Topping up and adding oak

First off I would like to thank the group for all the help as I get my first batch of wine going. Most of your contributions have been made through google searches so just because you haven't seen my questions doesn't mean you haven't answered them.

My BK French Merlot is ready for its first racking. At this point I want to add 1oz of French oak cubes, I have read that they will help with the wines character and add some tannin flavor. How should I go about treating them before adding them to the secondary or can I just throw them in right from the bag? And should I fetch them out at future rackings and carry them through a couple of rackings?

This brings me to part two. Accoring to my directions I am not to top up at the first racking but I am supposed to at the second, with water. I've read that it is better to top up with a similar wine rather than water. The folks at my LHBS told me that water is fine because the kit is actually ment to make 6.5 gallons. I think with what I've read about reds that I'd rather just throw in a $6 bottle of merlot each time. Might add some quality to the finished product. Is it true that the BK select kits are "supposed" to make

6.5 gallons and water is fine? I got a bottle of Merlot as well as another gallon of bottles drinking water.

I don't think this batch will be ready to drink by xmas, but I also don't think I'll be able to bulk age it for a year either. My plan is to keep it in a carboy until mid december and then bottle it after I filter it. I have a cartridge filter system that uses two kegs that use for melomels. I figure it will be easier to bottle from the keg as well, just add enough CO2 to pressurize the keg and push the wine into bottles. I think if I am carefull not to shake the keg at all I can keep any appreciable amount of CO2 from dissolving into the wine, plus I think 2-3 psi will do the job of pushing the wine out and into bottles.

Thanks for any insight,

Mark

Reply to
Mark Garwatoski
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Just dump them in. If you're anal-retentive, wet the chips, put them on a microwaveable dish, nuke them until they steam and then dump them in. Don't boil them in water or you'll end up throwing away part of the flavor.

And should I fetch them out at future rackings and carry them

I'd tend to leave them in or replace them each racking until the oak is noticeable, but the former might be a PIA to do.

Maybe, but I wouldn't top with water.

6 months bulk aging should be sufficient. If you're careful when you rack it you shouldn't need to filter the wine. Also, if you're bottling in December you should fine it in September or so and give it a last racking in November. BTW, if the wine is dry DON'T put any sorbate into it. Sulfite yes; sorbate no. Sorbate gives wines an off taste that many people can detect.

I have

Save that for your melomel. If you pressurize the wine with CO2 it will go into the bottle slightly fizzy, and I don't think you want that (unless you're into dry lambrusco!).

Filtration is sometimes a useful tool, but if you can avoid it the wine will be better.

Tom S

Reply to
Tom S

I think I'm supposed to add the sorbate at step #3 with the sulphites. So your saying I should hold off on this addition until later if at all? What would you consider "dry"? I think the directions also say to add some addtional sulphites if aging more than six months. When should this addtional sulphites be added?

Thanks,

Mark

Reply to
Mark Garwatoski

"Never" would be best. Sorbate is used to prevent restarting of fermentation in a wine that has residual sugar. If the wine is dry there is no sugar left to ferment, so sorbate is not necessary.

The reason the kit comes with sorbate is to cover the situation where the wine has stuck the fermentation off-dry, but the newbie winemaker doesn't know that and goes ahead and bottles the wine anyway. Without sorbate, the wine would likely start fermenting again in the bottle - causing corks popping in the middle of the night, a huge purple mess, and an angry letter/call/e-mail to Brew King's customer support. IOW, it's there to idiot-proof the product.

Specific gravity below 1.000 indicates a dry wine. Typical might be 0.994 or so.

I think the directions also say to add some

At the beginning of aging. You need the sulfite in there to render the wine an unfriendly environment for spoilage organisms. It'd be nice if you could measure the pH and free SO2 so you can set the free SO2 where it needs to be. Putting in too much sulfite can render the wine undrinkable. Not that it'd hurt you to drink it, but it wouldn't taste good.

Tom S

Reply to
Tom S

At this point I don't have a way to measure the free SO2 so I'll go with the

1/4teas they recommend.

I've decided to add my 1oz of oak cubes during the clarification stage. After about a month I'll taste it and add another oz and go from there checking monthly.

Thanks, Mark

Reply to
Mark Garwatoski

Mark, Good advise above. One suggestion I would make is to wait until it is clear and then get some 1 gal jugs. Rack the clearest wine off the top into 5 or 6 wine bottles but do not cork them. Then rack the rest into the

1 gal jugs. If you need to top the last one up, use some of the wine that you put in bottles. then cork the bottles that are left over and put airlocks on the jugs. You can sample them as you desire. Then you can let some of the gal. jugs bulk age longer and you can bottle a jug every now and then so you can sample it. This way you have no need to top up and you get to drink some along the way while bulk aging.

If, when topping up with the bottled wine, you end up with a partially full one, well shucks, I guess you will have to drink that one so it don't go bad. Life is tough.

Ray

Reply to
Ray

The kits are designed to make 6 gals, not 6.5. According to Tim Vandergrift, who made the kit, they will accommodate topping up with water at the second racking up to about 1L max. with no detrimental effects.

Pp

Reply to
pp

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