Re: Quality of kit wines and white suggestions

I have heard that cutting the volume down will improve the body of a kit wine. What I have found is that it increased the acidity and that was not an improvement. And the alcohol level was to high for the type of wine which was not an improvement. If you start with a mix that is designed to yield 13% and you leave out 4 of 23 liters or 17% of the volume, then you are going to get 17% more alcohol or a 15.3% wine. Not a good table wine. Acidity will also be up 17%. Not a good trade off for body. If it is low in body, use a different kit next time.

The advantage of a kit is that everything is predetermined so all you have to do is follow instructions. If you start monkeying around with it, you had better be willing to do your own tests for pH, TA, sulphite, and sugar. Also adjust sorbate, nutrient and other additives. If you are going to go to all this trouble, why not make wine from scratch?

Ray

So far I have only made kits using a 23 l carboy, but I have seen posts from people who have used a 19 l carboy. Also, in the Wine Kitz shop, it was either on one brand of kit, or on a sign by the kits, stating that they make 23 l of normal body wine, or 19 l of more full bodied wine.... I figured that I would try one at 19 l and if I didn't like it, I would stay at 23 l.

Thanks for the replies.