Wine newbie starts Costco wine kit!

[BonnieLynn]

Yup. Started a Costco wine kit (I know I know). This will be trouble for sure, but it was cheap. I've never made wine before either. It started off with an SG reading of 1.100 (aprx), which registered at the very top of the dessert wine section and I threw the yeast on top. Did I wreck it all already? 24 hours later it's bubbling. I was wondering if I should maybe add water or something!

 

[Deezil]

Welcome to WMT

What kind of kit? What grape/flavor..

 

[BonnieLynn]

Cabernet. And the second bag in the kit is Borollo. I guess I have a second chance if I ruin this first batch. It's worth a try.

 

[calvin]

Why do you think you ruined the wine?

 

[richmke]

It is great starting with a cheap kit. Make all your mistakes now on something cheap.

SG of 1.10 would be a really sweet dessert wine, if it finished there. But, the wine is just starting, and the yeast will take 1.10 starting SG all the way down to 0.996 - a very dry wine.

 

[Rocky]

Seems like you are doing fine, Bonnie. You should end up with a wine at a little over 13.5% ABV. That will be a very nice Cabernet.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[bkisel]

Welcome aboard!

Have a Costco near me that I get dragged to every so often by my wife. I've looked but have not seen any wine kits. Could be they're not around the tools, tire or electronic sections of the building? I avoid the food sections with the exception of when I need frozen mixed berries for my next batches of Dragons Blood and then its get in and out before anyone sees me. Really though, where do they hide the wine kits at Costco? I've yet to see any at the one my wife shops.

 

[cmason1957]

Wine kits are only in Canadian Costco.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

Welcome, Bonnie. Your kit is probably doing fine. Just follow the step by steps and you should be fine! You get a kit or two under you belt and you will be hooked!

 

[BonnieLynn]

By adding too little water in the beginning. I added up to 23 liters as per the kit instructions but the SG reading was not at 1.080 when I added the yeast as the instructions said to do. I added it when the SG reading was 1.110 I think. I'm not even sure as I wasn't sure how to read the hydrometer at first.

 

[bkisel]

Wine kits are only in Canadian Costco.

Well that explains my not finding the kits in the local Costco here in Connecticut! Truth is as soon as I read your post I recalled that having been mentioned before here on the forum.

 

[BonnieLynn]

Thank you everyone. Yes, I believe that these wine kits are just at Canadian Costcos. (I'm in Laval, Quebec). It is a Vino Europa kit with 2 bags for making 2 kits. One is for Cabernet and the other Borollo. Both bags are supposed to make 30 bottles for a total of 60. I got 60 corks, labels and foil tops, plus all of the chemicals for $39. Not a bad price if this works. I'm not fussy with wine and can usually afford to buy $12 bottles only. Two little old Greek ladies were standing by the kits and were talking about how good they were so I grabbed a box without even realizing that I'd need all of the equipment. Bought a starter kit with a glass bottle and pail and just jumped into this! Now, I feel like it'll be a life long hobby. My dad used to make his own wine buy having us stomp on grapes (miss him) and I guess wine drinking is a family thing. My brother did it for years as well

 

[richmke]

By adding too little water in the beginning. I added up to 23 liters as per the kit instructions but the SG reading was not at 1.080 when I added the yeast as the instructions said to do. I added it when the SG reading was 1.110 I think. I'm not even sure as I wasn't sure how to read the hydrometer at first.

Sometimes a failure to fully mix the water and juice can cause false readings. If you filled the primary to 23 liters, then you should be ok.

The correct reading in the pic is "20" (bottom of the curve).

 

[BonnieLynn]

One last question for now! During the primary fermentation, (5-7 days), do I need to stir every day and take samples? Or do I leave it alone.

 

[sour_grapes]

My Kit says do not pitch unless the SG is in the 1.080 to 1.090. I pitched when it was 1.120 I think. I wasn't sure how to read the Hydrometer! I didn't add any water so I was wondering the same thing. My kit was cheap though so I won't cry too much if it doesn't work out. I'm afraid to add water now as it's been 48 hours, the yeast is bubbling and yesterdays reading went up a bit to 1.100

Bonnie,
Something is off here. If your initial reading was in fact 1.120, and you pitched the yeast and assuming it is fermenting, it wouldn't have gone up. It would have gone down. Your reading will eventually get somewhere around 1.000 or lower.
You should start getting readings of say, 1.090, 1.072, 1.045, etc. as days go by.

By adding too little water in the beginning. I added up to 23 liters as per the kit instructions but the SG reading was not at 1.080 when I added the yeast as the instructions said to do. I added it when the SG reading was 1.110 I think. I'm not even sure as I wasn't sure how to read the hydrometer at first.

I, too, am beginning to suspect you are misreading the hydrometer. Here is a decent video explaining how to read one:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty7PAJaBsts"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty7PAJaBsts[/ame]

 

[bkisel]

One last question for now! During the primary fermentation, (5-7 days), do I need to stir every day and take samples? Or do I leave it alone.

I've found that with kits that don't have grape skins added and do use Bentonite in the primary you only need to stir vigorously on day one and can even airlock if you like. Again with kits my experience is that on maybe day 6 you should be taking your second reading to see where you're at SG wise.

What I've been doing lately with all my wines during primary has been to cover bucket loosely, stir daily and leave my hydrometer in the bucket for daily readings. For "secondary" with lower end kits I'll lock down lid and airlock @ ~ SG 1.020. For higher end kits that call for a rack to secondary I'll do that transfer to the carboy at the specific SG that the instructions give.

 

[richmke]

During the primary fermentation, (5-7 days), do I need to stir every day and take samples?

Not sure how to advise you about the Samples part

If you have skins, then you have to stir every day.

Otherwise, first couple of days is helpful to infuse O2 and remove CO2.

 

[BonnieLynn]

No skins. Started with juice concentrate in the bag. Ok, now I get it! Yes, it's starting to go down on the hydrometer and it's now bubbling really nicely at the 48 hour mark after adding the yeast.