Other Vintners Reserve - help - I screwed up

[jdammer]

Alright this is my first batch of wine that I've tried to make. It's the Vintner's Reserve Mezza Luna White.

So I read all of the instructions but misread a step. It came with two bags of grape juice. 1 large bag and an F-pack. Well the f-pack was supposed to wait until the end. Unfortunately I added it when I added the big bag. This was supposed to reserved for the 3rd step.

So should I just throw this out and call it a $60 screw up or do you think I can keep going. I feel like an idiot. Hopefully it wont ruin it but I'm doubtful.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Jason

 

[rawlus]

it shouldnt ruin it, might end up being a bit higher in alcohol than intended but i would still go through with it.

 

[Runningwolf]

JD, In the smaller end kits (island Mist) a lot of us add half the f-pack in the beginning and the other half as it tells you to in step 3. As rawlus said you may end up with a higher abv which is what we're going for. Also you won't be sweetening it at the end either so it may be a little drier than you expect. When the wine is finished taste it and see if its to your likening as to the sweetnes goes. If it good, bottle it. If it is too dry for you, than make a simple syrup and back sweeten.

 

[Wade E]

Like said above! You could sweeten back if so desired with a simple syrup consisting of 2 parts sugar and 1 part boiling water or you can buy a bottle of Wine Conditioner which is Inverted sugar with sorbate in it designed for sweetening a wine and it has the sorbate in there so that the product doesnt ferment by tself so youll need to still add your sorbate supplied with your kit.

 

[jdammer]

Sweet. Thank you guys. I was worried that I ruined the batch.

Thanks again.

 

[jdammer]

Alright. It has been six days. I think the gravity I started at was about 1.11 Took a reading today and it was down to 1.07 It's a little higher than I thought it would be. Must have not been warm enough.

Anyways it says to rack to the carboy at 1.01 or lower. Since I added that f-pack too early does this still apply?

It seems to be fermenting really well now. Lots of bubbles.

Thanks again.

Jason

 

[rawlus]

sure. follow the instructions as if you did not add the f-pack, rack at the appropriate SG's, etc. try to get out of the midset of the calendar and how long something should take. the calendar is rarely a reliable method - SG readings always are. it WILL take a bit longer to ferment if the f-pack is in there, but that is only relative to how long it would take without under the exact same conditions. it could still ferment entirely in less days than the calendar would state. every ferment is different and a whole lot of variables play a role in the ultimate timeline - temp being one of the major ones, but yeast vigor, sugar levels, etc. also play a role. two kits, side by side, exactly the same, can have different timelines for fermentation. just roll with it, and perform your steps according to the SG guidelines the instructions give.

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree with everything rawlus said. I had to primaries with Niagara juice. Both of them came out of the same batch and I started both at the same time. One took off right away and finished much sooner than the other. It even cleared two weeks before the other one. I have no explanation but it happened.

 

[jdammer]

Great. I'm excited. Well I can't imagine it would drop .06 in a day so i'll check it again on Monday.

Thanks again.

 

[jdammer]

Alright so I'm done with secondary fermentation. It ended up at .99 Much lower than the .098 the directions said. I'll blame that on the f-pack I added early.

I added pack 2 and 3. I've been degassing with a drill and a whip. When I'm done degassing do I add the clarifier? Or add it and keep degassing?

Any comments on the low SG? I haven't taken a reading yet since I stirred all the sediment back in. Maybe that will bring it back up.

Thanks again.

 

[Green Mountains]

jdammer,

I think you're mixing up your reading. You're probably at a .99 and the instructions mentioned .98, which puts you basically on target. Anything below 1.0 is pretty much as done as you're gonna get though they can go drier.

Sounds like you're doing just fine.

 

[Green Mountains]

....and I'd degas fully before adding the clarifier. It might not make a difference but I like to make sure it's fully degassed before adding it.

 

[jdammer]

Alright. I've been degassing with a drill and a wine saver vacuum pump for two days. Still a good amount of bubbles coming up. What am I looking for?

No bubbles. A few bubbles?

 

[Stirs]

Can anyone tell me what is actually in the F pack?

 

[cpfan]

Can anyone tell me what is actually in the F pack?

First it depends which F pack. This thread started with the Mezza Luna White question. I haven't made this kit, but based on other similar kits, I would say Liquid Invert Sugar. This is a Winexpert kit, and I believe that they list the ingredients for the F-pack on the box.

Steve

 

[Stirs]

Thanks. It has color, so I wasn't expecting it to be just inverted sugar.

 

[cpfan]

Thanks. It has color, so I wasn't expecting it to be just inverted sugar.

Which kit are you asking about? There would be colour if it was a Mist kit.

Steve

 

[Stirs]

Vintners reserve white zinfandel. I have a recipe for one that calls for malolactic fermentation at about the same time Vintners calls for adding the F pack. I wasn't sure if it contained malolactic cultures. I didn't really see how it was possible, but I thought I'd ask.