WineXpert Cranberry Shiraz

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kvander

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Hi my name is kyle this is my first time makeing wine and i am on my primary fermenting. I have my shiraz in a plastic primary fermentor. I took a gravity reading befor i started fermenting and got 1.050. on my fifth day i got a reading of 1.010. In the instructions it says that it should take 7 days. Well i went ahead and racked to the secondary and added my airlock on top. About 12 hours later i again checked my reading and got a 1.000. My temperatures are a perfectly steady 71 degrees. Is something wrong or is it normal for it to be reaching these gravity reading so early. What do you recommend that i do? Should i move on to step 3?
 
kvander:

Not a problem. Fermenting quicker than the instructions is fine (and a common question from beginners). Moving it to carboy early is fine (as long as the sg is low enough).

However, for the rest of the process, don't do anything early. IE wait till the instructions recommend moving to step 3 (Day 14, I believe) or longer (I would probably wait till day 18-21). Note, I would expect this kit to drop below .995, possibly to .992. (Sorry, I haven't done this puppy in 2-3 years.) BUT i have been making the Niagara Mist Sangria Zinfandel Blush lately (my kids and extended family love it).

It's quite normal for rookies to be anxious, and check the sg early. But patience, procrastination, and patience are a wine maker's best friends once the wine is in a carboy and under air-lock.

Welcome to a great hobby, and a great discussion forum. Look forward to hearing more from you.

BTW, two things that will help you to get better answers in future.

1) make sure you specify the brand and variety of the kit. In this case, I am pretty sure it's Niagara Mist, but others here are not as familiar with the brand because it gets poor distribution in the USA.

2) update the Location field in the Control Panel. You're probably in Canada, but knowing which province (and even city) may help me to provide a better answer.

Steve
 
Kvander, Welcome to the world of wine making. You have just began one of the greatest hobbies on earth. The folks will guide you along the way, just don't be afraid to ask questions. Listen to cpfan and take your time and use lots of patience. Good luck and we look forward to hearing more from you. :spm
 
Kyle (kvander) PM'd me that this is actually an Island Mist (from Winexpert), and he is from Arizona. So all my guesses were WRONG (as usual :D). He also had a couple of questions that I am answering here.

Kyle, I have not made the IM version of this kit, just the Niagara Mist. So I cannot fairly guess what sg it might finish at. I did not make it for myself, but rather for customers in the store that I ran. But my brother made it a couple of times for holiday turkeys dinners. Cranberry is not my favourite flavour, so I have not made it for myself.

Mist wines are lower alcohol (7%), and usually have a strong fruity tatse. The alcohol content is good for myself, but many others want it higher (10+%).

Aging? I prefer to wait a month after bottling when making a mist wine as per instructions, but many people drink them right away.. If increasing the alcohol, more aging time may be a good idea.

Steve
 
Wow wolf! What are the chances that 3 months ago i moved to Az but you would never beleive were i came from.... Warren Pennsylvania haha. Now speaking of Pennsylvania i will be moving back shortly and would like to know if it is more difficult keeping the temperatures up to their optimum during the winter? Also does the humidity cause i bigger spoil rate during the summer? Thanks for the inspiration and a good warm welcome to the great hobby. I look forward to learning so much from everyone on here and most definatly will be keeping you posted. Thanks kvander
 
Again you have givin me excellent information. I also have Winexpert Island Mist Pomegranite Zinfadel that is in primary on about day 4. Have you ever had any experience with this? Any tips if you have?
 
Welcome Kyle, the instructions given with all kits are just to give you a basic idea of approximately when your wine will be done in any particular stage of fermentation. Mother nature always has its way in things and can speed up or slow down all these things. Just use your hydrometer and ask us like your doing, its almost impossible to screw up one of these kits so relax and enjoy the process and learn along the way. As I was typing we lost all power here so in the middle I had to go fire up our generator and am using that to run my house right now. Very windy over here!!!!!!
 

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