Finer Wine Kit Finer Wine Kits

[Matt_Pruszynski]

Thanks for the response Matt but it seems a bit of a stretch that the manufacturer feels it is necessary to stamp the date of the bag. Who cares how old the bag is.

@wineview You are very welcome for the response. However, it is not a stretch and is in fact the case. In order to keep the costs of their kits down, the FWK staff buys these special bags by the pallet. It takes 4-6 months for them to come in from the manufacturer. We were down to our last 50 of them when the pallet came in on April 18th, 2024. Thought that we were going to run out of them.

Any person in this forum that has a FWK in storage waiting to be made can verify that they have the same bag as you dated 5/10/22 or if they got them after we ran out, the date would be 4/11/24. I have attached pictures of new unfilled bags for your reference with the new date stamp on them. And to verify, all of the Fresh Concentrate that we have on hand is in fact from the 2023 harvest. We had a clearance sale in the Fall before we brought in this year's harvest.

Furthermore, @Gilmango is 100% correct. The FWK Staff was not able to secure any Sangiovese Concentrate in 2022. It was not until a lot of work and perseverance that they were able to get a Full Truckload of it delivered in November 2023. I was ecstatic when they did since I'm an old Italian Winemaker and love Sangiovese for my blends.

I hope that this clears things up. Please feel free to call me directly on my cell at 330-618-9063 if you would like to discuss this further or if you have any questions whatsoever. I enjoy talking wine.

Take care,

Matt Pruszynski
Label Peelers

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[Matt_Pruszynski]

@Matt_Pruszynski any plans of making your kits available in europe?

The founder of FWK has moved back to Italy and is working on trying to import juices from there as well as other countries to our facility in Ohio. If and when he is successful, there is much more likely the possibility that they will make them available on Europe and open up a branch there. However, right now it is not feasible due to the perishable nature of the Fresh Concentrate as well as the shipping costs.

Have a great day!

Matt Pruszynski
LP

 

[Shurt1073]

A big kudos to Matt for his reply to our group. I've been a FWK fan and appreciate the response or interaction with the customers.

 

[Xlev]

The founder of FWK has moved back to Italy and is working on trying to import juices from there as well as other countries to our facility in Ohio. If and when he is successful, there is much more likely the possibility that they will make them available on Europe and open up a branch there. However, right now it is not feasible due to the perishable nature of the Fresh Concentrate as well as the shipping costs.

Have a great day!

Matt Pruszynski
LP

Thank you for your reply I appreciate it!

 

[GretchenR]

I've been very happy with Finer Wine Kits and have made quite a few. Here's my problem: I have a very hard time getting the lid off the primary when it's ready to rack into a carboy, even using the nifty removal tool. I mean I know why I have to hammer it down -- to keep the CO2 inside to prevent oxidation -- but this is a real problem for me. Has anyone tried any other method of protecting the wine from oxygen while it's still in the bucket? My husband suggested trimming a lid to just fit inside the bucket and letting it float on top of the wine so the wine doesn't touch the air above it. Would that work? Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[Mike Parisi]

Don't lock the lid on, just let it rest on top. No oxygen can get in as long as the must is fermenting and producing C02

 

[BPL]

I've been very happy with Finer Wine Kits and have made quite a few. Here's my problem: I have a very hard time getting the lid off the primary when it's ready to rack into a carboy, even using the nifty removal tool. I mean I know why I have to hammer it down -- to keep the CO2 inside to prevent oxidation -- but this is a real problem for me. Has anyone tried any other method of protecting the wine from oxygen while it's still in the bucket? My husband suggested trimming a lid to just fit inside the bucket and letting it float on top of the wine so the wine doesn't touch the air above it. Would that work? Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.

Yep...don't use a bucket All joking aside, once I changed over to a 7 gallon PET Fermonster, wine making got a lot easier. An alternate is using a 7 gallon "Big Mouth Bubbler". In reality, the 7 gallon size may be too small if using skins. I also have a 3 gallon PET Fermonster. I'll split the kit, liquid up to the 2 gallon mark in the 3 gallon container, and the skins/seeds and the rest in the 7 gallon container. Once the fermentation activity settles down, I'll combine the two to finish up the primary fermenting.

 

[bstnh1]

I've been very happy with Finer Wine Kits and have made quite a few. Here's my problem: I have a very hard time getting the lid off the primary when it's ready to rack into a carboy, even using the nifty removal tool. I mean I know why I have to hammer it down -- to keep the CO2 inside to prevent oxidation -- but this is a real problem for me. Has anyone tried any other method of protecting the wine from oxygen while it's still in the bucket? My husband suggested trimming a lid to just fit inside the bucket and letting it float on top of the wine so the wine doesn't touch the air above it. Would that work? Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.

You do not need to seal up the primary fermentor. As long as the must is fermenting, it's giving off CO2 and the wine is fully protected. I use a Fermonster for primary and simply cover the open top with a piece of cheesecloth secured with a rubber band to keep bugs, fruit flies, etc. out. If you continue to use a bucket for primary, (which is perfectly OK) just lay the cover on top loosely and you'll be good to go!

 

[Brian55]

Yep...don't use a bucket All joking aside, once I changed over to a 7 gallon PET Fermonster, wine making got a lot easier. An alternate is using a 7 gallon "Big Mouth Bubbler". In reality, the 7 gallon size may be too small if using skins. I also have a 3 gallon PET Fermonster. I'll split the kit, liquid up to the 2 gallon mark in the 3 gallon container, and the skins/seeds and the rest in the 7 gallon container. Once the fermentation activity settles down, I'll combine the two to finish up the primary fermenting.

