WineXpert Old Ltd. Edition Italian Dolcetto kit

[milbrosa]

I've just started an old WIneXpert Limited Edition Italian Dolcetto kit that has been sitting in a corner of my dining room for a long, long, time. That kit came out in April 2009, so it's really old.

I opened it up and smelled it. It smelled fine, like grape juice. I tasted it. It tasted fine, like grape juice. I saw no evidence of mold. It doesn't look oxidized, it's a lovely deep purple color.

I just pitched the yeast. I didn't proof it first. I should have. I'm hoping for the best. If there's no sign of fermentation by tomorrow evening, I'll pick up another pack of yeast that the homebrew store and pitch it.

 

[Rocky]

You seem to have a lot of kits just sitting around. Nice problem to have!

 

[milbrosa]

Yep. I had three, to be exact. All from 2009. I didn't realize they'd been sitting around that long. I'm a bit embarrassed. For the longest time, I had no space to store carboys for bulk aging and no more room for bottles, so I put them out of my mind. I was just a little too efficient when it came to putting them off.

 

[Putterrr]

A friend and I have been making some kits for another friend that was accumulating kits but not getting them done. He started that same kit 2 weeks ago without new yeast and so far everything has been going fine.

3 weeks ago I also started the LE South African Cab Sav from the same year but I used fresh yeast. On Sunday I did the taste, degass and chemicals and everything was as expected.

You should be fine but go ahead with new yeast if you don't see activity .

Cheers

 

[milbrosa]

That's good news, Putterrr, thank you for that information.

It's been a bit more than 24 hours since I pitched, and I do have what looks like early signs of fermentation. I hope it's going good by tomorrow morning. I picked up a fresh pack of yeast at the LHBS today, just in case. If I'm not seeing vigorous fermentation by 48 hours after pitching, I'll go ahead and pitch the new yeast too.

I bought that LE South African Cabernet Sauvignon kit too, and I made it in early 2009. I just opened a bottle of it last night. It's drinking very nicely now. I only have a few bottles of it left. I'll miss it when it's gone.

 

[Putterrr]

If your temp is in the mid 70's it should be fine.

The friend also gave me some bottled 2008 cab sav for topping and I agree that is is very nice. One more racking to go, one more topping up and one more glass of aged wine for me. Life is good.

Cheer

 

[milbrosa]

It appears I have no need to pitch additional yeast. The old yeast took off fine, and fermentation is in progress.

That said, would it have been harmful to pitch another pack of yeast? Is it possible to overpitch? If so, what are the undesirable effects of doing so?