It begins... RJS Cellar Series Cabernet

So, with a little time between honey-do stuff and movie night, I started my kit.

It's in the primary fermenter with yeast, the three packets of oak and the Genuwine grape skins in the "sock."

It's now in my wine room (repurposed bar) in the basement (which is at about 68-70 degrees). I know these answers may be available if I did enough searching, but I have some questions:

1. Is the room warm enough?

2. Should I stir the must daily?

3. Once I achieve the desired SG, and move to a secondary, what are thoughts on putting a spiral of French and American medium toasted oak in to the carboy at some point down the road?

4. What am I missing?


Thanks!

Jim.

Jim:

1. I like it a little warmer, but that should be good.

2. Hopefully you gave a vigourous stir to mix up the bentonite prior to pitching the yeast. Now you just need to stir under the sock of grape skins and oak. You can also squeeze it against the side of the fermenter.

3. Only you can tell how much oak you would like in this wine. Personally I might not have used all three packages that the kit came with (depending how big and exactly what oak). Others would go for the extra oak, just as you mentioned.

Hope you enjoy it in a couple of years.

Steve

cpfan said:

Jim:

1. I like it a little warmer, but that should be good.

2. Hopefully you gave a vigourous stir to mix up the bentonite prior to pitching the yeast. Now you just need to stir under the sock of grape skins and oak. You can also squeeze it against the side of the fermenter.

3. Only you can tell how much oak you would like in this wine. Personally I might not have used all three packages that the kit came with (depending how big and exactly what oak). Others would go for the extra oak, just as you mentioned.

Hope you enjoy it in a couple of years.

Steve

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Thanks, Steve. I'm tinkering w the temp. Would prefer 72*.

Yes, I stirred the bentonite, then again and again as the directions said. So every day, I should visit the must and stir to move things around. I like the idea of squeezing the grape sock.

The packets were kinda small. I think I should be okay. Will revisit the idea later in the process. I'm going to bulk this one for about 6 months, then bottle.

Please delete this duplicate. Starting to dislike this App.

Day 2 - the must is in the wine room at a constant 69* at this point. The airlock gives me a nice "blub" about every 45 seconds.

If I'm going to be stirring the must daily, I'll need to mix another batch of Star San for the big spoon and thermometer. Wonder: spray it on and let them dry before using???

I'm giddy about the prospects of making my own wine. Can't seem to stop talking about it or reading or watching YouTube videos on the subject. I may have a problem. =)

jgmann67 said:

If I'm going to be stirring the must daily, I'll need to mix another batch of Star San for the big spoon and thermometer. Wonder: spray it on and let them dry before using???

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I use starsan for my initial sanitizing, but I also keep a spray bottle handy with a concentrated k-meta solution. Then I can just spritz anything I want to quickly sanitize.

I'm giddy about the prospects of making my own wine. Can't seem to stop talking about it or reading or watching YouTube videos on the subject. I may have a problem. =)

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Fun, ain't it?

Is that the Australian Cab Sav or the Spain Temp Cab that you're making?

Of the three RJS WS batches I've completed - Washington Merlot, Super Tuscan and Cab Sav - I liked the Cab Sav the most. I've got the Italy Amarone Style bulk aging and am anxious to start another RJS WS kit somewhere down the line.

Like others I use a k-meta solution in a spray bottle to spritz my stirring spoon, rubber gloves, etc. a few minutes before they touch the wine.

Indeed. As usual, my wife is on standby with a "slow down cowboy" when needed.

I need to go back to the local wine shop tomorrow (bottle spritzer I bought is busted). Kmeta? Will work that out, but getting a spray bottle with sanitizer is a must do. Will stir the must tomorrow.

I'm very hopeful that this turns out.

Question: a home brewer friend suggested I skip adding the sulfites as it bitters the taste. Really? I'm one of those "follow the specs" guys (seriously, I put together a backyard swing set with 1,200 pieces and felt the need label each part before starting just so I knew I wasn't missing anything - I'm that bad). What are the pros and cons of sulfites?

bkisel said:

Is that the Australian Cab Sav or the Spain Temp Cab that you're making?

Of the three RJS WS batches I've completed - Washington Merlot, Super Tuscan and Cab Sav - I liked the Cab Sav the most. I've got the Italy Amarone Style bulk aging and am anxious to start another RJS WS kit somewhere down the line.

Like others I use a k-meta solution in a spray bottle to spritz my stirring spoon, rubber gloves, etc. a few minutes before they touch the wine.

Click to expand...

It's the Aussie Cab. I'm toying with the idea of an Amarone or Meritage as my third batch. Number 2 is a Chardonnay for my wife. Looking at the RJS CS or the Eclipse Cali Chard. Recommendations always welcome.

Cons of sulfites, not many. Just make sure to get potassium not sodium.
Pros, one of the oldest best ways to keep nasty gems at bay.

They aren't generally used in beer making sure to the yeasts not being as syringe as wine Yeast.

Thanks for the info on sulfites. I'm going to follow the directions as much as possible w this kit, so - in with the sulphites.

Other details of this kit:

With an OG: 1.099, I'm guessing my ABV is going to land somewhere between 13.5 and 14%. Respectable, I think.

The directions say I've got Potassium Metabisulphite and Potassium Sorbate. The packets that I pulled out of the box are labeled Sulphite-2A and two packets labeled Potassium Sorbate-2B. Directions say to dissolve them in room temp water and add to carboy at the stabilizing and clearing stage.

