This is my first attempt at making wine from the basic winemaking kit, I have some recipes for raisin wine and orange wine and I have made 5 gallons of each, but I sampled both with a wine thief and both are dry almost to the point of being sour. Any advice ?
I make my wine sweet by adding potassium sorbate and then adding regular table sugar. Word of advice, it will be sweeter than what you think when adding the sugar.
I would also pick up a simple TA kit and check the acidity.
Easiest way to back sweeten the wine would be to add some wine conditioner. Since it is specifically designed for this purpose, it has enough sorbate in it to prevent any fermentation. For 5 gal I would add about 1/5-1/4 of the 5oo ml bottle to take the edge off. Then if you want a little more detectable sweetness keep adding small amounts until it gets you where you want to be.
I’m a new guy also and I appreciate all the information from you who have “been there and done that”.
I have a red kit that seems very dry just finishing secondary fermentation and was thinking of adding conditioner to it. My question is after I degas and put the stabilizer and fining agents in do I let it sit for two weeks, then rack it, before I add the conditioner?
Plus, after you add the conditioner do you need to add additional Potassium Metabisulphite to it before bottling or if you let it sit for another month?
Thanks
You can pretty much add the conditioner right before you bottle.
You do not have to add any preservatives with it as it is chalk full of sorbate.
For red wines I would be a lot more hesitant to add any back sweetening. It is very rare to find off dry reds. If that is what you are really looking to do great. But if you are just finding the wine a little sharp, ageing it will definately soften it quite a bit. If you do add some conditioner I would add it in small amounts at first to be on the safe side.
Which kit are you making?
I don’t really want it sweet. I was just worried that it seemed so dry. Like you say maybe it is just way to young to even taste like anything.
Maybe I’ll just degas and add the stablizers and finings and let it sit a few week to a month and then see where it is.
Would adding a few oz of glyserin to smooth it out, instead of the conditioner, and letting it age a bit longer be a better avenue to take? …or just give it time.
Sorry, I’m just a nervous first timer.
[quote=“mustache”]I don’t really want it sweet. I was just worried that it seemed so dry. Like you say maybe it is just way to young to even taste like anything.
Maybe I’ll just degas and add the stablizers and finings and let it sit a few week to a month and then see where it is.
Would adding a few oz of glyserin to smooth it out, instead of the conditioner, and letting it age a bit longer be a better avenue to take? …or just give it time.
Sorry, I’m just a nervous first timer.[/quote]
If I know exactly which kit you are making I might to be able to add a little more info. But generally I would just follow the basic process for right now, especially since you don’t have so much experience. What you are perceiving as too much dryness at this point is an initial imbalance with the acids and alcohol really overpowering everything else. It will soften as it ages. The specific kit and varietal will tell you how much time it might need.
My kids bought me a cheap kit to start off with to see if I would like making wine. It is a Vino Italiano (Paklab) Montepulciano kit.
I did go mostly by the instructions and some advice from a friend that is a kit winemaker. He explained that it was a cheap kit and I should have some fun with it. I did some tweaking by adding 32 oz of rehydrated grape concentrate and some oak chips to the primary. I did this because most people I talked to (and what I read) said these kits ended very weak or thin.
When I started the SG was 1.090 and the primary fermentation went great. After 7 days it was just below 1.020. I waited until day 8 to rack it and the SG was 1.002.
I racked it and it has been in the secondary for just over a week. There is no activity in the airlock. I tested it the other day and the SG is .992. I did not top it off when it was racked and did wonder if I should top it off now that secondary fermentation is done. I was planning to keep it in the carboy another week before I degassed and put in the stabilizers and finings in. I did take a little taste the other day when I checked the SG. Again, I know it is way too early for it to actually taste anything like a drinkable wine but it was bad and I thought I’d ask a couple of “what if” questions.
I am starting to realize that time not additives might be a better resource for me. Part of my nervousness is that this is the first time and I don’t know what good or bad is at this point.
After I degas and put my stabilizers and clearing agents in I plan to let it sit for two to four more weeks. I guess I got ahead of myself with the conditioners and Glycerin but I was fishing for info and this place seems to provide some very good, straight forward info for us new guys.
Appreciate your time and willingness to share your expertise. I just don’t want to bottle up something that won’t even be drinkable a year from now. Even though it was a cheap kit (which will be the last cheap kit) I want to make sure I do everything I can to insure it is at least drinkable down the road and I don’t have to dump it after all this work.
I do plan on moving to better kits because I am enjoying this.
Thanks again, any advice is appreciated.
BTW, sorry for hijacking the thread. Maybe I should have started a new one.
Nope - This thread is just fine, keep the questions flying.
Never tried a Vino Italiano, but from what I have read they are not going to get great results. It took some digging a while back, but I found out these are kits made by a Montreal company to be sold at Costco in the US only? Something like that.
Anyway, at .992 it is ready to go any time assuming it is clear. Waiting another week is also fine. Just have fun with it right now. Not sure how much better it will ever get, but some of the sharpness will probably soften. This is not a wine you would need to age for a long time. Bottle it after 4-6 weeks. Let it sit for a few months if you want. Take it for what it is.
Good news is you will have one kit under your belt and an idea what the low end can get you. And really I know lots of people who love the cheep kits and love the money they save with them, so I can’t judge anyone on it. If you think you want more next time there is lots of room to move up.
