Celler Craft Showcase

[kuziwk]

Have you guys ever tried one of these kits before? Are they considered premium?

Also the instructions suggest that i should rack to a secondary fermenter and when ready after about 10 days perform the clearing and what not all in here without additional racking. They suggest leaving it in the secondary fermetner for clearing until day 42 at which point you can either transfer to bulk age or bottle. Would it not leave off flavors by leaving in the secondary fermenter/clearing stage until day 42 in the same carboy?

I was planning on completing secondary fermentation than de-gasing and clearing in the same carboy than transferring after about a week into another carboy since it seems the first week after clearing is what collects the most sediment. I could also transfer after the 10 or so days in the secondary if there is a ton of lees which i suspect their may be since i've been mixing the primary fermenter several times a day which is what they recommend and also i will be squeezing the grape pack which will probably drop more lees into the secondary fermenter.

Any help is appreciated as this is my third kit, and my first involving a grape pack and a more complex procedure.

 

[sour_grapes]

Yes, Cellar Craft Showcase is a premium kit. Most of the kits I have done have been CC Showcase.

IIRC, there was a change in the instructions that changed to the procedure you describe. I believe they formerly had you racking shortly after adding the fining agents, as you are contemplating. I still do it the old way, that is, I do perform the additional racking you are contemplating. I have not done it the "new way" yet so cannot compare them.

 

[cmason1957]

These are the most expensive Cellar Craft kits (well the Passport might be more), so I would consider them premium. They are 18 L of juice for the most part and include a grape pack with them.
I believe I would follow the directions that came with the kit. When you rack from primary to secondary you get rid of what I would call the gross lees. Yes, there will be quite a bit dropping out in your secondary. I tend to leave my wines without racking them for at least a month, but then I follow a very extended timeframe, where they won't be racked for a year.

 

[salcoco]

rack into new carboy, after three days rack again add clearing agents. add kmeta and sorbate if latter is necessary. rack again in three weeks if wine is clear. commence bulk aging.

 

[kuziwk]

Yes, Cellar Craft Showcase is a premium kit. Most of the kits I have done have been CC Showcase.

IIRC, there was a change in the instructions that changed to the procedure you describe. I believe they formerly had you racking shortly after adding the fining agents, as you are contemplating. I still do it the old way, that is, I do perform the additional racking you are contemplating. I have not done it the "new way" yet so cannot compare them.

Yeah that sounds best. Rack to secondary waot 10 days

Yes, Cellar Craft Showcase is a premium kit. Most of the kits I have done have been CC Showcase.

IIRC, there was a change in the instructions that changed to the procedure you describe. I believe they formerly had you racking shortly after adding the fining agents, as you are contemplating. I still do it the old way, that is, I do perform the additional racking you are contemplating. I have not done it the "new way" yet so cannot compare them.

Makes sense so in a nutshell

-Primary Fermentation
-Rack to Secondary after 10-12 Days or SG 1.0 whichever comes first
-In Secondary and on day 20 or so add clearing agents and de-gas
-Day 23 or so rack into another carboy when the bulk of the sediment has fallen from the clearing wine, Continue until day 42 in this new carboy.
-Bulk age/additional racking as sediment permits.

= 2 Rackings not including any additional from filtering or bulk aging

OR

-Primary Fermentation
-Rack to Secondary after 10-12 Days or SG 1.0 whichever comes first
-After day 20 rack into new carboy out of secondary fermenter add clearing agents and de-gas
-Day 42 rack into new carboy for bottling or bulk aging.

=3 Rackings not including filtering or bulk aging.


i think the first option makes the most sense and has the least amount of wine lost.

 

[pillswoj]

I have noticed most of the kits seem to be altering the instructions to reduce the number of steps, I assume this is done to make it easy for the brew shops so that customers have to come in less often. I still go with the older instructions that includes the extra rackings

 

[kuziwk]

I have noticed most of the kits seem to be altering the instructions to reduce the number of steps, I assume this is done to make it easy for the brew shops so that customers have to come in less often. I still go with the older instructions that includes the extra rackings

Yup makes sense. I just tasted the wine as its currently at SG 1 or just under so im going to rack to a secondary. Tastes spicy with a bite and sour...not sure what to expect yet as this one im told it needs to age.

I got most of the grapeskins out into the muslin bag with a slotted spoon. I sprayed starsan on my hands and all equipment and soaked the mesh bag in star san. I used a pyrex bowl and stretched the mesh over that. Than i put a knot in it and than dropped it back in the wine. I think next time i will just use the mesh bag from the start.

 

[Sourgrape]

Yeah that sounds best. Rack to secondary waot 10 days



Makes sense so in a nutshell

-Primary Fermentation
-Rack to Secondary after 10-12 Days or SG 1.0 whichever comes first
-In Secondary and on day 20 or so add clearing agents and de-gas
-Day 23 or so rack into another carboy when the bulk of the sediment has fallen from the clearing wine, Continue until day 42 in this new carboy.
-Bulk age/additional racking as sediment permits.

= 2 Rackings not including any additional from filtering or bulk aging

OR

-Primary Fermentation
-Rack to Secondary after 10-12 Days or SG 1.0 whichever comes first
-After day 20 rack into new carboy out of secondary fermenter add clearing agents and de-gas
-Day 42 rack into new carboy for bottling or bulk aging.

=3 Rackings not including filtering or bulk aging.


i think the first option makes the most sense and has the least amount of wine lost.

I noticed that they removed a racking from their steps as well. Personally, I prefer to rack off the sediment about 48 hours after degassing and adding the fining agents (which I do around Day 22). I don't like the thought of leaving it sit on all that sediment the finings remove for another 20 days or so. I use Fermonsters (similar to Big Mouth Bubblers) for primary (7 gal) and secondary (6 gal). So I can degass and fine at the end of secondary without transferring into a bucket. Two days after fining, I then track to glass carboy, add the oak, and top up. From there I might rack once more at around day 42 to day 60 for another 2-3 months bulk aging before filtering and bottling. I don't bother bulk aging beyond 3 months, as I think it ages just fine in the bottles.