Day 15 through Day 31

Whew!  It's been a few days of hectic wine making!

I stabilized and fined the control batch on Day 18 and began degassing, SG was at 0.996.  I'm not entirely sure my degassing efforts have succeeded, but more on that later. This batch is going to the schedule on the instructions, with just a day or so deviation.  It does seem to be clearly very nicely, which Winexpert's instructions say it won't do if improperly degassed, but that may not be an absolute.

The Tim batch was the next to receive this treatment, on Day 26, at a SG of 0.996, unsurprisingly. Of course, as noted earlier, this carboy was nearly full, so I had to thief some wine so that I had degassing room.

This too went well, and again, though I'm not sure the wine is fully degassed, it is clearing.


On Day 28, as per Jack's instructions, I checked the specific gravity--it was at 0.996!  I'm so shocked!  At the very least, I have confirmed the consistency of Winexpert's kits.

Day 29 was a very busy day.  Mark, my husband, was very patient as I ran around trying to coordinate all the experiment efforts, as well as deal with some tasks with a couple of other wines I have on the go.  First, the Control batch needed to be racked.  It has cleared fairly substantially, so time to get it off the sediment as per instructions.  I also had to rack a couple of fruit wines, and as per Jack's instructions, mix my bentonite in a blender:

Despite the Winexpert's instructions to add this upfront, I thought I should add this when Jack specified, so I also used his blender method in the instructions.  I will suggest to all of those out there that you proceed carefully with this step--boiling water + a blender is not for the faint of heart.  I also thought it interesting that Jack recommends 1 tbsp of bentonite, whereas the kit had about 1.5 tbsp.

I've been looking forward to Day 30 since I started the experiment, and it did not disappoint.  This is the day when all of the wines get to the stabilization point.  Jack, in particular, has been on the gross lees and oak since Day 1, as the primary and secondary were the same vessel. 

Having said that, I will also state that the experiment has reached it's first major hiccup.  Here are the directions for Day 30 that I followed for the Jack batch:

Using a sanitized hydrometer, again check the specific gravity of the must. Note the specific gravity. If the value has not dropped since Day 28, move on to stabilization.

• If the specific gravity has dropped since Day 28, reattach the airlock and allow further fermentation. Check the gravity on a daily basis until it remains unchanged for 2 consecutive days.
• Stabilization and Fining:
  • Add the contents of the bag marked stabilizer or potassium metabisulfite to an empty, sanitized, 6-gallon carboy. If the latter, add 3 teaspoons of potassium sorbate along with the potassium metabisulfite.
  • Rack the wine from its original carboy into the new carboy, leaving the lees behind.
  • Degass the wine by stirring it vigorously for 3 minutes. Wait 15 minutes and stir it again, vigorously, for 3 minutes.
  • If making a white wine, add the bentonite slurry which you prepared on Day 29. If possible, mix the slurry in your blender for about 2 minutes on high just before adding.
  • If making a red wine, add the packet marked Kieselsol from a Wine Art Claro K-C red wine finings package (may not be included).
  • Stir vigorously for 4 minutes.
  • Top up with a similar, dry wine and reattach your airlock.

So SG was unchanged, so I added the kmeta and sorbate to the carboy and racked.  I was expecting a huge mess of lees, as the oak was still in there, but it really wasn't that bad.

Then I degassed as instructed.  It took awhile for the foam to come down to the point that the carboy could accommodate the 1 quart bentonite slurry, but I eventually got it in.  As the fining agent in these kits is a 1 part agent, I added it when the kiesolsol was to be added. Then, as per the instructions, I degassed, albeit slowly as the carboy was pretty full at this point.

That's when all hell broke loose.

Floaties?  What the heck is that?  There were definite "clumps" floating around in my wine, and rising to the top. 

What is going on?  Another view:

Now, I realized that to follow Jack's instructions, I had to deviate from the standard instructions in a big way.  And truthfully, except for the floaties, the wine is really very clear now.  So like all inconveniences, I decided to see if it would go away if I ignored it : "Maybe it will be perfectly fine tomorrow."

Well, it's not:

I really don't want to top it up until I know what's going on, or if I should rack it, or what (?).  If anyone has any input, I welcome it, and hopefully Tim will weigh in as well, as he's designed how these kits work.  But truthfully, right now I have a carboy of wine with strange sludge on top, and I really hope this batch is not destined for the sink drain. A quick smell check gave no off odors.

Also, I'd be interested, given that I really don't think the other two wines are fully degassed, who thinks I should deviate from my original plan of not using my break bleeder on these wines.

Day 2 through 15

So I've been a bit lax in my blogging of the experiment due to a family emergency, but I have been progressing according to schedule on the wine front. 

