Australian Blend 7 Day kit

Lugh Ildanach

Just started this today. Is it really ready to drink in 7 days?

Kit came with a 33 litre fermenter, which I guess is fine as a primary, but was wondering if it would benefit from longer than the 1 day in the secondary container suggested (after the stabilisers and finings have been added). If time in a secondary is recommended, are 33 litre bins ok, or do they expose the wine to too much oxygen?

Anyone done this kit?

afatbollix

Im under the opinion that you should have a lid on to keep out the air?

poitinstill

not done that one but have 2 to do...one red one white. I did the cantina chardonnay and its grand stuff ...made it in my beer feremnter ( has been through the mill and wine nice and unoffensve . its easy drinking wine liked by 9 out of 10 people who drank it. and the 1 who didnt has manky taste in wine/ beer anyway

Lugh Ildanach

afatbollix wrote: »

Im under the opinion that you should have a lid on to keep out the air?

Yeah, the lid is on, with an airlock, but I think the principle is that your standard fermenting bin has a lot more surface area than a demi-john or carboy, and in transferring to secondary you're therefore exposing to more oxygen. She's bubbling away to herself nicely. I'll wait until she stops bubbling, transfer into a secondary bin and then stick in the finings and stabiliser, and bottle her up as per instructions. Instructions say 3-4 hours, and up to one day after the finings have been put in before bottling. A few hours exposed to fresh oxygen surely isn't going to kill it off, well fingers crossed anyway!

Will let you all know how the finished product tastes, i suspect that some time in the bottles will help it, but if its in anyway drinkable at bottling, I'll have a few bottles to reward myself for the 7 days hard work that i've put into it

Yawns

I have this batch on myself for the missus since Sunday. I bought some 25L food grade buckets for cheap. Also picked up one of those auto syphons. It's been bubbling non stop for a few days now. I picked up the smaller buckets as I had read the same about the head space so wanted to be sure. Got 4 for €10 and drilled a hole in the lids for the bung and airlock.

With a bit of luck it'll turn out nicely anyway. Not a wine drinker myself but I will have to sample some of this. My father loves wine so will be grand for him I'm sure

Lugh Ildanach

That's a great price for the bins, for whatever purpose they're for. Where did you get them?

Yawns

Local market in Kildare. The guy doesn't always have them tho. I spotted them one week on my way to work, he didn't have them the next, he wasn't there after that then finally he was there and had them

I passed him on Tuesday gone and he had a few. I'll take a pic in a min. I don't mind grabbing some for someone and meeting up in Athy or Tallaght and they can collect them from me.

Lugh Ildanach

Yawns wrote: »

I have this batch on myself for the missus since Sunday. I bought some 25L food grade buckets for cheap. Also picked up one of those auto syphons. It's been bubbling non stop for a few days now. I picked up the smaller buckets as I had read the same about the head space so wanted to be sure. Got 4 for €10 and drilled a hole in the lids for the bung and airlock.

With a bit of luck it'll turn out nicely anyway. Not a wine drinker myself but I will have to sample some of this. My father loves wine so will be grand for him I'm sure

Yeah, I suppose only problem with a 25 litre bin is that if you're fermenting 23 litres and there is a lot of foam, it could end up coming back up your airlock. I'm not sure that 25 litre bin would solve the problem anyway, as the expopsed surface area is the same as a 33 litre one, the demi-johns and carboys have those narrow necks which means that the surface area exposed at the top is minimal.

Anyway, seems that we started the kit on the same day so should be interesting to note the results as they come in :cool:

Yawns

The good part about the 25l you will have to put your own hole in the lid for the airlock and bung. I made it small atm but could always make it bigger as the bung gets bigger at one end.

In theory I could pull out the airlock and stick the syphon thru the hole instead. I don't think it would matter too much tho if you have the lid off to syphon the wine. As long as you keep the syphon down in the 2nd bucket and keep the flow pouring nice and easy to the side to reduce the oxygen getting in I wouldn't be overly worried about the surface. Carboys would be more ideal tho but expensive.

Tesco's in Naas have demi johns for €9.95 I believe. They moved the area for their home brew but I think it's near the Halloween aisle, just after the toys and before the electricals. It's no longer in an aisle but rather against the shop wall. SOme kegs there too for circa €30.

BeerNut

Yawns wrote: »

you will have to put your own hole in the lid for the airlock and bung.

You don't need an airlock. They're more trouble than they're worth, IMO. See Lugh Ildanach's post above, for instance.

Yawns

Here's some pics atm. I had to take everything and sort it out a bit. I may need to find a new home for the beers that have been bottled and keep the whole area tidy for working in.

