My Fourth Wine Kit - VinClasse Italian Red - 7 Day - 23lts

This is another 30 bottle (23 Litre) kit from the 'VinClasse' range as before. However, this time a 'Italian Red' rather than the previous 'Riesling' white wine. The 'Vinclasse Italian Red' requires 4kg of Sugar to be added.

Day 1

I sterilised all my equipment as before:

• 23Lt/5 Gallon Fermentation Bucket (with lid)
  
• Bubbler/Air lock
• Hydrometer
• Long handled plastic spoon
• new jiffy clothe for wiping down equipment

 I kept the sterilising solution as before in a spare container  just in case other equipment needed cleaning or if I'd forgotten something!

I started by adding 4kg Vinclasse Brewing & Wine Making Sugar to the 23Lt Fermenting Bucket as instructed.  I then dissolved it in 5 Lts hot water and stirred well. The consistency looked very similar to that of icing sugar before you ice a cake . . . if you've ever iced a cake!? Smooth and creamy . . . 

Day 1 - Rosso Classico - 4kg Sugar

 I then added the grape juice as instructed and topped up with a mixture of hot and cold water to 23 Lts to 28°C ( instructions suggested between 25°C - 30°C) I stirred it well again as with a previous kit I hadn't stirred the juice in well enough and got a low hydrometer reading!

Once stirred well I took an hydrometer reading for a starting point. This is referred to as an Original Gravity Reading or OG Reading

OG Reading: 1072 Temperature: 28°C

This reading appeared quite low therefore I added an extra  ½kg sugar to the must and stirred in well, then took another hydrometer reading: 1080

Note: I think it's worth mentioning if I haven't already that it's really usefully to write everything down eg. dates, hydrometer readings, temps etc. I keep a little book and have already started comparing results.

Day 1 - Rosso Classico

 I placed the lid on the fermentation bucket with an airlock and placed in the 'Fermentation Fridge' (mentioned in previous blog) with a view to keep it at a constant  between 28 - 30°C .

Day 4

The must had been left to ferment over the weekend and when I got into work on Monday morning I checked it's progress and Oops ! . . . . It had exploded . . . well not literally, but there was plenty of mess. The lid had actually buckled under the pressure, yeast scum had overflowed down the bucket and splattered the sides of the fridge, impressive but a pain to clean up!

Day 4 - Rosso Classico - Fermentation Frenzy!

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Day 4 - Rosso Classico - The Clean Up!

I reduced the temperature slightly in the Fermentation Fridge to hopefully slow down the process or at least make it less aggressive. It was currently 28°C so I reduced it to 26°C on the thermostat.

Day 5

I checked the must and it had blown the lid and spilled over again, however not so violently this time. Again I cleaned it up and reduced the temperature to 24°C on the thermostat. The must was still fermenting and hadn't appeared to slow down.


I checked daily and fermentation continued . . . . .

Day 11

Fermentation had stopped and I took an hydrometer reading: 997 Temperature: 18°C as I had removed it from the 'Fermentation Fridge'  the previous day.

Calculated ABV : 11.1 % by using the Homebrew Alcohol Calculator

As per instructions I racked the must off into a clean/sterilised 23Lt bucket using a 5/16" Syphon Tube and Rigid Syphon Tube (Can also be referred to as a Racking Cane) on the end . The 'Rigid Syphon Tube'  has 2 small holes drilled 10mm from one end with bung at that end. This allows you to syphon the must without sucking up the sediment.

Once this was complete I added the 'Stabiliser' sachet, mixed well and then 'Degassed' using a 'Wine Whip' (as described in a previous post) This was repeated a couple of times as suggested in the instructions. Each time the result was a pink, frothy head on the must.

Day 11 - Rosso Classico

I then added the 'Finings' (A) Sachet, stirred well and left over night. 

Day 12

I added 'Finings' (B) Sachet plus the Extract Sachet as directed and gently stirred in, then left to settle for a day before racking off. They suggest placing on a table or work surface at this stage so that the sediment is not disturbed before racking off . . . which makes sense.

Day 13

I racked off into another sterilised 25 litre bucket, using the lever tap, which left the sediment behind. I carefully tilted the bucket to capture any remaining wine into a small jug and added it to the clean bucket also. 

For extra clarity I racked it off again back into the sterilised lever tap bucket using a 'vinbrite wine filter kit mkIII' , I have used this before and like the results. I had to use 2 filter pads as the first started to slow the filtering to a snails pace, but once changed, filtration sped up again. I find it worth the extra time taken.

Vinbrite Filter Kit - In order it's assembled

I thought it worth taking a photo, as when I put it together for the first time I assembled it the wrong way! :o)

Vinbrite Filter Kit

 Once this was completed I left overnight to bottle/bag tomorrow.

Day 14

I decanted the wine into 'Bag in a Box' bags (sterilised and re-used from previous homebrews) using the lever tap on the fermentation bucket . . . .  Clean, quick and easy :o)

This is now the 2nd 'Vinclasse 7 Day Wine Kit' (23litres) that I've made. The 1st (Riesling) was a 'no sugar' to add kit. They were both quite straight forward to make. However, the 'Rosso Classico' did erupt quite impressively and I'm wondering whether the temperature was too high? Or it could be something to do with the extra 1/2 kg of sugar added on Day 1?

I'm yet to do the 'taste test' but as soon as I've tested it on my colleagues I shall post some reviews . . . 

Taste Reviews

Rachel:   "Fruity aroma and smooth taste. It was worth cleaning up the mess of the 
                fermentation eruption :o)"

Brad:      "Light and Fruity (not much body) but really easy drinking! Pleasantly suprised at
               the quality given that this was a 'budget kit' !"

Declan:  "Smooth, Fruity and very drinkable!"