1st attempt at wine

Howya. I've been brewing beer for awhile. I was away from it for nearly a year now but am back and decided to try my hand at wine.
A couple of questions
I bought a celler craft showcase merlot kit

1. Do I use the yeast provided? Lalvin 1118
2. The instructions seem straight forward BUT should I stick to them or, like beer, is there a better way to do this?
3. I assume the equipment is.the same except for degassing whip, o's there anything else I should have?
4. Regarding bottles, can.ibuse screw top bottles.or should.I.stick.to cork
Thanks.in.advance

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1. Yes. That's a great yeast for most wines.
2. Yes, follow the instructions. Kit wines are much better than kit beers that way!
3. You need a 6 gallon carboy, but otherwise should have everything you need.
4. I use corks and wine bottles, but you can use beer bottles and caps if you want. I wouldn't use the screw tops unless you had brand new screw tops that were sure to seal well, and I've never seen a good one for sale.

Thanks yooper
I.thought that might be the case with the screw tops
I assume the vessel in the attached pic would suffice, I have a couple of spare ones.....

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That vessel looks like it has a very wide headspace. I would try to use a traditional carboy for wine.

Ok I plan doing this tomorrow, I'll use the above for the first 10 days, or so, while I get a carboy then rack.it too that for secondary etc, that should work?

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OhCrap said:

Ok I plan doing this tomorrow, I'll use the above for the first 10 days, or so, while I get a carboy then rack.it too that for secondary etc, that should work?

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Click to expand...

Yes, or a demijohn with a narrow headspace.

Cheers here's to waiting n waiting. Waiting then enjoying

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One last question regarding temperature
It says to keep temp around 19-22 c..
Is that the same as beer, Keep ambient temp lower as the fermentation causes heat?
I have my chamber set at 16c to allow for this!!! am I right to do this or should I increase temp to 19c

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Well it's happily bubbling away at18.8c in a nice steady environment....now it's waiting time

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Yummmm the smells are amazing

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OhCrap said:

Yummmm the smells are amazing

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Click to expand...

Well, that's it...

You are hooked.

DoctorCAD said:

Well, that's it...

You are hooked.

Click to expand...

Hehehehe
Heard that before and now I have a mini brewery n winery all stored beside a 67 mustang

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OhCrap said:

Hehehehe
Heard that before and now I have a mini brewery n winery all stored beside a 67 mustang

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Click to expand...

Oh, should we discuss "soapmaking", "coffee roasting", "cheesemaking", etc? It's a dangerous slope, I tell ya!

If my poor grasp of celsius is correct, 18.8 C sounds perfect! You can go warmer a bit, but that's a good temperature. I often go with 21C for primary for wines, especially reds.

Yooper said:

Oh, should we discuss "soapmaking", "coffee roasting", "cheesemaking", etc? It's a dangerous slope, I tell ya!

If my poor grasp of celsius is correct, 18.8 C sounds perfect! You can go warmer a bit, but that's a good temperature. I often go with 21C for primary for wines, especially reds.

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Nooooooo stop tempting me.....
Well maybe I'd try cheese making if it wasn't too hard, now look what you did...
Maybe I'm.wrong but I prefer to keep my ambient temp at.little.lower to allow the yeasties provide the rest of the hot stuff. The temp probe is taped to the side of the vessel (insulated of course) and the variation in temp is 18.8-19.2c (65.8-66.5 f) But that 'logic' is from beer....if I should increase it to 69-70f tell me and I will cause this smells too.good to mess up

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Yooper said:

It's a dangerous slope, I tell ya!

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That's for sure. Winemakers can get to the point where the "Hmmm, does it ferment??" question comes up wayyy too often.

My Other Half has become a mind reader. I'm at the supermarket, minding my own business, standing quietly reading labels ... and she says "What? - you're NOT thinking of making WINE out of that are you?". I'm looking at a jar of mincemeat. "No of course not" I say, "it contains meat".
I lied ... that is why I was looking at the label ... just - uh, double checking. ("Hello, I'm Jacob and I have a fermenting addiction", Room: "Hello Jacob")

Mock mincemeat does not contain meat. Often sold as mincemeat. Made with apples and raisons or zucinie and raisons. Label checking a jar of mincemeat for fermenting is valid!!

jensmith said:

Mock mincemeat does not contain meat. Often sold as mincemeat. Made with apples and raisons or zucinie and raisons. Label checking a jar of mincemeat for fermenting is valid!!

