Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

That's correct,.Have fun playing with your drink we do got any pics?

 

[jgnin]

Here's a few pics, from the start to the end....note that I don't have a filter, so when it's time to bottle I leave the carboy a day or two on my island, then rack it over to a bucket, then bottle it, I get rid of 99% of the sediment.....

 

[joeswine]

The berries look like they are having a great time in the pool

 

[joeswine]

Cheap zinfandel

here's were we are at this point.because of the addition of the fresh berries there is a lot of solids in this wine ,so we'll sacrifice the 2 packages of clearing agent up front to start the process and add super kleer and the chems when the time is right.

 

[Zintrigue]

Zintrigue....couple of things...

1. get a Fast Rack and sit it on your kitchen counter...empty a wine bottle, wash it, and put it in the rack real handy thing.

2. Read this whole thread and take notes as you go. This thread is a cross between Kit Wine Making for Dummies and the Wine Kit Bible. Too much good info here, you don't want to miss any of it.

3. Other threads by Joe.....you got a lot of reading to do!

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29481

Alright, I'll work on it. Thanks

-Zin

 

[Higuchem]

Amazon has California Connoisseur White Zinfandel 4 Week Wine Making Kit for $27.50 so I order one. I have a couple of questions for the thread.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FEA08HA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

1. This is a blush so should I treat it as a white or a red? Do I cut it to 5 gallons or treat it as a white and do the full 6 gallons?
2. For my Fpac I am going to use pomegranate and wanted to know if there was a rule of thumb or a ratio of how much fruit for primary fpac. I have 40 oz of frozen pomegranate and wonder if I should build the body with 10-20 oz in Primary and use the rest to make a seondary Fpac?

Love the thread and thank you Joe.

 

[joeswine]

cheap kits zinfandel blush

Hi Higuchem, I would treat it s a red ,us the ec1118 yeast ,add about 16 ozs. of the pomegranate to primary only. However if you do this as a 5 gallon check the sg you don't want to be any higher than a 13/14 abv. Got it? Using 1 1/2 cups of pomegranates and 1 cup of base wine as a liquid agent, simmer them together until the pomegranate is in incorporated got it? follow my flow below.

 

[favrielle]

Coming out of lurk mode because that Amazon California Connoisseur White Zin price drop was too good to resist!

I'm mostly a mead maker, more of a dabbler than anything else, and I'm just now getting back into the swing of things after a few dry years (medical reasons) with meads. I'm also branching out into kit wines for some variety. This thread has been extremely educational!

That being said... I have some Eclipse kits aging (Gewurtz, SLD Merlot), a Pink Moscato almost ready to bottle, and some lower-end tweaked kits going (Riesling, a Zin/Shiraz/blackberry I hope to fortify some of, port-style). I need to do something fun with this White Zin that won't push it out of the realm of a quick-ish drinker (I'm ok with patience, but need something to drink while the Eclipse kits and my meads get some age!)

Other than pomegranate (which sounds lovely, but I've already got a pom melomel planned), what sort of out-of-the-box fun could I have with this White Zin?

 

[Hoxviii]

I'm about to start messing with a Fontana Pinot Grigio kit. Treating it more like a juice supply than a kit, still correcting acid, chapitalization, etc - the plan is to ferment it through primary as a single batch and knock it into (5)1-gallon batches in secondary, at which point i'll add fruit pulp to try to pick up some new flavors and sugars.

so far the plan is mango, kiwi, strawberry, but i'm having issues picking the last two enhancers.

ideas, suggestions?

I'm starting with the grigio for how neutral it tends towards/

 

[joeswine]

Cheap kits

Faurielle,I would try a strawberry or raspberry fpac,have you seen how I do them?

 

[joeswine]

Hoxvii,either just us some grapefruit zest or maybe rehydrate apricots,keep the pino clean and crisp

 

[favrielle]

joeswine -- I've seen how you do the F-pack, did something similar with that blackberry Zin/Shiraz I've got going. I was actually thinking raspberry might be nice in this one, but if I decide to go with that over pom/strawberry or other fruit, I'll have to sit on the kit for a few months. I have a killer red raspberry patch out back that fruits in the spring and fall. No sense buying something I can grow myself, right?

 

[joeswine]

You only need about 2cup s of fresh raspberries that's enough for 6 gallons . Shouldn't be hard to find a pecks worth.Then move ahead.

 

[nwwoods]

Thanks for this thread. Bit of a project to read through it. Thought I would share a simple oak cube tweak I have found quite effective.

I thought about the way commercial wine is aged in barrels after fermentation has been shut down and concluded to try adding oak cubes late in the process. So, after shutting down and degassing, and waiting 2 weeks and then racking, only then I added the oak cubes. Used only 1 oz (about 1/2 cup) in a 6 gal batch. Let it sit for 6 weeks and then bottled.

The kit was a WE Selection Calif Cab and was made to the letter of the instructions otherwise. Started at 1.092 and came out at about 13.5% ABV and to my taste is great. There is oak on the nose, and in the mouth. It's "there", it's not dominant but it's unmistakable. For my taste, this simple tweak is a winner.

 

[joeswine]

Yes the threads are long and some are longer,But! There is good input from the rest of the forum and yours as well,like the oak usage keep yourself invested here we appreciate your input JP

 

[favrielle]

I couldn't really decide which tweak to do on the White Zin kit, so I picked up two more while they're still on sale. I'm going to tweak all 3, making them to 5-5.5 gallons instead of 6, one with strawberries, one with raspberries, and the other I will probably just do per directions (other than the volume) to have a baseline for comparison. I think I'll document the entire process in pictures, just for the fun of it. Won't be able to start until the rest of the kits come in next week, but it's going to be fun!

 

[joeswine]

Outstanding thinking, post your process and pictures please. The tweaks are very good for the taste profile of your base are you going to make the fpac's my style?

 

[favrielle]

That's the plan.

The first kit I ordered just showed up, and I just realized it's a 7.5L kit, not 5.5L like the Fontana kits. Doesn't change the plans, but thought it was interesting.

 

[joeswine]

What brand are they?

 

[favrielle]

California Connoisseur/Vineco