First time wine maker with kit

[AMEugene]

Hello all. I have been brewing beer for a year or so and decided that I would like to try my hand at fermenting some grape juice I got in a kit. My question is the chemicals that came with the kit. I really do not want to add the sulfate to the wine. Is there an alternative to sulfates to help preserve the wine after fermentation? I am looking forward to my time as a wine maker.

 

[heatherd]

@AMEugene

The potassium metabisulfite is key to the winemaking process. Maybe someone else knows of another option but I do not.

My suggestion would be to make the first kit per the instructions. After a success you can start to vary the process a bit.

If you're making a red, note that it will benefit from aging after your kit is complete. I aim for a year. I know that's tough with the first kit, but maybe you can aim for a couple of months.

 

[AMEugene]

Thank you very much for your response. I will go with the kit for the first one. I have a line on some grapes at one the many wineries here in Oregon for this coming year. So I will practice with the kits until October. I would hate to ruin that wonderful juice I will be getting fresh off the vines. I have until October to get good at it.

 

[Johnd]

AM Eugene:

What Heather said above is extremely important, don't omit the sulfite!! I have heard there are some wineries out there making wine with out added sulfite, but if you look on the bottles of store bought wine you'll see on the labels that they contain sulfites. Sulfite (potassium metabisulfite) is the key to keeping your wine from oxidizing and / or spoiling, stronger solutions are used for sanitizing (although there are other sanitizers). Some sulfite is actually produced in the fermentation process, so I don't believe that any wine, even organic wine, is completely sulfite free.

Once you've run through some kits and read some historical old posts here, you'll see that lots of folks regularly omit some of the chems for various reasons.

For instance, potassium sorbate is frequently omitted when your wine is fermented completely dry and contains no residual sugar AND you don't intend to back sweeten it.

Other folks don't add bentonite, or using clearing agents, preferring to allow time and gravity to their jobs in regards to clearing the wine.

I don't recall ever reading of anyone omitting sulfite, I could be wrong, but I would never do it. As Heather said, roll with the instructions, they'll get you to the finish line.

 

[salcoco]

why do you wish to not use sulfite. it is a bacteria inhibitor and a oxygen scavenger. as a beer maker you are definitely aware of the necessity to keep bacteria at bay. the sufite does this and does not impair any taste.

 

[AMEugene]

why do you wish to not use sulfite. it is a bacteria inhibitor and a oxygen scavenger. as a beer maker you are definitely aware of the necessity to keep bacteria at bay. the sufite does this and does not impair any taste.

I have always heard that sulfites are what contribute to the head aches some wines can inflict. That is why. As a beer maker I do not use any chemicals what so ever. I practice crazy strict sanitation practices. I probably over do it but I have yet to have an infected beer. Wine is a different creature for sure. All the fining agents, acids and such are all new to me. Distillation is almost the same but from then it is new ground. I want to make the best product I can.

 

[AMEugene]

Thank you for your input. I appreciate it all. I will go with the kits instructions this time around until I have better knowledge of all the ins and outs. This is fun stuff, wine making. Oh and it is much easier and quicker than the 6 hours it takes to get a beer into a fermenter

 

[salcoco]

sufite does not cause headaches in wine. Histamines will do so if you are sensitive to them. Take a Sudafed next time before drinking wine and you will be ok.

 

[jgmann67]

sufite does not cause headaches in wine. Histamines will do so if you are sensitive to them. Take a Sudafed next time before drinking wine and you will be ok.

Agreed. Also consider that wine from kits has substantially lower levels of sulfites in them than their commercial counterparts. Try them and see if you get the same headache that you would otherwise.

 

[AMEugene]

Interesting thoughts. Oh I am going to go forward and try these. The only think I am not excited about is the wait time. At least with my beer, ales not lagers, I can be drinking in a month some good beer. Of course it too gets better over a few months but from I have been reading on here it takes at least, very minimum, a year for a red to even be approachable. Well maybe it will teach me about patience.

 

[bkisel]

Welcome to the forum!

I've heard (or was it read) that with kits we use ~ 1/6 to 1/8 the sulfites used in most commercial wines. It'd be nice if that's in fact true.

 

[josfe]

sufite does not cause headaches in wine. Histamines will do so if you are sensitive to them. Take a Sudafed next time before drinking wine and you will be ok.

I can second this. My girlfriend gets headaches from wine but this seems to really help.

Unfortunately it doesn't help with a hangover if you go a bit overboard.

 

[rrussell]

White wines are good for summer because you drink them cold. If you like white wine make a white kit also. You can drink it after a month and it will make it easier to leave your red to age.

 

[Dhaynes]

Checkout this blog post from Tim V the guru on the myth of sulfite and headaches. http://mastervintner.com/blog/you-are-not-allergic-to-sulfite/

 

[Boatboy24]

Welcome, AMEugene!

As @salcoco mentioned, most 'wine headaches' are caused by histamines, not sulfite. If I recall correctly, less than 1% of the population have sensitivities to sulfites. All wine (even those produced organically, without the addition of sulfite) will have some level of naturally occurring sulfite. As mentioned, when used in the proper proportions, it will have no impact on the smell or taste of your wine, but will assist in preserving it.

Oh, and as @rrussell mentioned, white wines are ready much faster than reds. A white wine kit started today will be pretty good by mid-summer.

 

[Rmarsh]

If you are concerned about the aging time and having something on hand while your reds age, as a fellow newcomer I would recommend taking a look at the skeeter pee and dragon's blood recipes- a month or less from primary fermentation to bottling, drinkable as soon as they are finished. I did one batch of dragon's blood with a batch of skeeter pee currently in the primary. I hope to make a few batches of these before my kit wines have matured.

 

[Mismost]

Winexpert Vinters Reserve / Mezza Luna Red....we have found this one to be a pretty decent early drinking red...lower end kit, but a great starter kit....tweakable too. Going start the second one this week end....first bottling is going fast!