tonyhibbett
Landlord.
I recently bought the Reserve du Chateau cabernet sauvignon 30 bottle kit on offer from Amazon. The price has now gone up to £37. 30 bottle kit is a generic term and is somewhat misleading. Some claim 23 litres (30.6 bottles) rather than bottles. During fermentation about half of the sugar turns to alcohol, the rest carbon dioxide, so for 10% alcohol, you lose 10% of the original bulk, reducing 30 bottles to 27. About another bottle is lost during racking and fining, so 26. I checked the sg of this kit, and found it to be 1075, only enough to produce barely 10% alcohol. To increase this to the more commercial strength of 12%, I would need to use 20% less water, 5.2 litres, almost 7 bottles. I could use water to top up and extra sugar to compensate for the low alcohol, but this would reduce the quality.
So, it could be down to 20 bottles, or about 15 litres. As I tend to use a polypin for storage, this would be a problem, as there would be a large airspace, so I would have to keep a reserve of 1 gallon from a previous brew to top this up.
In future, I will make up 15 litres and check the gravity.
With the California Connosseur and Kenridge kits, you do actually get commercial strength, 12%, along with oak chips and a good quality yeast, which justifies the higher price.
I checked the strength of some Winebuddy and Cellar 7 wine, and found them also to be 10% abv. This is quite acceptable for white wine, but not for red.
So, it could be down to 20 bottles, or about 15 litres. As I tend to use a polypin for storage, this would be a problem, as there would be a large airspace, so I would have to keep a reserve of 1 gallon from a previous brew to top this up.
In future, I will make up 15 litres and check the gravity.
With the California Connosseur and Kenridge kits, you do actually get commercial strength, 12%, along with oak chips and a good quality yeast, which justifies the higher price.
I checked the strength of some Winebuddy and Cellar 7 wine, and found them also to be 10% abv. This is quite acceptable for white wine, but not for red.
