Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[cmason1957]

If it were mine, I would move it into the carboy. That's a fairly long time for it to have that much exposure to a large amount of oxygen.

 

[joeswine]

Fermentation should be done by then?
What are you doing your primary in,if. Carboy, ok if in a bucket only ,NO.

 

[Rocor]

Fellow selling RJS 125g bags of grape skins on eBay .. are they replaced by a tablespoon of tannin powder in the primary and just a RJS gimmick ? Also any collective thoughts on use of Black Currant Powder ? Thanks ...

 

[RocketBee]

Found an article by Tim Vandergrift addressing the lack of bentonite in my wine kit.

The reason he provides as to why there is no bentonite in the Master Vintner kits is because the MV kits

"..are extremely protein stable. During crush, press and processing we make sure that unstable colloids and proteins are taken out of solution. They don't need any bentonite..."
​

But since I'm planning to add fruit to the mix...I suppose I should use bentonite anyway. Link to the article is below.

https://www.midwestsupplies.com/bot...ke-wine-at-home/bentonite-clay-in-wine-making

 

[joeswine]

BE SAFE ALWAYS USE THE BENTONIT IF ITS NOT PROVIDED BUY A SMALL QUANITY ..USE IT,IT CANT HURT..CAN IT .
rocor...

 

[Rocor]

Thanks Joeswine for the direct response, but I am a bentonite user

I was looking for some comments on current powder and or grape skins use ..

Would current powder in the ferment provide a flower profile .. thinking of splitting a middle of the road kit ... adding current powder , more french oak , pepper corns ( limited ) etc. to small batch for ruffino style result ..

Have a chamber vacuum unit , so splitting the juice in the kit not a big thing ( sanitation considered ) maybe toss in a bit of black cherry juice in the mix above if kit PH not over the top ....

Never used a kit , but they must push the ph and acid up to allow for a 7 influx of h2o .. I have a Sangiovese Wineexpert kit .. 10 lt of juice ( must be ready to eat through the bag )

Edit: if one reduces the ph number ..say from 3.6 to 2.4 ( more acidic ) is that pushing it up or pushing it down in wine talk ?

 

[joeswine]

Not sure never considered doing it.
Vacume unit not recommended.never used current powder?
Grape skins yes.

 

[Rocor]

In every U-Tube vid I have watched , those juice bags look like no voids in the bag .. must be shipped in a slight vacuum .. chamber units have a degree of vacuum pressure .. from light to full ..

Have inert gas ( cans for Scotch ) so I could bottle the unused juice and use inert gas to prevent oxygen contact .. ( on unused grape juice )

Just want a few months to play with some mixtures .. have not opened my kit yet .. so limited to vid knowledge at this point ... and your comments .. ( thanks you for the info ) .. experience is always a factor .. research is just a part of the solution ..

 

[joeswine]

When using a vacuum system on wine that's being processed the first thing that happens is you pull off the oxygen then the alcholo, flavor moulicules ( phoyens) , then water . Been there , done that it's not for me.

 

[Ignoble Grape]

Digressing from the current conversation: Has anyone split a kit in half, done primary with two different yeast strains, then blended them into secondary? If so, what have been your successes? I'd like to experiment over the winter before trying this on real grapes for the first time in the fall.

 

[Rocor]

I was speaking of vacuuming the raw juice from the kit ... splitting the kit .. using it weeks or so later.. after the experiment concludes ( fermentation of say 1/5th of the kit ) .. modify the next batch ( lack of aging ) .. 4 ltr of juice is about $30.00 In my world plus tax .. I can buy a 10 ltr kit for a lot less than 5 x 30.00 .. No world of USA Wal-Mart in my next of the world ..Lakewood juice $8.00 Canadian .. using 2 ltr of kit juice at a time would give me 5 one gallon experiments at least .. no private messaging on this board? Appreciate you hanging in on this thread .. Joeswine

 

[joeswine]

It really doesn't matter how many ways you split a kit as long as you obey the basic principles of wine making.
Really.. sanatation being the first.

 

[crushday]

Hi folks, hope no one minds me jumping in here, just picked up a Fontana premium gamay/pinot noir kit and want to know what would be some nice tweaks to it. I'm thinking of using lalvin 1116, or maybe 1122 yeast. Perhaps some oak chips as well.
Is it preferred to add oak during the primary ferment, or after it's racked into a carboy?

I'm no help on the yeast question or comparisons...

Adding oak during primary provides sacrificial tannins which combine with proteins and other grape components and precipitate out into the lees while protecting color and, provide mouth feel in the final wine. After racked, adding some form of adjunct (winestix, spiral, cubes, etc...) attempts to simulate the effects and flavor profile of aging in a barrel.

Hope your project goes well.

 

[Keith5]

I made 3 gallons of Japanese plum this past spring. I fermented half with 1118 Amd half with K1. After AF and a few weeks to get major pectin cloudiness cleared, I combined both ferments into 1 carboy and let it finish clearing. It turned out a really good fruit wine. I did not back sweeten btw. I am starting to think it’s better to Find a reasonable way to blend and let the blended product merge together. Seems to create a more rounded wine. Idk, still learning lol

 

[joeswine]

Adding oak or oak tannins at anystage is acceptable, don't over do it .less is sometimes more.
What ever you choose to do with your wine to make it your own, is COOL, with a plan of course.

 

[Machinist Nick]

@crushday Thanks, thats really handy info to have!
I ended up going with the 1116, a raspberry fpac, and about a half cup of oak chips.
Its in the secondary now and smelt (and tasted!) amazing when I siphoned it.

I did 2 kits of merlot from costco last year, all variables the same, except the yeast. First was 1118, and second was 1122. After about 8 monthes aging the difference was astounding. The 1118 was sorta flat and flabby with basically no character, where as the 1122 was full of cherry, vanilla, and other flavours that my untrained nose couldn't identify, but liked!

 

[crackermonkey]

so tried joes method yesterday , 5 week RJS chilean Malbec reduced to 5 gallons , homemade fruit pack of blackberries and black grapes , 5g biotan tannins and 2 cups French and American oak ,standard champagne yeast , skipped the symbol syrup as I don't like high alcohol wine I'm very excited about the outcome already smells great !

 

[joeswine]

What was you Sg at the start ? Reminder less is more what was the cost of the kit?
Just asking?

 

[KeithKLRFilter]

Hmmmmm....champagne yeast is a higher alcohol yeast strain, able to withstand alcohol content in the 17% (by volume) range. The more standard wine yeasts typically have a hard time surviving 15%. If you get a low alcohol result from this it will be extremely dry - which might be to your liking!

 

[crackermonkey]

starting SG was 1.100 the kit was 50.00 cad