Mosti Mondiale First Kit in primary fermentor

[A62Rambler]

After a delay and building a workbench just for wine making, I'm making wine. My first kit is the MM Lambrusco. It was the fastest aging kit I bought. If it is half as flavorful as the juice was, it will be amazing.


Thanks to all on this site for the tutorials and posts which have so far made this easy to understand and to do!


Masta,
I used the drill stirrer or whatever it's called. I don't know how much work it saved because I didn't even try the spoon. See I did read and learn.


George,
I cleaned and sanitized everything. The guy at the hardware store said that if I tried to return another drill for not working after it was cleaned and sanitized he wasn't giving me another.

Thanks again to all. Now to wait... is it ready yet?

 

[RAMROD]

You have to let it completely dry after sanitizing and then it will work just fine!!

LOL

 

[Wade E]

Seen as how it is an MM kit Im sure it will be awesome! Congrats on
getting going, it can be a daunting task to get set up properly.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Do let us know how it turns out. I did the Domain Tradition kit, due to early drinker and family coming up this month. Tried one last week, and very weak on taste, thinking of giving the MM kit a try.Until then the DT is going to sit and age awhile longer.

 

[Wade E]

JWM, that is a 7 liter kit and I dont think anyone is really going to get a decent red out of such a small kit. Personally I think they should discontue alot of these smaller kits as people buy them (especially beginners not wanting to spend much money in which I fully understand) and are not happy with the results. They make ok white wines but just dont cut it as red wine kits in my personel opinion. I believe they should offer 7.5 liter whites and 10 liter reds as a minimum beginners kit.

 

[A62Rambler]

Oooops, I just noticed mine is the domaine tradition kit. I wasn't paying attention when I ordered. That's two mistakes I made. They caught the other one at order time. Oh well, it is a learner kit anyway. I've got LaBodega Port, Johan Reisling all juice, and Amarone all juice next in line. Sorry to hear it is light on taste. The juice started out good.

 

[Wade E]

It will be an okay wine but the others be great!

 

[geocorn]

Glad to help! Sorry about the DT kit. It won't be as full bodied as some of the others, but you will be surprised at how well it is received by some.


P.S. Might be time to find a new hardware store.

 

[masta]

Glad to hear the first kit makeup went well and as you found out the reading and understanding how to do this and what to expect is priceless.
I have never used a spoon either to stir a batch outside of daily stirring during primary fermentation with raisins or grape skins, but do know it is the only way to do it quickly, efficientlyand effortlessly.



Edited by: masta

 

[A62Rambler]

I have fermentation!

It looks like the pictures others have posted. The specific gravity is already lower and it is bubbling nicely. My must is holding at 76* which is the exact top end of the recommended temperature. My first wine making experience was with no knowlege of what to expect and using a baloon. This kit I'm sure will be a vast improvement over that one! My untrained tastes can't tell a good wine from bad grape juice so I'll love it.

 

[peterCooper]

Yeah!!!

 

[Wade E]

Now youre cooking!

 

[A62Rambler]

Disaster struck!

When I got home from work the primary was bubbling nicely. Then before bed I went to check on it again and noticed it was leaking around the spigot. I had checked the seal with water before I used it with no leaks. It hadn't leaked up until then. It was leaking a steady drip. Too much to ignore. My wine kit is down the drain.

It was too quick of a leak to ignore. Any suggestions on what I did wrong?

 

[A62Rambler]

After dumping and checking, I noticed I had a kink in one of the gaskets. Boy that was a mistake I will not repeat. I hope.

Loosing a whole kit to a dumb mistake... now that's alcohol abuse.

 

[Wade E]

How much did you loose, You can just sanitize your arm and tighten it
up or transfer to primary and then back after fixing. Do not over
tighten or it will cause it to leak also, just snug by hand.


Edited by: wade

 

[grapeman]

I hope you didn't really dump it down the drain! That surely would be a waste of a good wine and be a real cause for a real whine. I assume you had a carboy(glass or plastic jug to transfer to. Like Wade said, in case of leak, transfer it early to the carboy. If close to the end of primary ferment, just leave it there, if not fix the bucket and transfer back to finish.
I feel your pain!

 

[masta]

Disaster struck!

When I got home from work the primary was bubbling nicely. Then before bed I went to check on it again and noticed it was leaking around the spigot. I had checked the seal with water before I used it with no leaks. It hadn't leaked up until then. It was leaking a steady drip. Too much to ignore. My wine kit is down the drain.

It was too quick of a leak to ignore. Any suggestions on what I did wrong?

That is strange that it started leaking a few days into the fermentation. I have a few primaries that I drilled for a spigot and they tend to leak a bit when starting a batch but a after 20-30 mins they seal right up. The spigot can be tricky and if you over tighten it will squash the gasket and cause leaks.

I too hope you didn't dump it without trying to transfer to a carboy or some other container.

Edited by: masta

 

[A62Rambler]

When I picked up the primary to take it to the tub the leak got worse. I didn't have my carboy cleaned because it was only the start of day two. By the time I got the carboy ready I had lost more than half. I just chucked it at that point. I was just too tired to deal with it.

On a positive note. I will have to buy another kit from George because I will have to complete that kit to keep from being defeated by it. Now I'm determined to haveThat Lambrusco in bottles.

I also got brave and started my Amarone kit. I triple checked the primary for leaks before I started.

Edited by: A62Rambler

 

[Wade E]

All wine flags at half staff for your batch!

 

[grapeman]

Every beginner is entitled to3 ooppps, 2 DOHH's and one OH Sh....UCKS! Your OH Sh....UCKS is now officially used up! I guess you decided to use the most serious one up first!