WineXpert Raisins in my kit wine

[Vaughn]

Hey, loved this month's feature article in Pressing News. I tried adding oak to my Merlot kit (Select), and it came out great! I'm gonna try it on some other kits.


Along those lines, has anyone ever tried adding raisins to their kit wine? I know that the select kits have practically no solids in them when they are fermented. I thought perhaps raisins may add some added body and viscosity to the lower end kits. Thoughts?

 

[Bert]

Vaughn: I tried adding 3 lbs. of ground raisins to a Barolo kit, reserve kit. It turned out OK, but I lost a lot of the flavor ofthe barolo kit.[.I have done others] ...had to work with a lot of fines...clearing took a while...from my experience, I would say adding raisins is not the way to go.


I have used raisins to make raisin wine and that turnned out good....just takes time to mature...6 months or more in the bottle....

 

[PolishWineP]

I must now chime in. At bottling time, even after all the work done, this wine was dull, flat. It's matured a bit, but we lost some of theBaroloflavor. By the time we paid for the raisins, other ingredients used to try to fix the mistake, for a few more dollars we could have bought the next level of kit.


(This is one of those times you can learn from someone else's mistake for free!

)

 

[Funky Fish]

I've read (on other forums) of people adding bananas rather than raisins to low-end kits. The bananas give them more body but don't leave the raisin-y flavor in the kit.


This is done by letting about 10 bananas ripen to the black stage, then freezing them. Thaw them out when you are ready to make the kit, and add the mush (but not the peel) to the primary right before you pitch your yeast.

 

[peterCooper]

If you're going to pay 50-100 for a kit wine, why mess with it? It should give
excellent results as is. I would leave the experimenting to scratch wines. I
plan to go grpae picking in May and should get a few (!) gallons of grape
juice as payment. I'm happy to experiment with that becaue it isn't costing
me anything other than a days labor.

Now I know some of you guys will say a day's labor is worth a couple of
hundred but us poor state employees work for a lot less.

 

[jcnoren]

I've read (on other forums) of people adding bananas rather than raisins to low-end kits. The bananas give them more body but don't leave the raisin-y flavor in the kit.


This is done by letting about 10 bananas ripen to the black stage, then freezing them. Thaw them out when you are ready to make the kit, and add the mush (but not the peel) to the primary right before you pitch your yeast.

Decided to give bananas a go. (1st) experiement I didn't let the bananas go totally black....but did freeze them and added them to my primary. These bananas (speckled not black)created a "cap"a lot of mess a lot of waste. The wine did have body, which is why I used the bananas in the first place


(2nd) experiement I did let the bananasgo totally black....no cap this time...thank goodness BUT still a lot of lees. Iexpected that the bananas this time would become one with the wine....I added 10 bananas.Now I am wondering.....Should I add fewer bananas, OR leave them to ripen longer OR is itwhen bananas are used no matter what you do with them the end result is increasedlees??? What about boiling the frozen bananas???


FYI I did purchase some inexpensive 7 liter kits (Under $25.00 ) figured I would monkey with bananas to see what they would do with a kit wine. I like the increased body, now trying to reduce the lees that comes with using them. I am looking for others imput.


JC

 

[Funky Fish]

(2nd) experiement I did let the bananasgo totally black....no cap this time...thank goodness BUT still a lot of lees. Iexpected that the bananas this time would become one with the wine....I added 10 bananas.Now I am wondering.....Should I add fewer bananas, OR leave them to ripen longer OR is itwhen bananas are used no matter what you do with them the end result is increasedlees??? What about boiling the frozen bananas???

The large amount of lees is the side effect with bananas. If you want to add fewer, you will get less lees, but also less body. Basically (as Tim V explained in another forum), the bananas are basically dropping out into the lees, but they leave behind a gloppy molecule that adds the body to the wine.


I'm not sure I'd try boiling them. I think you'd end up with the same amount of lees, but I'd worry about causing a haze of some sort (starch, pectin, etc).

 

[jobe05]

I have added banana's to a lower end Merlot kit, 14 very ripe (did not freeze) to a 6 gallon kit. I cut up and boiled for 20 minutes, let cool and add right to the must. It took a couple extra rackings to get the banana gunk out, but was worth the effort. The wine has been bottled for 6 months now and is starting to come into it's own as a higher end kit would. I was afraid of some sort of banana taste or off flavors, but nothing, it's seems just right.

 

[jcnoren]

(I'm not sure I'd try boiling them. I think you'd end up with the same amount of lees, but I'd worry about causing a haze of some sort (starch, pectin, etc).

I was thinking that boiling might cause a haze like you mentioned.


JC

 

[jcnoren]

I have added banana's to a lower end Merlot kit, 14 very ripe I cut up and boiled for 20 minutes, let cool and add right to the must. It took a couple extra rackings to get the banana gunk out, but was worth the effort. The wine has been bottled for 6 months now and is starting to come into it's own as a higher end kit would. I was afraid of some sort of banana taste or off flavors, but nothing, it's seems just right.

You mentioned extra rackings to get the banana gunk out....so you didn't experience any starch haze??


Of topic somewhat..I apologize in advance...I have wheat wine in my gallon jug and it is hazey...I am thinking starch haze. How does one get rid of starch haze be it banana starch or wheat starch??


JC

 

[Funky Fish]

I think you need to use amylase enzyme to get rid of starch hazes.


http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=6100

 

[jcnoren]

I think you need to use amylase enzyme to get rid of starch hazes.


http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=6100

Thanks

JC...

 

[jeffpwright]

OK, this thread started with a question about raisins. I have to pop off here: I am greatly enjoying a batch of Mezza Luna red that I fermented with 2.25 lb raisins added. It adds exactly that raisiny/figgy/old leathery taste I was hoping for and, though I don't know what the ML is like without them, it has a very nice body for a VR kit -- and it is quite drinkable even now with only a few weeks in the bottle. I am trying to have some constraint and go thru them slowly to see how they mature, but it is hard to resist.

 

[OldWino1]

yes but the longer you wait the better it gets the bottles that is some suggested to take 5 bottles and hide them or make them off limits aka make another batch and let the hidden ones age a while. Oh 1 carboy doesnt cut it need to have batches rotating makes for fun weekends. Some people enjoy the garden some people enjoy the well groomed yard I do the wine hobby thing it is a big chill pill for me. Washing racking bottling they all relax me. and maybe you to.


But you have the great idea of making the wine taste like you want it.

 

[PolishWineP]

OW! Come on up to Minnesota and relax here! We have loads of bottles that need to be cleaned! There's always room for company!

 

[Vaughn]

Okay, I am officially recanting this topic thread. After listening to Tim Vandergrift this weekend, I've come to the conclusion that it would be virtually impossible to improve on a wine kit. I do think, that you may be able to tweak kits to fit your personal taste. But, if there was anything that could be added to a wine kit to economically make it better, it would already be in there. The guys at WE take quality VERY seriously. Every customer complaint is documented and is taken into consideration when a kit is being developed. This applies to all of the kits from the Vintner's Reserve to the Crushendo. I realize now that if there is something that I don't like about a Reserve kit, then I need to step it up to the better kits. WE has done all it can to make the 7 liter kit as good as it can be. What the 7 liter kit is missing is what they put into their higher end kits.