Made beer for years my first wine with questions..

[jabba11]

Its a muscat from williams brewing. Simple instructions.. says to add water..shoudl I boil this water and let it cool or is tap fine? I really wanna boil it LOL.. Should I remove the chloramide (with campden) like I do with my beer water?

 

[McKnuckle]

Campden tablets are a standard initial additive to the must in winemaking. They're used to kill wild yeast and/or bacteria that might be present on the fruit, before pitching the desired wine yeast. So I imagine that treating your water with it is a win-win.

 

[sfgoat]

I never boil with wine and usually add campden to the must before pitching yeast. I'm sure yooper will chime in soon with specifics.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I am in the same boat as you. I just made a Mango wine with several mistakes (none critical). For one, I simmered my puree in straight tap water (I should have boiled the water to get rid of the chloramine and then added the puree to simmer).

I just learned that you will need Potassium Sorbate when it comes time to bottle as it stabilizes the wine. I do not know if it is included in your kit or not, but the wine recipe I used (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f79/mango-pulp-wine-216092/) also called for pectic enzyme, wine tannin and acid blend. The acid blend is used right before bottling to adjust the taste to your liking.

 

[jabba11]

I hve sorbate at the ready. I have made cider before and used it in that (although I dont ususlaly anymore)

 

[brewing_clown]

I usually just add tap water to the William's kits. They turn out great.

 

[AdamBomb]

Tap water. Add campden and let must rest for 24hrs. Then pitch yeast.

At least that's my procedure.

 

[jabba11]

why let the must rest? Whats the purpose of that?

 

[sfgoat]

why let the must rest? Whats the purpose of that?

Give the campden time to sanitize the must.

 

[jabba11]

well the kit already has it in it. (so the juice part has already had that done so to speak) I use campden in my beer water to remove chloramine from my water as my city uses that (not chlorine etc) not so much to remove "stray yeasts etc" from being in it.
I guess my beer experience is like "no way im letting this sit around overnight" LOL

 

[jabba11]

do you guys aereate?

 

[sfgoat]

Never have with wine. Not actually sure it would help.

 

[brewing_clown]

I aerate by shaking the fermenter for a minute prior to pitching.

 

[RegarRenill]

I've never made a kit(mostly meads and country wines), but wouldn't boiling the water remove the dissolved O2? Yeast need oxygen during the initial growth ("lag") phase. Unless you're planning in aerating, I wouldn't boil the water...

 

[jabba11]

I didnt boil it and didnt aereate...things chugging away fine thanks for your help guys

 

[TheCrackpot]

Never have with wine. Not actually sure it would help.

Just curious as to why it wouldn't help.

I too have been making beer for years but plan on getting my wife started on wine (which means I'll be making wine, she'll be drinking it and telling her friends that she made it). I've just begun the research phase and plan on using kits from Williams, etc.

Also, I use RO water for all my brewing. Can I assume that this will be fine for wine kits as well?

 

[sfgoat]

Just curious as to why it wouldn't help.

I too have been making beer for years but plan on getting my wife started on wine (which means I'll be making wine, she'll be drinking it and telling her friends that she made it). I've just begun the research phase and plan on using kits from Williams, etc.

Also, I use RO water for all my brewing. Can I assume that this will be fine for wine kits as well?

You may need so yeast nutrient using RO water but otherwise it should be fine. I favor spring water for wine. As far as aerating for wine, not many boil for wine (just isn't necessary) and boiling is what drives off all of the O2 in the solution. So if we are not boiling then there should already be plenty of O2 there for your needs.

 

[DoctorCAD]

I make lots of Williams wine kits. Never boiled, never added campden pre-ferment, never added nutrient and never aereated. They all turned out just fine.

 

[TheCrackpot]

That makes sense that the lack of a boil means that the O2 in the water and juice has not been driven off. Would it hurt to add some extra O2? Would that cause a situation where the yeast are too active and over ferment, stripping out some of the flavor and body?

Also, are my Better Bottles going to be ok or is glass an absolute necessity?

 

[Yooper]

That makes sense that the lack of a boil means that the O2 in the water and juice has not been driven off. Would it hurt to add some extra O2? Would that cause a situation where the yeast are too active and over ferment, stripping out some of the flavor and body?

Also, are my Better Bottles going to be ok or is glass an absolute necessity?

Extra 02 can't hurt. I've never added it to wine must, but it 'can't hurt, might help' applies I would assume.

Better bottles are fine- as long as you top up appropriately.

 

[TheCrackpot]

Thanks.

Does 'topping up' specifically mean adding more juice or would periodically purging the head space with CO2 suffice?

Am I annoying everybody with a bunch of noob questions that have probably been answered a hundred times already?

 

[Yooper]

Thanks.

Does 'topping up' specifically mean adding more juice or would periodically purging the head space with CO2 suffice?

Am I annoying everybody with a bunch of noob questions that have probably been answered a hundred times already?

Ideally, you'd have a small enough carboy that you wouldn't have to add anything but you can add some finished wine (if you have some, that's what I do) or some similar commercial wine. I have 1, 3, 5, 6 and 6.5 gallon carboys, and still sometimes have to use a wine bottle or growler for the excess wine for topping up. I tend to make a +.5 gallon batch just for that purpose.

If you have a similar cheap commercial wine to top up a small amount, that would be fine. Some use sanitized glass marbles to take up a bit of headspace (but you'd need a lot of them if there is a lot of headspace). Topping up with some co2 works, but it does dissipate so would need to be repeated now and then and I'm not sure how effective it would be long term.

 

[jabba11]

I bought a 2.5 gallon kit. it says in the instructions to "top up with water' when going to secondary (removing the headspace and that in a 3 gallon fermenter not sure what the instrucions say in a 5 gallon kit but id bet the same))