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Sangiovese with raisins what they do is add a subtle background and a very smooth finish.
PHASE#1
 

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PHASE#2
 

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PHASE#3
 

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Headspace is just that room at the top of the container, in that case less is more, if you follow what i do I either always rack into a larger container right after primary to allow the gases to work themselves out.
Once that's done and if I chose to rack down the I fill the empty space with the nitrogen gas as a filler and monitor the bubbler for pressure daily.

Sanginovese. red currant, raspberry and white pepper it's all subjective t ones taste. It's considered the Prince of Italian wines and one of my favorite.
The last one I did I added raspberries and it was outstanding .
 
how about something from SPAIN...
 

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SPAIN PHASEE#2
 

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NEBBIOLO smooth with good body...
 

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PHASE #2.............................
 

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Joe.... I figure you are in the know, what are the cheap wine kits now days? Amazon Fontana are no longer Prime free shipping so they are up around 80 bucks from 42 now :(

I've made the Nebiolo twice, good choice, used your tweaks and made it better.
 
FIERO wine kit moving right along..............follow the flow very simple and straight forward.
 

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FIERO .....balance of process.. this wine was designed for the high end of wine making ,dark and good body even has a nose ?
with the base and the fpac were at the 6 gallon mark.
they may cost more or not and you think your getting less but it all works out in the end at lease I think so. :wy
 

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Last edited:
Hi Joe. I'm new to the forum and this thread is fantastic. I'm still reading 2012 posts but have a wine situation that I needed to jump ahead for anyone to help me with.

A few months ago, I got a WE Trinity Red kit. Opened the box late night on a Sunday and got it started per the step-by-step instructions. This was my 5th kit and had no issues with the previous 4. Got to the starting SG and it read 1.045. That's not what I was supposed to get so I stirred, measured, remeasured, rewashed the Hydrometer, checked for breakage, measured again ... 1.045. Not knowing any better, I pressed ahead and added the yeast. The next day I called my vendor and got that ball started on the guarantee. And that ball is still rolling but I'll get a replacement kit in a couple weeks.

2 weeks later, SG was 0.995. So it was done fermenting, racked it, cleared and settled it and it's been aging a month now. I estimate the ABV to be 6.75%. I tasted it and it's too strong for breakfast juice but too weak for wine. So I'm thinking of 2 possible ways to go to get to an ABV of 10% to 11% which is acceptable to me.

Option 1. Bring it up to ABV 10.25% by adding brandy. To do so, I need to add half a litter of brandy to 3.5 litters of weak wine. A nice fit in a 4 litter glass jug. I taste tested a half oz of brandy with 3.5 oz of wine and it was decent and a little harsh. I would pull 3 litters of weak wine from the carboy leaving about 16 to 17 liters of wine. Then add 1.75 litters of Christian Bros 80 proof brandy (1 large bottle), wait a couple of days and taste. Then be ready to add more brandy to taste, then top with weak wine or sugar water or both. Biggest concern with this would be wine flavor lost by brandy dilution and brandy flavor.

Option 2. I'm supposed to get a replacement Trinity Red kit next Friday. So, I could amp up the potential ABV by adding sugar before adding yeast. Shoot for 15% or 16% ABV then mix the two batches for a possible ABV of 11%.

What do you think? Is one method more likely to succeed than the other? Could I improve either or both options. Is there a 3rd approach I should consider? I'm definitely outside of my box with this but perhaps someone has been here before.
 
First of all welcome to the club.
Have you ever heard are the one gallon wine kits if so I would buy one kit , make it an add it to the wine that we're talkin about that should bring it up to par don't do anything else.
As far as the next kit coming through have you taken a look at the base profile and if so what does it tell you?

For the new kit coming through if a cup raisins and 16 oz of blackberries sauteed down with two cups of the base wine. yeast to rc212 and the package ec-1118 add all this into the primary try it you'll make a superb wine
That's what I would do. Now it's up to you.
 
Last edited:
Hi Joe. I'm new to the forum and this thread is fantastic. I'm still reading 2012 posts but have a wine situation that I needed to jump ahead for anyone to help me with.

A few months ago, I got a WE Trinity Red kit. Opened the box late night on a Sunday and got it started per the step-by-step instructions. This was my 5th kit and had no issues with the previous 4. Got to the starting SG and it read 1.045. That's not what I was supposed to get so I stirred, measured, remeasured, rewashed the Hydrometer, checked for breakage, measured again ... 1.045. Not knowing any better, I pressed ahead and added the yeast. The next day I called my vendor and got that ball started on the guarantee. And that ball is still rolling but I'll get a replacement kit in a couple weeks.

2 weeks later, SG was 0.995. So it was done fermenting, racked it, cleared and settled it and it's been aging a month now. I estimate the ABV to be 6.75%. I tasted it and it's too strong for breakfast juice but too weak for wine. So I'm thinking of 2 possible ways to go to get to an ABV of 10% to 11% which is acceptable to me.

Option 1. Bring it up to ABV 10.25% by adding brandy. To do so, I need to add half a litter of brandy to 3.5 litters of weak wine. A nice fit in a 4 litter glass jug. I taste tested a half oz of brandy with 3.5 oz of wine and it was decent and a little harsh. I would pull 3 litters of weak wine from the carboy leaving about 16 to 17 liters of wine. Then add 1.75 litters of Christian Bros 80 proof brandy (1 large bottle), wait a couple of days and taste. Then be ready to add more brandy to taste, then top with weak wine or sugar water or both. Biggest concern with this would be wine flavor lost by brandy dilution and brandy flavor.

Option 2. I'm supposed to get a replacement Trinity Red kit next Friday. So, I could amp up the potential ABV by adding sugar before adding yeast. Shoot for 15% or 16% ABV then mix the two batches for a possible ABV of 11%.

What do you think? Is one method more likely to succeed than the other? Could I improve either or both options. Is there a 3rd approach I should consider? I'm definitely outside of my box with this but perhaps someone has been here before.
Since it’s only at 6%abv it won’t prevent yeast from working and you could add yet another option. Figure out how much sugar is needed for you desired %. Mix it in. Add a strong yeast EC-1118 and ferment I again. Possibly tossing in a Joe tweak or 2 for more flavor. This would prevent trying to overcompensate on that new kit- adding tweaks but not messing with the abv.
 
That is amazingly far off on the initial SG!

I would not throw good money after bad; that is, I would not try to rescue this kit by combining with the new one.

The first batch will be subpar, but you are playing with house money! I would follow AJ's advice above.
 
Ok, 2 new options, and both let me avoid using the new kit. I'll check out what is needed to produce a 1 gallon kit. I have everything I need for 6 gallon kits. I imagine I'll need some smaller containers at least.

I'll also look into sugar and yeast. Then I can decide which way to go. I guess I should look into brandy drinks since I won't be needing it anymore.

Now I look forward to that new kit. "... a cup raisins and 16 oz of blackberries sauteed down with two cups of the base wine." Thank you Chef Joe!
 
It's not throwing good money 💰 after bad, it's ( when good wines gone bad) moment.
I'm talking about taking a one gallon spot on kit with flavor and extract adv. And add it to a kit to revive it not turn it into something that will never be correct .
Sometimes in wine making you need to think outside the box ,, in this case you need to think inside the box, it will work.
 

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