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Um, ok. Not familiar with the concept of a close up or indulging in a little too much of your product tonight? 🤣

What is the deal with the comments about neckless bottles?! I am not following...

It's still working great! I have never enough finished wine to load up the entire rack (which reminds me that I have two older kits I need to get going), but I have had most the top half filled at some points. Here are some updated pictures. I've managed to get pretty much my entire collection...

Hand pumps like the VacuVin do not create a strong enough vacuum to be of concern. They were designed for use with wine bottles, which are much thinner than glass carboys.

I was replying to the OP, not to you. :) Note that my reply said nothing extra was needed for the "IM chardonnay kit." The Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay has a huge f-pac...

You can't vacuum degas in a plastic carboy. As you noted, it sucks the sides of the carboy in rather than pulling the CO2 out of solution. You need to either use a whip in the plastic carboy or transfer to a glass carboy to degas with a vacuum pump.

Agree with the cost. Jeez, for $5, you can probably buy enough sugar to make a gallon or more of simple syrup at home. I even do it in the microwave in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Heat the water to boiling. Add the sugar and stir. Heat again until boiling.

If you are only looking to go up to 10% ABV, it's not necessary to buy extra stuff to boost the IM chardonnay kit. I did one a couple of months ago: 5.5 gallons starting volume, added half the f-pack, and got an ABV of 9.9% (OG = 1.070, FG = 0.994).

And those limited or special release kits are generally announced in advanced and are available for pre-order. They sometimes sell out quickly.

Ha! I didn't look at anything else in their shop.

You're in PA right? Looks like there is a brew shop in St Thomas, PA, that has the 10L kits for $75 also--if it's close enough, maybe you could save on the shipping. And they might be able to order a 23L for you if that's what you wanted instead...

Knowing where you live would likely help narrow it down... :-)

This may be overly cautious, but I would not use apple cider vinegar that has a live culture (Braggs, etc.). Regular Heinz or generic brands would be safer, IMO.

Just FYI...tub doesn't mean your bathtub. I meant a plastic tub, tote, or other container. Anything large enough to put your ferment vessel inside of. I use a shallow one like this so that the air from my fan hits much of the exposed wet t-shirt (you can also wrap and secure a towel around it...

You can put it in a tub of water with a t-shirt over it, which will help keep it a few degrees cooler, more if you can direct a fan to blow across it as well. https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/any-use-a-swamp-cooler.113158/

Very interesting! This hobby is all about learning new stuff. Thanks for sharing that info.

The instructions posted in post #3 say to add 4 kilos (8.8 lbs) of sugar, so I assume 1 bag = 1 kilo...which equals 2.2 lbs.

These Solomon Grundy kits appear to be available in the UK only (or at least primarily). It appears they have very little juice (the OP's kit to make 30 bottles weighs only 1.8 kg, about 4 lb; the one I found below is 2.2 kg). Yet, reviews seem to be pretty positive on them. It is certainly...

I just received my replacement kit (the Selection cab/merlot with the added packet of whisky barrel chips). They did include a note to add the whisky barrel chips in the primary and to NOT use the oak that came with the kit so as not to over oak it. I am hoping to get this one started this...

Should be fine then, unless the yeast was old (shouldn't be the case if the kit was fresh) or had been exposed to hot temps in storage (possible, but not likely if the juice in the same kit was ok). Let us know tomorrow if you see any foaming or even just "swirling" (like currents in a river) in...