Other question about "extended" instructions

[nasv]

I ran across this "Extended Instructions for Making Wines from Kits" ( http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/extended.asp ) from the Jack Keller site and I had some questions about the science of some of the methods.

Particularly what has me curious if you look at those instructions is this sequence of events

1. rehydrate concentrate to 6 gallons
2. REMOVE 1 gallon and store in fridge
3. after fermentation begins to subside, add back that 1 stored gallon

(fyi, I totally shortened and simplified the instructions on the site)

Has anyone tried this? What does adding that 1 gallon back do other than raise the SG some and give more "fuel" for fermentation? What are the benefits of adding back part of the unfermented must vs fermenting together?

I was really curious when I saw this so I thought to ask.

-Nico

 

[masta]

I would strongly suggest you follow the manufacturer's instructions in regards to making kits as much time and effort went into writing them so you have consistent results every time.
The only reason I can think of why Jack would suggest removing 1 gallon of the must is thatthese modified instructions call for using a6 gallon carboy instead of a 7.9 gallon primary. Trying to ferment the wholebatch in a 6 gallon carboy would definitely cause issues with foaming and overflowing of the carboy.Edited by: masta

 

[Coaster]

If you deviate from the instructions of the kit you can void the warranty. That being said, the instructions are designed to make good wine in 4-6 weeks. As Tim Vandergrift (Technical Services Manager, Winexpert Ltd.) says in an article from 2001 with more time and less effort you can make a better kit wine. http://www.winemakermag.com/feature/28.html
I do deviate from the instructions in some cases (extra sugar sometimes, raisins, longer times, etc). I don't believe that every tweak is valid nor needed but I do believe that you can influence the wine with the changes you do and sometimes you want that change.


I agree with Masta, I think the gal was removed to keep the volume down during strong fermentation.

 

[masta]

While I agree with Jack that kit winescan be rushed into bottles since that is what many folks (mostly newbies) want but see no real benefits and potential problems to the drastic deviations from the instructions as suggested in his article.
I also do some minor tweaks to some kits but as Coaster mentioned once you do this you are on your own and thekit warranty is no longer valid.

 

[nasv]

Thanks everyone. I haven't done a kit yet and I'm planning for doing a couple in the fall. I will follow the instructions word for word for at least the first one. The reason I asked is because I had been curious about ways to "customize" your own kit, though realizing that this would compromise the warranty. I know that the kits are designed to produce a predictable resulting wine, but I always thought what would be the difference between your batch and mine if we were to follow instructions exactly the same? Kind of takes some of the winemaker's "personal touch" away, no?

I'm definitely a newbie to this wonderful hobby, so I was simply wondering about how to make a kit "mine" and then stumbled on the Jack Keller recipe and consequently started this thread

.

-Nico

 

[Dean]

Nico, kits are great to experiment with after you have a few under your belt. They are a totally different way of making wine that is much easier than from fruit and grapes! About the only comparison I can make between kit making and grape wine making is that you rack both and put yeast in both, but that is where the similarity ends!

Kits are now such an exact science compared to 15-20 years ago, when they were mostly just concentrate you would rehydrate. Results back then were totally inconsistent! Sometimes you'd get a very nice wine, and other times you'd get swill that I wouldn't even want to pour down a drain for fear that the drain would choke. The best tweak with ALL kits made, is that you can extend the time between final racking and bottling. Most kits can be bottled on day 28 or 42, but really, they need way more age! I like to bottle after at least 6 months from stabilization. The one "tweak" I've noticed makes no difference, but is fraught with risk and potential disaster is playing with temperatures in which to ferment kits. Many people falsely believe that if they ferment their kits at a lower temperature they bring out delicate fruitiness and other characters that is just not possible with a kit. With a freshly pressed white, that is the case, but not with kits. The only thing you can possibly do fermenting at a colder temperature is stall your wine and cause it to spoil faster.

Fun additions to 28 day, mostly concentrate kits, like the VR series is to add raisins, dates, bananas, etc to increase complexity and mouthfeel as well as slightly enhance alcohol levels. I love experimenting with kits that way. I also love the way that George experiments by breaking his kits up into 1 gallon batches and seeing what additives cause what. That's a perfect way to see what you can do to tweak a kit. You might even be able to start a kit, wait 2 days until you have a good yeast colony, then split the batch and add ingredients in much the same fashion as George does, but you don't have to wait until fermentation is finished. If something does go bad, all you lose is 1 gallon, and not a whole 6 gallon batch.

 

[Waldo]

Nico, here you can really design your own botique wine. Really get wild and crazy if you wish
http://www.elitevintners.com/splash.php

 

[nasv]

Wow, Waldo, what an interesting site! I think I'll try it out after I have a few Winexpert type kits under my belt.

Have you used that site? If so, did you like the results?

-Nico

 

[rrawhide]

very very interesting - I printed off the sheet on blendings. kinda fun for later.

thanx again

rrawhide

 

[Wade E]

Wow I haven't checked out that site since they moved into the U.S., they have done a great job of redoing it. It was a very generic site previous to this change.