More-Wine Alexander & Sons suggestions

[Trackinghound]

I got this crazy wild idea that I wanted to make wine and did some research and found there was kits. I went down to the local beer and wine supply shop and the process begins.

I bought a starter kit and upgraded a few things. There kits are local which is more wine brand. I got a 5 gallon bucket, a brown bag of " follow these directions" I got packets of clear no writing of A B C D. And when to add them.

My directions are limited at best and since I am a rookie I am looking at some advise, help, or your a mess.

I have two going in different stages.

#1 is a "ruby red" it's a unk blend. When I picked it up it was held in a cold rerig. I was told to get it to room temp and add packet A to kill any wild yeast. Let it sit for 24 hrs.

Add packet B and yeast to start my primary ferm 7-10 days or until gravity it at or below 1.000

I racked it off on 10/30 into my carboy and added packet C and French Oak 3oz

Its been stashed away in a cool drafty closet since then.

My concerns are where I get my supplies they are beer makers not much into wine and when I ask questions I get vague answeres. My questions are: any one have some experience with these kits. One person tells me we are drinking this at 6 weeks. I grabbed some out and it had stuff floating around and was bubbly to the tongue. Didn't taste good at all.

How long should I expect to be leaving this in the carboy.

The other is a Merlot and its fermenting very slow.

Like I said early on I am very rookie at this. I might have the terms wrong but looking fr some help before I have 5 gallons of nasty grape juice.

 

[Arne]

First thing, use the hydrometer. When the wine gets to 1.000 or below and stays the same for at least 3 days, it is considered done. Now you have a wine full of carbon dioxide and it is time to get the gas out. It should be between 70 and 75 degrees to degass. It will degas on its own if you leave it long enough. Otherwise, get i warmed up and stir it, either by hand or with a power degasser. Many use some kind of paddle and stir it back and forth, others use a battery drill with a degassing device. Still others degass by vacuum. Anyway, when you get the co2 out the "bubbly" will be gone. With time and or using clearing agents, the wine will clear. As time goes on, the wine should start tasting better as well. As it clears, it will drop sediment, also. The hard part to learn is patience, especially when you are starting. Everybody wants to drink their product, but with wine, it takes time. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[Putterrr]

http://www.winemakermag.com/component/content/article/26/850-making-your-kit-wine-shine-redeaux

this is the schedule i use but use my hydrometer reading for the day 5 transfer.

from what I read you have your wine in the secondary and it has not been degassed yet. it has been there for 4 weeks and assuming the fermentation is done, i would look to rack again, then degass (temp should be around 75 degrees for this) and add your stabilizing & clearing chemicals. Let that sit for 3 more weeks. rack again and either bottle or bulk age in the carboy for longer which will improve your wine. though you can do a wine kit in 6 weeks, it will be a better product if you take more time and don't rush things

read other posts and ask more questions if your need to

 

[Stressbaby]

Trackinghound,
I'm also pretty new...some of these folks with 1000+ posts and way more experience than me will likely jump in but I will offer a couple of thoughts.
Packet A was probably potassium metabisulfite or k-meta.
Packet B maybe was yeast nutrient.
You will hear about the three Ps of winemaking - patience, patience, and patience. I doubt you will want to drink it at 6 weeks. From what you've told me, I'd let it age on the fine lees for a few months perhaps. Let's see what the experts say...

 

[Tom_S]

I don't think any wine is good enough at 6 weeks. This is what I'd consider a "green" or very young wine and needs to age.

I've never made a kit, but from what I understand they're geared toward making wine and getting it into a bottle as soon as possible. You can make wine this way, but it's usually best to slow down a bit and let it age for a while.

 

[grapeman]

The Alexander concentrates are not normally used as kits as a whole as you usually end up with a thin wine. They can be added to another wine to give it more body some times or as a sweetener since it is so concentrated. I did make a few wines from them in the early years and some people liked the thin wine. 2 out of 3 actually tasted pretty good and the third was a bit less than desired. The worst tasting one was the Ruby by the way. The Merlot wasn't bad nor the Chardonnay.

Your supplier apparently turned them into sort of a kit so you didn't need to supply your own ingredients. Stressbaby gave you a pretty good summary of what the packets liely were.

Finish the wine up and maybe drink a few bottles over the next couple months, but it will improve somewhat over the next year.

 

[Tom_S]

Alexander's concentrates are good to make wine from, but only if you use 3 cans for 5 gallons instead of the recommended 2 cans. It just turns out way too thin if you only use 2 cans, but 3 makes it good.

 

[Trackinghound]

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to everybody.

My kit came in a bucket full of juice ( Keep in mind Alexander and Sons is 30 mins from my house) I see there is reference to cans of juice.

I definitely have gas in my carboy. so here is my plan for tomorrow. Correct me if I am wrong. I am going to rack it back into a bucket from the carboy take a hyrdo reading. When it went in the carboy its was below or at 1.000. Get it up to 75 degrees and de gas it with a paddle. ( guess I will use my wife's heating pad to get it up to 75). Then I am going to rack it back in the carboy.

It has french oak pieces in there now about 3 oz I am going to leave that in there. I have no issues with leaving this in the carboy longer to settle and mature.

I appreciate all the feed back from everyone

 

[Trackinghound]

I am using my wife's heating pad to warm it up so i can degas. Looks pretty redneck.

 

[Trackinghound]

Got the temp to 75 degrees and stirred it with a paddle for a good amount of time. The rid the gas.

Add the clarifier. Gravity still at 1000. Will rack it again in about 4 weeks. I sure hope it clears up.

The decision for now but subject to change is let it set after the next rack in the carboy.

Again thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Trackinghound]

Very noticeable pile of sediment in the carboy nice call putterrr

 

[Trackinghound]

It is clearing nicely.

Thinking of racking again at week #3

Thoughts of adding some kmeta after I rack it. Going to store it 6 months in the carboy. Read another thread about kmeta every 3 months.

 

[Putterrr]

Yesterday I racked 2 wines that were degassed with sorbate and Kmeta added 3 weeks ago. They were white and had cleared quite nicely. These I will let sit for about 2 months for one and longer for the other (usually I would leave them for 6 months but I'm a bit behind). I have never added more K-meta when racking before. I usually add 1/4 tsp at 3-4 months when bulk aging. I have no way to measure my sulphite levels

Maybe someone with more experience will chime in for you.

Good Luck

 

[Trackinghound]

A bit of a update. It has set now four weeks. I just racked off the wine from the sediment. I did get some sediment in back in my bucket. I then racked back in the carboy and displaced with glass beads to fill the bottle back up.

I added 1/4 tea spoon of Kmeta to the carboy. My plan at this point is let it sit and bottle in 3 1/2 weeks.

I did taste it. The top at first rack was tasted like wine but was ok. Then second rack and bottom of the bucket wasn't bad at all. I was surprised. I think it just needed a little mixing.

I have me a vacuum pump on the way for the next rack.

 

[Stressbaby]

Haha! You're hooked now!

That's OK, it happened to me, too...to all of us at one point or another.

 

[Trackinghound]

Well just an update: This batch is complete and made the process complete in 6 months. Its very yummy and now I am stoked to start some more. The plan is to start 12 gallons and have it bottled by Xmas. Thanks for all the input.

 

[Trackinghound]

Just as an Update: This cam out pretty dam good. I have friends finding reasons for me to open a bottle. It went quick.