Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

David Taylor said:

Well, finished the whole thread and learned so much. I have been taking notes. I am going to tweak my first cheap kits, a Fontana Merlot and Shiraz. Any and every recommendation is appreciated! Here is my plan:

Merlot tweak:

• 1 cup French oak
• 1 lb fresh black currants (mine are spicy) from my berry patch or 10 oz Zante Currants
• 1 T Tannin in primary and secondary
• coffee - been or instant
• cocoa?
• 1 Q Simple syrup

Shiraz tweak

• 1 cup french oak
• 1 lb fresh raspberries or blueberries or maybe fresh purple grapes off my vine (can't remember variety but very sweet when ripe) but they will not be ready for a few weeks. I also have ripe red and white currants I can use. If nothing else, I will use Zante Currants.
• 1 Q Simple syrup
• 1 T Tannin in primary and secondary.

I have never used a hydrometer or ph strips for any of my kits in the ten years I have been making wine with kits (2-3 kits/year). Wondering if I follow the recipes if I will need to do so.

Suggestions or recommendations appreciated!

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I believe you are making a wonderful colleague.... It will mature very tasty.
I would recommend whole Bean coffee or course ground or both in moderation (trust me). Remember your taste of instant coffee and fresh ground coffee... THAT WILL TRANSLATE TO TASTE... The differences remain.
I am enjoying a Fruit wine that I will post later.
I discovered by accident the adding of clear Rum to the last rack before stabilizing adds to the enjoyment of consumption.
I used 1 cup of Bacardi clear Rum to stearlize the carbo and let it stay the results has come a permanent part of my procedure.
Keep me posted,PLEASE.
GOOD SIPPING.

David Taylor said:

Well, finished the whole thread and learned so much. I have been taking notes. I am going to tweak my first cheap kits, a Fontana Merlot and Shiraz. Any and every recommendation is appreciated! Here is my plan:

Merlot tweak:

• 1 cup French oak
• 1 lb fresh black currants (mine are spicy) from my berry patch or 10 oz Zante Currants
• 1 T Tannin in primary and secondary
• coffee - been or instant
• cocoa?
• 1 Q Simple syrup

Shiraz tweak

• 1 cup french oak
• 1 lb fresh raspberries or blueberries or maybe fresh purple grapes off my vine (can't remember variety but very sweet when ripe) but they will not be ready for a few weeks. I also have ripe red and white currants I can use. If nothing else, I will use Zante Currants.
• 1 Q Simple syrup
• 1 T Tannin in primary and secondary.

I have never used a hydrometer or ph strips for any of my kits in the ten years I have been making wine with kits (2-3 kits/year). Wondering if I follow the recipes if I will need to do so.

Suggestions or recommendations appreciated!

Click to expand...

Probably not. But monitoring pH and S.G does provide a technical note that enhances your understanding of the events occurring during fermentation. Also makes it more exciting and more of a hobby.

Sounds like a good plan to me,on the Merlot, sharsz berries or currents not both.
By almeans get a hydrometer can't or shouldn't make einw without one.
Keep us in formed and glad you like this thread ..

David Taylor said:

I have never used a hydrometer or ph strips for any of my kits in the ten years I have been making wine with kits (2-3 kits/year). Wondering if I follow the recipes if I will need to do so.

Suggestions or recommendations appreciated!

Click to expand...

My recommendation is that you at the very least get a $10 hydrometer and take beginning SG’s so folks can help if you have any issues. Learning some of the numbers behind what you’re doing and why will help you not just follow recipes, but create your own wines. Don’t bother with pH strips for red wines, the wine is too dark to read them properly, get a cheap pH meter if you’re interested in learning about pH.

I have a hydrometer, just have never used it. Thanks. I think I am going to go with the blackcurrants with my Merlot. What are your recommendations for the Shiraz - the Zante Currants, Red or white currants? The red are tart while the whites are very mild.

Thanks.

David Taylor said:

I have a hydrometer, just have never used it. Thanks. I think I am going to go with the blackcurrants with my Merlot. What are your recommendations for the Shiraz - the Zante Currants, Red or white currants? The red are tart while the whites are very mild.

Thanks.

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I don't have a recommendation, but just thought you may want to know: Zante currants are actually grapes -- they are even vitis vinifera grapes, like most of the wine-making grape varieties. Red and white currants are actually currants (biologically speaking). I have no idea what would be better in your wine.

