Kenridge Classic Nebbiolo 30 bottle

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Vinotinto

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Having taken up the 'craft' again after 30 years away and with the grand total experience of two country wines and 2 WoWs under my belt ( and only one of them bottled ) I needed something to fulfil my penchant for a strong full bodied red.

After much research and without going to the £80 + bracket I settled on the Kenridge Classic which promptly arrived yesterday from Creative Wines ( price and customer service recommended! )

I have 'consulted' with the forum 'boss' of Chippy tea making fame and he has suggested I post this here for the benefit of all but especially for those in a similar novice position as myself.

I will update this thread with my thoughts when i have finished and tasted the wine but in the meantime will, to the best of my ability, also update the thread at each stage where possible.

So without further ado -

On receipt of the kit and with the equipment ready and time put aside came the first 'blow'. BIG recommendation = pull off sufficient water and leave in a bucket at room temperature for 24 hours to allow chlorine etc to dissipate. :doh: Makes sense really but now being delayed a day I had no choice but to take out my frustration on a gallon of Purple WoW!! (which is going nicely ).

........................... to be continued ...................
 
Wanting to get this right ( all £46 worth) and having read about bin measurements I decided to use a known accurate measure for the liquids. Interesting. My 25l Wilko bin clearly states that graduation marks are approximate. My 33l Youngs makes no such comment. Note pic 1 has 17l of water in it. Clearly inaccurate. The Youngs in pic 2 is slightly out at 10 and20l etc but when it gets to 23l at the 5 gal mark is spot on. Info for the future.

Also of note is that both these bins are water tight wih the lid on and given a good shake full of Star San. I have a ten litre Bigger Jugs bin that leaks like a seive if I do this.

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I checked my fv and peco boiler the other day.just cause it was and I wanted to play with it. It was our by miles.
 
11.00 am. Job done. Juice, water, bentonite, oak, elderberries all in. Sprinkled yeast on top.

Specific directions are NOT to stir when yeast added. Anybody know why?

WARNING - put lid on, fitted airlock to bung and tested for 'leaks' . I would not trust the handle on the youngs but just to move it off the towel I lifted by the handle with the lock in place. This had the effect of drawing downwards through the lock and sucked about 3ml of sterilising fluid into the bin. :doh: Hope to God this does not cause a problem!

Into back bedroom to sit for 7 days! SG 1.090, right on target.

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This had the effect of drawing downwards through the lock and sucked about 3ml of sterilising fluid into the bin. :doh: Hope to God this does not cause a problem!

No it will be fine but at least you'll know for future to only put the airlock in once you've got it to its final resting place.
 
Update - day 2 (and no I won't post every day unless I think the experience will help some other bugger! ) ( Am I allowed to say bugger? )

24 hours in and my concern was that there was no movement in the airlock. I then realised that this is a different scale to the 1 gal dj and in addition, I had the best part of 10L of airspace above the liquid in the fv as opposed to the far less space in a dj. etc etc.

So, having wondered if it would start to ferment and not wishing to take the lid off unnecessarily, I waited and it is now pushing out a bubble every 25 seconds or so. Lesson learnt, be patient.

That said, it has the same airlock as my 1 gal djs but when it releases a bubble it is with far more force and noise than the 1 gal jobs. ?????
 
Just a quick FYI this wine once finished taste good but leaving it to age for a couple months improves it greatly. We found after 6 months it was very good.
Good luck
 
DAY 8

So it has been bubbling away nicely in the FV - time to take SG. Kit recommends 1.010 or lower to proceed. I have 2 hydrometers ( an issue I need to resolve ) . One shows 0.998, the other 1.004. :doh: At least both are within range and yes they were both done at same temperature. ( I feel another thread coming on! )

Next stage then was to rack into my 5 gallon glass dj. More lessons to follow -

Should have done this in the kitchen where I can get more height to syphon - ok to start but as I lowered into the fv things got pretty slow. Heavy to move when full though. The other issue was not so much the sediment that had laid out but the lumpier stuff, mainly the elderberries which I think added greatly to restricting flow as they collect in the sediment trap. Many of these were floating still so a pain in the ar*e.