3 brews going atm. One is nearly ready to be bottled which is fine cos the corona cases are full of empties that just need to be sterilized again before bottling. The blue cases are full and almost finished bottle conditioning. They contain my first brew - The Canadian Blonde. I tested a few bottles a few days ago and really like them. Have high hopes for the next 2 beer batches which are both Mexican Cerveza but done slightly different from each other.

Wine in the middle. The airlock has been flowing like that non stop since Tuesday and it's stayed clear so far, fingers crossed. Since I started the 2nd brew I invested in more buckets so I can do batch priming for future batches such as the 3rd brew onwards. I am gonna bottle from the primary on the bucket with the tap and use coopers drops for that one. This is the first lot of pictures I've actually taken of my brewing experiences so far. Wasn't planning on taking any tho.

The mars bars are not for me to get fat on either. Gonna try make a chocolate vodka with them. I made one recently with cooking chocolate and it turned out a lot nicer than I was expecting so I'm gonna give this a whirl. Also saw someone posting about cheap home made meade with honey, water, raisens and baker's yeast so have them too with the aim of making some for next year but I will prob pick up a demi john next time I'm in Tescos first.

BiddyBob

Yawns wrote: »

Here's some pics atm. I had to take everything and sort it out a bit. I may need to find a new home for the beers that have been bottled and keep the whole area tidy for working in.

3 brews going atm. One is nearly ready to be bottled which is fine cos the corona cases are full of empties that just need to be sterilized again before bottling. The blue cases are full and almost finished bottle conditioning. They contain my first brew - The Canadian Blonde. I tested a few bottles a few days ago and really like them. Have high hopes for the next 2 beer batches which are both Mexican Cerveza but done slightly different from each other.

Wine in the middle. The airlock has been flowing like that non stop since Tuesday and it's stayed clear so far, fingers crossed. Since I started the 2nd brew I invested in more buckets so I can do batch priming for future batches such as the 3rd brew onwards. I am gonna bottle from the primary on the bucket with the tap and use coopers drops for that one. This is the first lot of pictures I've actually taken of my brewing experiences so far. Wasn't planning on taking any tho.

The mars bars are not for me to get fat on either. Gonna try make a chocolate vodka with them. I made one recently with cooking chocolate and it turned out a lot nicer than I was expecting so I'm gonna give this a whirl. Also saw someone posting about cheap home made meade with honey, water, raisens and baker's yeast so have them too with the aim of making some for next year but I will prob pick up a demi john next time I'm in Tescos first.

Just a quick suggestion: the thermometers should be mounted horizontally if you ever need to use a brewbelt.

Lugh Ildanach

Well, fermentation seemed to have finished up yesterday, gravity had fallen to 0.995 from an initial 1070 (or perhaps 1080 i didn't write it down immediately and forgot it!), which is giving an alcohol of 10% (or 11.3% if it did happen to be 1080 although i think that's wishful thinking).

I've transferred to secondary and added the stabilisers and finings, will let it settle for a day or so and then bottle it.

I had a quick sample, it tasted grand, a little sharp which I'm hoping will mellow a few weeks in the bottle and a tiny fizz, which I'm hoping that a couple of days in the secondary before bottling will sort out. All in all, very happy with it so far.

Yawns

What temp did you ferment at throughout?

I have been busy over the weekend and won't get a chance to rack until tomorrow at earliest but when checking over the weekend it doesn't seem to have finished primary yet. I had it at 18 throughout. Had a quick look now and no activity, will take a reading when I get back in an hour or so. If I get a chance to rack tomorrow I'll be laughing.

Also have a beer that's been fermenting for 18 days now. It could have been bottled a few days ago but I've been way too busy. I need to re sanitize my bottles for that first tho.

Lugh Ildanach

It was in my bedroom (big mistake as the constant bubbling meant I had to spend a couple of nights in the spare room lol), temperature was pretty constant between 16-18 and I had it wrapped in blankets. Next time, she's going in the sitting room, even if it is a degree or two cooler in there

Yawns

I've got 5 mins to myself now so will go and take a hydrometer reading. Won't get a chance to rack today but I can take another reading tomorrow and if it's the same I'll rack and add #2 & #3.

I have my brewing setup in the wardrobe of the guest room. I forgot someone was going to be staying there on Saturday night. Oh well it should have calmed down by then to be barely noticeable.

Lugh Ildanach

Just realising that I didn't mention which Australian 7 day kit I was referring to. Mine is the Cabernet Sauvignon!!

Can't wait for your results Yawns!!!

Lugh Ildanach

I'm planning on bottling this in the next day or two. Any tips for corking? I've bought a hand corker and couple of packs of corks. Do I need to soak the corks at all, i've read different views on different sites.

Yawns

ARGH!

I won't be doing anything today. Car may be ****ed. Had to go out in an emergency and ended up getting caught Hoping no damage done to car but it's looking likely.

