hi guys
been brewing beers now for some time.
just grabbed a wine kit and was looking for a few tips.
can i use the same primary that i brew my beer in?
will it need an air lock fitted?
when its finished fermenting can i use my beer barrel to condition it?
can you buy lids with airlocks fitted or should i just diy and drill a hole in the lid and fit a stopper?
any advice welcome
newbie wino
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oldbloke
- Under the Table
- Posts: 1375
- Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:29 am
- Location: Todmorden, Wet Yorks
Re: newbie wino
Use your standard ale kit.
It's basically the same, but no boil of the mash required, and no worrying about the hops skunking.
It's basically the same, but no boil of the mash required, and no worrying about the hops skunking.
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mrtheduke
Re: newbie wino
I'm a relative newbie as well, I'm on my 4th kit. However, in the few that I've done, I've picked up a few tips that have made my wine come out substantially better now than the first couple.
1. The kits I've had have got you to de-gas, add the finings and various other bits whilst the wine is still on the lees. I've found that this leaves the wine with a slightly bitter, yeasty flavour that takes a while to dissipate and the wine takes longer to clear. I found that racking the wine off of the lees as soon as fermentation has completed, then doing the other stuff leads to a much better wine.
2. The red kits I've had all say 'stir for one minute to remove most of the gas from the wine' one minute is nowhere near enough, even for a 6 bottle kit. For a 30 bottle kit I've been finding it taking at least 20 - 30 minutes with an electric drill and a wine whip. It's really important to make sure it has properly de-gassed or else when you add the finings, they'll struggle to properly clear the wine, and the CO2 adds an unpleasant acidic flavour (this may be ok if you're doing a white kit, I'm brewing my first one right now though so can't comment, but isn't good in a red). I also had a kit which said de-gas the wine by pouring it from one fermenter to another at least 10 times. Don't do this, firstly it'll take much more than 10 times to properly de-gas and more importantly it'll likely oxidise your wine, and it'll turn brown and affect the flavour. Luckily I discovered this with a 6 bottle kit, and we'd already polished off most of it before it happened. It doesn't make the wine un-drinkable, but it does impair it. De-gas with a spoon or a wine whip.
3. The kits tell you just to rinse stuff with hot water. Don't. Sterelise it (but you probably know this anyway if you've been doing beer
)
1. The kits I've had have got you to de-gas, add the finings and various other bits whilst the wine is still on the lees. I've found that this leaves the wine with a slightly bitter, yeasty flavour that takes a while to dissipate and the wine takes longer to clear. I found that racking the wine off of the lees as soon as fermentation has completed, then doing the other stuff leads to a much better wine.
2. The red kits I've had all say 'stir for one minute to remove most of the gas from the wine' one minute is nowhere near enough, even for a 6 bottle kit. For a 30 bottle kit I've been finding it taking at least 20 - 30 minutes with an electric drill and a wine whip. It's really important to make sure it has properly de-gassed or else when you add the finings, they'll struggle to properly clear the wine, and the CO2 adds an unpleasant acidic flavour (this may be ok if you're doing a white kit, I'm brewing my first one right now though so can't comment, but isn't good in a red). I also had a kit which said de-gas the wine by pouring it from one fermenter to another at least 10 times. Don't do this, firstly it'll take much more than 10 times to properly de-gas and more importantly it'll likely oxidise your wine, and it'll turn brown and affect the flavour. Luckily I discovered this with a 6 bottle kit, and we'd already polished off most of it before it happened. It doesn't make the wine un-drinkable, but it does impair it. De-gas with a spoon or a wine whip.
3. The kits tell you just to rinse stuff with hot water. Don't. Sterelise it (but you probably know this anyway if you've been doing beer
)-
Tony123
Re: newbie wino
I'm new to homebrew beer and wine started about a year ago. Make both. Making beer from all grain and kits. Finding wine easier to make ie less chance of going wrong.
1. With wine kits I leave on lees until fermented out then siphon into new sanitised vessel.
2. You now stabalise the wine so it will not oxidise. The chemicals prevent oxidisation.
3. Then degass. Do about 2 - 3 minutes a day for about 4/5 days with drill degasser. Once no more gas/bubbles are released then can stop degassing (best to degass while warm as warm liquid can't hold as much co2 in solution as cold liquid). Never degass on lees as put all sediment back into suspension and you will get off flavours and yeast taste.
4. Then add finnings. Leave until crystal clear (works better if cold) then syphon to new sanitised vessel.
5. Then bottle/put in wine bag.
1. With wine kits I leave on lees until fermented out then siphon into new sanitised vessel.
2. You now stabalise the wine so it will not oxidise. The chemicals prevent oxidisation.
3. Then degass. Do about 2 - 3 minutes a day for about 4/5 days with drill degasser. Once no more gas/bubbles are released then can stop degassing (best to degass while warm as warm liquid can't hold as much co2 in solution as cold liquid). Never degass on lees as put all sediment back into suspension and you will get off flavours and yeast taste.
4. Then add finnings. Leave until crystal clear (works better if cold) then syphon to new sanitised vessel.
5. Then bottle/put in wine bag.