Thanks. I am a bit confused on the best way to post pictures! I know about the Zante currents; wanted to try my actual currants. So here is what I did:
Fontana Merlot:

• 5 gallons
• sauteed 1 lb fresh black currants in 1/2 c Malbec
• 1 Cup French oak boiled in 1/2 c water, used water also
• 1 T Tannin
• 2 T coffee bean
• 1 Q simple syrup
• E1118 Yeast, mixed with warm water for 15 minutes prior to putting in mix per instructions; never did this before.
• Plan to put another T tannin in secondary; maybe more oak.
• My first time using my hydrometer. I believe it read 1.125 and 16% alcohol. How does that sound?

Thanks

Sometimes less is more, got it!
To much oak not good, I thuoght you already had a plan?
16 %abv. To high.
If you've read this thread we constantly talk about balance, that's the key.
Better to go slow in wine making in the beginning, just my thoughts.

I followed the plan!

• I thought I put in the amount of oak you do in your tweaks, 1 cup.
• So how can I correct the ABV? Add water if I already added yeast?
• I measured the SG and ABV with the hydrometer in the primary fermenter, is this ok or do I need to take out a sample for an accurate reading?
• Lastly, I usually see evidence of fermentation, foaming, within a couple of hours but do not see anything after 12 hours.

Thanks

let time work for you be patient, take another SG, reading then another in 48 hrs. Then ley=t us know were you are , GO SLOW
there's an old saying I use ( It will be better in the end ,if it'snot correct now .it just means it's not the end),

@David Taylor , if your SG starts at 1.125 and goes dry at .995, your final ABV is more like 17.8 %, not 16%. You're using EC-1118, which has an alcohol tolerance of 18% and it's a workhorse, so I suspect it will go to .995 or lower, giving you a very hot wine. If I were in your shoes, I'd take a hydrometer reading right now, subtract .030 from that reading, and add water to hit that number. If you do that, you will reduce your final ABV down to about 13.5%. If you are concerned that you may thin the wine out, and you should be concerned, you can add more fruit.

I remember reading on this forum about adding water to lower the SG so when Johnd suggested it, I did. I don't know enough about the chemistry and so was nervous about letting time work as Joe suggested! I think I was a little under 5 gallons anyway. So I think I added about half a gallon of water and it is at about 5 1/2 gallons with an SG under 1.10.

A couple of questions:

• Should I add more fruit now or in the secondary so the wine is not too thin?
  
• The Zante currants I ordered on Amazon were not supposed to have anything on them but they have Sulphur Dioxide on them. Is this ok for winemaking?
• Is it necessary to take out a sample to use the hydrometer to test the SG?

Thanks.

Here's a good way to go about adjusting thAbv. In the primary.
First establish what you want your finiedfi wine to say 13%.
Next adjust the base wines volume of water to the 5gallon mark.
Take a reading.,.then as yourself is that ok?.
If not keep adding the water stri and take another reading.
Have we hit the mark you project to in your plan?
If so stop,always remember you can add but you can't take out .

Thanks, Joe. Here is my update.
I started the batch Monday night, added water Tuesday am to get the SG just under 1.10. I checked last night when I got home and it is fermenting. Checked the SG this am and can tell if it dropped yet.

Give it time.its your partner in wine making and tasting.

The Zante currants I ordered on Amazon have Sulphur Dioxide on them. Is this ok? I read that you want fruit with no preservatives on them.

As Joe has said, time is your friend. I learned that with my first tweaking, and it was hard to be patient, but in the end all worked out. I got my Zante currents at our local grocery store, no Sulpher in them. Used one cup currents, one cup French Oak medium toasted and 1 tablespoon wine tannin. I did have to add some water as my ABV was around 14.5%, did as Joe suggested and added 1/2 gallon of water so that I cut it to around 13.8. Thought that was good enough. The Merlot turned out fine, tasted some as we bottled it. It did take a lot more time than the instructions called for, but the proof is in the pudding.

My Cabernet Sauvignon is almost ready to start the clarification process, will degass this Tuesday and add the Chitosan. I have had it in secondary fermentation since Sept 3rd, 10 days today. I figure about another 10 from Tuesday for clarification, until I begin racking. Will be checking the SG again when I start the clarification. Just taking my time on this to see how it goes. Have been on this one since August 11th.

Times your partner, let it work for you
Check out Sunmaid currents see if there ant different, that's what I use never a problem just good results.

THE SG on my Fontana Merlot tweak is not down to 1.062 and it is fermenting well.