WineBuddy Sauvignon Blanc - 30 bottle Kit

[Chippy_Tea]

Take no notice of times in wine kits instructions they are a mile out, i have just checked and it says wait until it gets to .996 or below, i am finishing my 30 bottle kit as we speak and i started it on 7/8 it stopped bubbling a couple of days ago so you can see how crap the instructions are.

 

[tommo]

Thanks for the heads up, Im going away on Sunday so suspect it wont be ready by then

Cheers Ian

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I just noticed I said racking (now edited) in my last post I meant finishing, its already looking clear enough to bottle, the 3part fining that comes with the kit has to be put in with an hour between each stage, a bit of a pain but its quick acting.

 

[SANGER_A2]

What OG did people get? I dropped my second hydrometer as I was brewing this kit so couldn't take a measurement! 😬

 

[tommo]

Well after day 8 my wine goy down to 0.994 so this morning I decanted into second PV, however no mention of how long to leave it in there. So I sterilized my bottles and "boiled my corks":sad:, Second mistake.

The First was knocking my Pv off its stool and losing 10 litres of wine of the kitchen floor (luckily it was at 0530 this morning so I didn't get found out,
anyway managed to salvage 20 of the alleged 30 bottles, not too bad however back to these boiled corks, started corking fine until after 8 or 9 I noticed that they where starting to fragment, obviously expanded too much and absorbed too much water, so I then just used them with sterilizing, just a quick rinse in sterilizing solution.

Just wondering if I should replace the boiled corks with fresh ones since Ill be leaving these bottled for 3 weeks before drinking?
oh and I did have a taste and was really impressed.

Cheers Ian

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Why did you rack it, the instructions tell you to make it in the original FV from start to finish

Did you stabilise and clear it in the original FV or in the second, how,long did you leave it before bottling?

 

[tommo]

This is what I was following and to be fair i couldn't see the sense in the second PV prior to bottling, if only to ensure no sediment was transferred​

Day 7 – Siphoning & Finishing-off
14. After 24hrs the wine should be clear, if not leave until clear before proceeding.
15. Once clear, rinse the second vessel with hot water and siphon the wine into this using the siphon tube and bucket clip. It is
important to siphon-off as much liquid as possible while taking care not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the container. If
the sediment is disturbed at any point during the siphoning process, pour any siphoned wine back into the original container,
cover and leave the sediment to re-settle for a further 24hrs or until clear. Please see beginners siphoning instructions at the
bottom of this page for more details.
16. If you wish to sweeten your wine it should be done at this stage. When sweetening, add five dessertspoons of sugar, stir to
dissolve then taste. Repeat until desired sweetness is achieved.
17. Finally, rinse 30x wine bottles and stoppers thoroughly with hot water, siphon the wine into the bottles and seal with the stoppers
(if you are using second-hand or pre-used wine bottles/stoppers, these should first be sterilised using a suitable homebrew​

cleaner/steriliser.)


I stabilized and cleared in the original FV (24hrs prior), I basically transferred to second PV then bottled, have a feeling I have made another beginners error (mind it does taste palatable at this stage)

Cheers Ian

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I had forgotten the instructions do tell you to rack to a second FV, i think this is so you can get it off the sediment so back-sweetening and stirring will not cause the wine to go cloudy again, if you (like me) bottle as soon as it is clear there is no point in racking to a second FV.

 

[SANGER_A2]

I'm planning on following the instructions on my anniversary wine, except I'm gonna wait double the time for fermentation and clearing, but I'm still going to use two fvs as instructed. People are much fussier over clear wine compared to clear beer!

 

[Toredan]

I set this kit up on 15/9 and just racked it off to secondary yesterday with a FG of .994. Like Chippy's, mine was almost clear at this point but used the finings anyway as wanted that extra crisp look like in his picture. I actually short brewed this to 20L as the bucket I used was only a 20L one. I HAD planned to dilute up to 23L but to be honest after tasting it then diluting a glass and trying again I think I may just leave as is so 22ish bottles is what I'm expecting. Was half-tempted to bottle some of it into 500ml brown ale bottles with some gold caps and get myself a gold sharpie and making some super-cheap Christmas wine hampers ;-) Quick note though, the instructions say to drink all this within a year and I'm confused as to why. Did 2 kits at once so I planned on ageing half of it. Any thoughts?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I never noticed that not that mine lasts that long anyway.

 

[SANGER_A2]

When tasting before adding sugar, it tasted dry to my palette so I added the 5 dessert spoons of sugar..twice! I know, I'm a philistine, but I like medium to medium-sweet wine! :whistle: I bottled into 2 litre empty fizzy bottles and it's crystal clear. Really pleased. Be interested in the taste in a week or so after it's sat in the bottle a month!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Nothing wrong with back sweetening a lot of members do it.

 

[magoorty]

I have this kit and it'll be my first attempt at a wine. I only have 2kgs of brewing sugar however and the instructions say to add 4kgs. Is brewing sugar strictly necessary with wine? Could I use normal sugar, or even replace some of the sugar with white grape juice? If so, how much? Would appreciate any thoughts.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I never use brewing sugar.

 

[chewie]

Ordinary white table sugar works fine, its also a lot cheaper than brewing sugar, B&M sell Tate & Lyle at 45p per kilo, i haven't noticed any shops cheaper than that yet but I'm always on the lookout.

 

[SANGER_A2]

Make sure it is cane sugar, not beet sugar. Tate and lyle or supermarket organic. Usually own brand sugar is made from beets. That is bad, I can't remember why but it's explained somewhere on here.

 

[ManseMasher]

https://winemakermag.com/1200-i-hav...uit-alcohol-is-this-true-or-are-all-sugars-th

Hmmm, you might want to have a read of this....

Make sure it is cane sugar, not beet sugar. Tate and lyle or supermarket organic. Usually own brand sugar is made from beets. That is bad, I can't remember why but it's explained somewhere on here.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Make sure it is cane sugar, not beet sugar. Tate and lyle or supermarket organic. Usually own brand sugar is made from beets. That is bad, I can't remember why but it's explained somewhere on here.

I read this earlier and was going to comment that I have used more brands of sugar that you can shake a stick at and have never checked to see which type they were, was I lucky or does it make no difference?

I have only skimmed MM's link above but have already read this - Your general grocery-store bag of white table sugar is probably made from either sugar cane or sugar beets and according to industry sources is about 99.50% pure sucrose.

 

[SANGER_A2]

I take back my comments about cane over beet sugar! Beet sugar seems to be fine to use. A few people here have recommended cane over beet and I took that as gospel. But I've done a bit of googling and it seems to be fine to use for homebrew. In fact, many popular Belgium beers using candi syrup, which is made from beets! :whistle:

Incidentally, I've just had a couple of glasses of the sauv and it's nice. A bit harsh, but it's only had a month in the bottle and I'm sure will improve!