Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

joeswine · Jun 2, 2018

Most white wine other than chardenay don't blend well with oak.Therl either cold stabilized in steel or glass finished. On the other hand Francec Ford Coppola chardenay is finished in half oak barrels and cold stablized in stanless ..cool..
No oak for yours thatsnot the flavor profile...just a thought.

Certified · Jun 3, 2018

joeswine said:
Most white wine other than chardenay don't blend well with oak.Therl either cold stabilized in steel or glass finished. On the other hand Francec Ford Coppola chardenay is finished in half oak barrels and cold stablized in stanless ..cool..
No oak for yours thatsnot the flavor profile...just a thought.

Certified · Jun 3, 2018

Thanks again for your learned advice.
I delayed any action till I received a response from you veterans.
I'm not going to add anything else.
I had already put some Hungarian Oak Chip solution in about a month ago.
So going to bottle it.
And enjoy.

Certified · Jun 3, 2018

Brother thanks.
You helped so much.
I was waiting for a response to my question before I added another thing.
I'm done.

Certified · Jun 3, 2018

Ajmassa5983 said:
And one little tip if I may— go easy on the tannin addition. It’s so easy to ruin a wine that way. A little goes a long way. Whatever u wanna dose it- round down then cut it in half. Or do bench trial on smaller amount first.
And that’s actually a damn good question. Because it could be a ton of different reasons. And added at different times will produce different effects. Best to follow each types specific instructions for what you wanna get out of it. (You can add certain tannins or oak to a fermentation for better results too. Can benefit a red kit. Doesn’t add oak “flavor” but used to help improve the overall body by aiding extraction)
Ever see these little $5 packs? Meant for frozen must but can help with juice pails or kits too.
https://morewinemaking.com/products/additive-pack-brehm-frozen-fruit-reds.html
https://morewinemaking.com/products/additive-pack-brehm-frozen-fruit-whites.html

Please note my reply.
Thanks again.

jlfpa · Jun 4, 2018

I purchased a World Vineyard California Moscato Wine Kit. Are these kits pretty much go with the instructions or does anyone have any recommended tweaks?

joeswine · Jun 4, 2018

For muscato it's straight up you could spike up the the achlolo a little bit but that style wine is what it is stay the course follow the instructions. Stay the course. And always Think outside the box..

Certified · Jun 8, 2018

Ajmassa5983 said:
And one little tip if I may— go easy on the tannin addition. It’s so easy to ruin a wine that way. A little goes a long way. Whatever u wanna dose it- round down then cut it in half. Or do bench trial on smaller amount first.
And that’s actually a damn good question. Because it could be a ton of different reasons. And added at different times will produce different effects. Best to follow each types specific instructions for what you wanna get out of it. (You can add certain tannins or oak to a fermentation for better results too. Can benefit a red kit. Doesn’t add oak “flavor” but used to help improve the overall body by aiding extraction)
Ever see these little $5 packs? Meant for frozen must but can help with juice pails or kits too.
https://morewinemaking.com/products/additive-pack-brehm-frozen-fruit-reds.html
https://morewinemaking.com/products/additive-pack-brehm-frozen-fruit-whites.html

Do you use the $5 kit with Cheap kits to help them?

kevinlfifer · Jun 8, 2018

OKAY
Joe asked how the "cheap" kits doing. The italic typing is the follow up to the previous post.

I added 1 Heaping Tbs of cocoa powder to a merlot kit with 12 oz of dried cherries.
This one is clearing and I added my Oak sticks. I do not use the chitosan to clear so it takes a while. Very good flavor

I added 2 TBS coffee beans to a sangiovese kit with 2 lb frozen blackberries
The 2 TBS of coffee beans may have been too much, Really comes thru. Added the oak and is clearing. I hope the coffee flavor settles down with the oak in play

I added 32 oz raspberry preserves and 2 tsp tannin to a chianti kit
Very slow to finish in primary, not stuck just slow, Down to SG of .998 but that's still to much sugar to bottle without using sorbate. Tastes very good so far.

I added 16 oz dried mixed berries (cranberry, blueberry and cherry) to a valpolicella kit.
This kit smells great, This was a pretty simple tweak but it is working well. It is oaked and clearing

I've got another merlot
Added 2 lbs frozen mixed berries and 3 TBS cocoa, oaked and clearing

and a sauvignon blanc to play with yet.
Added 2 tsp grapefruit zest to primary. It's clearing smells like a white wine but I've not tasted it yet.

I'm really quite surprised at how well these Fontana kits are doing for a cheap kit. I used to be one of the most out spoken in favor of the Paklab kits when tweaked. It's fun to get in there and experiment.

joeswine · Jun 8, 2018

Yes isn't it win or lose, thinking outside the box is fun.

joeswine · Jun 8, 2018

Certified, $5 dollar kit?expl exp.

Trick · Jun 8, 2018

I did a batch with dark roast coffee bean powder (2 tbsp as well), the coffee flavour really goes a long way. it threw out the balance. the batch is still aging. if the coffee flavour doesnt fade after 180 days of aging , I will have to apply larger chitosan dose to see if it helps removing it or not. Usually i only apply half the given fining dose for reds

joeswine · Jun 9, 2018

I can't stress enough that a little goes a long way and always look at your wine's taste profile.how about next time we go over the details of your kit and your plan in detail or maybe we can work with this one.

Certified · Jun 9, 2018

joeswine said:
Certified, $5 dollar kit?expl exp.

I was referring to the $5 pack of dried enhancements for Frozen Grapes sold by More Wine.

Trick · Jun 9, 2018

joeswine said:
I can't stress enough that a little goes a long way and always look at your wine's taste profile.how about next time we go over the details of your kit and your plan in detail or maybe we can work with this one.

Thanks, Joe. This is pretty much a trial error exercise. Sounds a good idea to have a good plan with expert's input before starting a new kit. Other than the coffee powder, every other tweaks went very well, such as fruit and oak addition, swapping yeast etc.

By the way, any finding for the batch with the MM skin pack?
Mine was just racked after two months of extended maceration. The grape skin color is so light and diluted the original juice color (Costco Cab 7L). It is still hard to tell it is good or not since it is too young. (Tastes very harsh). Very likely, the skin pack is turning a 4-week kit into a one-year kit.

joeswine · Jun 9, 2018

Did you take a ph reading,? The grape pack actually brought out the fruitery side of the red we'll be bottling this week and I'll have others tell me. thanks

Trick · Jun 9, 2018

pH is 3.45. should be normal. I am planning to bottle at the end of the year.

joeswine · Jun 9, 2018

The harshness is probably do to acidity .Yes let it sit and do you use nitrogen to top of if not stir once a month and creat a positive seal that should help.

Certified · Jun 9, 2018

Question from a Beginner.
Should you add wood chips to a bulk aging Cabernet or any wine that is being bulk aged?

Trick · Jun 10, 2018

joeswine said:
The harshness is probably do to acidity .Yes let it sit and do you use nitrogen to top of if not stir once a month and creat a positive seal that should help.

I don't have inert gas. I would top up and let it sit still for 6 months. Depending on the solid content, might rack more. Dose KMS every 3 months. No sorbate, Degas and add half dose of clearing agent before bottling.

Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

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