So It is time to bottle this kit and tried a sample today. I was not happy with the results. It was not sweet as so many people says it is supposed to be, and the alcohol dominates the drink. It leaves what I call a "harsh" alcohol tastes in mouth after I drink it. I did raise the alcohol in the batch and my final sg was strange. Here is the detailed steps I wrote down. Maybe someone on the forum can identify if I did something wrong, or maybe I just don't like this kit? I have never tried a wine a kit before and in fact this would be the first time I have ever bottled wine. I am a major newbie. I plan to sweeten this and try it again cold. I tried it at room temperature.
I used bottled spring water. And I use 1 campden tablet crushed in a gallon of water to do all of my sanitizing. Maybe I should start using starsan? The wine seems to be wine and I doubt it is infected. It just leaves a harsh alcohol taste as if it has more than 10% in it. Also it is not sweet like is supposed to be. Like I said and plan to sweeten it today. First to 1.02 and try it. and then maybe all the way up to 1.04. There is a sweet wine I like called cantina bianca, and I checked its sg and it was 1.04. So I may like it there. Do all the kits taste like this? Did all of the good reviews on here, just raise my expectations to high? Is the low sg telling me something went wrong and I just don't know what it is?
8-15-2011
Heated around 3 gallons water to too high a temperature, right below boiling. I now realize this is hotter than the "hot" the instructions say. stirred bentonite well. Added juice. Topped up to 6 gallon line in fermenter. Temp = 110F and sg= 1.042. I added 5 1/2 pounds sugar. sg=1.076 temp= 105F. Waited until temp dropped to 82F, which took half a day. Sg=1.080 at 82F. Pitch dry yeast, Premier Cuvee.
8-16
(morning)Can see small bubbles on top of must. temp = 78F. Stirred softly.
(afternoon) stirred well. sg= 1.08, temp=77
8-17
(morning)Put airlock on and can see good bubbles. stirred well, sg =1.07
8-18
(morning) sg= 1.053
(afternoon) sg=1.05, temp= 76.5
8-19
(morning) stirred
(afternnon) stirred sg=1.042
8-20
(morning) stirred sg=1.032 temp=75
(afternoon) sg=1.026
8-21
(afternoon) sg=1.02
8-22
(morning)sg=1.013
(afternoon) sg=1.004, transferred to 6-gallon carboy.
8-23
(morning) Bubbles coming through airlock fast and co2 rising fast through must.
8-24
Fermenation still strong
8-29
Fermentation was strong up until today. bubbles have slowed way down.
8-30
sg=0.988 (sounds funny, so I do some research and check again next day)
8-31
sg=0.988 Check my hydromoter with tap water and it is dead on. My first beer batch hit its og and fg dead on. The other wines I am making have correct fg of 1.000 and 0.996. I do not beleive it is the hydrometer. I believe something in the process is somehow making the sg lower than it supposed to be, which possibly leads to the off taste? The reading is correct.
(afternoon) sg = 0.985-0.986
9-1
sg= 0.986
9-2
sg=0.985-0.986
9-3
Degassed. I combined three methods and keep rotating them. I have the plastic rod that goes on a drill. I would put a stopper with the hole in the carboy. I would cover the hole with my hand and then physically shake the carboy back and forth. I also have a food saver and I would pull a vacuum on it. I did this for awhile and then I took a sample and added the sorbate and k-meta. I then poured it back into the carboy and continued de-gassing until the food saver would pull very few bubbles. I took out a quart of wine as the instructions said and I added the f-pack. The f-pack filled it to the top with a little still left in the f-pack. So I took out another quart and added the rest of the f-pack and then topped up with the second quart I took out. The sg reads 1.000. The instructions say it should be 1.010 to 1.018. Again this seems correct with the low fg. But it is supposed to be sweet. This is not sweet. I then added the isinglass.
9-30
I have not touched it until now. It is clear. sg=1.002.
10-1
Today, I tried it.
Thanks for reading all of this and trying to help me!
I used bottled spring water. And I use 1 campden tablet crushed in a gallon of water to do all of my sanitizing. Maybe I should start using starsan? The wine seems to be wine and I doubt it is infected. It just leaves a harsh alcohol taste as if it has more than 10% in it. Also it is not sweet like is supposed to be. Like I said and plan to sweeten it today. First to 1.02 and try it. and then maybe all the way up to 1.04. There is a sweet wine I like called cantina bianca, and I checked its sg and it was 1.04. So I may like it there. Do all the kits taste like this? Did all of the good reviews on here, just raise my expectations to high? Is the low sg telling me something went wrong and I just don't know what it is?
8-15-2011
Heated around 3 gallons water to too high a temperature, right below boiling. I now realize this is hotter than the "hot" the instructions say. stirred bentonite well. Added juice. Topped up to 6 gallon line in fermenter. Temp = 110F and sg= 1.042. I added 5 1/2 pounds sugar. sg=1.076 temp= 105F. Waited until temp dropped to 82F, which took half a day. Sg=1.080 at 82F. Pitch dry yeast, Premier Cuvee.
8-16
(morning)Can see small bubbles on top of must. temp = 78F. Stirred softly.
(afternoon) stirred well. sg= 1.08, temp=77
8-17
(morning)Put airlock on and can see good bubbles. stirred well, sg =1.07
8-18
(morning) sg= 1.053
(afternoon) sg=1.05, temp= 76.5
8-19
(morning) stirred
(afternnon) stirred sg=1.042
8-20
(morning) stirred sg=1.032 temp=75
(afternoon) sg=1.026
8-21
(afternoon) sg=1.02
8-22
(morning)sg=1.013
(afternoon) sg=1.004, transferred to 6-gallon carboy.
8-23
(morning) Bubbles coming through airlock fast and co2 rising fast through must.
8-24
Fermenation still strong
8-29
Fermentation was strong up until today. bubbles have slowed way down.
8-30
sg=0.988 (sounds funny, so I do some research and check again next day)
8-31
sg=0.988 Check my hydromoter with tap water and it is dead on. My first beer batch hit its og and fg dead on. The other wines I am making have correct fg of 1.000 and 0.996. I do not beleive it is the hydrometer. I believe something in the process is somehow making the sg lower than it supposed to be, which possibly leads to the off taste? The reading is correct.
(afternoon) sg = 0.985-0.986
9-1
sg= 0.986
9-2
sg=0.985-0.986
9-3
Degassed. I combined three methods and keep rotating them. I have the plastic rod that goes on a drill. I would put a stopper with the hole in the carboy. I would cover the hole with my hand and then physically shake the carboy back and forth. I also have a food saver and I would pull a vacuum on it. I did this for awhile and then I took a sample and added the sorbate and k-meta. I then poured it back into the carboy and continued de-gassing until the food saver would pull very few bubbles. I took out a quart of wine as the instructions said and I added the f-pack. The f-pack filled it to the top with a little still left in the f-pack. So I took out another quart and added the rest of the f-pack and then topped up with the second quart I took out. The sg reads 1.000. The instructions say it should be 1.010 to 1.018. Again this seems correct with the low fg. But it is supposed to be sweet. This is not sweet. I then added the isinglass.
9-30
I have not touched it until now. It is clear. sg=1.002.
10-1
Today, I tried it.
Thanks for reading all of this and trying to help me!