On Days 2 and 3, I left the control batch and Tim batch alone as the instructions indicate.  Fermentation was not foamy, as I usually see with Winexperts kits, but lots of movement and little bubbles.  The Jack batch I had to stir daily, and remove the cheesecloth closure and attach an airlock at the end of Day 2, which I did.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I did not manage to rack the Tim batch into a carboy on Day 5.  However, Tim mentions in his article regarding the extended time frame that his Day 5 transfer to the secondary is arbitrary, so I decided it would be okay to transfer both the Control batch and the Tim batch to the secondary on Day 7.

On Day 7, the specific gravity (SG) of the control was 0.996, and the Tim batch was 0.997.  High time to get those wines to the secondary!  Interestingly enough, the Tim batch filled up more of its carboy than the control batch.  This leads me to believe that the 23L marking on my primary is incorrect. To compensate for this inconsistency, I've decided to top up all the wines with water, something I don't normally do.  However, Tim Vandergrift, who is involved with the making of the wine kits, says they make them 4% stronger than necessary, so that topping up with water is alright. 

As for the Jack batch, the SG was at 0.998 on Day 7, so I began to add my room temperature one gallon of reserve must at a rate of 1 quart every 15 minutes.

Beyond that, there hasn't been a lot of activity in the experiment.  I will be beginning to degas, stabilize and clear the control batch in a couple days, and 5 days later, begin the same on the Time batch.  For the Jack batch, I don't have to do anything until Day 28.  This means a lot more contact with the gross lees, and the oak is all still in there, although chips usually give up their flavor very quickly.

The Tim and the Control batch visually look the same at this point, but the Jack Keller deviates dramatically.  It's got foam on top, and is a much more murky color--and thus lighter in color--than the other two, which are very inky.  The picture below doesn't quite illustrate the difference, but one wouldn't think they were the same wine started at the same time.

More to report in a couple days as I begin degassing. 

Day One: The Experiment Begins

After a marathon 4 hours of wine making, I am finally sitting down to a glass of Winexpert's California Trinity White, and my first blog post.  Ahhhh!  Delightful!

This blog has come about after I proposed an experiment on the incredible Winepress.us forum.  The proposal was to take three identical wine kits, make one exactly according to the instructions, then make the other two according to two other wine kit "schedules":  the first proposed by Tim Vandergrift of Winexperts, and the second espoused by Jack Keller, a Texan of noted wine fame in both grapes and other fruit. Tim's schedule is 90 days until bottling, Jack's is 180. 

The chosen kit is a 6 week kit: Winexpert's Selection International Australian Shiraz. All have had the yeast pitched within 2 hours of each other. The overall idea behind the experiment is to determine which time frame/method actually produces the best wine.  I will have a number of personal tastings, then have an "official" tasting with about 10 people at the two year mark.

Before I continue, I must credit a few folks.  This experiment could not have taken place without the generosity of Tim Vandergrift and Harvest Brewing in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. To my utter delight, they provided the wine kits for this experiment.  All the lot numbers on the packaging are within about 15 digits, so we are definitely comparing apples to apples.

The various instructions or rather "tweaks" in the case of the two extended schedules have their own differences.  Tim Vandergrift's instructions deviate negligibly from the standard instructions (which, to be fair, he writes) with the exception of time frames.  Jack Keller's set of instructions, however, deviates on many levels.  In an effort to compare the methods as fairly as possible, I am trying to follow each list of instructions to the letter.  For example, on both the "Control" (aka: kit instructions) and the "Tim" batch, I had to add bentonite to the primary.  Since Jack's instructions do not call for the addition of any bentonite until Day 29, I did not add it at the time of yeast pitching.  Additionally, both "Tim" and "Control" batches are fermented in a primary fermenter, whereas Jack's instructions have one ferment in a carboy with one gallon held in reserve until vigorous fermentation subsides. 

A few personal notes:

• Holy oak Batman!  Each kit contained 60 grams of toasted, and 60 grams of "premium" (read: untoasted) oak. I've not personally seen this much oak in a kit, but I'm interested.  I like oak.
• Jack Keller's schedule is really fussy and is much more involved than standard kit instructions.  His directions were 5 pages (!) long after printing.  Having said that, if it makes a much better wine, I'm not complaining.  Plus I've never fermented in a carboy, only a plastic "primary fermenter" so that's an immediate interest factor.
• One of my main concerns is making sure everything is degassed properly.  That can affect many perceptions in wine.  However, I'm also determined to play by the instructions, so I'm not using my brake bleeder in this experiment. If anyone would like to come over and help stir "vigorously", let me know.
• Another concern is to keep each wine distinguished from one another.  Careful labelling of all the additives, primaries, carboys, etc, will definitely be necessary.
• I will filter each wine. As a formal tasting will take place after a suitable amount of time, I do not want appearance to be affecting the tasting panel's perception.

If you would like to read the schedules I am following for each batch of wine, I have provided links below:

Control Batch instructions
Tim's Instructions in an excellent article
Jack Keller's Schedule

Here is a picture of all the inclusions for the kit:

And a picture of the three kits ready for yeast:

Now make sure the correct things happen to the correct wines on the correct days!