Recent content by britwinemaker

Leave it as it is. If I recall correctly, the Luna Rossa will not ferment below 998 and should end up giving you a 14 - 15%ABV wine. Aim for 22C but not below that. I've found that the primary fermentation on all WineXpert kits will produce enough heat to raise themselves 2C above the ambient...

I did the final racking of mine today and had a taste before topping up the carboy and moving it in to the cellar. It was very good even at 8 weeks. I mean, it tasted better than the 2014 Lodi Old Vines Zin I bought for £10 a bottle to top up with! Smooth and full bodied and no hint of a kit...

Hello Raize, another Brit here! My advice would be to start off trying the WineXpert Vintners Reserve white wines (around £50 for 10 litres of juice) or for reds, try the WineXpert World Vineyard series (around £55 for 10 litres of juice). The Chilean Merlot is very passable after 9 months - my...

This has taken the longest time of any white I've made to shine. I left it three weeks on the lees, then racked and only now (2 weeks later) is it looking clear and bright. Good things and all that... I hope!

Thanks for all the replies everyone. The only added water was 500ml at the beginning to mix the bentonite and then a further 350ml to make the chaptalisation syrup. Indeed, the instructions give a starting gravity of 1.128 - 1.133 so I think my 1.132 plus another 0.010 at chaptalisation was...

Starting SG was 1.132, chaptalised at 1.020 raising gravity to 1.030 as per instructions, racked to secondary at 1.018 as per instructions but no further fermentation since then (12 days ago). It does come with an f-pack but instructions say it should go below 1.010 before stablising and...

I have a WineXpert Ruby port (dessert wine) which hasn't moved below 1:018 (which is also the point the instructions say to rack to secondary). It's been at the same gravity for 12 days at a constant temperature of 22C / 72F. What should I do? I accept it as is, or try to re-start? I have...

Hope I haven't confused you even more :?

Thought it might be interesting to try a poll here. Please feel free to add comments too - I'm all ears :-)

I pitched my first SL Merlot in September 2015 and I did notice a heavy oak taste when tasting in March 2016. I didn't make detailed notes about how long I left it, but now I have another one brewing I'm going to make sure that when it comes to stabilising and clearing, I'm not going to leave it...

I followed yours (and Steve's and Joe'swine) advice and added some raisins and tannin to the primary, along with the supplied 2 x RC-212 yeast. 24 hours later and it's foaming like the sea on a very stormy day! But it does smell gorgeous :h

Picked up this kit today. I'm thinking of going with Lalvin D-47 yeast to highlight the tropical and citrus fruit notes and pitching half the f-pack in the primary. I've read right through this thread and it seems everyone has done it somewhat differently - would anyone shout "No!" to these...

It would appear that Winexpert think this one reaches maturity just 3 months after bottling (5 months after pitching the yeast). Would anyone care to confirm? I'm thinking Christmas...

My Winexpert Amarone came with 2 packs of RC212 so if it can do a 15.5% - 16% ABV wine then EC1118 will seldom be necessary other than for port wines. JMHO.

I think we're all interested to know your theory / findings because we don't know your processes fully. It could be as simple as "washed my hands after taking a pee for batch 4, but didn't bother for the other 3" :db