Last night I started my EP Delu Ranch Woodridge Cab Sav.
When I opened the box, the juice had leaked some and caused a real mess
inside. Everything was grapie and sticky. The plastic bag containing
the packets of chemicals has small air holes punched into it, so you
can imagine that mess, too. At least I could still read what each
packet is.
I called George. They reminded me of the dual ply bag problems they
have been having and said to go ahead and start the kit, anyway.
It was fine. Once I siphoned all the juice into my 10-gallon
fermentor, I saw that only a cup or less of juice had leaked out; it just
seemed like a lot more than it actually was.
My kit's packages look pretty much the same as K&BG's EP Delu Cab kit did (earlier topic under RJS). The exception being the muslin bag was the longer bag (24 inches plus).
I put the grape skins in the longer bag and the oak (2 packages and a pack of oak powder) in a hop bag I already had. Of course the powder, being very small, didn't stay in the bag for long.
I used a different yeast than the supplied EC 1118. I did a yeast starter, which took about 10 hours to get to where I wanted it. I pitched the starter kit last evening. It was foamed up well above the bags by this morning and bubbling away. It really smelled good! This yeast will need fed, so I'll give it some Fermaid K throughout the heavier fermentation.
Even though it is foaming a lot, it likely would have been OK to have fermented it in the 7.9 gallon bucket. However, that bucket is still busy with my banana/Pineapple Viognier mist kit.
This kit has lots of oak in it for fermentation. I'll likely follow K&BG's lead and add some additional oak at aging.
Looks like the instructions might have changed from a year or so ago. This kit calls for being in the primary for about 6 or 7 days, depending on the SG. Then, move to carboy fermentation for about 14 days or end of fermentation. I'll likely leave it in the primary and on the grape pack until the SG is low enough that the non-sealing 10-gallon bucket might become an issue. Then I'll transfer it to the carboy, along with the oak shavings that is left in the bag. Because of its larger diameter mouth, using a Better Bottle for secondary works great for the oak bag.
By the time the wine is in the carboy, we will be off to California on our yearly trip to wine country. I'll let it stay in the carboy until fermentation is completed, which should be around the time we return.
This one is going to age for 18 months or so before I even consider diving into it. I may not need the fining agents. I'll bulk age at least 6 to 12 months and bottle age the remainder. As I have started doing with my other kits, I'll bottle some in the 375 ml bottles to sample as time goes by.
This will be my first long term aged kit. I'll do a long term Argentinian Malbec this summer; maybe another mist kit between now and then.
When I opened the box, the juice had leaked some and caused a real mess
inside. Everything was grapie and sticky. The plastic bag containing
the packets of chemicals has small air holes punched into it, so you
can imagine that mess, too. At least I could still read what each
packet is.
I called George. They reminded me of the dual ply bag problems they
have been having and said to go ahead and start the kit, anyway.
It was fine. Once I siphoned all the juice into my 10-gallon
fermentor, I saw that only a cup or less of juice had leaked out; it just
seemed like a lot more than it actually was.
My kit's packages look pretty much the same as K&BG's EP Delu Cab kit did (earlier topic under RJS). The exception being the muslin bag was the longer bag (24 inches plus).
I put the grape skins in the longer bag and the oak (2 packages and a pack of oak powder) in a hop bag I already had. Of course the powder, being very small, didn't stay in the bag for long.
I used a different yeast than the supplied EC 1118. I did a yeast starter, which took about 10 hours to get to where I wanted it. I pitched the starter kit last evening. It was foamed up well above the bags by this morning and bubbling away. It really smelled good! This yeast will need fed, so I'll give it some Fermaid K throughout the heavier fermentation.
Even though it is foaming a lot, it likely would have been OK to have fermented it in the 7.9 gallon bucket. However, that bucket is still busy with my banana/Pineapple Viognier mist kit.
This kit has lots of oak in it for fermentation. I'll likely follow K&BG's lead and add some additional oak at aging.
Looks like the instructions might have changed from a year or so ago. This kit calls for being in the primary for about 6 or 7 days, depending on the SG. Then, move to carboy fermentation for about 14 days or end of fermentation. I'll likely leave it in the primary and on the grape pack until the SG is low enough that the non-sealing 10-gallon bucket might become an issue. Then I'll transfer it to the carboy, along with the oak shavings that is left in the bag. Because of its larger diameter mouth, using a Better Bottle for secondary works great for the oak bag.
By the time the wine is in the carboy, we will be off to California on our yearly trip to wine country. I'll let it stay in the carboy until fermentation is completed, which should be around the time we return.
This one is going to age for 18 months or so before I even consider diving into it. I may not need the fining agents. I'll bulk age at least 6 to 12 months and bottle age the remainder. As I have started doing with my other kits, I'll bottle some in the 375 ml bottles to sample as time goes by.
This will be my first long term aged kit. I'll do a long term Argentinian Malbec this summer; maybe another mist kit between now and then.
