WineXpert Chocolate Rasberry Port

[Racer]

Thanks for sharing that post Wade. There's a lot of good information there from Tim. It not only helps cover the chocolate raspberry port fermenting issue but helps us understand the life cycle of yeast cells too.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

i would caution against fast fermentation. IIRC, slower fermentation helps preserve taste. i would use a heat belt, but after it's gone a day or two to help push it along if necessary. also, stirring vigoursly is another good tip.

possibly toss in better yeast if necessary??

 

[wines just fine]

A friend of mine told me that this kit was too sweet and suggested that I might not want to use all of the F-pack on the kit I'm now making.

Any thoughts?

 

[Midwest Vintner]

A friend of mine told me that this kit was too sweet and suggested that I might not want to use all of the F-pack on the kit I'm now making.

Any thoughts?

it's a good tip. add 1/3 and taste. add more and more after untill it tastes slightly less sweet than you want it. let it age and then it will be right. i've noticed. if you sweeten to taste early, it will sweeten with age and sometimes be too sweet later.

 

[Wade E]

It is pretty sweet so would do as told above.

 

[troton]

I am letting mine sit a bit. Next week maybe rack it again and add what is needed to help it age longer then bottle. I have not sampled it again since adding the f pack

 

[Wild Duk]

**Update on CRP**

I started this kit on 10/5, and after reading the discusions on a stuck Ferm. I decided to follow Wades recomendations and then later on Tims...

3 days after pitching yeast I started the chaptalisation step. I broke it down into 3 days, adding 1/3 each day, and stiring lightly after each addition. The temp was around 71-74 degrees

On 10/16 the SG was down to about 1.019, I took Tim's recomendation, heated it up to 75 degrees, stired it up, and transfered in to the secondary....Since it was all stired up, everything (except most of the oak) went into the secondary.....

Its been steadity bubbling for about 5 days now,

On 10/21 the SG was down to 1.013......So in the next week or so, I'm guessing it will ferment down the 1.010 or so....

I thought a few people considering this kit would like to hear this, and thanks for the good advise, Wade and Tim!!!

 

[Wade E]

Im glad yours went well and hope this problem is solved and put to rest now as there is nothing I hate more then not getting what you have paid for.

 

[Wild Duk]

Question on the F-Pack for this kit:
I know the direstions say to add after adding the Chitosan. But would it not make more sense (I'm planning on aging this till next year) too let the clarifier do its thing for a few weeks, rack and add the F-Pack, then bulk age it.....

Thanks

 

[Wade E]

If you are going to bulk age that long then why even use a fining agent. Fining agents are for people that are in a rush to bottle or for stubborn wines that just wont clear on its own.

 

[Wild Duk]

Oh, ok, didn't really know that......I guess I can eliminate it fom all my wines as long as I age them 9 minths or so???

Thanks

 

[Wade E]

Yep! I only use them on wines that just wont clear by them selves like my dandelion wine. It didnt clear 1 bit on its own so fianlly I added superKleer and a few days later it was crystal.

 

[troton]

Just bottled last sunday. Taste very sweet and very chocolate. But for our taste we really like it.
brought up a bottle of our Port we made last year. It was not very good until we decanted it. Still needs some aging. Light but had some good flavor.

 

[strowheim]

Can I ferment this port in a 8 gallon primary fermenter and then transfer to a 3gal carboy, or is that too much air contact during fermentation?

 

[Racer]

I did my CRP in my 7.9 gallon primary no problem.When the instructions call for racking to secondary go to the 3 gallon carboy.

 

[Wade E]

More space in primary is a good thing. Once fermentation slows down (switches from aerobic to anaerobic fermentation) then all the head space is a no no unless you have all the C02 to blanket there to protect it but once that blanket is removed 02 is not your friend at that point!

 

[strowheim]

More space in primary is a good thing. Once fermentation slows down (switches from aerobic to anaerobic fermentation) then all the head space is a no no unless you have all the C02 to blanket there to protect it but once that blanket is removed 02 is not your friend at that point!

Our retailer didn't have this kit, so we bought the Orange Chocolate port instead. We bought two so we could use the 6gal carboy. When making these kits, do I add both of all of the packets, or just one? For instance, do I need both bentonites to start with, both chitosans, both yeast packets?

Also, what wine do you recommend topping this off with later in the process?

 

[Wade E]

I would only add 2 packets of yeast if it comes with 2 each, I would only add 1 bentonite total though. I would add both sorbates as this kit will leave quite a bit of sweetness left. What does it come with for sulfite, I doont think I would add anymore then 2 for this 6 gallon batch but probably only 1. As for chitosan, either way is fine as it will all settle out. You will ot need to top up this kiyt late due to the addition of the f-pack. You actually use end up with some that wont fit back in the carboy after extracting some to add your f-pack.

 

[TheTooth]

Thanks, Wade. I bought 2 of the chocolate raspberry port kits so I could do a full 6 gallon batch as well. I would have just blindly doubled everything and assumed it would have been fine. Now I'll know to just use one packet of bentonite.

 

[IQwine]

If you are going to bulk age that long then why even use a fining agent. Fining agents are for people that are in a rush to bottle or for stubborn wines that just wont clear on its own.

Do you keep the fining agents for other projects or toss them? If you keep them, how is the best way? thx