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Re: Extended Instructions for Making Wines from Kits - Question

I've read Jack Keller's? Extended Instruction for Making Wines from Kits and have a few questions after comparing Jack's instructions with the instructions from the wine kit. I'm fairly certain Jack's instructions will produce a better wine, but I'm new a this and would like some clarification.

A few differences I noticed:

Following the wine kit instructions, The first item is to add the Bentonite with a half gallon on water and Jack's instruction say to add Bentonite around day 29. Any idea why this would be so different?

Another difference is according to the wine kit, I should rack the wine after day 7 or when the SG reached 1.010 or less - Jack's instructions don't mention racking the wine until about day 30. Should I rack it around day 7 or day 30? Do I run the risk of giving the wine a "yeasty" taste if I wait to rack it?

Brandon

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Brandon
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Brandon:

Some kits add bentonite before fermentation, some after; your kit obviously before. You can add it later but you might need to adjust the amount - I think the theory is you'd need more after fermentation than before.

The racking - per Jack's instructions, the wine is made in the carboy from the beginning, so there is no need to rack at sg 1.010. Kit instructions want you to use a plastic bucket/fermentor for the first stage of fermentation - if you do that, you need to transfer to a carboy to avoid oxidation, i.e., while the wine is still producing enough CO2 to protect it.

If you're really new to this, you might want to do 1 or 2 kits exactly per instructions to see what you get and then start fiddling. Or do 2 batches of the same kit side by side and compare. If you don't follow the instructions and things go wrong, your kit warranty will be void.

Pp

Reply to
pp

Thank you for the advice.

I'm using a V-Vessel System, so racking the wine only consists of closing a valve at the bottom of the fermenter and removing, cleaning, sanitizing, and reattaching the collection bulb. There is some remaining head-space within the system, which is currently fermenting 23 liters of wine, but could hold about 25 liters, I think.

I'll make the wine per the instructions since this is my first kit wine and see how the wine finishes.

Brandon

Reply to
Brandon

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