Monday 22 April 2013

My Second Ever Wine Kit - Solomom Grundy Cherry Wine Kit

Solomom Grundy's Wine Kit - Cherry - 6 Bottle

With my first kit nearing completion of fermentation I thought I'd start a new one using a different fermentation vessel. With my first kit I used a VinClasse 5 Litre Fermentation Bucket, I thought I'd use a Plastic 5 Litre Demi John to be able to compare the results. From ease of use to wine results.

Day 1

As with my first kit, I sterilised all my equipment in VinClasse Cleaner Steriliser as per instructions. I poured some of this solution into the Plastic Demi-John and swilled it around the inside every few minutes for 15 minutes (it was already new and clean) 

This kits' instructions were clear and easy to follow to make up the must. However, as a novice I would have found it helpful to have a list of Required Equipment before I started sterilising as when it came to adding the Sugar I didn't have a Funnel sterilised! Having made my first Kit in a Fermenting Bucket it hadn't crossed my mind to do so . . . but I wont make that mistake again! Another faux pas I made was to try and add the Sugar before the Funnel was completely dry . . . Oops! Not catastrophic, just annoying.


Day - 1  Solomon Grundy
Day 1 - Solomon Grundy

Anyhow, once the ingredients were added to the Demi-John, all I had to do was shake it up until the Sugar was fully dissolved, add the sachets of Wine Yeast, Acid Regulator and Nutrient, give it another shake then voila! All ready to fit Cap with Air lock. Place in a warm place to ferment. It started fermenting pretty much straight away which was impressive.

Day 4 & 5

I noted the temperature daily (there is a temperature strip on the side of the Demi-John) and it was consistently 24°c. The Must was bubbling away nicely for the first 5 days.


Day 6

Fermentation had ceased, and the Air lock had stopped bubbling. As per instructions I took an Hydrometer reading, it read 994 (the instructions stated to add STABILISER if under 995)
Added Stabiliser and shook vigorously at intervals for 2hours as recommended to DEGAS. This whole process was clean and easy, with the cap on the Demi- John.

I added the 'Add Back' Sachet (Cherry Concentrate) plus the Kieselsol Sachet (Clearing Agent) as instructed and left over night.

Day 6 - Degassing
                                                 
Day 7


I added the 'Chitosan' Sachet (Another Clearing Agent/ Finings)
On reading up about this I found that Kieselsol and Chitosan are both Clearing Agents that work together to help clump the microscopic yeast cells together so that they fall to the bottom of the demi-john, leaving the wine clear. I left for a day or so as instructed.


Day 7 - Clearing



Day 8

Time to 'Rack Off' the Wine. Now the instructions just said to syphon the wine off into a clean demi-john taking care not to suck up any of the sediment . . . easier said that done (not having done it before) Time to think it through logically . . . 

I Sterilised all equipment that I thought I'd need :
.........and rinsed in cold running water. When sterilising the syphon tubes I took care to ensure that the inside of the tubes where fully immersed in the sterilising solution, rinsed, then swung around outside to get rid of excess water.

Racking Off

I attached the Rigid Syphon Tube to one end of the Syphoning Tube then carefully placed it in the Demi John that held the wine, I attached the Plastic Syphon Tap to the other end to stop flow when needed . I placed the empty/clean demi -john on a stool (at a level that was lower than the wine demi-john. To start the wine flowing from one vessel to the other I sucked until the flow started. This was easy to do. Note: Need to hold empty vessels as lighter and prone to tipping up!
Day 8 - Racking Off
Sweeten

The Instruction leaflet gives guidelines as to how much sugar to add according to taste. As suggested I measured out ½ the suggested amount as you can always add more but you can't take it away if too sweet ! After tasting I decided not to add the remaining sugar, it was sweet enough for me.