Down to the last 'drop' I moved downstairs to get more height and flow but the **** was giving even more problems. Syphoned another 1/2 gallon then had to resort to a sterilised sieve so as not to waste a whole 1/2 gallon left. Right or wrong? I know not. Time will tell. Could not waste a whole gallon of juice though and glad I did it.

Anyhow, job done. Successfully racked and under a nicely bubbling lock. I was not sure about the seal on the thing supplied with the dj but it is working ok. Pics show residue in bucket ( I had thrown the berries by then ), full dj and final resting place for the next phase. Popped in the empty fv as shown , A, just in case something frothy happens and B, to protect from the light a bit.

Unless anything unexpected happens I will continue this hopefully in 12 days time.

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3 things you could do in the future
1 is put a muslin cloth/hop bag over the syphon attached with elastic band
2 is to put the Elderberries etc directly in a muslin/straining/hop bag and place in fermenter
And 3 as you already did by sieving it but you'd be better using a fine straining bag to better stop the sediment etc
 
3 things you could do in the future
1 is put a muslin cloth/hop bag over the syphon attached with elastic band
2 is to put the Elderberries etc directly in a muslin/straining/hop bag and place in fermenter
And 3 as you already did by sieving it but you'd be better using a fine straining bag to better stop the sediment etc

Thanks Mikey
Hopefully much of the fine stuff will now settle out over the next 12 days. I also intend to filter this batch after fining stage.

If I lose half a bottle so be it, I will just have to treat the other half as an early 'sample'. :D
 
Perfectly normal usually primary fermentation will be done in <5days then the rest of the time the kit calls for is the secondary fermentation where the yeast clean up the mess they made during primary not many bubbles or sg change will be seen during this time
 
Day 20 -

All quiet at airlock and has been for ages.
Transferred from 23l glass DJ to large FV, nice layer of sludge left in bottom.
Added Potassium metabisulphate and Kieselsol.
Kit recommends a good stir with a spoon 4 times a day for the next 2 days.
Started with the spoon then resorted to the magic wand and got a good head up without creating a vortex.

Not sure it will need the wand / drill treatment 8 times over next 2 days but will do it anyway.

Question - is it possible to OVER De-Gas?

SG 0.992 -
Coming up noticeably short of the 23 l in the bucket now but kit specifically says DO NOT top up with water so I will not.

Tasting obviously accounts for some of the 'evaporation'. Really tastes good already so I am very hopeful regarding how this will be after a few months in the bottle.
 
Edit - I have a calif conn - malbec about 1 week behind yours. Really hopeful about it.

I diluted a cellar 7 kit fearing a gap at top of the demijohn and it had to go in the sink after. Lesson learned : don't add water to top up a kit.

Have same query about the degassing. Doubt it is needed but no harm just keep everything sanitised.
 
Edit - I have a calif conn - malbec about 1 week behind yours. Really hopeful about it.

I diluted a cellar 7 kit fearing a gap at top of the demijohn and it had to go in the sink after. Lesson learned : don't add water to top up a kit.

Have same query about the degassing. Doubt it is needed but no harm just keep everything sanitised.

Wow! Down the sink? How much water did you put in and what did it do to it?
 
Just added 1.5 L or so to get to the neck of the 23l DJ.

It killed the taste of the wine dead. As a total noob I was more worried about the air gap than the damage it might do to the flavour.
 
Just added 1.5 L or so to get to the neck of the 23l DJ.

It killed the taste of the wine dead. As a total noob I was more worried about the air gap than the damage it might do to the flavour.

I suppose when active and blipping in the FV the gap is all co2 protecting it. This is the gap I had at the top of the carboy once the wine was put into there from the FV at day 8.

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