Changing the volume of a kit

[mocha]

I'm trying to figure out why my kit wines are suboptimal! I've been making fruit wines and kit wines for a long time now but they seem to have this off flavor (kit wine taste). I get a good kit from time to time which keeps me going but I don't like wasting money. I've made the tweaks mentioned here on Joe's wine tweaking cheap kits. The best kit I've made so far was a cheap wine kit I made to 5gal, added raisins and extra wine tannin, I believe it was a cab sauv base. It was so good, like an amarone. Then I did another kit to 5 gal and that was good too,, no tweaks,, great body and mouthfeel. So here's my question, do I change all of my kits to 5gal for more body? Even the Limited editions and high end kits. Does anyone do this with all their kits and get better wine?

 

[MiBor]

Do you have the ability to measure acidity of the wine (pH and/or TA)?
By diluting the grape concentrate less than specified you may end up with more body, but also a more acidic wine which changes the taste and feel of the final product. Better kits (more$$$) come with more juice that needs to be diluted with less water and therefore more body in the finished wine at the right acidity level.

 

[mocha]

Do you have the ability to measure acidity of the wine (pH and/or TA)?
By diluting the grape concentrate less than specified you may end up with more body, but also a more acidic wine which changes the taste and feel of the final product. Better kits (more$$$) come with more juice that needs to be diluted with less water and therefore more body in the finished wine at the right acidity level.

I used to have dip sticks to test the acidity a while ago, I didn't think they were accurate. But I can try to test them again. I might try skipping the clarifiers and aging in the carboy to clear too.

 

[salcoco]

if you are using the sorbate delete it it may be the culprit in giving a kit taste. some people akin it to bubble gum. if you ae not sweetening the wine it is not required.

 

[winemaker81]

I have come around to the idea that kits are balanced for the initial volume, e.g., a 23 liter kit is balanced for the juice/concentrate to be diluted to 23 liters. As @MiBor said, by diluting to a lesser volume, the balance is thrown off.

The kit wine taste appears more prevalent in the last few years, and IME it appears to be in the cheaper kits. It may be a byproduct of the process used to make the concentrate. The better kits may simply have less concentrate so less kit taste, or possibly it's a different process.

Last fall I started Winexpert 10 liter kits for Australian Cabernet Sauvignon and Australian Chardonnay. Nether exhibits kit taste, so the new WE process may actually be better.

My suggestion is to invest a bit more in better quality kits and make additions (raisins, etc) instead of changing kit volume.

 

[Venatorscribe]

And once you have done everything as above, just give it time. The “talons of expectation “ should be ignored. Give your wine at least twelve months in the carboy and another year or two in the bottle. Any mistakes you may have made ( ie over oaking ) will smooth away. But make sure you are on the numbers - especially pH.

 

[Swedeman]

Tim Vandergrift, the "father" of wine kits, has made a comment on this subject here

There is another way to increase the starting gravity of the kit without adding sugar, by making the volume up to 5 gallons (19 litres) instead of 6 gallons (23 litres). This would seem to be even more attractive when you consider that almost everyone has 5-gallon carboys, not six, and beer brewers use 5 gallons as their standard.

The problem with this sort of manipulation is that it makes rough, unbalanced wine, with plenty of power, but no finesse or elegance. The finished wine takes a very long time to age to drinkablity, and few people can manage more than a couple of glasses before the acidity and tannins catch up with them.

 

[Rockymtn]

I'm trying to figure out why my kit wines are suboptimal! I've been making fruit wines and kit wines for a long time now but they seem to have this off flavor (kit wine taste). I get a good kit from time to time which keeps me going but I don't like wasting money. I've made the tweaks mentioned here on Joe's wine tweaking cheap kits. The best kit I've made so far was a cheap wine kit I made to 5gal, added raisins and extra wine tannin, I believe it was a cab sauv base. It was so good, like an amarone. Then I did another kit to 5 gal and that was good too,, no tweaks,, great body and mouthfeel. So here's my question, do I change all of my kits to 5gal for more body? Even the Limited editions and high end kits. Does anyone do this with all their kits and get better wine?

I've been making wine kits for a few years now. I've been encouraged by other wine kit makers to add "Skins" to my wine for bigger body taste. I've also added an extra yeast, peppercorns, and in a Chardonnay added the zest of 3 organic oranges to the fermentation stage with tannins added to keep it dry to off dry.
I haven't yet altered the water amount, as I still want that 28-30 bottle yield, but have realized that it could be the next step to a bigger taste yet.
I have made a Meritage with 2 yeast packs, 2 Oak packs, 30g of peppercorns and 2- 1/4 teaspoons of tannin powder to make an incredible tasting wine with Cherry notes and dryness to compare to a good priced bottle of wine.