Other Paklab Sauvignon Blanc Tweak Recipe

[Ajax]

Hi folks. My wife is a great SB fan, so I bought a Paklab kit to get her off my back. After reading all over the webs for a month, I've arrived at the following recipe and procedure - 1) Start the kit at full six gallons, and take my first SG reading using only the 'stock' ingredients. 2) after the reading is taken and recorded, add three 12oz cans of Welch's Niagra Grape Juice concentrate for extra 'oompf' to bring the ABV up to the 12% range, followed by six bananas (for body) that have 'gone black' and spent sufficient time in the freezer to guarantee a pulpy mess upon thawing.

This is my fourth 'batch' of wine. The previous three were an Island Mist kit and two Paklab Italian reds. I did the reds at 5.5 gallons with 10oz of Zante Currants added to one batch, and a full pound to the other. Both turned out to be drinkable, almost pretty good, with good body in both and the '1#' batch having a bit more alcohol bite. What I'd like to do is to accomplish the same results with the SB without shorting myself a 1/2 gallon of wine.

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Winemaking started with me as a lark, and now I can see it turning into an obsession. My dreams are filled with visions of bubbling must, pristine airlocks, and full racks. This could get serious. Thanks!

 

[cpfan]

I would have thought that the Paklab kit would be pretty close to 12% on it's own. I would expect the Welch's to blow the ABV much higher. But I haven't made this kit.

Steve

 

[Julie]

I agree with Steve, the abv should be around 12% without the welch's and also agree with Steve, this might push the abv higher than it should be, also why would you want to tamper with the flavor of sauv blanc?

 

[KSmith3011]

I played with Paklab kits a lot to find the right blend. For me the best thing was to cut the receipt to 5 gal instead of 6. This, so far, has been the best solution. Who can argue with $1.60 per bottle.

 

[cpfan]

I agree with Steve, the abv should be around 12% without the welch's and also agree with Steve, this might push the abv higher than it should be, also why would you want to tamper with the flavor of sauv blanc?

Yeah, as I was drinking a nice limited edition Ken Ridge Classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc earlier.

Steve

 

[Julie]

Yeah, as I was drinking a nice limited edition Ken Ridge Classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc earlier.

Steve

I bought a Chilean juice bucket of Sauvignon Blanc, just bottled it last weekend and had a couple glasses out of it, boy is this good, it is only 4 months old. I need to buy some more of this, the flavor is .....just good!

 

[Ajax]

The various critiques that I've read of the Paklab kits usually complain of a 10-11% ABV and a 'thin' feel when processed to 6 gallons. Most people stop at either 5 or 5.5 gallons. That seems like a waste to me, so adding three cans of juice @ $1.50 per can seems like an inexpensive way to run a full 6 gallon batch and obtain a 12% number. The bananas, again from what I've read on this and other forums, will be added to provide more body. Is this not the case? And if anyone has processed a Paklab kit @ 6 gallons and obtained a 12%ABV absent additions, I'd appreciate the info. Again, thanks!