Winebuddy Cab' Sav'

[Tau]

Two 6 bottle kits done. two seperate dj's added extra 1 litre of lidl grape juice to each and there was extra 10-20g of sugar in each. Just hope the yeast can manage the extra 170-180g of sugar.

Opps forgot added 1 tea bag tea to each, before relising there were oak chips to go in.

 

[Tau]

Had a bit of foaming overflow problem today, which this type of supplied yeast always seems to do, tried to reduce by cooling wine which didn't work. So introduced a little harris premium yeast to each and it has done the trick and foam has gone.

Edit: After 6 hours it seems the youngs yeast used in the kit is the killer variety and has fought off the harris and foam is back.

 

[Tau]

I'm adding some redbush top up today, 3 tea steeped tea, to one of the dj's to see if it improves flavour. Might end up over doing the tannin though. Will compare with the the other dj to see if the rebush makes a significant difference to the flavour in a few months. No camden will be added to the redbush dj, will add one to the ordinary cab' sav.

Edit: 20.10.16 Added cab' sav' flavouring to each.

 

[Tau]

Test sg on one dj, less active looking one, got a reading of 1.000, after eleven days. Another week at least.

Edit: Monday day 14 - sg 0.995 almost there, hoping by wednesday or thurday.

Edit: Thursday day 17 - sg 0.993, and 0.992 in dj2 can't see it finishing till next week.

 

[Tau]

Now complete at 0.990, added part of stabilser pack to each and finings. Wish we could buy these 3 part finings by far the best I've seen. A good 3-6 months to mature before drinking.

Racked just now 5.11.16, will leave a few more days to clear.

 

[Tau]

Just bottled both dj's after a month extra to mature, the dj with the redbush has matured quicker and tastes much better than the one without. Even at this stage recommend redbush as a source of tannin and replacement for camden in red's.

 

[dublin12]

If it is a kit why use campden tablets - I presume it didn't come with them ?

 

[Bigcol49]

A good 3-6 months to mature before drinking.

Not for my missus! :mrgreen:

 

[Tau]

If it is a kit why use campden tablets - I presume it didn't come with them ?

But did come with sulphate (Sodium Meta') and sorbate powder.

 

[dublin12]

But did come with sulphate (Sodium Meta') and sorbate powder.

So you didn't put any of those sachets in ? Asking as interested in putting least chemicals possible!

 

[Tau]

So you didn't put any of those sachets in ? Asking as interested in putting least chemicals possible!

One gallon did, the other I didn't and used the redbush as the anti-oxidiser instead. This was to compare the two batches, both got to 0.990 so didn't need sorbate or chemicals to prevent fermentation.

The chemical batch is still undrinkable and will need 4-6 months, the redbush is drinkable now, but will leave to compare with the other batch.