Other Vino Europa

[millwright01]

Hi all.

I made one of the Vino Europa kit. It is thin. Real thin. But that didn't surprise me after I read a couple of your posts on here. Should have read them first and I would have combined the kits and diluted less.

I am not interested in making the other batch the same way and have a couple questions. I am thinking of cutting it back to a 3 gallon batch to try to thicken it up. In my opinion the juice gets to diluted and this may help that a bit. Will I need to cut all my packs in half? (yeast, chitosan, etc)

If this is bad idea please feel free to say so. I am just trying to figure out what to do next. I had a glass of the wine when I bottled (of course!!) and it honestly tastes and feels like some teenager broke into the wine cellar, drank half the wine, and topped it off with water hoping no one would notice. LOL

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Jason

 

[WhineMaker]

If you want to cut it down, I would go to a 5 gallon batch. There is a very delicate balance to these kits, and to 3 gal would throw it too far off. My advise would be either to cut it to 5 Gal, and/or tweak it with raisins like zant currants for example.. i'm sure others will give you more options.. Good Luck!

 

[deboard]

I had a wine that was too thin, and thanks to looking around the forum, I found that a lot of people add some glycerin to wine to give it more body. I added it to mine, and it improved the mouthfeel and body quite a bit. The wine went from thin and boring to something that I could drink.

As for your plan of changing the recipe on the kit, I must say I am a big fan of going off the recipe, but the wine will get harder to make as you'll have to rebalance everything - acid and specific gravity for sure. All the rest of the ingredients such as tannin, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient may need to be adjusted as well. I've never done this with a kit, so I don't know how easy it is. I have "dressed up" an inferior concentrate with some fruit such as blackberries though.

 

[Wade E]

If I were to do that Id still use all of the ingredients cause its not much of a difference. Most of these packets are designed for UP to a 6 gallon batch and not just a 6 gallon batch. You might cut down on the sorbate though as thats the only one designed for a 6 gallon batch. The sg will be a little higher but lots of these smaller kits have very ow sg's for these type of wines anyway so actually youll most likely be bringing them into the range where they are typically commercially. I have never done this but lots of people say its the way to go with these smaller kits. I prefer to just spend the extra money and get a better kit.

 

[millwright01]

Thanks all for the input. I wouldn't buy this kit myself. I prefer to get my stuff at my local shop. She treats me real well and always helpful so I shop where I get good treatment. It was a gift from family so tried it out. Made a wine punch with it tonight and its good that way. I will let you know what I end up doing this weekend and what the results turn out to be.

 

[wines just fine]

You didn't say what kind of kit this is. Red or white?

There are a couple of things that you can do that will make a huge difference to these kits. First chop up about a pound of raisins and add to the primary. Second boil up some bananas and strain them in too. The third thing is if you have some oak add it in.

If you do that you end up with something fairly drinkable for a good price.

Funny that PakLabs recommends oak but doesn't include it.
http://www.paklabproducts.com/paklabproducts/en/ViewProduct.aspx?oref=3

 

[cpfan]

Vino Europa reds - use 'em for sangria or mulled wine.

Steve

 

[seopiper]

, at least you tried. I don't think you made an awful wine, just that its not mature enough. Haven't aged yet.
Consider leaving more days and months.

 

[Mapleleaf]

I didn't have a 27l fermenting pail so I used a 24l pail and added water to make 20l instead of 23. When I rack to a 23l carboy would it be ok to add more water to make 23l?

 

[Shamrock]

I have just came to step 3 of my vino Europa kit from Costco,
And have discovered I forgot to add the bentonite in step1!
Does this mean I have ruined this batch of wine ?
Help please
Anne

 

[roger80465]

I have just came to step 3 of my vino Europa kit from Costco,
And have discovered I forgot to add the bentonite in step1!
Does this mean I have ruined this batch of wine ?
Help please
Anne

As long as it has fermented to dry, you are fine. Bentonite helps keep the yeast suspended during fermentation and also can help solidify the gross lees. When you add the clearing agents, you may have a greater amount of sediment in the bottom but, personally, I wouldn't worry about it. Rack an additional time and give it a few months to be sure it has stopped settling and you will be fine.