Bottled my Wine

[Wez]

I managed to get Mrs Wez' wine bottled today, 3 California Connoisseur kits, 2x White Zinfandel (Rose) and 1x California Reisling. Ended up with 11 bottles of Rose and 5 and a half bottles of White*.

*The half of White will be consumed shortly once it's chilled :drink:

 

[Frisp]

early update please Wez.
As Madame Le Frisp is not a fan of premier ale she has recently revealed a passion for pink wine and fizzy whites. And Im thinking of banging on a few kits. In fact Im thinking of diving in and doing 5 Gal of Leylands own variety wine from concentrate, using champagne yeast and using a spare cornie to Keg it bright and infuse it with Co2.
Worth a go? :hmm:

 

[Wez]

It sounds good to me, but Ive only ever stuck to the yeast supplied, IIRC BrewStew is more knowledgable on wine than me, I'm sure he'll be able to advise better.

This Rose is a good one though

 

[Kingfisher]

Hi Frisp, I've used Leyland own brand kits and had decent results I have a Leyland OB white on at the moment. When finished I add their wine enhancer http://www.leylandhomebrew.com/item1549.htm about £2.50, which gives it more body.

:hmm: I've been advised that putting wine into cornies is not good as the chemicals therein can react with the stainless steel. Other people may have more experience with this.

 

[J_P]

Madame Le Frisp

- That made me giggle and I'm not sure why!

I can't faut the white House Of Beaverdale kits from the H&G. There is a definate taste difference between beer kits and AG beer however there is not with these wine kits. The red one I tried was a bit thin for my tastes but then again I like my red wines thick and chewy.

 

[Bugno]

Can someone detail how a wine is brewed from these kits. Do you just buy the kit and everything is provided or is there more needed.

 

[Wez]

The kits that I did "California Connoisseur" include everything you need, you get a bag of concentrate and the necessary sachets of yeast, nutrients and finings. Basically all you do it empty the concentrate into a DJ dilute with cooled boiled water and follow the instructions for when to add the sachets. Nice and easy You do need a spare DJ as you need to drop it effectively into a secondary FV after a week IIRC.

So the only thing you need in addition to these kits is 2x DJ's 1x bung and 1x Airlock.

Obviously you need bottles and corks as well, this kits comes with labels, which is nice

 

[Bugno]

How long from start to when you bottle. Do you have to need to leave it in bottle long before you drink. Do you need something to put the corks on and shrink wrap thingies or are these provided.

 

[Wez]

The instructions say that this is a 4 week wine kit meaning that it's drinkable 4 weeks after you kick it off (at bottling stage). We bottled last night and had half a bottle of the Reisling between us and it was very nice. It will improve with age though, but certainly palletable now.

You will need a corker and the shrink wraps aren't included (they aren't essential, i've not bothered to put them on this batch as I only had red and they didn't look right)

 

[Dunfie]

I never took you for a half bottle kind of guy Wez :lol:

 

[Wez]

I never took you for a half bottle kind of guy Wez :lol:

:lol: :lol: Quite right! I have an excuse instead of getting 6 bottles we got 5 and a half, so the half just had to be sampled :drunk:

 

[BrewStew]

IIRC BrewStew is more knowledgable on wine than me, I'm sure he'll be able to advise better.

If you can call doing one wine kit knowledgable :lol:

My Beaverdale Merlot wine has only been in the bottle two weeks. had a glass of it last night, and although it tastes pretty good, i'm going to leave it another month before i sample another bottle.

it's the dark red 'proper' stuff ie not fizzy pop lambrini **** :lol: so can't really advise.

I wouldn't put it in a cornie.

Wine is definitely not a "quick fix" though. it's better left for a period in bottles, on their side to allow them to breathe through the corks and so the corks don't go dry.

temperature is also crucial for ageing a wine, here's an extract from this site

This is certainly the greatest concern when cellaring wine. Today's modern, centrally heated homes are not at all conducive to wine storage. Room temperature is usually in excess of a very comfortable 20ºC, great for humans but rapidly lethal when it comes to wine. The temperature inside the average home is also very variable, with most rooms warming rapidly during the day as the radiators switch on, cooling again at night as the heating is switched off. This is also true in the kitchen, where many people seem to store wine, at least in the short term. Here the ambient temperature varies significantly, reaching obscene levels when the Sunday roast is in the oven and there are pans bubbling away on the hob. This inconstancy of temperature is of as much concern as the temperature itself.

The ideal temperature is 10ºC to 13ºC, but several degrees either side of this is quite safe. In fact, provided the wines do not freeze, which does not occur until the temperature drops some way below 0ºC (the alcohol acts as an antifreeze), then it is quite safe for temperatures to drop lower than the ideal. The worst that may happen is that some non cold-stabilised wines may throw a small deposit of harmless tartrate crystals, which is of no real consequence. It is worth remembering, however, that one of the purposes of cellaring wine is so that it develops over time, gracefully maturing into something more complex and interesting than the wine in its youth. Lower temperatures inhibit this process, meaning you will have to wait even longer to enjoy the wines at their peak. A little above 13ºC is also quite safe, and I would be happy with wines stored medium term in temperatures up to about 15ºC. This will not spoil the wines at all, but as you may expect warmer temperatures may accelerate the ageing process.

hope this helps

 

[scarer]

How long from start to when you bottle. Do you have to need to leave it in bottle long before you drink. Do you need something to put the corks on and shrink wrap thingies or are these provided.

The Beaverdale Merlot kit I made in January didn't taste great after 4 weeks and to be honest I thought it wouldn't get any better so I bunged them in the garage and forgot about them. I think I tried another one after 8 weeks but it still wasn't good, like ribena.
But last night I thought I would give one a go and to my surprise it tasted pretty good.

It was a bit sweet for my taste but was definitely drinkable. So I would take the 4 week guide with a pinch of salt and keep it for a few months before drinking.

 

[Aleman]

I will say that I came across a bottle of Elderberry wine, a wonderful deep berry red . . . The colour of the wine was Chuck Berry Red, that I made certainly before 87 which was when I moved up here. . . . All the harshness had dropped out, and it was comparable to a fine Burgundy or Bordeaux say a St Emillion grand cru . . . I've got to say that all this ready to drink in 10, 14, 28 days stuff that goes on kits is total tosh, The minimum I would consider adequate is 6 months after bottling, (for whites) up to 9-12 months for reds, but given proper storage they will continue to improve.

And they really improve so much better in bulk rather than in bottles

All this talk has made me thirsty time for a :drink: