Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[wineforfun]

Hopefully, she will keep her mitts off as she and her book club (aka wine club) have been know to decimate cellars in a nights review of some terrible read.

haha
That is an awesome quote.

 

[joeswine]

Add more oak and then let it sit,c continue constant degassing daily should get the gas out is it topped off?

 

[thruhike00]

My Amarone, however, is still fizzy. Bloody thing just does not want to give up all its CO2. It's about 22C (71F) right now and has been, over a few weeks ago, sitting closer to 24-25C (75-77F).

My amarone did the same. Had to get it up to 81 before it released the gas ghosts. Mine also restarted some light fermentation when heated with a belt band. Could yours be doing the same?

 

[Spikedlemon]

My amarone did the same. Had to get it up to 81 before it released the gas ghosts. Mine also restarted some light fermentation when heated with a belt band. Could yours be doing the same?

I hope not. It's been almost 4 months now so I would hope that it's pretty stable.

My recent checks for fizz have shown less and less fizz so I'm optimistic that I'm almost there...

 

[joeswine]

Really shouldn't take that long to degassare if all the additional components are removed and you stirred twice a day???????

 

[Spikedlemon]

I've not been very diligent at 'every day' but it's more that I'll remember one day and do it - then forget about the wine for a week and come back to it.

But now that I have a few new batches on the go: I'm in there more regularly so I am sticking my nose in it more often.

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

do any of you have pics to share????

 

[Spikedlemon]

No pics but I picked up an inexpensive Riesling bucket for my dad.

Any recommendations on modifications to a plain Riesling? I just transferred to secondary.

It came pre-inoculated with, what I suspect is, EC1118. So I poured the bucket out into the newly vacated yeast cake from my Savu Blanc (R-HST). I know EC1118 is a monster but I was optimistic that the R-HST colony would kick first and give it some better flavors/aromas (as they're both competitive yeasts).
I added a half-tsp of acid at the start (as the juice felt kind of flat) but will reserve any further acid adjustments until after secondary.

 

[joeswine]

Place some lemon zest in the secondary about 1/2 of a medium size lemon.

 

[Spikedlemon]

Interesting. I'll have to get a lemon first.

 

[Mismost]

Interesting. I'll have to get a lemon first.

Spike...now when you see the zest of a half a lemon, it will just be a pretty small pile...then you look over at that big bucket....and you say "this won't do anything! I'll add a little more"....STOP and back away from the zest!

This is powerful stuff and a little does indeed go a long way! You could ask me about my Grapefruit Chardonnay.....but, I may tell you I wanted a Grapefruit wine that reminded me of a Chardonnay. It's kinda like gunpowder...too little is a whole lot better than too much.

BTW...seven months in the bottle, the Chard is starting to smooth out...or I'm just getting used to it!

 

[Spikedlemon]

This is powerful stuff and a little does indeed go a long way! You could ask me about my Grapefruit Chardonnay.....but, I may tell you I wanted a Grapefruit wine that reminded me of a Chardonnay. It's kinda like gunpowder...too little is a whole lot better than too much.

I hear you.

 

[Amanda660]

Holy cow - I have never looked for anything wine related on Amazon! After perusing this thread my cart is full of wine kits. I'm gonna need a bigger wine rack (insert Jaws music)!

 

[joeswine]

Good to have you aboard the Cheap Wine kit cruise

 

[Spikedlemon]

I added about a 1/3 of a lemon's zest to my dad's Riesling yesterday.
He dropped by yesterday to pay me back with some commercial wines that I've not tried (a bottle of Amarone and a Madeira)

I've kind of ignored the Riesling after racking to secondary though I added a dash of bentonite Sunday as I made a large batch of bentonite (and added it to a number of wines/meads I had on-the-go). It's been just, shortly, over two weeks since I started it but the wine's almost completely clear!

I'll let it hang out in the carboy for another month and I should be able to cold-stabilize it in the garage by then as it'll likely be in the 5C-10C range by mid/end-November. Then do a final rack before degas and bottle for start of December.

 

[joeswine]

Things are looking up ,did you people see the prices that HOME BREW has on RJ CRU kits at $49.95 to $51.95..think some one in the industry took notice of us????Take a look at the Home Brew website and see the great array of kits that you would love to TWEAK. really take a look!!!!

 

[wineforfun]

I agree, they have an awesome selection of the lower end kits.
Shipping is just killer for me. It is 25% of the kit cost.

 

[joeswine]

Just ordered the Sangiovese/merlot and the Zinfandel blush something to play with in the near future. You know how I like playing with my wineStandard shipping wasn't to bad either.

 

[Tahdi]

Wine lovers pear Pinot Grigio

Ordered my first kit. Can anyone suggest additions? I've read the kits are lacking body. Please include info on how and when to add. Thanks for helping.

 

[Johnd]

Ordered my first kit. Can anyone suggest additions? I've read the kits are lacking body. Please include info on how and when to add. Thanks for helping.

Which kit exactly did you order?