I have a 2 handed hand corker but I can't remember what type of corks I have. Prob the hardest ones to use knowing my luck this week

I have some screw top wine bottles with the caps anyway so that should save me a few bottles of hard work when I get around to doing it all. I selected a chardonnay wine btw.

Lugh Ildanach

Thanks for the replies a chairde. First time I've used my auto-siphon and it did the trick great. Corking wasn't as hard as I imagined, done and dusted in 15 minutes.

My Cabernet Sauvignon is now in its bottles. Its very drinkable at the minute and hopefully will improve a little with some time in the bottles, if I can find some patience. Friends and family already have their eyes on most of the bottles, I'll need to be putting the next batch on soon enough

Yawns

Good to hear. I got around to racking it tonight. Will leave it for a day or so while I sort out the car mess which is a worst case scenario.

I have my brew that needs bottling now too which is about 21 days fermenting. Have to sterilize those bottles first but that's no hassle.

Sleepy

Yawns wrote: »

Tesco's in Naas have demi johns for €9.95 I believe. They moved the area for their home brew but I think it's near the Halloween aisle, just after the toys and before the electricals. It's no longer in an aisle but rather against the shop wall. SOme kegs there too for circa €30.

Anyone know if Tesco in Clarehall carry any of this stock?

Yawns

Sleepy I've found that if you are buying 2 or more items from Tesco, the difference in the prices will make the cost of delivery online.

2 demijohns will cost 19.90 in Tesco but online with delivery will cost 20.45. As you may know delivery cost online is 4.95 for your entire order so you the more you buy online the cheaper it is. Unless you just need the 1 item in an emergency. But tis always nice to have a section to go browse when the OH drags you shopping.

Sleepy

As far as I can see, all I really need is juice and yeast and a packet of yeast looks pretty expensive with shipping!

Yawns

yeah it would be all right

It all comes down to how far away you would be too tho. No point saving 4.95 on shipping when you gotta travel 45 k/m to get there. But if your doing other shopping then all good.

As I said, it on;y saves on shipping if you are getting 2 or more items from the home brew section.

Yawns

Got around to bottling yesterday. It was my only day of relaxing where I had enough time to bottle. I had the finings in for a number of days. It had cleared in less than 24 hours, I was doing a good enough job on stirring. Then I had to go collect car and have it valeted ( cost a fortune overall to fix )

So it's bottled and seemed fine to me but as I said I don't drink wine so it could be piss water. The true tasters will be the OH and father. Will see what they think about it. Got some bottles out for tasting and early drinking. Have 2 cases put away to hopefully become better over time. Found the corking a bit iffy at start til I got used to it. Then it was a breeze with the 2 handed corker.

bc_lk

Thinking of doing one of these, usually make beverdale

how did these kits turn out ?

what are they comparable to ?

are they plonk ?

Lugh Ildanach

The Cabernet Sauvignon worked out well. I'm no wine expert, but I liked it, it was very light and very drinkable. It had a tiny bit of a fizz, but I'm sure that was due to my failure to degas thoroughly rather than a flaw with the kit itself. It was my first wine kit and I'll probably try others to experiment, but I'd be happy enough to make another batch of this when I have a free fermenter.

bc_lk

thanks for the reply

Yawns

As of yet my wine bottles are unopened. My father hasn't been down and the GF hasn't tried one yet. I will pop one in the fridge for later for tasting purposes.

Lugh Ildanach

Between myself and a few friends we only have about 10 bottles left from the 30. And its not even 2 weeks since they were bottled, so much for letting them mature

Yawns

Opened a few over the last few days with some people. It was only ok. Replies I got was it seems very thin and lacking of "something".

I added some glycerine, roughly 3 ml, to some bottles and left them for a little while in fridge. Did a blind tasting with the same people. Some of the original bottles and some with glycerine. Glycerine was picked out as better every time by them all. They said it was much better body but still a bit lacking in taste for 2 of them.

Oh well tis all part of learning and it was my first attempt at a wine so will take it on board for future uses. I saw some grape and peach juice in Tesco's so I might give them a go and will defo add Glycerine to the next batch just prior to bottling.

poitinstill

what does the glycerine do .. and where would you get it ? homebrew supplier or supermarket ?
made up the red one last night.

Yawns

I've read up that it could help give it a smoother kinda taste. I'm not a wine drinker myself, this brew was for herself to keep her quiet when she moans about how much I have. Anyway it seems to have done the trick.

I bought mine in Tescos when I was there. came in small bottles for about €1 each I think give or take a few cents. I added about 3 mls to each bottle. Most supermarkets should stock them but wouldn't be a major amount of them I would think. I grabbed the last 5 from Tesco. Find them in the baking section near the likes of food colouring and extracts.