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I just toss oak cubes or other additions (e.g. fruit) in a mesh bag, tie the string and drop it in the bucket. You can get a 50-pack of disposable cold brew coffee bags (8"x12") for about USD $10, which will hold just about anything you might add. Easy to lift out and dispose. No mess, no...

Final gravity question on a tweeked cheap kit. If I've reduced from 6.0 to 5.5 gals, resulting in a starting gravity of ~1.094, should I expect the final gravity to be lower than the kit instructions target (<0.996) or higher? Since water is 1.000, and I am using less water, I would think it...

This thread reminds me that it was stated for FWK, there is no use in more than two weeks, that the wine's gotten all its going to get from the oak at that point. Presumably then this is strictly for the chips that FWK includes, and that if one wants to later add cubes or spirals to finished...

Thanks for the feedback! My garage fridge is pretty consistent at 37F and the (frost free) freezer is 0F, so it seems like the concentrate should keep just fine for a month or two in the fridge, and several months in the freezer. I was also concerned that the FWK concentrate being fulfilled...

Not sure if this has been asked before - cannot find, so asking here. what is the (frozen) shelf life of FWK juice? Searching online, it seems 8 to 12 months is the range for best quality of grape juice when frozen. It's safe beyond that, but not clear if it's as good. Thoughts? How long...

Thank you for the thoughts. Never had a problem until these last few kits. Very perplexing - nobody else has had this happen? Do intend to let it sit on oak cubes a few months before bottling; haven't seen any bentonite clumps, suspect they get left behind in racking. Just wondering if the...

Everyone's kits usually come with a bentonite packet that says to dissolve it in some hot water (2 cups, 1L) before pouring in the juice. This has been no trouble in the past. However... In the last few batches I've made, the bentonite in the WinExpert kits just will NOT dissolve without...

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...

Thank you @Ron0126, got the merlot and will make when the blackberries that are otherwise a scourge around here are ripe, and will use them as a free fpack. Yum!

Thank you sour_grapes. The calculation shown is what I needed to understand it. So reducing the volume by half a gallon increases the starting gravity, but not a lot, so the final ABV may be half to three quarters of a percent higher, assuming the yeast strain used has a high enough tolerance...

Question on reducing the volume from 6 to 5.5 gal. On paper the volume reduction increases starting gravity quite a bit. For example something that is 1.090 at 6 gal would seem to be 1.18 at 5.5 gal. But anecdotally that seems to not be the case? People end up more in the 1.10 range? I am...

I just bottled the Bravado I made after leaving it sitting on the oak cubes in the bottling tank for about 6 weeks, following 4 weeks post de-gas. It is crystal clear and beautiful in the glass, if a bit light. To my taste, it's on the light side for a super tuscan, but is very food friendly...

Would love to support one of the LHBS near me, and agree there's much to be gained from the face to face conversation and learning from their experiences. I have yet to find a LHBS that has that and also has great prices. This is the classic conflict versus the online shops who will most...

Thanks for this thread. Bit of a project to read through it. Thought I would share a simple oak cube tweak I have found quite effective. I thought about the way commercial wine is aged in barrels after fermentation has been shut down and concluded to try adding oak cubes late in the process...

I guess procedurally, OSG should be measured after the skin pack has been sitting in the must for a half-day or so. Presumably one keeps it covered to prevent wild yeasts from getting in, then measure and pitch. Or I guess you could pitch and that's not going to impact the measurement. Per...

Thank you, I measured the juice before adding the skins, so with the skins it must have been higher. It sure looked beautiful going into the bucket with the oak. Will sample at bottling time in 1-2 months and follow up.

I have this kit sitting on the oak cubes as a final stage before bottling rather than when the fermentation is shut down, so I basically have the finished wine on the oak and can leave it as long as I like. One concern with this kit is the low starting gravity. I measured 1.074. It finished...