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Noe we're going in an interesting direction...pity I'm so new at the wine stuff

the 1118 has a VERY BROAD temperature range that is effective. I would say there is about a 40 degree "window".

T_Baggins said:

the 1118 has a VERY BROAD temperature range that is effective. I would say there is about a 40 degree "window".

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40 degree....jeez that's huge. My 2.5 degree variance should be fine so..

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Ok so.I'm.just back.in from the 'brewery/winery, or the place where I produce alcohol...did a hydro reading and it is 1026. Down 60 points in 8 days. Now the instructions tell me to rack on day 10 when the wine is 1000...I do not think it will hit that for another 4/5 days. Without the noobie question I'm going to leave it till it hits the target. One question tho.... If I up the temp slightly would that hurry it up or should I just wait it out? Afterall it'll be aged for months so what's a couple of more days right?
Also it's beginning to take on a fruity alchol taste, a bit bitter sweet.

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I rack to secondary when the wine is 1.010-1.020. Or, at least I try to! Sometimes a wine will go dry in 5 days, sometimes 10 days. It depends on so many things- the fermentability of the ingredients, the temperature, I swear even the barometric pressure! Just rack when you can, any time in the next few days, and it'll be fine.

so, you know how you pay $5 for a recently bottled wine, $30 for a 5 year old one and $100 for 10 year old one? That applies here too.

Patience. Just let it sit. Follow the times in the instructions as a minimum, but longer only does good, especially once you're out of the primary.

For example - my 42 day (6 week) Meritage just got bottled today after 74 days (11 weeks). It's drinkable straight out of the bottle now, but it'll sit for another few months before we drink it (because there are 4 other batches under the stairs). The longest I've secondaried (is that a word?!) so far is 93 days. Never a problem, as long as you keep it cool (65Fish) and dark.

Here's a trick to keep the corks moist (don't let them dry out!). Keep your bottles upside down in the box. It works great if you have dividers in the boxes.

I also found cold crashing before racking works really nicely to settle the sediment.

Yooper, I'm about to order equipment and am looking at options. The wine kit makes 23l (6gal us)
1. The one attached is a 5gallon pet carboy with tap. Is this a good option, because of the tap?
2. I was going to.order a smaller 5l glass demijohn aswell and maybe rack the remaining wine onto something to change characteristics, any suggestions? Or just leave well enough alone!!

Duplicate

If you're going to make wine kits, it's important to have the 6 gallon carboy. Glass or plastic is fine, but the 6 gallon carboy is important to have. You can try to make do with a 5 gallon and a jug, but it's hard for degassing and adding clarifiers.

Yooper said:

If you're going to make wine kits, it's important to have the 6 gallon carboy. Glass or plastic is fine, but the 6 gallon carboy is important to have. You can try to make do with a 5 gallon and a jug, but it's hard for degassing and adding clarifiers.

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I understand the 6 gal reasoning...I was thinking that the 5 gal with tap was a good option and have a gallon left over for experimenting! But it was the tap that I was drawn to so as not to have to siphon! I just have this fear of siphoning

OhCrap said:

I understand the 6 gal reasoning...I was thinking that the 5 gal with tap was a good option and have a gallon left over for experimenting! But it was the tap that I was drawn to so as not to have to siphon

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my experience with the taps is not good. I had one with a "hi-flow" valve, and it would have taken hours for that damn thing to empty, and then leave a lot behind.


I don't think it's a way to avoid siphoning, and siphoning is important to master anyway. it's also super easy.

Yooper said:

my experience with the taps is not good. I had one with a "hi-flow" valve, and it would have taken hours for that damn thing to empty, and then leave a lot behind.





I don't think it's a way to avoid siphoning, and siphoning is important to master anyway. it's also super easy.

Click to expand...

