Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

Which kit are you doing?

 

[nwwoods]

We are up to our eyeballs in blackberries around here, so picked a couple quarts for the Fontana merlot kit.

Sauteed the berries in water, not boiling, for 20 minutes. Wish I'd seen the post about using wine as a base but the berries were sanitized in any event. Placed the cooked berries in a nylon bag and added to primary. At 5 gal the gravity was too high for me so went up to 5.5 gal and 1.094. Pitched EC1118 as it's what came with the kit.

10 days in primary and racked, gravity had dropped like a stone, 0.989. The berries are a bit forward on the nose but not so much on the mouth, good. Juice is a bit opaque, I hope the fining agents Fontana supplies work well. Planning to shut down next weekend.

 

[joeswine]

What is your plan at this point? Did you you happen to read all of the thread and welcome aboard the Tweeking the cheap wine express.

 

[Zintrigue]

Petite Sirah kit, adding blackberry fruit pack cause that sounds good.

 

[joeswine]

correct,....

 

[joeswine]

kates cab /merlo cheap kit

this is another kit Kate and I did, easy simple follow the flow....................sorry this is the Malbec

 

[joeswine]

kates cab /merlo cheap kit continued

this is one of many inexpensive wine kits we have done with great success one of the key points we learned early on was not to make it as a 6 gallon kit but as a 5 gallon kit we found at a six gallon volumn it was to thin and taste less, not much to speak of actually a waste of money .so by reducing the volunm we increase the flavor profile (gained taste) added better balance between the oak and the alcohol level.
follow the tweaks and take your time and you to will see that you can make a decent wine at a very reasonable cost.i have made a geat deal of kits and no matter what the starting price range a winemaker always tweaks weather you’re a pro, or a cellar dwellar you tweak bar none.follow the flow and as always think outside the box.

8 hours later fermentation underway great aroma and cap the blend of oak, currents tannins and capitolization will make this cheap kit all it can be.now we wait.

 

[someirishman]

Hey joe whats the name of the little tool you have for opening the lid on the juice bags? I have not seen anything like that on my homebrew stores, and I am getting real tired of stabbing myself with a blunt spoon every time I make a kit!

 

[joeswine]

Will get back to you later,jp

 

[sour_grapes]

Hey joe whats the name of the little tool you have for opening the lid on the juice bags? I have not seen anything like that on my homebrew stores, and I am getting real tired of stabbing myself with a blunt spoon every time I make a kit!

While waiting for Joe to get back, I will tell you that I made my own device. I based it on what I saw from Joe. I took a piece of hardwood, and put three screws in it. I placed two close together (~1/2" apart) that form a "cradle" for one side of the lid, and the third screw on the opposite side, that is, that will grab the opposite side of the lid.

 

[pgentile]

Pliers work for me.

 

[cmason1957]

Here is what I bought, many years ago. I think this is what you are talking about.

https://labelpeelers.com/equipment/cappers/pvc-shrink-tool-bag-decapper-combo/

 

[someirishman]

Ive seen a shrink tool to buy but didnt know it could be used for opening the bags too, joes one looks like a winexpert one and id say it works well, ive tried pliers but they were awkward to use one handed when holding the bag. might look to make one, have you got a pic of yours sour grapes so I get a better idea?

 

[Ron0126]

This is what I use.

 

[Mismost]

Ive seen a shrink tool to buy but didnt know it could be used for opening the bags too, joes one looks like a winexpert one and id say it works well, ive tried pliers but they were awkward to use one handed when holding the bag. might look to make one, have you got a pic of yours sour grapes so I get a better idea?

I've never understood what is so difficult about taking the cap off the bag. I use a plain old butter knife....insert at the bottom of the cap and just give it a bit of a turn, the cap comes right off....you just kind of pry it off.

For the shrink wrap capsules, I just use a piece of bent up coat hangar wire. But, I live 35 miles from town and fix most anything with duct tape, WD40, and bailing wire!

BTW....that Fontana Malbec tweaked Joe's way is just awesome. So nice.

 

[Ron0126]

I've never understood what is so difficult about taking the cap off the bag. I use a plain old butter knife....insert at the bottom of the cap and just give it a bit of a turn, the cap comes right off....you just kind of pry it off.

For the shrink wrap capsules, I just use a piece of bent up coat hangar wire. But, I live 35 miles from town and fix most anything with duct tape, WD40, and bailing wire!

BTW....that Fontana Malbec tweaked Joe's way is just awesome. So nice.

I'm enjoying mine as well! Also just last night bottled a Fontana Cabernet from mid-May of this year and it's absolutely fantastic! Highly recommended. The finish is a lot longer than the Malbec and it's not quite as fruity. I noticed that I sip it a lot slower LOL. I did add a late addition of oak and a few whole black peppercorns back in July. Has a strong oak component and a little spiciness.

Planning to start my third Malbec next week. Found some beautiful black plums for sale (bought six) at a local fruit stand then gently sautéed them for about 15 minutes with about a pound of blackberries in some previously made Malbec and popped them into the freezer. Plan to add half to the primary and half to the secondary along with the usual cast of additional characters (currants, oak, tannin, chaptalization to 1.100, etc).

Yum-Oh.

 

[wineforfun]

This is what I use.

x2 same here

 

[Boatboy24]

To get those caps off, I use one of these:

 

[Ajmassa]

I dont touch the cap. I just use one of these on the corner of the bag. Or at least used to until the guys at my LHBS gave me one of those tools on the house.

 

[someirishman]

I've managed to cut my finger prity good with a butter knife so I moved onto a blunt spoon, I can't do as much damage with a spoon! What is the name of that tool boatboy?