Bottling

I sterilised 6 Wine Bottles, the rest of the equipment used was already sterilised from shortly before. I set up the syphoning method as before, but this time found it easier to put the Bottles on the floor for fear of them falling off the stool and smashing, yep it nearly happened!
I used the Syphoning Tap to regulate wine flow but found it quite difficult to use when trying to steady the bottle at the same time. I abandoned this tool and resorted to pinching the tube. 

How Full to Fill the Wine Bottle?

There appears to be conflicting views as to how much gap to leave between the Wine and the Cork when bottling. The average consensus seems to be around 1to 1½″. 


Day 8 - Bottling
Using a 'Hand Corker'

I found this simple gadget easy to use, especially once I found the 'How to use a Hand Corker' link on the Balliihoo Web Site! Initially I had tried using it on the kitchen work surface but found it tricky to get any weight behind it. I then tried putting the bottle on the floor and standing over the hand corker which I found much easier.



Day 8




 Conclusion

On the whole I found the 'Solomon Grundy Cherry Kit' simple to use and the results were quick and pleasing. I followed the instructions to the 't' so that I could give objective feed back.
I liked using the Plastic Demi-John as it was like making a 'one pot' recipe and was easy to shake the ingredients when instructed. It was also really easy to see what was going on with all the various processes eg. Fermentation, Clearing etc without disruption.

Once bottling had taken place I did notice there was a small amount of sediment at the bottom of each bottle. If I'd have had more experience I probably would have 'racked off' again, but wanted to follow instructions.

 Taste Reviews

Rachel:  " Light, fruity and suprisingly tasted of cherries! :o) I love cherries so it's a winner                  in  my eyes. Not particularly strong but very moreish! "

Paul:      " Tasted of cherries . . .Slept well :o)"

























Monday 8 April 2013

Started Making My First Ever Wine Kit - Young's Country Definitive Blackcherry

As I mentioned in my original Blog, as part of my new job I have to learn how to make wine, therefore this Blog will be a perfect way to track a complete novice's progress. I'm hoping it will be a useful tool for anyone starting wine making for the first time to see photos of each stage, objective opinions of what I've found useful or difficult and I'm really hopeful to demonstrate how easy and enjoyable it is :o)

Day 1

Young's Country Definitive - Blackcherry

I thought this would be a good starting point as I have no experience of making wine, the added ingredients are minimal and the results are relatively quick for an impatient first timer!

This kit gives you 6 bottles of Blackcherry Wine at the end of 3 - 4 weeks, perfect!

I started by reading the instructions carefully, obvious you may think, however after spending 5 minutes just looking for the instructions only to find small print stating 'instructions on reverse of label ' . . . duh!

I'm lucky to have access to all the equipment I'll need at work but wanted to use all the same equipment that one would find in a 6 Bottle Wine Making Equipment Kit  for authenticity.

Sterilising all the equipment was straight forward and the instructions were clear. However, I did find that further on in the process I needed another container sterilized to dissolve the sugar. If I'd have read the instructions thoroughly in the first place I would have realized this . . . probably :o) So now I have learned that after you have finished sterilizing your equipment, do not throw the remaining solution away, you never know when you'll need it that day. 

I found the overall instructions easy to follow with the minimum of fuss. I liked making this first batch of wine in a wine fermenting bucket as it had 1litre graduation marks for ease of measuring, a temperature strip and was transparent to enable you to see what was going on. It was also easy to add ingredients and give a good stir with no mess. Thus far it has my vote, but I suppose I don't have anything to compare it to :o)

  After following the instructions carefully, all the processes were followed to the letter, my wine brew was now ready, lid on with air lock bubbler

So what about temperature to optimize fermentation? My works' kitchen is quite warm so I put the fermentation bucket in there and it stayed at a steady 22°c, lovely!


Day 1 - Blackcherry

Day 2

I was really excited to get into work to see how my Young's Country Definitive Blackcherry Wine was coming along. 

To be honest there wasn't that much activity in the air lock bubbler, however on viewing through the fermentation bucket I could see that it was starting to ferment slowly . . . even to my untrained eye :o) I checked the temperature and it was still around 22c as before.



