Other Beaverdale Cabernet Sauvignon Questions

Hi everyone,

New member and first post...

I'm fairly new to home brewing/wine making, I have 1 lager kit,2 wherry kits and 1 cellar 7 shiraz under my belt and am now close to bottling the Beaverdale Cabernet Sauvignon. The cellar 7 shiraz is fairly poor and mainly used for cooking now (tastes a bit of chemicals, possibly due to soaking my corks for 24 hours in a no rinse sanitiser?) so i thought I'd try a better kit, something middle of the road that the wife likes.

Anyway.. Started the kit Friday on 17th June, following the instructions to the letter. OG was 1.083. From memory the instruction say 1.080-1.084. I kept the temperature a very steady 20-21 degrees c. I didn't add the oak at the request of the wife. I didn't check the gravity until day 6 (wednesday 22nd) as when i did it was around 0.999. The kit says to rack it around 1.010 so i knew it had been in primary a little too long, a quick google and i decided to rack it into secondary anyway. It has now been in the glass carboy under airlock for 5-6 days, i was away for the weekend and the top third has cleared a good bit in those few days. I had the carboy covered with a towel to keep any sunlight out but the weather has been rubbish anyway, not sure the sun managed to come out at all! I have been tasting the wine at each step in the process, drinking from the trial jar and pouring the rest down the sink, and it's tasted nice throughout.

I decided to take a gravity reading this morning and it's now at 0.994, the kit says it's ready for the next step when it reaches 0.990-0.996. I tasted it from the trial jar and it's now not tasting very nice. It doesn't taste spoiled (i don't think anyway) but just not good. I understand it's no where near ready, but i'm just wondering why it's not not that pleasant.

So 3 questions for now:

1. Should i leave it in secondary for a bit longer? I'm not seeing ANY airlock activity anymore. There is a fair bit of sediment at the bottom but seems to be a fair bit stuck to the carboy indentations (only in the bottom 2/3). This is my first time using a carboy.

2. What should it taste like at this stage? It's certainly dry.

The instructions go a bit vague here.

3. Are the next steps:

a. Rack into another vessel (then back into the cleaned sanitised carboy)
b. Add stabiliser
c. Degas (using a homemade plastic coat hanger de-gasser on a drill) over the next 4 days? Or is once enough when using a drill?
d. Add Kieselsol and stir in gently
e. Wait 24 hours then add Chitosan.
f. Wait until clear,rack off,bla bla bla.

Any help much appreciated, sorry it's long!

Mark

I would follow the steps you outlined in three above with some exceptions as follows; degas before adding any stabilizer. degass once now and later after clearing beyond your step f. there is no need to wait 24 hours between Kieselsol and Chitosan addition. insure you stir gently after each addition. they can be added within 15 minutes of each other. clearing should occur within about 5 days I usually wait two-three weeks. at that time rack again and age for another three months before any thoughts of bottling. add k-meta each time you rack at a minimum of 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons.
the wine may taste funky at the present time because some of the lees present can add off odors and tastes. wait until past clearing at about three months to consider any thought of tasting good. aging up to one to two years would be better.
by the way, oak during fermentation does not go over to the finished wine in very large amounts. usually it is used to hold color or add body. should the wine need sweetening do bench trials with sugar syrup made by dissolving two cup sugar in one cup water. set up fixed sample amounts and add know qty of sugar syrup increasing dosage each sample until desired sweetness achieved. add to final batch

good luck

Thanks for your response! The kit, i believe, doesn't improve with age past the 6 month mark (from what i have read online) and should be drunk anytime after 3 months in the bottle. My plan was to bottle but i may keeo in the carboy for 3 months as you suggest!. Is the k-meta only required when your thinking about ageing for 1+ years?Many thanks!

Your kit should have KMS as part of the regimen when you are performing the "stabilizing" function, this is typically enough to protect your wine while in a carboy for around 3 months. If you age for three months before bottling, simply add another 1/4 tsp at bottling time. If you desire to age beyond that 3 month mark, just add 1/4 tsp every three months.

the kmeta will dissipate about every three months. if you are not measuring it I would add a 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons every three months while bulk aging. Scientific method is measure ph and measure amount of so2 in wine then calculate required amount of K meta to meet required ppm based on ph levels. I found the 1/4 tsp method less of a hassle and works great.

Thanks!

And if i decide to bottle right away, should i add more upfront? Or just go with whats in the kit combined with the stabilizer?

Cheers

markhig2 said:

Thanks!

And if i decide to bottle right away, should i add more upfront? Or just go with whats in the kit combined with the stabilizer?

Cheers

Click to expand...

If you do, and I recommend that you don't, but if you do, make sure your wine is completely clear and gas free. If you degas by whipping or other form of agitation, consider boosting the KMS 1/8 tsp at bottling.

If you can, try to give it the 3 months to degas some and clear on its own.

by right away I assume right after the wine clears. the kmeta from the kit should be enough. I would recommend that the wine not be bottled until at minimum 3 months if not longer. any forced degassing immediately after fermentation is complete is not adequate and the wine left longer than a few weeks will degass on it own. also this time frame will allow all sediment to fallout of wine instead of in the bottle. wine making need Patience not with a capital "P", the added three months will make a big difference. Not drinking for two years will be even better.