Other Tweeking Cheap Kits

[joeswine]

I I'll get back to you tonight with the tweaks,lots of viewing and reading would you say.go slow be patient.

 

[joeswine]

have you seen these kits the prices are very good these are the two Ill do the first of the year...............but will do them as a 5 gallon kit. with tweaks.

 

[Bauer]

Has anyone done the fontana armone?

 

[joeswine]

No but have done other Fontana Kit's,process is the same enhancements are different.

 

[Bauer]

What enhancements would you do? It's a bigger kit so I was thinking of keeping it at 6 gal.

 

[jgnin]

Started a Costco Merlot

Started the Merlot kit, added about 1 and 1/2 cups of berries, blackberries, raspberries, dried cranberries and about 1 and 1/2 cups of dextrose.... Filled to about 22 liters, SG was 1.140, seemed a little high????? Added a little water and got it down to 1.100. covered with the lid but didn't put the air lock, just a towel over the hole..... Heat belt on as it's only about 18 degrees in the room.....also used bottled water rather than tap water. Any advice, tips, our am I on the right track???? Oh, kits cost $60 for two kids plus tax, so a little over a dollar a bottle.... Canadian.... That's like 23 cents American per bottle haha

 

[jgnin]

I also decided to heat some pears and green apples in a sauce pan and added it to the gf's chardonnay (once it cooled) that is still in primary fermentation to add a little extra flavor....I'm hoping it helps.

 

[Spikedlemon]

You're on the right track with the Merlot.

Joe often recommends adding the fruit to secondary. I have found that fruit in the primary still carries over the flavor. I would stir it daily for the first while and, knowing me, mush the fruit a little bit with the spoon.

When you rack it: you'll likely have the racking cane get stuck with seeds from the fruit. A cheap pair of pantyhose over the end of it is often all you need to pre-filter. You can pick up a cheap pair at the dollar store (be sure to wash, rinse & santize with KMS). Since you added more water than typical: you can probably stand to leave a bit of liquid behind in primary along with the fruit.

 

[joeswine]

Although it's great to experiment sometimes we can get a little carried away. What you need is to look at is the taste profile of your base wine then pick a enhancement that's within that profile and use that as your direction, just adding stuff isn't the right way even though there isn't really a wrong way it's your wine ,just a more formal approach to the process.

 

[jgnin]

Are there any threads related to adding fruit and such to different wines, what works and what doesn't? I haven't seen anything thus far, but there are tons of threads...

 

[joeswine]

If you read (when good wine's gone bad) both versions you'll find a ton of ideas to use if not I can wLk you through the correct procedure,and that's fun..

 

[jgnin]

Great, thanks. Was reading the yeast section in tutorials, for most reds including Merlot it recommends an rc 212 yeast, my kits came with ec 1118 which it says are better for whites. Is it worth my while to buy the rc 212 or would the difference be minimal???

 

[jgnin]

You're on the right track with the Merlot.

Joe often recommends adding the fruit to secondary. I have found that fruit in the primary still carries over the flavor. I would stir it daily for the first while and, knowing me, mush the fruit a little bit with the spoon.

When you rack it: you'll likely have the racking cane get stuck with seeds from the fruit. A cheap pair of pantyhose over the end of it is often all you need to pre-filter. You can pick up a cheap pair at the dollar store (be sure to wash, rinse & santize with KMS). Since you added more water than typical: you can probably stand to leave a bit of liquid behind in primary along with the fruit.

I've got cheesecloth which I think should work well filtering the seeds and such. Merlot kit started Nov 17 with a sg of 1.100, today is at 1.030, wondering what sg you aim for before racking into the carboy for secondary fermentation?

UPDATE* after reading something you posted in another thread I'll rack the merlot for secondary fermentation once it goes below 1.000 SG. The chardonnay I added the pear and green apple to is tasting really good, dry with some fruity hints. SG of that one is sitting at 0.995, it's in secondary fermentation now, although it seems cloudier than normal but I'm assuming the fruit may have played a role in that.

 

[Dentman]

Has anyone experience adding dates to wine? ... I tried to fish for comments on another thread but figure this might be a good place to bring it up.

i added dates to a dragon blood variation. I put in lots of different ingredients. initially it wasn't very good but i let it age for a year and wow is it good. Gourmet really. Going to do another batch for 2017 holiday season.

I can dig up the recipe i made if your interested.

 

[corinth]

peach chardononnay

Hi Joe, still hanging,
how about tweaking a chardonnay into a peach chardonnay? what type of peaches would you use for an f-pac ? yeast

i also came across a vsop peach brandy ---ideas.

thanks
corinth

 

[Spikedlemon]

Great, thanks. Was reading the yeast section in tutorials, for most reds including Merlot it recommends an rc 212 yeast, my kits came with ec 1118 which it says are better for whites. Is it worth my while to buy the rc 212 or would the difference be minimal???

The Costco kit comes as a double. Experiment.
EC1118 is the default as it's a monster. Very tolerant of poor conditions (temperature, nutrition, etc...) and very competitive (it will crowd out any wild yeasts).

UPDATE* after reading something you posted in another thread I'll rack the merlot for secondary fermentation once it goes below 1.000 SG. The chardonnay I added the pear and green apple to is tasting really good, dry with some fruity hints. SG of that one is sitting at 0.995, it's in secondary fermentation now, although it seems cloudier than normal but I'm assuming the fruit may have played a role in that.

You should always be racking out of primary based on SG rather than time. Your SG will tell you how your fermentation is going or if it's stalled. You're racking out of primary to reduce air exposure and to get off the bulk of the gross lees.

I've never used pear or apple so I can't comment if you need to add pectic enzyme to help clear.
But I do have two whites I started within a week of each other that have been in secondary for ~5 weeks. My Riesling was almost clear by the second week and the, slightly older, Sauv Blanc is still a little cloudy 5 weeks later.

i added dates to a dragon blood variation. I put in lots of different ingredients. initially it wasn't very good but i let it age for a year and wow is it good. Gourmet really. Going to do another batch for 2017 holiday season.
I can dig up the recipe i made if your interested.

I'd love to see it!

 

[joeswine]

I see you are all having fun ,always help each other ,but more than that before you start to make a product have a plan, plans are the key.DENTMAN: haven't heard from yo in a while, SpikeLemon see your still going strong.CORINTH,yes still moving forward, fresh peaches sliced and sautéed down a bit, then load right into the primary then add the yeast, use a Champaign style yeast for this one. Stay well my friend. APPLE TO PEACHES SAME PROCESS ABOUT 6 PEACHES RIPE

 

[Dentman]

The




I'd love to see it!

I looked everywhere but can't find it. sorry It was however based upon another DB recipe I found on here.

 

[jgnin]

I'm thinking it'll be fine once I add the fining agents, it's still really early yet, had another little taste tonight while checking the SG, and I gotta say, is tasting pretty good, and after only ever making kits without tweaking them, or knowing to test the sg rather than just going by the instructions/days, I'm really looking forward to seeing how good these batches turn out after they've been bottled and aged appropriately.

 

[joeswine]

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THESE IF WE CAN GET THE SHIPPING UNDERCONTROL THESE WILL DO ALSO. I'LL' START THESE IN JANUARY