How to wine kit?

Figure I would give a wine kit a go, but can't find the information I'm looking for. Since beer recipe kits come with a bunch of worthless generic information I figure the same is true of a wine kit. So, please outline the pitfalls of wine kits. Feel free to get technical and suggest what I need as far as process and equipment (above and beyond fermentors, corkers, transfer lines and the like).

My only experience has been with WineExpert kits, and the directions are fairly straightforward. It sounds like you have the basic equipment you need, and the kit will come with all the juice and chemicals, so go for it!

Photony said:

My only experience has been with WineExpert kits, and the directions are fairly straightforward. It sounds like you have the basic equipment you need, and the kit will come with all the juice and chemicals, so go for it!

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I know I can likely follow the directions and make wine that is alright; however, I want to know what will really make the difference between good and great. I'm more interested in greater details like if the kits need acid or ph adjustment which may require testing equipment or if they are already balanced. What equipment is otherwise helpful in the process or what techniques will yield a better product.

The kit instructions from Wine Expert are very much the same across their line of wine kits, here's one set of instructions for example. In the brief time, and few kits I've made, the only thing I'm doing different from the instructions is bulk aging after fermentation~stabilization is complete. Jack Keller's site also has a lot of information on improving upon the basic instructions.

HTH,

Fred

In contrast to beer kits, the wine kits come with perfect instructions, and even a guarantee! If you make the kit exactly as directed, you are guaranteed a good result.

The only thing I'd change is not using the finings (I want a vegetarian friendly wine), leaving it in the carboy longer after degassing, and adding a tiny bit of sulfite at bottling for preservatives. The instructions say you can add some campden/sulfite at bottling, but don't provide it.

Otherwise, make the kit just as instructed, including using a 6 gallon carboy for secondary and when to top off, and you'll be golden!

Bensiff said:

I know I can likely follow the directions and make wine that is alright; however, I want to know what will really make the difference between good and great. I'm more interested in greater details like if the kits need acid or ph adjustment which may require testing equipment or if they are already balanced. What equipment is otherwise helpful in the process or what techniques will yield a better product.

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It's my understanding that the higher priced the kit, the better the wine. I think the rough estimate is a value priced wine kit makes wine that would sell for 5~7 dollars per bottle, a medium priced (premium) wine kit makes wine that would sell for 7~10 a bottle, and a high priced (ultra-premium) kit makes 10~15+ dollar a bottle wine. I have an ultra-premium pinot noir and zinfandel kit wines aging, that from my wine-thief (aka turkey baster) tastings are going to be GOOD! No acid/ph adjustments are required.

So, this is the kind of stuff that really makes me wonder...the instruction say fill water until it hits between 1.080-1.100. That is a huge difference not only in the ABV of the finished product, but seems enough to impact the wines acidity, pH, and mouthfeel as well. Or do the specific wine kits give you a much tighter gravity tolerance that makes this a moot point?

I've done several wine kits. They make decent wine out of the box and the instructions are not bad.

I've modified a couple that worked out well. For example, adding a little less water on the red wine kits to make it "thicker".

I've also purchased pails of fresh juice. This is my preferred method of the two. You do need to check the total acid to ensure it comes out right. Also you could oak, back sweeten, ect.

Equipment is the same either way. Pail, carboy, siphon tubes, hydrometer. If you have beer supplies, you are good to go.

Bensiff said:

So, this is the kind of stuff that really makes me wonder...the instruction say fill water until it hits between 1.080-1.100. That is a huge difference not only in the ABV of the finished product, but seems enough to impact the wines acidity, pH, and mouthfeel as well. Or do the specific wine kits give you a much tighter gravity tolerance that makes this a moot point?

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The directions are generic to different styles, hence the range in OG.

Similar to extract brewing, if you hit the right volume, you'll hit the right OG for the kit.

Bensiff said:

So, this is the kind of stuff that really makes me wonder...the instruction say fill water until it hits between 1.080-1.100. That is a huge difference not only in the ABV of the finished product, but seems enough to impact the wines acidity, pH, and mouthfeel as well. Or do the specific wine kits give you a much tighter gravity tolerance that makes this a moot point?

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AZ_IPA said:

The directions are generic to different styles, hence the range in OG.

Similar to extract brewing, if you hit the right volume, you'll hit the right OG for the kit.

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Right- the instructions are "generic" but the wine kit is not. All of the merlot, say, will hit 1.095. All of the zinfandel might hit 1.100. Just top up to exactly 6 gallons when you make the kit, and the OG will be correct, and in that range- but correct for the style. I hope that helps!