Day 2 - Fermentation well under way


I had to leave it to it's own devices over the weekend but look forward to what it's going to look like on Monday morning when I need to add some tepid water  . . .apparently .



Day 5

Days 3 and 4 are missing as my wine was locked away in my works' Kitchen over the week end. This was a shame as I was meant to add some tepid water to the bucket on Day 3, but alas had to wait until Day 5 :o(

On inspection my Blackcherry Wine (Must) was still bubbling away gently and the lid of the fermentation bucket was slightly bulging. According to the instructions I needed to top the 'Must' up to 4.54 liters with tepid water. When I removed the lid (along with the air lock bubbler) I noticed there was yeast scum residue on the wall of the bucket (which apparently is healthy) I added the required amount of tepid water and gave the 'Must' a stir with a sterilized, long plastic spoon  and replaced the lid and air lock tightly.



 Day 5 - Blackcherry


I just have to wait for fermentation now . . . . . . . . 


Day 6 

On checking my fermentation bucket containing the Young's Country Definitive Blackcherry 'Must' visually,  I could see that the air lock was still bubbling therefore fermentation was still taking place. I recorded the temperature as usual which was 22°c.

Day 7

According to the instructions, fermentation should stop between 7 ans 20 days (dependent on temp) It appeared the air lock was no longer bubbling however when I lifted the lid there was still tiny bubble activity. I left it to check the next day.

Day 11

I checked the must daily and there was still some fermentation activity present. By Day 11 this had stopped. According to the instructions I should take a hydrometer reading. Having never done this before I sterilised it and placed it in the fermentation bucket with the must . . . . . It hit the bottom. As a last resort (not wanting to look silly) I asked a colleague who suggested I use a trial jar , this made sense once I used it :o) The reading was 1000 and I added the 'wine stabiliser' as directed.

Day 12

I added the 'finings' as instructed and waited to clear. I took another hydrometer reading which was 1006 (to test dryness - sweetness) When I actually tasted it it was still on the 'dry' side for my taste so I added 4 tsp of granulated sugar (dissolved in a drop of warm water)

Racking Off

I sterilised a 5lt Plastic Demi John, Plastic Jug, Plastic Funnel, and 6 Wine Bottles.

There appeared to be quite a lot of sediment in the bottom of the fermenting bucket so I used a jug to place the wine in the clean Demi John via a plastic funnel. I also used Filter Vinpapers in the funnel as extra filtration for the sediment. The process was slow but the result was a clear, bright wine! (I changed the Vinpapers a couple of times when filtering slowed)

Day 12 - Racking Off Using Filter Vinpapers

Once filtering was complete, I syphoned the wine into bottles. I used a Syphon Clamp to regulate the flow of the wine into the bottles, which was easy to use. I got approx 5.5 bottles of wine from this kit.

I used a 3 Handled Wine Corker to cork the bottles. Simple for one person the use.

Day 12 - Bottling With 3 Handled Corker


Day 12 - Clear & Bright Young's Blackcherry



The finished article was very pleasing for a first attempt. All had gone well without major incident . . . considering. I'm yet to taste it, but it looks and smells good :o)






Thursday 4 April 2013

NEW JOB

Just started my new job at  Balliihoo Homebrew. It's a whole new world for me as my only previous experience of wine is drinking it! :o)

As part of my new job I'm having to learn all aspects of Home Brewing and Wine Making, from learning about all the ingredients and equipment, packing, shipping, customer queries to actually learning about how to make wine and beer. As part of this process I thought it may be a good idea to start a 'blog', something else I've never done (so please bare with me)  

I'm starting with a basic 6 bottle wine kit, Youngs - Country Definitive Blackcherry tomorrow and plan to chart my progress on my blog. I'm expecting to have a few hic-cups along the way, but hey that's how we learn :o)

Wish me luck!