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  • Adding raisins

    As per another forum members experiment/advise, I have been adding 500g of raisins, 500g of sugar and extra french oak chips to my recently made 5 gallon Kenridge and Beaverdale wines [4 kits] and in my opinion, for whats its worth, the difference is remarkable. I would definately recommend it; if you havent tried this method, then do; you will be pleasantly suprised......cant remember the forum members name, but great advise and many thanks

  • #2
    That would be richard_s Rioja "Tweak"

    If you also change the yeast for a good quality one it makes a further improvement


    regards
    Bob
    N.G.W.B.J.
    Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
    Wine, mead and beer maker

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    • #3
      There are three levels of KenRidge kits. Tweaking the Classic (10 litre box) family is OK. But I don't think tweaking the larger box kits (Showcase and Founders Series) is necessary.

      AFAIK, all of the KenRidge Classic kits come with Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. Most of the Showcase also come with EC-1118 but some reds have come with Lalvin RC-212 and some whites with Lalvin K1-V1116. The older Founders Series kits (before the grape skins were added) are the same as the Showcase series. I don't have any experience with the newer Founders Series kits.

      Personally I might consider changing out the EC-1118 on the Classic kits, but would probably stick with the provided yeast on the KRS and KRFS. Unless, of course, you are switching to liquid yeast.

      For example, we are very happy with the KRC Merlot with EC-1118. I have muttered about using RC-212 with that kit, but have not done it yet.

      Steve
      the procrastinating wine maker in the Niagara Region of Ontario Canada
      "why do today what you can put off till next week"

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      • #4
        So are these kits supposed to have champagne like qualities ?

        As its my understanding that that's what the EC-1118 is i.e. a campagne yeast.

        Which is why I like to avoid it, as it seems to blow to much of the aromatics and more subtle flavours straight out the air lock - well with my meads anyway.

        Plus it seems to be the standard of uninformed HBS......

        Or maybe that's what they supply because it'll ferment, whatever the circumstances of the person who makes the kit up ?

        Which would be a very lazy approach, instead of supplying a yeast more appropriate to the grape type of the juice/concentrate in the kit......
        Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

        Some blog ramblings

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by fatbloke View Post
          So are these kits supposed to have champagne like qualities ?

          As its my understanding that that's what the EC-1118 is i.e. a campagne yeast.

          Which is why I like to avoid it, as it seems to blow to much of the aromatics and more subtle flavours straight out the air lock - well with my meads anyway.

          Plus it seems to be the standard of uninformed HBS......

          Or maybe that's what they supply because it'll ferment, whatever the circumstances of the person who makes the kit up ?

          Which would be a very lazy approach, instead of supplying a yeast more appropriate to the grape type of the juice/concentrate in the kit......
          Fatbloke:

          Wines (and yeasts apparently) in France are named after the region that they come from. So a Bordeaux wine is from Bordeaux, a Burgundy wine from Burgundy, etc etc. So a champagne yeast is from the region of Champagne. What makes Champagne is that it is made in a certain fashion (riddling etc). So I don't really think that yeast from Champagne can only be used to make Champagne.

          The reasons that EC-1118 is so common in kits (and is recommended by some LHBSes) is that it works well in a wide range of temperatures, has a high alcohol tolerance, has a reasonably high killer factor, and works well with concentrates.

          Some manufacturers use only EC-1118. I have never seen another yeast in an RJ Spagnols kit. Others, eg Vineco as I mentioned above, use EC-1118 primarily with a couple of others on specific kits. Winexpert, on the other hand, uses a much wider variety of yeasts on their better quality kits (I'm not sure about their 4-week kits).

          The better kit companies do perform testing on their kits to determine yeast, oaking, etc. Winexpert has been known to change the yeast included with a specific kit when they feel that it will improve the result.

          Steve
          the procrastinating wine maker in the Niagara Region of Ontario Canada
          "why do today what you can put off till next week"

          Comment


          • #6
            I think the reason EC-118 is used so much is more to do with it's low foaming, low volatile sulfur production, wide temp range and it produces compact lees (makes a good beer yeast if you are making a lager style; at least that's what I used it for). According to lallemand it is the original "prise de mousse" and is used for both base wine and in bottle fermentation, probably partly due to the above characteristics. see here:



            and


            It has a fairly neutral character so is probably favoured for wine kits as the resulting ferment is likely to be uneventful. I tend to swap it for k1v in the kit reds I do which means it ends up being used for beers. As it floculates well it is good for bottles.

            http://markblades.com
            Bebere cerevisiae immodoratio
            These days I'm drinking in Charcot's Joint.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by mcblades View Post
              I think the reason EC-118 is used so much is more to do with it's low foaming, low volatile sulfur production, wide temp range and it produces compact lees (makes a good beer yeast if you are making a lager style; at least that's what I used it for). According to lallemand it is the original "prise de mousse" and is used for both base wine and in bottle fermentation, probably partly due to the above characteristics. see here:



              and


              It has a fairly neutral character so is probably favoured for wine kits as the resulting ferment is likely to be uneventful. I tend to swap it for k1v in the kit reds I do which means it ends up being used for beers. As it floculates well it is good for bottles.
              Yes, I know all that. Yet it seems that it's recommended for two "other" reasons i.e. laziness on the part of kit makers, HBS, etc and ignorance of the stuff that's gonna be fermented.

              K1-V1118 pretty much satisfies all the above criteria, ok it's a little slower at fermenting but in all other points it seems to out do EC-1118. Plus it seems to retain more flavour, more aroma, ages better, etc etc. It also flocculates well, low sulphur, low nutrient requirement, etc etc

              So why is it that the kit makers want to include a yeast that might be a strong fast fermenter, but seems to give a dry blandness "a la champagne" to batches, which especially if "reds", it should be kept well away from ?

              Especially when Lallemand alone, produce enough strains to ferment pretty much anything so as it will retain many or most of the characteristics of the original, regional strains ? It's not as if "cost" is much of an excuse, when say kenridge produce a run of X and it will use Y yeast - it would be pretty easy for them to get the Y yeast packaged (printed/designed packs or just white with the technical info printed on it) for close to the same cost as when they produce a batch of "the usual suspects".

              The "it does this, that and the other" just doesn't work IMO. It doesn't matter if it's a more "northern" type grape or something generally grown in warmer more central or southern regions, using the same yeast might "work" but will leave you with a batch that has different characteristics.....
              Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

              Some blog ramblings

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by iannowi View Post
                in my opinion, for whats its worth, the difference is remarkable. I would definately recommend it; if you havent tried this method, then do; you will be pleasantly suprised.....
                I've recently made a pineapple wine which after the first racking appears a little on the thin side. Would adding raisins improve the body? And if so, how best would you add them?




                Nil Ligitmo pro Corburundum

                Comment


                • #9
                  If the wine has finished fermenting then blending nmight be a better option.

                  what was the recipe, start SG and current SG, this might aid in finding a solution

                  regards
                  Bob
                  N.G.W.B.J.
                  Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                  Wine, mead and beer maker

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by lockwood1956 View Post
                    If the wine has finished fermenting then blending nmight be a better option.

                    what was the recipe, start SG and current SG, this might aid in finding a solution

                    regards
                    Bob
                    Started off at 1.087. Still fermenting but don't know current SG - I'll check tomorrow and report back with recipe info


                    Pro ligitmo nil corburundum

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