You should probably leave the potassium sorbate out. It is unnecessary if you ferment to dry and are not adding any additional sugar. Even if you are the type of person to label pieces of a swing set!

Don't add the sorbate unless you are going to back sweeten or the wine finished above 1.000. I haven't used it since my first few wines and can tell the difference. Enjoy the excitement!

Welcome to the hobby!!

I have a spray bottle of no-rinse cleanser for convenience, you can do the same with starsan or kmeta for sanitizing.

I agree about the sorbate - it is the only step in the instructions that I would not do.

Also, something that nobody told me when I started making wine: the reds benefit from a year of aging, and improve from there. Whites like Chardonnay need a bit of aging too.

Enjoy!!

Heather

Alrighty then, sulphites in, sorbates out.

Making wine in a Pennsylvania winter... Crazy.



My workspace.

Silly question - how do I upload an avatar using the iPhone app?

For at least the first few wine batches of wine I would "follow the specs". The kit, I believe, has a warranty and if for some reason the batch goes bad, yet you've followed the specs/instructions, your LHBS or RJS will compensate you.

jgmann67 said:

Alrighty then, sulphites in, sorbates out.

Making wine in a Pennsylvania winter... Crazy.

View attachment 21219

My workspace.

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Looks like a good starter set of equipment.

FYI, lots of people have had problems with that Fermtech Whip. Presumably it has also worked fine for lots of people too. However, I'm one of the ones that doesn't like it, even though I'm a HUGE fan of other Fermtech products. Can't remember exactly what I didn't like about it (it's been probably 10-12 years), but I think others have had problems with pieces of plastic coming off it.

I don't see anything to put the hydrometer in, eg a hydrometer jar or Thief. You can float it in the primary, but you need someway to read a sample out of the carboy. I like the Fermtech Thief.
http://www.fermtech.ca/thief/thief.html

Plus, eventually you will probably want a floor corker.

Finally, might as well get a couple of extra hydrometers right away. They are SO breakable. My brother never got to use his first hydrometer, he broke it cleaning it the night before he started his first batch. Usually having a couple of spares around seems to stop them from breaking.

Steve

cpfan said:

Looks like a good starter set of equipment.

FYI, lots of people have had problems with that Fermtech Whip. Presumably it has also worked fine for lots of people too. However, I'm one of the ones that doesn't like it, even though I'm a HUGE fan of other Fermtech products. Can't remember exactly what I didn't like about it (it's been probably 10-12 years), but I think others have had problems with pieces of plastic coming off it.

I don't see anything to put the hydrometer in, eg a hydrometer jar or Thief. You can float it in the primary, but you need someway to read a sample out of the carboy. I like the Fermtech Thief.
http://www.fermtech.ca/thief/thief.html

Plus, eventually you will probably want a floor corker.

Finally, might as well get a couple of extra hydrometers right away. They are SO breakable. My brother never got to use his first hydrometer, he broke it cleaning it the night before he started his first batch. Usually having a couple of spares around seems to stop them from breaking.

Steve

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It's funny, Steve, I was carting equipment up to the kitchen for sterilization and it fell out of the container and broke into a million pieces on the tile floor.

Had to go out and get another. They're cheap - having a few on hand isn't a bad idea.

I do need a jar for the hydrometer. I have a thief, but it's not suited for use w the hydrometer. Plus, it'll give me someplace to store it.

Got a spray bottle today and will mix some sterilizer for it tonight. Need a tub of some kind for my "regular use" stuff.

My drill is a battery run, low torque. I should be okay if I take it easy. Otherwise, I'll grab a different one.

End of Day 2:

Stirred the must and squeezed the grape skins in the primary. Gotta say, I love the smell. It filled the room pretty quickly.

I don't think I'm going to stir every day (maybe every other until it's ready for the secondary).

Spray bottle w sterilizing agent - awesome. It'll keep till I get to clearing stage, I think. Hardest part was doing the math for star san ( 1 oz per 5 gal = x tsp per half gallon).

I'm still having an internal debate on sulphites and sorbates. Leaning yes- follow the directions to the bitter end (hopefully not bitter wine).

Primary is sealed back up and giving me a "blub" ever 10 seconds, so... I'll check it again before bed.

Life's good.

jgmann67 said:

I'm still having an internal debate on sulphites and sorbates. Leaning yes- follow the directions to the bitter end (hopefully not bitter wine).

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your hydrometer. I've broken a LOT of hydrometers, as I ran a small Ferment on Premises for a while. One tip that I got from somewhere, don't wash/clean/rinse/whatever your hydrometer in VERY hot water, as it makes it more likely to break. Once I started paying attention to the water temp, I broke a lot fewer. Of course, dropping one, the water temp won't make a difference.

Re sulphites: IMHO, definitely use the small package that came with the kit. The optional sulphites that are probably mentioned in the instructions at bottling time can be omitted. And by the way, any extra package in the kit for adding post-fermentation is a sweetener.

Re sorbate: I don't seem to notice any taste from sorbate, but it can be left out if you ferment the wine to dry (.998 or less) and don't sweeten the wine. Just don't be like some people that I knew....get in the habit of tossing the sorbate when opening the kit, and later decide to sweeten without adding any sorbate. Result...popping corks, maybe exploding bottles.

Steve