A friend, and former homebrewer, has announced his engagement, and set a tentative date for 24 Dec 2007. I was thinking of trying to do a case or two of wine for the wedding, with at least one case something sparkling. Since I've got less than a year, I figure a mead/melomel is out of the question, at least for something that's to be consumed at the wedding. So, I figured a sparkling wine. That leads to a handful of questions:
1) Force carbonation and sweetness?
I've got a kegerator and plan on doing a force carbonation, instead of doing the whole mess with bottle carbonation. For fermenting, I know to let everything go until dryness, then add the sorbate and k-meta to stabalize, then keg and sample. For sweetening, do I need full pressure for the full effect, or would lower pressures be sufficient. Basically I'm worried that if I've got a keg at ~30psi, and I start adding any sugar or syrup, I'll get a foaming mess.
2) Which kits should I start with?
I've got wine(kit) and beer(extract) experience, and I was thinking one normal wine, and one special. Reading through some articles on-line and in "Wine Maker", for a sparkling wine I'd want to start with something dry and white, typically an unoaked Chardonnay. Winexpert has their Millenium Sparkling kit as part of their Selection Speciale series, which finishes off-dry, which is about where I want to go. Has anyone tried this kit? Has anyone started with something else, and had success? Could/should I try the upcoming Feb limited release unoaked chardonnay from RJ Spagnols?
3) Something special?
Since I'm going the force carbonation route, I can play around with some post-fermentation additions, without worrying about the yeast changing my plans. I've read that sweet wines don't turn out right, but has anyone played with fruit additions? I'm kinda wondering about something like a strawberry addition, so that it's an off-dry sparkling, with a hint of strawberry aromas? My friend likes blackberry wine, so maybe try something with that? Maybe skip the grapes altogether and try a sparkling fruit wine? I've tried most of the wines from here, and I think their sparkling pink grapefruit was interesting, but it doesn't stick out in my mind.
4) Aging?
Should I bulk-age before or after kegging/carbonating? If I start now, I can ferment and still have 6-8 months of aging before its useage, but where and when should I age the wine?
To everyone who can supply some help and answers, thanks in advance.
Edit to #3. The "here" was supposed to be a link to this address:
http://www.floridawine.com/wine_selection.htm
1) Force carbonation and sweetness?
I've got a kegerator and plan on doing a force carbonation, instead of doing the whole mess with bottle carbonation. For fermenting, I know to let everything go until dryness, then add the sorbate and k-meta to stabalize, then keg and sample. For sweetening, do I need full pressure for the full effect, or would lower pressures be sufficient. Basically I'm worried that if I've got a keg at ~30psi, and I start adding any sugar or syrup, I'll get a foaming mess.
2) Which kits should I start with?
I've got wine(kit) and beer(extract) experience, and I was thinking one normal wine, and one special. Reading through some articles on-line and in "Wine Maker", for a sparkling wine I'd want to start with something dry and white, typically an unoaked Chardonnay. Winexpert has their Millenium Sparkling kit as part of their Selection Speciale series, which finishes off-dry, which is about where I want to go. Has anyone tried this kit? Has anyone started with something else, and had success? Could/should I try the upcoming Feb limited release unoaked chardonnay from RJ Spagnols?
3) Something special?
Since I'm going the force carbonation route, I can play around with some post-fermentation additions, without worrying about the yeast changing my plans. I've read that sweet wines don't turn out right, but has anyone played with fruit additions? I'm kinda wondering about something like a strawberry addition, so that it's an off-dry sparkling, with a hint of strawberry aromas? My friend likes blackberry wine, so maybe try something with that? Maybe skip the grapes altogether and try a sparkling fruit wine? I've tried most of the wines from here, and I think their sparkling pink grapefruit was interesting, but it doesn't stick out in my mind.
4) Aging?
Should I bulk-age before or after kegging/carbonating? If I start now, I can ferment and still have 6-8 months of aging before its useage, but where and when should I age the wine?
To everyone who can supply some help and answers, thanks in advance.
Edit to #3. The "here" was supposed to be a link to this address:
http://www.floridawine.com/wine_selection.htm
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