OK, bought this and started 4 days ago. First kit. Would love any feedback, answers to the questions below.
First impressions, the juice was very sweet. Based on my limited knowledge of chemistry, i would assume this will make a fairly alcoholic wine. Yes? No?
I'm following the instructions pretty much to the letter, except I found some other tips that suggested using the airlock in primary fermentation. Which I am. Right now, there's a strong fermentation smell (heavy, kinda rotten fruit/yeast) and some condensation between the water in the airlock and the tub. The temp. is about consistently 70-74.
The kit says that the wine is best drunk between 2 months and one year, which just seems a bit odd to me as I'm used to drinking wine that's typically 1-5 years old. I bought a bit of extra sulfite which I am thinking about using at bottling to allow the wine to bottle age a bit (at least some of the bottles). Good idea? Bad idea?
I also wanted to be on the safe side as far as sanitization and added a bit of ascorbic acid before sealing the primary (the kit doesn't call for it, and ascorbic acid is listed as an ingredient on the juice). But . . . i'd say I added maybe a half ounce to an ounce. Will that effect anything?
I am thinking about topping off the secondary with wine from a nice $50 pinot that I love. Is this worth it at all?
One last thing, there was a little black rubber gasket on the lid of the primary (a ring about the size of a pencil eraser) that fell into the tub and sunk when I started the wine. Obviously, I'll leave it behind when i rack it into the secondary. Will this affect the batch, or should I not worry about it?
I like my pinots balanced and complex (fruit vs. tart) and smooth, a little alcoholic is OK. What can i do to get that flavor?
What can i expect with this kit and the circumstances I've described?
THANKS
First impressions, the juice was very sweet. Based on my limited knowledge of chemistry, i would assume this will make a fairly alcoholic wine. Yes? No?
I'm following the instructions pretty much to the letter, except I found some other tips that suggested using the airlock in primary fermentation. Which I am. Right now, there's a strong fermentation smell (heavy, kinda rotten fruit/yeast) and some condensation between the water in the airlock and the tub. The temp. is about consistently 70-74.
The kit says that the wine is best drunk between 2 months and one year, which just seems a bit odd to me as I'm used to drinking wine that's typically 1-5 years old. I bought a bit of extra sulfite which I am thinking about using at bottling to allow the wine to bottle age a bit (at least some of the bottles). Good idea? Bad idea?
I also wanted to be on the safe side as far as sanitization and added a bit of ascorbic acid before sealing the primary (the kit doesn't call for it, and ascorbic acid is listed as an ingredient on the juice). But . . . i'd say I added maybe a half ounce to an ounce. Will that effect anything?
I am thinking about topping off the secondary with wine from a nice $50 pinot that I love. Is this worth it at all?
One last thing, there was a little black rubber gasket on the lid of the primary (a ring about the size of a pencil eraser) that fell into the tub and sunk when I started the wine. Obviously, I'll leave it behind when i rack it into the secondary. Will this affect the batch, or should I not worry about it?
I like my pinots balanced and complex (fruit vs. tart) and smooth, a little alcoholic is OK. What can i do to get that flavor?
What can i expect with this kit and the circumstances I've described?
THANKS