Ray Calvert wrote:
Now, if you are making a kit, you probably want a 6 gal. carboy.
Just some thoughts.



I have been toying with the idea of getting a kit wine and making only
half and saving the other half to use as grape concentrate additions
for fruit wines that use them as body enhancers. I am guessing that
that is not a cheaper way of doing it than just buying the half liter
bottles of concentrate, and it is tough to know if they are at the same
concentration level. Also storing the concentrate until use would take
some thought and engineering. But it would give you an idea of the
varietal that you are using (the concentrate in bottles are just a
blend). I have noticed a slight foxiness to a couple wines I have made
using concord concentrates from the grocery store that I would like to
get around in the future.

So in that case...a 3 gallong carboy could still work. If I could work
out the specifics it might be a viable option to new winemakers....I am
guessing that you would have to freeze the remainder....and it would
take a while to use up. So there are some definate cons.

Droopy wrote:

I have been toying with the idea of getting a kit wine and making only
half and saving the other half to use as grape concentrate additions
for fruit wines that use them as body enhancers.

...snipped

It may be easier just to make the whole kit and then use the wine when
you make the fruit wine. You could either blend after the fruit wine is
made or use some wine instead of water when starting the fruit wine.

If the latter, personally, I would get the yeast going in the fruit
wine before adding the kit wine to reduce the chance of oxidizing. You
would also have to take the aclohol content of the wine into account
when calculating sugar additions to the fruit wine.


Andy

Basically I agree with Andy. Once you open it you should use it right away.
Also with kits, you generally get what you pay for. A higher price kit will
maker very nice wine. A medium price kit will make mediocre wine. And so
forth. Also all the additives are set for making a whole batch.

When mixing grape concentrate with fruit, you can improve the fruit but the
fruit will generally dominate and the high price for the better kits
probably do not mater. For blending with fruit, the cheaper tinned
concentrate will probably do just fine. In fact, for making light wine
fruit wines (apple, peach, etc.), one of the best grape concentrates to add
is Welch's frozen Niagara concentrate. It blends very nicely with fruits
and makes a very nice wine on it's own. Very cheap. See Jack Keller's site
for frozen fruit recipes.

As far as carboy size, even when making a kit, you can make it in smaller
carboy's. Just use several of them. When you rack, do all of them at one
time and rack into a common bucket so they blend and then put them back into
as many carboys as you need. It is just convenient to use one big carboy.
An advantage of using multiple carboys, especially after the initial
fermentation, is that you can bottle part of it early and leave the rest for
longer bulk aging.

Ray

"JEP62" wrote in message
oups.com...

Droopy wrote:

I have been toying with the idea of getting a kit wine and making only
half and saving the other half to use as grape concentrate additions
for fruit wines that use them as body enhancers.

..snipped

It may be easier just to make the whole kit and then use the wine when
you make the fruit wine. You could either blend after the fruit wine is
made or use some wine instead of water when starting the fruit wine.

If the latter, personally, I would get the yeast going in the fruit
wine before adding the kit wine to reduce the chance of oxidizing. You
would also have to take the aclohol content of the wine into account
when calculating sugar additions to the fruit wine.


Andy

Ray Calvert wrote:
fact, for making light wine
fruit wines (apple, peach, etc.), one of the best grape concentrates to add
is Welch's frozen Niagara concentrate. It blends very nicely with fruits
and makes a very nice wine on it's own. Very cheap. See Jack Keller's site
for frozen fruit recipes.

Many of my fruit wine recipes call for non labrusca white grape
concentrate. Nearly of my reds do as well. I hardly ever make a wine
sewwter than semi-sec and even in the lower amounts some foxiness does
show through in certain wines.

There are exceptions, I do like sweeter welches jug wines. They are
like a bad habit that I still have from my teenage years drinking
purple passion.