Yooper said:

The only thing I'd change is not using the finings (I want a vegetarian friendly wine), leaving it in the carboy longer after degassing, and adding a tiny bit of sulfite at bottling for preservatives. The instructions say you can add some campden/sulfite at bottling, but don't provide it.

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Is this just bulk aging in a secondary after racking off the lees? Part of me already wants to toss the oak chips and replace with cubes and let it sit in the carboy for a good 6 months as I have bias against chips.

Is there thoughts on adding oxygen by injection at the onset of fermentation and if so, how long do I hit it for (ie I give my wort 45 seconds or so of pure O2) or is splashing plenty?

Benefit of letting it ferment out in the primary and then racking to secondary or is it best to transfer when around 2/3 done fermenting?

Thanks for the thoughts, these are just the questions that are popping into my head as I'm reading up on this.

Bensiff said:

Is this just bulk aging in a secondary after racking off the lees? Part of me already wants to toss the oak chips and replace with cubes and let it sit in the carboy for a good 6 months as I have bias against chips.

Is there thoughts on adding oxygen by injection at the onset of fermentation and if so, how long do I hit it for (ie I give my wort 45 seconds or so of pure O2) or is splashing plenty?

Benefit of letting it ferment out in the primary and then racking to secondary or is it best to transfer when around 2/3 done fermenting?

Thanks for the thoughts, these are just the questions that are popping into my head as I'm reading up on this.

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Most of the cheaper kits have sawdust, added to primary, for their "oaking", but the better kits come with oak spirals for aging later on. You can oxygenate for 30 seconds, but splashing to aerate works too. Since you add some water, and it's unboiled, there is more oxygen present than in wort, but adding o2 is good as well.

You normally rack wine when it's 1.010-1.020, but the kits are usually different and have you rack when it's finished at under 1.000.

For example, when I make wine out of grapes, I don't airlock my primary and stir daily. When fermentation slows, I rack to secondary at 1.010 or so and airlock. The wine kits have you airlock at the beginning, but using an ale pail is fine, and then rack to secondary when fermentation is done. In this case, following their directions are the correct things to do for those kits. They have the right instructions for their kits, and they have certain ingredients such as wine skins or things that I don't normally use in my wines (since I ferment a bit before pressing) and I've never gone wrong with following the directions in the better kits.

We drank a wine with dinner tonight that was a cheap kit. I mean, CHEAP. I found it in our local Dollar Store/Liquidators store. It was $20, including corks. Well, I had a coupon besides so it was $12. Ok, I had to!

It was actually pretty decent! Not complex, but for 40 cents a bottle it was really good- better than 2buck Chuck for sure. It was this kit: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ELJK6E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Now, it wasn't fine wine. But it was more than drinkable.

I've also done some $175+ kits. And the wine was outstanding.

With wine kits, you really do get what you pay for. The cheaper kits have less complexity, more juice concentrate, no grape skins, no oak, etc. while the better kits have more juice and no to low-concentrate, oak spirals or cubes, grape skins, dried elderberries (for tannin, I presume), etc.

I like having both types on hand. One is an everyday drinker like $2 chuck, and the other is more like a $25 bottle of wine for dinner.

Either way, the instructions with the kits are very good. If you're thinking of using oak cubes in a kit, make sure the wine is good enough to stand up to the depth of flavor oak cubes will provide. Otherwise, it could be overly tannic in the end.

Thanks for the info. I was wondering this exact thing. I read the instructions and wondered if they were as bad at the instructions in kit beer

Making a Chardonnay kit and force carbing it to bottle off something like a dry champagne for new years. Bought the kit but havent started it yet

Thanks a ton Yooper, you are really getting my mind squared up and ready for this endeavor. I'm going to pick up the Cellar Craft Red Mountain Cab (hard to ignore the chance to make my first grape wine using that which came from my states finest region) after work and see how that goes. I just found out a fire fighter captian I know has a pinot noir vineyard and sells to local homebrewers so maybe this time next year I will no longer need to think in terms of kits.

Anyway, one last thought, yeast starters. My beer brewing ways makes me hesitate to dump yeast right on the must. Do you have a good resource for pitching rates or starter calculators like JZ has on Mr. Malty for beer?

Bensiff said:

Anyway, one last thought, yeast starters. My beer brewing ways makes me hesitate to dump yeast right on the must. Do you have a good resource for pitching rates or starter calculators like JZ has on Mr. Malty for beer?

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Not really necessary with kits, as the must will be a "perfect" media for yeast growth. Dry or re-hydrated, it just works!

I agree! One cheap little package of wine yeast is perfect for most wines, and all the wine kits I"ve done for sure.

Alright thanks all, I will let you know how it turns out...next year (if I can manage to let it age that long...better get a couple kits)