The Kenridge Barolo is my staple kit these days. I must have made it a dozen times or more and its a consistently good red. I don't follow the (complicated) instructions anymore, i simply ferment out, stabilise, clear then bag/box and store to age for 3 months. Agree with the Beaverdale...
No to the cork - an alternative to the twist caps to reuse the existing screw tops is to fit with petroleum jelly on the screw thread - works every time.
I used to filter all the time back in the 80's but today if you use finnings and/or are prepared to leave it to clear (especially with kits) there is really no need. One caveat to that is country wines with pectin haze but that's another story.....
Its all down to personal taste. I (mostly) like the Beaverdale and CC kits but my staple these days are the KC kits mostly the nebbiolo which is good immediately and excellent after 6 months in storage.
47.5 down 5.8 up on the face of it good but i am on VM 100mb line so the result isn't great for what its costing me. My contract is up so looking for a new provider now.
Finished a Beaverdale Sauvignon Blanc kit a few weeks ago and its not bad for the price. Also did a Kenridge kit in the past an that was excellent but a little more costly than Beaverdale.
I did a 20 litre batch of TC in April and dry hopped for 5 days with 50g citra T90. I was amazed at the result, i was looking for a subtle citrus flavour but it turned out very loud indeed. Its great on a hot day like today though.
I will do it again but next time use 25g for 3 days and...
I stir it with a long handled plastic spoon - same length as the fermenting bin.
I bought it in the late 70's from boots it was for beer kits but the wine doesn't know that.
I aim to store for 6 months and drink within a year. The reason for this is lack of ability to control storage temperature. I used to store in the garage but the temp fluctuations caused a KC nebbiolo to go downhill after a year so i now limit storage to that time frame.
Me to;
I rack, add stabiliser and stir for a couple of mins.
Leave for an hour then add part 1 of the finings (if i am using it).
Leave for another couple of hours then add part 2 of the finings stirring again for a couple of mins. (thats the extent of any degassing i do).
Then cover and...
The speed has to be due to the temperature. I use a standard plastic FV and cover it with a blanket partly to maintain temps and partly to keep fruit flies at bay. I monitor the temps in the FV, when ambient temp is around 19 to 20c during fermentation i am measuring up to 28c in the FV...
This time of the year most of the kits i do ferment out in a week. Just finished a Beaverdale Sauvignon blanc and a Kenridge Nebbiolo both started on Saturday 5th and down to 0.992 today. I will leave them until Saturday then rack and stabilise and allow to clear.