Other Vino Italiano Moscato kit not "crisp"

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Pantaleo

Junior
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This is my first time with this kit and making moscato. I just racked a Vino Italiano Moscato Kit off the gross lees to bulk age. I've read reviews of this kit and therefore only made 5 gallons instead of the 6 gallons the instructions recommended. Today was the day that designated the day to bottle per the instructions. Before racking the wine I pulled enough to taste.

The flavor was good, very much similar to the Moscato from commercial winemakers. However, the wine didn't have the "crisp" bite. It almost seemed flat. I know that some Moscato wines are slightly carbinated, but that isn't the difference that I am trying to describe.

Is there something that I can do at this point to add that bite/crisp to the wine? Or will the aging add it to the wine?

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
Wine will change over time. I have no idea how long this particular kit can age. However, I am surprised it already tastes as good as you say. Since it is already pretty good, it will only get better with some age. As I mentioned, I don't know what the aging potential is for this particular kit; just make sure you drink it before it starts to fade.
 
Maybe your looking for more acid. Maybe zesting an orange and adding it might help, but I would wait three months first to see how it tastes at that point.
 
Maybe your looking for more acid. Maybe zesting an orange and adding it might help, but I would wait three months first to see how it tastes at that point.

I think that you are right. I'll wait and see in a few months how it tastes and see if anything changes.

Thanks!
 
Muscat repair

HAY DO IT NOW:tz

if you lack a brite taste or a refrreshing taste is what you lack,then by all means add the zest of one orange and two grapefruits,thats the right combination for your flavor fpac,at this time it will infuse into the wine and settle out,then make sure their is no fermentation happening and add,your finding agent and chems,them 10 days later or after proper clearing taste it ,if you need a little more go ahead and infuse more,it won't hurt your wine,,Nows THE TIME:b
 
I just started my Vino Italiano Moscato Kit yesterday and after reading above I was wondering if I should alter mine if this is the tendency of this brand/flavor kit or wait?
 
I just started my Vino Italiano Moscato Kit yesterday and after reading above I was wondering if I should alter mine if this is the tendency of this brand/flavor kit or wait?

I would follow the instructions and never short the amount of water to be added. It is recommended over and over again by the kit makers to not try that. All the "stuff" they put in and all the things they do to the grape concentrate is based on the must being at 6 gallons.

As mentioned above, if after a few months the wine is flat, consider adding more acid or zesting.

IMO, some of the kits come out a little low on acid. You can pour a sample of your wine into a glass, add a couple crystals of tartaric acid, stir and sample. (You can use acid blend instead, if you stabilized with sorbate.) This should let you know if a little acid might help. If you can, it's better to add the acid, seal the glass and let it set overnight before taste testing.
 
Thanks Robie for the tips and information. I will stick to the letter since it is my first batch.

On another note I started the process 24 hours ago and it has not started fermenting yet. Is this normal for a kit? Or am I just impatient from excitement?
 
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My SG was 1.088 to start and has not changed. My temp is at 72 and also has not changed so I wrapped it with two heating pads to see if getting the temp up would help??? Is this correct of should I do something else or just wait?
 
My SG was 1.088 to start and has not changed. My temp is at 72 and also has not changed so I wrapped it with two heating pads to see if getting the temp up would help??? Is this correct of should I do something else or just wait?

Even though the room temperature is maybe 72F, the must might be colder, since usually tap water, which can be much colder this time of year, was recently added to the grape juice concentrate. When this happens, the yeast will not do much until the temperature of the must reaches the yeasts' normal range.

So, the temperature you gave - is that the room temperature or is that the temperature of the must?

When fermentation does not start right away, we tend to suspect that maybe the yeast were not viable. Maybe at some point they got too hot or they are older than expected. So, we have to wait up to 72 hours before we guess that the yeast are the problem, which may or may not be the case.

The best way to make sure viability is not the problem, always prepare a yeast starter. The instructions for preparing one is in the tutorial section and on the morewine web site. This way you will be able to visibly confirm the yeast are alive and well before they are added to the must. If the yeast are viable but fermentation doesn't start, you know to look elsewhere for the solution.

