Paklab wine kit ?

[kampervan]

bought rasp merlot and cab sav and white one will see if bargain. looks ok

[SiSandrine]

Aaargh. Shall I shan't I? I used a California Connoisseur Cab Sauv kit (remember the Tesco £9 offer?) blended with GF merlot to get a really top notch blend. Tempted to do the same again.
Any reason I shouldn't.

[goldseal]

Do it

[Cellar_Rat]

go for it - you know you want to!

[Delmonteman]

Well, I don't normally do wine kits and I certainly wouldn't have considered a 5 gallon one were it not for the price and what looks like ok quality... Though only time will tell on that one!

[Cellar_Rat]

Yeah I thought 5 gallon was a bit small.

[bigshug1960]

Thought I had better get one of my kits started tonight. I'm hoping to get my, production to consumption, level rising to a stage where I can keep my better quality kits for a minimum of a year. I have gone for the simpler option of doing the one that came complete first, then think about what to add to the freebie
My SG is 1.090 which seems higher than any of the kits I have made before. I made the must up to the 23L mark, but I seem to remember when I got my secondary fermenter ( I bought a starter kit from my nearest HBS, hour drive each way ) it was quite a ways short of the mark after racking. this was not the case with the bucket type fermenter type I have since bought. Should I have added more water to bring the SG to nearer the 1.080 ? I mixed the livin' daylights out of it thinking it wasn't stirred enough

Alan

[Rich]

Alan, just top up when you transfer to the carbouy. But for next time fill you carbouy full with water then tip that into your bucket and mark a line for the carbouy type on the bucket.

Glass and plastic carbouys hold a different amount..

Good spot on the kits too, thank you!

[Cellar_Rat]

Don't trust the litre markings on buckets or fermenters etc to be anywhere near accurate.

[bigshug1960]

Alan, just top up when you transfer to the carbouy. But for next time fill you carbouy full with water then tip that into your bucket and mark a line for the carbouy type on the bucket.

Thanks Rich, that was going to be my next question

Glass and plastic carbouys hold a different amount..

I didn't realise and I have just bought a glass one to age my selection kit when I make it, I hope it's not too big

Good spot on the kits too, thank you!

Glad to be able to add something to the forum as a complete beginner

Alan

[bigshug1960]

Don't trust the litre markings on buckets or fermenters etc to be anywhere near accurate.

I'll mark them as Rich suggested, but with the glass or plastic carboy ? The volumes in this hobby are minefield of varying sizes

Alan

[goldseal]

My glass carboys are 23.8l, the plastic Better Bottle carboys are 22.7l, and the Chinese BB copies I have are maybe 22.9l.

I calibrate my fermenters to the Better Bottles. I fill to that mark, then add a little for luck, then maybe another litre if the secondary fermenter is glass.

You won't be able to get that accurate when fermenting for real, because of things like the concentrate foaming when you mix it, variable amounts of lees, and so on.

You can always top-up after racking to the secondary anyway.

Because secondaries vary in size I always use a Better Bottle for red kits: minimum volume and therefore minimal dilution.

[goldseal]

Varying sizes can be useful though.

If you finish your fermentation in a glass carboy, you can rack to a Better Bottle usually without having to top up (because you have lost 1 litre+ in volume anyway).

[goldseal]

Me again

Cornucopia Raspberry Merlot Kit has arrived. All looks present and correct.

I thought I'd better post to clarify something for those who may have bought one, who aren't used to this sort of kit.

There are two bags of juice in the box. They call them the Large Bag and the Small Bag (insert mother-in-law joke of your choice here).

The Large Bag is your concentrate, to go in the fermenter.

The Small Bag is your F-pack (flavour pack). This goes in after fermentation and stabilisation, to sweeten and flavour the fermented juice.

Don't chuck 'em both in the primary!

[SiSandrine]

Just to say thanks for all the calls for restraint. Cab Sauvingon ordered, though I was tempted with a Barolo too.