What BPL said^. Another option to add to the list is a Speidel 30L fermenter. Can be used for fermentation and racking back into it after bulk aging makes for super easy bottling. Upgrade to the stainless spigot. Still not sure why they bother offering it with the plastic p.o.s.

 

[GretchenR]

Don't lock the lid on, just let it rest on top. No oxygen can get in as long as the must is fermenting and producing C02

If I'm leaving it in there for 14 days, so it gets good extraction from the skins and so on, it doesn't seem that it's fermenting very actively or offgassing by the end there. I thought that was the purpose of hammering down the lid, because it only offgasses CO2 for four or five days after pitching the yeast, so you want to trap that layer of CO2. When I do lock down the lid, I don't see any bubbles escaping through the air lock. Should I just trust that it's offgassing CO2 even though I can't see anything happening?

 

[winemaker81]

If I'm leaving it in there for 14 days, so it gets good extraction from the skins and so on, it doesn't seem that it's fermenting very actively or offgassing by the end there. I thought that was the purpose of hammering down the lid, because it only offgasses CO2 for four or five days after pitching the yeast, so you want to trap that layer of CO2. When I do lock down the lid, I don't see any bubbles escaping through the air lock. Should I just trust that it's offgassing CO2 even though I can't see anything happening?

If the wine is actively fermenting, it's outgassing. Once the wine completes fermentation, it will continue to outgas for weeks or even months.

If the lid was sealed prior to fermentation completing and you're not seeing activity in the airlock, it appears you do not have an airtight seal

 

[3dB]

I've been very happy with Finer Wine Kits and have made quite a few. Here's my problem: I have a very hard time getting the lid off the primary when it's ready to rack into a carboy, even using the nifty removal tool. I mean I know why I have to hammer it down -- to keep the CO2 inside to prevent oxidation -- but this is a real problem for me. Has anyone tried any other method of protecting the wine from oxygen while it's still in the bucket? My husband suggested trimming a lid to just fit inside the bucket and letting it float on top of the wine so the wine doesn't touch the air above it. Would that work? Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.

I didn't know there was a nifty removal tool! Removing the lid is not difficult; it just takes mastering the technique, which takes practice. Initially, I would jam a finger or break a fingernail every time.

Go slow. Grasp the flared edge of the lid at a comfortable point (opposite side of the bucket works best for me), and pull outwards and upwards, until it just breaks the lock. Spin the bucket around a couple inches, and repeat (keeping your hand position). Don't try to pull the lid "off" until it has been unlocked all the way 'round and is just resting on the top of the bucket. Sometimes removing the last attached section seems harder than all the rest. An alternative technique is to spin the bucket further each time, and loosen the lid at spaced-apart positions all the way around the circumference. Then go back and loosen the still-attached sections between the loosened ones. Again, don't try to pull the lid off until the seal has been broken all the way around, and it's just resting there.

As the above comments indicate, there are a wide variety of other vessels you can use, but that's an expense that might best be spent on other gear or ingredients/additives. It's hard to beat the classic food-grade plastic bucket with air-tight locking lid. For one thing, I do extended maturation on my reds, and I don't want to tie up my Speidel for 6-7 weeks when there's beer to brew!

Regarding offgassing, the yeast give off CO2 throughout fermentation, which dilutes the O2 concentration in the headspace and also pushes the mixed CO2+O2 out the airlock (there's no such thing as a "blanket" of CO2). By a few days after lid lock-down, if you're seeing moderate bubbling activity, it's pretty much pure CO2 in there. Once the airlock completely stops bubbling, fermentation is over. At that point, the airlock is just blocking atmospheric O2 (and bugs) from reaching the wine.

 

[Bmd2k1]

....FWK now offering 54gal drums for wineries --- wonder how much that's supposed to make? Don't see that info on the website.

 

[cmason1957]

....FWK now offering 54gal drums for wineries --- wonder how much that's supposed to make? Don't see that info on the website.

Each drum contains 200 liters (52 Gallons) of the finest California single-varietal juice concentrate and yields approximately 910-984 finished 750mL bottles of wine.

At least that is what the website says.

 

[joeswine]

This is what I do But that’s just me it allow as much oxygen as need to promote good fermentation

 

[Bmd2k1]

Merry Christmas my Finer Wine Kit friends ..... I plan to celebrate tonight with a FWK Tavola Pinot Noir that is 10 months old.

How do ya like the FWK Pinot ? (its on my list of possibilities....)

Cheers!

 

[joeswine]

Truth is I tried using them didn’t care for them , butt that’s just me others love them .
I find I can get the same results with kits hight snd low end , learning how to tweak is not only fun , interesting and you actually learn better , I think .

 

[joeswine]

It also depends on there affordable the difference between a good everyday wine or a better everyday wine.
Example ;
Bought a cheaper wine kit tweaked it brought it to a respectable wine contest 12 paid pro judges and took a second place for my Cabernet Sauvignon..
all subjective to one’s taste .
Put 4 different wine into the peoples choice tasting , including the Cabernet and won nothing, all subjective, SEE

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Made a cheap wine kit a year ago. After 3 weeks. meh. At 3 months. Hmmm its ok. At 7 months. Not bad, in fact it is good. Now after a year in a carboy. OMG this is really good.

 

[Shurt1073]

How do ya like the FWK Pinot ? (its on my list of possibilities....)

Cheers!

The 2022 Tavola PN was the best red wine I've ever made but the 2023 Forte PN was not as good.