This time, since you (I don't think) prepared a yeast starter, you will have to wait another 48 to 72 hours to see what happens.
 
Thanks for the advise and tips

I have a temp strip on my fermenter and that is what I am going by. When I put the must in the bucket I waited a few minutes to let it adjust before pitching the yeast just to make sure I was in temp range for the yeast.

I will go ahead and create a yeast starter just in case, and if I end up not needing it can I go ahead and start another wine kit and use this started in place of the yeast that the kit came with? Or better yet I have a skittles recipe calling! Thanks again
 
Love those temperature strips. That way you know the temperature of the wine, not necessarily the room.

That yeast starter will need to be pitched on wine within hours after it is started. Once those little guys wake up, they are very hungry and will not wait long to eat. Once fed, they will have to be fed more and more every few minutes.

A good yeast starter will have some must added after the first 20 minutes or so. After that they will have to be kept fed or else they will become stressed and start producing the dreaded H2S (rotten egg smell).


Once I start a yeast starter, I will usually pitch it on the must no more than a couple of hours after it was started. So, I would not start a yeast starter until you know you need it.
 
Thank you for breaking it down for me! That would have been a big ol' whoops on my part!

Love those temperature strips. That way you know the temperature of the wine, not necessarily the room.

That yeast starter will need to be pitched on wine within hours after it is started. Once those little guys wake up, they are very hungry and will not wait long to eat. Once fed, they will have to be fed more and more every few minutes.

A good yeast starter will have some must added after the first 20 minutes or so. After that they will have to be kept fed or else they will become stressed and start producing the dreaded H2S (rotten egg smell).


Once I start a yeast starter, I will usually pitch it on the must no more than a couple of hours after it was started. So, I would not start a yeast starter until you know you need it.
 
Crist and Brite

:mny Well it appears to be that your lacking acidity, running Wolf was correct to have you try putting the zest of an orange and one but take that one step further is a product out there called acid blend this is a blend citrus acid malic acid and tartaric acid, this will give you the bite you're looking for time will not do it, the other neat trick is to use grapefruit zest and were grapefruit zest will do and will supply with the citric acid which will in turn give you the brightness of the bite that looking for you should go back and read one good one and that explains to you in certain paragraphs the benefits of investing if you're not too familiar with using acid compounds that are in the wine already, just a friendly tip:br
 
I woke up this morning and was very pleased to find my airlock percolating away. Thanks for walking my through my first fermentation guy's!
 
Angelina, from what you wrote here, I assume you have a cover snapped down on your primary with an airlock installed in it. This is not necessary in the primary fermentation stage because as the fermentation gets going, and yours sounds like it is, there is so much gas being produced that there is really no danger of oxidation. Also, it is a good idea to stir the wine daily to re-suspend the yeast, resulting in more compete fermentation. Un-snapping and re-snapping the lid is extra work that you can avoid. You will need to be under airlock during secondary fermentation.
 
Good to know Rocky, thanks!
I do have it locked down with a lid and airlock, and it is a bear to pry the lid off, I have been stirring it x2 a day.
So are you saying I can omit the airlock and leave the lid on loose until the second fermentation? I am also taking SG readings x1 daily and temp readings twice daily or rather every few hours when I go down stairs to check on it. Is there any other readings I should be taking?
 
Stirring twice a day is great and it is good to take the "vitals" (temperature and SG), although twice a day may be a little often. No harm to it if you enjoy it. You can just lay the lid on the top of the fermenter and the gas will escape around the rim. When you get into some of your fruit wines from your garden you will want to know acid and SO2 levels, but for a kit, this is normally balanced by the manufacturer. So keep stirring and checking the SG. I don't know what your instructions say, but you normally go to the secondary when SG hits 1.020 or so.
 
Thanks Rocky, I do have the acid and PH strips as well as the refractometer and Trites tests for when the time comes. I thought I might be on the right track by not needing to use these on a kit, unless of course something was wrong. I do need to read up on SO2. I believe my SG is supposed to be at 1.020 for three days or when it hits the mark, I have been reading so much that everything is starting to blend in my head, :) but I will have to check my sheet to be sure.
 

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