"First-Time Winemaker Seeking Advice: Bubbling and SG Readings in Wine Buddy Chardonnay Kit"

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jjay 7571

Junior
Joined
Jul 23, 2023
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Good morning everyone! This is my first attempt at making wine, and I could use some advice. I picked up a Wine Buddy Chardonnay 30-bottle 7-day kit. It's now the 8th day, and I've noticed that the wine is still bubbling roughly every 15 seconds. The temperature of the wine is at 21°C. Should I continue to let it bubble until it stops on its own?

I took an initial specific gravity (SG) reading and it was 1.070. Is it safe to take off the lid of the bucket and take another SG reading to see where it's at now, or should I just leave it undisturbed? Your expertise would be greatly appreciated!
 
welcome to Wine Making Talk

I have not used this kit so I don’t know the intent or logic behind “seven days”. —Some basics, if it is bubbling it is protected with CO2 and it is safe to open the primary. —At 21 a fermentation should be done in a week. However you won’t know unless you check with your hydrometer. — Wines go through phases where different events happen. Typically fermentation where air exposure is OK -> a month under airlock for letting most of the large solids settle ending with racking to a clean container -> three months plus to let fine particulates settle and CO2 to escape. -> More time if natural cleaning occurred. ,,, But, A kit may compress the time but adding fining agents. -> Bottling -> consumption.
In the scheme of things traditional wine makers would open at least at each of these activities to taste the progress of the wine. High tech might have in line testing and skip an evaluation. But it all gets consumed so you need to taste as your basic evaluation. Typical recipes add metabisulphite when opened and chemically remove excess oxidizer from the wine.
 
Welcome! I've never made a kit so will defer to those who have for more specific advice. But in answer to your question - yes, it's totally fine (even recommended!) to check SG multiple times during fermentation. Just make sure that your hydrometer and jar are sanitized beforehand - I keep an alcohol spray on hand for this.

Measuring multiple times will help you see the trajectory of your fermentation. It's done when the SG reading is below 1.000 (usually 0.998 or lower) and stable for 2-3 days. Here is my fermentation profile from my 2022 white pinot noir (brix instead of SG and F instead of C, but you get the idea...

ferm profile.png

BTW when composing this response I noticed this thread in the 'Similar threads' list. So you aren't the only one to have slower-than-expected fermentation with a 'Wine Buddy' kit. I also agree with @sour_grapes that it's probably better to be patient rather than rush to bottle in 7 days, no matter what the instructions say!
 
I do make kits, so I will add some thoughts. I have not done a wine buddy kit, but you are likely to be saddened by the fact that 7 days does not ever make wine. Kit juice, grapes or country wines, a week just doesn't do it. You will have fermented juice with alcohol in it, but there are many variables, time being a HUGE factor, that will make your wine taste good. There are drastic changes in the first 6 months a wine is aging.

I make 4-6 and 6-8 week kits. I follow the first steps closely and then I break all of the rules. I do not add clearing agents as I let the wine age long enough that it clears on it's own. My minimum to consider bottling is 3 months AFTER the recommended 6-8 weeks.

You should taste at every step. I taste the kit juice, I taste during fermentation, and before transferring to secondary once fermentation is complete. Once your kit is finished, (7 days?) you should taste it. It will likely be harsh and jagged as it will be carbonated and yeasty. My first kit was an 8 week and I didn't like it at that point. That made the choice to age it easier. 3 months later it was good, and at that point I bottled it. My personal rule.. Wine is ready when it tastes good. If your goal is a cheap buzz, 7 days might cut it, but you will have to decide that. If you want a developed wine, nothing but time will do that.

Wine is very forgiving. It is very hard to ruin it other than HEAVY oxygen exposure. Either introducing it into the wine during transfer or longer term exposure. ie. an open vessel for days or too much head space. Fill all of your vessels (carboy or bottle) within a inch or so of the top to mitigate long term exposure and only use your hydrometer to decide when you are ready to move on to the next step. The bubbling in the airlock is not a gauge as to what stage the fermentation is at, just that there is still a lot of CO2 present. Once you get to the degassing stage of the wine you will get a better idea of the how it currently tastes and you can make a choice there based on how it tastes.

I found the instructions for this kit. They must add something in the packs to degas as it is usually done with agitation. I would move on to the day six instructions once your hydrometer reads below 1.000. It may go as low as .994. Then at the day 7 instructions, once clear, I would taste and decide whether to age or bottle.
 
Thanks for all the responses! The wine has been transferred to a different container, but I've encountered an issue with the sweetness of my readings. Currently, the wine is much sweeter than desired. I'm wondering what suggestions you might have for reducing its sweetness. To address this, I've prepared two full test bottles of the wine for bench testing purposes. Any advice on what I could add to balance out the sweetness would be greatly appreciated!
 
Thanks for all the responses! The wine has been transferred to a different container, but I've encountered an issue with the sweetness of my readings. Currently, the wine is much sweeter than desired. I'm wondering what suggestions you might have for reducing its sweetness. To address this, I've prepared two full test bottles of the wine for bench testing purposes. Any advice on what I could add to balance out the sweetness would be greatly appreciated!
It may not be done fermenting yet. Sometimes those last few points take a while. In many things wine-making, patience is a virtue.

ETA, I’ve had ferments finish in four days… and one in four weeks!
 
to be honest i dont really know what happen when i took a reading before racking it was 998 but now the reading is at 1010 must of read it wrong before racking .so now i have5 galloon of really sweet wine
it does not taste to bad with a bit of tonic or soda . but is there anything i could add in before i decide to bottle it all
 
to be honest i dont really know what happen when i took a reading before racking it was 998 but now the reading is at 1010 must of read it wrong before racking .so now i have5 galloon of really sweet wine
it does not taste to bad with a bit of tonic or soda . but is there anything i could add in before i decide to bottle it all
Just let it sit under airlock in the carboy for a few weeks… it may yet finish fermenting. I would check it weekly to see if there is any progress.
 
to be honest i dont really know what happen when i took a reading before racking it was 998 but now the reading is at 1010 must of read it wrong before racking .so now i have5 galloon of really sweet wine
it does not taste to bad with a bit of tonic or soda . but is there anything i could add in before i decide to bottle it all
Take a deep breath and hold it for a minute. Let it out slowly. Do it twice more.

Relax. Winemaking is a procrastinator's dream. Very few things require immediate attention.

Your wine is a week old and it tastes like crap? This is normal.

You're worried about bottling? Don't. Other than DB or SP, wines are not bottled before 4 months.

You've come to the right place to get help. The folks that have replied are good for solid advice.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top