concentrate to sweeten with.
Newbie fear is part of the learning process.
Wine making is the nearest thing to creative Artist and creative Cheff...all in one experience.
Make the wine your own... eventually.
Good sipping!

 

[Venatorscribe]

The method I follow, is to add water to the 5.5 gallon level (that 's 21 litres for me). Then stir - stir- stir. At that point take the pH and check your specific gravity. Stir some more and again take a set of measurements - until it is repeatable. I recently had a Vineco( cheeky monkey) kit that had a pH of 4.2. I ended up adding 70 gms of tartaric to bring it down to a pH of 3.6. But this is not always the case. As the 'cheeky monkey' Malbec kit that I have fermenting at the moment came in at pH 3.2 and hence no acid was required. My standard practise is to check everything. Acidulating the water prior to fermentation is something I always need to do with my fruit and botanical wines so it is not out of the ordinary where you need to make water additions. That is part of the chemistry thing I like about this hobby. And by the way - I don't know Joe but he is always on the button with his advice. And especially on the money with his comment “plan your work and work your plan”. So all the best with your plan. Cheers

 

[joeswine]

Always check then recheck then adjust or not and move forward
Part of the wine making process is the art of crafting all phases of this.hobby

 

[David Taylor]

I have never filtered my wine kits and have read some pros and cons of filtering. I searched the forums for anything on filtering and did not find anything meaningful. Can anyone give me a basic primer on filtering or send me to a link?

Thanks, David

 

[Frosty]

I don’t filter. My belief is that it introduces some oxygen and removes some flavour in full bodied reds. However I occasionally get a small amount of sediment if I don’t bulk age.

 

[joeswine]

It's a question of time,tools on hand the abbility to exacute the filtering process quickly.
Reds do better staying in the secondary for two to three weeks and let sit as long as you can.
White,, definitely filter but that's just Me
When I talk about aging the longer the wine kits the more drop out you have.

 

[David Taylor]

I have not had any white wine since moving to Alaska. Too cold for chilled wine! So if I just make reds, it sounds like filtering is not really necessary?

 

[joeswine]

Let time take care of your reds .

 

[joeswine]

Carols Merlot with Blackberries.....when done with a plan this one is deep in flavor and balanced ABV>

 

[joeswine]

Phase #2......always have a plan and your tools at hand so there is no surprises....then create......remember how to make an FPAC my style ?

 

[jpwatkins9]

My Chablis is almost done with the clarification stage (2 weeks), and looking good. Will rack it this weekend and I am thinking of letting it sit in the carboy for some bulk aging. Any ideas on this? This is the Chablis that I put the 1/2 Grapefruit zest in during the primary fermentation. I use the racking process to get nice clear wines, with enough time and patience it works well.

 

[joeswine]

Stay the course , less is more got it?

 

[rca]

Well I think I've got my plan figured out after reading over 1400 posts in this thread, but it never hurts to confirm. I am planning on doing the Fontana Merlot as my first wine kit. My plan is as follows:

Make it as a 5 gallon kit
FPac with 1 pound of blueberries in the primary
Cup of French oak in the primary
1 tbsp tannins in the primary
1 quart simple syrup
Pitch EC1118

Rack to secondary after primary fermentation
1 tbsp tannis in the secondar

That look good?

Joe thanks for your continued help in this thread.

 

[Johnd]

Well I think I've got my plan figured out after reading over 1400 posts in this thread, but it never hurts to confirm. I am planning on doing the Fontana Merlot as my first wine kit. My plan is as follows:

Make it as a 5 gallon kit
FPac with 1 pound of blueberries in the primary
Cup of French oak in the primary
1 tbsp tannins in the primary
1 quart simple syrup
Pitch EC1118

Rack to secondary after primary fermentation
1 tbsp tannis in the secondar

That look good?

Joe thanks for your continued help in this thread.

Just remember to check your SG to make sure it’s in range for your yeast and desired ABV.

 

[David Taylor]

I racked my Fontana Merlot and degassed it. Checked the SG and it looks like it is at .998. I started it 9/10 with SG at 1.12 and when I moved it to the CArboy, on 10/1 it was a 1.0. What SG am I looking for? Will it drop any more?

Thanks, David

 

[Johnd]

Guess it depends upon the yeast you used, you’ve already got a rocket fuel Merlot approaching 17% ABV.

 

[joeswine]

Have you checked your final ABV.?
Don't worry about ( rocket fuel).
Just stay the course.

 

[joeswine]

Recheck your final SG. Reading .
Don't work about rocket fuel .

 

[sour_grapes]

Can you confirm whether you starting SG was 1.120 or 1.112?

 

[David Taylor]

Can you confirm whether you starting SG was 1.120 or 1.112?

It started at 1.125 when I made it up but then added water and the next morning and got it down to 1.10.