Ok, I'll order th 6 gal one and siphon..thanks yooper

Down to 1.002, time to rack only the damn carboy won't be here till Thursday.

I second The 6 gal...that is what I use at the store!.....syphoning is easy!....are you planning on filtering your wine?....I will also say that I keep my fermentation room at 72 F and always hit my sgs for ferm 2 in 6-9 days!....I will caution from leaving in the carboys for extended periods as suggested above. After stabil and filter....or maybe in your case a racking or 2. I would encourage you to get it into the bottles within a couple of weeks of the 6 week recommendation. They will begin to oxidize in the carboy even with an airlock after time.....they age much better bottled and lain on their side. As the owner of a brew on premise facilty, I process upwards of 150 batches or more a month and and have loads of experience with the Cellar Classic series!....You should be very satisfied by your end result. Spagnols kits are very friendly!....with a little aging....you will have a wine that you will be proud to share!



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Yooper said:

I rack to secondary when the wine is 1.010-1.020. Or, at least I try to! Sometimes a wine will go dry in 5 days, sometimes 10 days. It depends on so many things- the fermentability of the ingredients, the temperature, I swear even the barometric pressure! Just rack when you can, any time in the next few days, and it'll be fine.

Click to expand...

I agree that barometric pressure does play apart in the wine making process!....it usually comes into play at stabil for me....some wines will spill over at the sheer site of sulphite on some days.....forget about stirring for a long while!.....I always blame it on the pressure....because I can't pin it down to anything else!


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Well it's racked, sg was 1.000,
All.tucked away in the dark at 68f....more waiting (or bottle collecting time, full to empty)

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Hello again... Sorry if im long winded, first post since I'm back after having spinal surgery.... During that time my wine and beer have been sitting in their dark ferm. chambers aging nicely, I hoped.... I bulk aged the merlot as I couldn't lift and got a friend to help rack it (a couple of minutes v bottling ). I was clearing out the shyte from the garage and decided, feck it, I'll try a glass. I was Happy and not so happy.
I got a nice fruity flavor up front but it tasted 'hot'. It wasn't unpleasant but just there I'm assuming that if I let it sit till Christmas that I should mellow out, please correct me. Should I let it sit as is or bottle and try a bottle every now and then.
Cheers

OhCrap said:

Hello again... Sorry if im long winded, first post since I'm back after having spinal surgery.... During that time my wine and beer have been sitting in their dark ferm. chambers aging nicely, I hoped.... I bulk aged the merlot as I couldn't lift and got a friend to help rack it (a couple of minutes v bottling ). I was clearing out the shyte from the garage and decided, feck it, I'll try a glass. I was Happy and not so happy.
I got a nice fruity flavor up front but it tasted 'hot'. It wasn't unpleasant but just there I'm assuming that if I let it sit till Christmas that I should mellow out, please correct me. Should I let it sit as is or bottle and try a bottle every now and then.
Cheers

Click to expand...

"Hot" flavors do mellow out with time. Sometimes it's hot just because of the high alcohol level, but often it means that the fermentation temperature got hot and produced more fusel alcohols.

Luckily, with wine, time is on your side. Put it away, and don't think about it for a year. I think expecting this one to mellow by christmas is expecting a bit too much, if it's still hot right now.

Dupe

Yooper said:

"Hot" flavors do mellow out with time. Sometimes it's hot just because of the high alcohol level, but often it means that the fermentation temperature got hot and produced more fusel alcohols.



Luckily, with wine, time is on your side. Put it away, and don't think about it for a year. I think expecting this one to mellow by christmas is expecting a bit too much, if it's still hot right now.

Click to expand...

Cheers yooper, time with this isn't really a problem, Christmas was just a target... Fermentation was held steady at 19.5 c (66f)As I said it was nice up front and a bit hot aftertaste, but not unpleasant. Still I have the time and space so I'll store it. Will I leave it in carboy or bottle it and sample at Christmas. But the danger is at Easter, next summer and then it should be right this time next year when I can't find any bottles.


Beer....1 is nice, 2 is better, 3 is enough & 4 isn't half enough (**,)

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