Troubleshooting Your Wine Kit
At Wine Cave we do
everything we can to ensure that the wine kits you buy make great wine,
every time. There are times, however, when things don't turn out right.
We've made up a list of the most common questions that come up when making
a wine kit, to help you figure out whether you have a problem, and to
give you answers to your questions.
Hey! You changed
the instructions!
As research goes on at manufacturer site, we update the kit instructions.
If we find a better way to put the kit together, or a way to eliminate
an unnecessary step, we change the kits as quickly as possible. That's
why it's a good idea to read the instructions every time.
What's the deal
with these elderberries? Why should I push them under every day?
Some kits include a package of dried elderberries. When these are fermented
in the wine they give it a rich 'plummy' taste and a deep red colour.
You simply drop them in the primary fermenter on day one and leave them
behind when you rack to the secondary on day 6. Pushing them under every
day keeps them moist. If they dry out the tops of the berries can go moldy.
Look, I really
don't want to add all those chemicals and stuff. Is that okay?
Well, no, not really. Not any more okay than not wearing your seat belt,
or poking that rattlesnake with a stick, or taking the radio in the bathtub
with you. Most of the additives in the kit are actually things like fruit
acids and fining agents. The fruit acids are the same ones you'll find
in an apple or a bunch of grapes. The fining agents are gelatin ('there's
always room for...'), Kieselsol (essentially beach sand finely pulverized
and dissolved in water) and bentonite (a type of clay found in places
like Wyoming). The only 'chemicals' in the kit are potassium metabisulphite
and potassium sorbate. Both of these are government-controlled food additives
with extremely long histories of use. sulphites are produced naturally
during fermentation, and the sorbate is derived from the berries of the
mountain ash tree. Your morning orange juice probably had both of them,
and your instant noodles too. There isn't enough room here for a proper
discussion of them, but if you'd like to know more, we'd like to talk
about it with you. Write or call us at Wine Cave and we'll send you our
bulletin called 'Sulphite Facts' and the other 'Cleaners, Sanitizers,
and Preservatives'.
But my dog ate
my add pack. Is he going to be okay?
Fido will be fine. None of the additives or finings in the kit are harmful,
although they don't taste very good. The only thing to watch is the potassium
metabisulphite, which can make you uncomfortable if inhaled. So don't
inhale it and keep Fido out of the cellar. (By the way, this question
might sound silly, but people have asked it. Go figure.)
Should I sprinkle
my yeast on or rehydrate it? The instructions have changed, and I want
to know which one will make my wine turn out better.
Manufacturer changed the recommendation for adding the yeast in 1994,
asking people to sprinkle the yeast on. Our laboratory tests showed that
the difference in the finished wines that used sprinkling rather than
rehydrating was almost nil. However, if you don't rehydrate exactly right,
you can keep the yeast from working quickly, or even from working at all.
Even being a degree or two off in your calculations, or having 10% too
much water, can hurt it. (The trick is this: You need an amount of water
that weighs ten times as much as the yeast [for a 5 gram pack of yeast
that's 50 ml or about 1/5 of a cup]. The water should be 40.5°C/105°F.
Sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water. Wait for 15 minutes, stir
the yeast, then pour it on top of the wine. Do not stir it in- the yeast
needs time to get used to being in the wine. If you stir it in you will
shock it, and it will not perform as well as it should. You can see why
we went to just sprinkling.)
I added my yeast
last night/yesterday/two days ago and I don't think my wine has started
fermenting yet.
Don't panic. Sometimes fermentation takes longer to start than at other
times. Allow about 48 hours for signs of visible fermentation to take
place. If it looks as though nothing is going on after that time, take
a hydrometer reading and compare it to the reading you took when you started
the kit. (If you don't have a hydrometer, you should get one right away.
It's the best tool you have for trouble shooting your wine kit. The current
hydrometer reading is also the first thing we'll ask for if you call us
for advice.) In 48 hours your reading should have dropped by at least
5 points (for example, from 1.075 to 1.070). If it hasn't, get another
package of wine yeast and sprinkle it on top of the wine. That should
do the trick.
I'm on day 6 but
my specific gravity is higher than it should be. Can I put it into the
secondary anyway?
No, you're going to have to wait a little longer. Regular wine kits should
be below 1.020 and fruit wine kits below 1.040. If they're not, wait an
extra day and take another reading. When it drops low enough, proceed
with the instructions, counting that day as day 6 even if it took an extra
day or two. Depending on many factors, like temperature, yeast vigour,
etc., some kits (especially the fruit wine kits) can ferment quite slowly.
Be patient, and things will turn out fine.
My wine isn't clear,
and I even waited the extra week like the instructions said. What do I
do now?
Don't bottle the wine. It's not going to clear up in the bottle. Have
a careful look at it. If it isn't completely opaque, you can probably
use a filter to remove the haze. If you don't have a filter, rack the
wine to a sanitized carboy and add more fining agents. The best choice
would be Enolophin 2 part finings. They have gelatin and Kieselsol, just
like the finings that came with the kit. Wait another week to 10 days
for it to clear, and that should do it. If it still isn't clear, contact
your local wine shop or give us a call here at Wine Cave.
I'm bottling my
wine and it tastes sort of funny. Is it going to be okay?
Absolutely. Even though the kits are ready for bottling and are good enough
to drink on the 28th day, they still taste pretty young. If you can let
the wine age for a month or two in the bottle you'll be surprised by how
much it will improve.
All right then,
how long can I keep my Cellar Master wine?
With proper storage conditions (cool, slightly humid and dark) your wine
will improve steadily for 6 months. It will hold nicely for about 12 months
after that and then begin to lose its fresh flavour.
All right then,
how long can I keep my Woodbridge / Vino Del Vida wine?
With proper storage conditions (cool, slightly humid and dark) your wine
will improve steadily for 6 months. It will hold nicely for about 12 months
after that and then begin to lose its fresh flavour.
All right then,
how long can I keep my Cellar Classic wine?
With proper storage conditions (cool, slightly humid and dark) your wine
will improve steadily for 12 months. It will hold nicely for about 12
months after that and then begin to lose its fresh flavour.
I can't seem to
find one of my add packs. Should I skip it, and just go ahead?
No, don't miss any of the packs. Sometimes a kit is missing an add pack.
If you bought your kit at a local retailer, see if they will give you
a pack from one of the kits they have in stock, and we'll replace it for
them. If that isn't convenient, or if you bought your kit from Overwaitea/Save-On
Foods, contact us here at Wine Cave, and we'll ship you the missing pack
as quickly as possible.
How critical is
the temperature of the room where I make my wine? What if it's warmer
or colder than the recommended 20°-23°C/70°-75°F?
Well, there is a little leeway, but if you go too far one way or another
your yeast will rebel. If the fermentation room is too cool, the fermentation
will go very slowly, and may stop altogether. If it's too hot, the yeast
will go slightly mad, and produce some strangely flavoured compounds.
Try your best to keep it just right.
All this is wonderful,
but I still have some more questions. Who do I ask?
Give us a call here at Wine Cave. Our toll free number is 1.877.636.1116
. We'll do our best to help you out.
