I've made a few of the Vinter's Reserve wines from those $60 kits. I
have been told that while good, my wines are strong. I don't
necessarily think so, they seem fine to me.

Anyway I'm paying special attention to the directions and oddities
I've noticed. I don't have the instructions in front of me now, but I
think I can paraphrase... I'm trying to make sure I'm making the
right volume of wine.

At the start of the instructions, it says to use a fermenter capable
of handling 8 gallons. I'm using 6.5gal carboys. I don't know why it
says to use an 8 gallon fermenter, in five wines I've never seen a
violent fermentation which would require that much headspace.

Anyway, I think around the stage of stabalizing and clearing, the
instructions say to top up the fermenter to within 2 inches of the
bung. The bung is the stopper/airlock holder, right?

At this stage, I do not top off to within 2" of the bung. I make sure
I'm topped off to a total of six gallons.

This leads me to the following discrepencies:
1) Why does it say I need an 8 gallon fermenter?
2) If I use a 6.5 gallon carboy, and only make six gallons, I
can see the wine being strong if I am supposed to top up to within 2"
of the bung on either a 6.5 or a 8 gal fermenter.

Can someone explain? I think I'm doing it right, but just not sure.

Thanks.

On Apr 21, 3:22*pm, the phelper >
wrote:
> I've made a few of the Vinter's Reserve wines from those $60 kits. *I
> have been told that while good, my wines are strong. *I don't
> necessarily think so, they seem fine to me.
>
> Anyway I'm paying special attention to the directions and oddities
> I've noticed. *I don't have the instructions in front of me now, but I
> think I can paraphrase... *I'm trying to make sure I'm making the
> right volume of wine.
>
> At the start of the instructions, it says to use a fermenter capable
> of handling 8 gallons. *I'm using 6.5gal carboys. *I don't know why it
> says to use an 8 gallon fermenter, in five wines I've never seen a
> violent fermentation which would require that much headspace.
>
> Anyway, I think around the stage of stabalizing and clearing, the
> instructions say to top up the fermenter to within 2 inches of the
> bung. *The bung is the stopper/airlock holder, right? *
>
> At this stage, I do not top off to within 2" of the bung. *I make sure
> I'm topped off to a total of six gallons.
>
> This leads me to the following discrepencies:
> * * * * 1) *Why does it say I need an 8 gallon fermenter?
> * * * * 2) *If I use a 6.5 gallon carboy, and only make six gallons, I
> can see the wine being strong if I am supposed to top up to within 2"
> of the bung on either a 6.5 or a 8 gal fermenter.
>
> Can someone explain? *I think I'm doing it right, but just not sure.
>
> Thanks.

1) The additional volume is to accommodate the foam created during
fermentation, which cab sometimes be fairly violent.

2) Kits are normally made up to the 6 gal mark, so no, that should not
be the reason. At the clearing and stabilizng stage, the wine needs to
be protected against oxygen, which might be hard in a 6.5 gal carboy,
so I'd recommend getting a 6 gal carboy for that purpose. That's the
one that should be topped up to within 2" of the bung.

Pp

On Apr 21, 7:24*pm, pp > wrote:
> On Apr 21, 3:22*pm, the phelper >
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I've made a few of the Vinter's Reserve wines from those $60 kits. *I
> > have been told that while good, my wines are strong. *I don't
> > necessarily think so, they seem fine to me.
>
> > Anyway I'm paying special attention to the directions and oddities
> > I've noticed. *I don't have the instructions in front of me now, but I
> > think I can paraphrase... *I'm trying to make sure I'm making the
> > right volume of wine.
>
> > At the start of the instructions, it says to use a fermenter capable
> > of handling 8 gallons. *I'm using 6.5gal carboys. *I don't know why it
> > says to use an 8 gallon fermenter, in five wines I've never seen a
> > violent fermentation which would require that much headspace.
>
> > Anyway, I think around the stage of stabalizing and clearing, the
> > instructions say to top up the fermenter to within 2 inches of the
> > bung. *The bung is the stopper/airlock holder, right? *
>
> > At this stage, I do not top off to within 2" of the bung. *I make sure
> > I'm topped off to a total of six gallons.
>
> > This leads me to the following discrepencies:
> > * * * * 1) *Why does it say I need an 8 gallon fermenter?
> > * * * * 2) *If I use a 6.5 gallon carboy, and only make six gallons, I
> > can see the wine being strong if I am supposed to top up to within 2"
> > of the bung on either a 6.5 or a 8 gal fermenter.
>
> > Can someone explain? *I think I'm doing it right, but just not sure.
>
> > Thanks.
>
> 1) The additional volume is to accommodate the foam created during
> fermentation, which cab sometimes be fairly violent.
>
> 2) Kits are normally made up to the 6 gal mark, so no, that should not
> be the reason. At the clearing and stabilizng stage, the wine needs to
> be protected against oxygen, which might be hard in a 6.5 gal carboy,
> so I'd recommend getting a 6 gal carboy for that purpose. That's the
> one that should be topped up to within 2" of the bung.
>
> Pp- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

The bung is the stopper and I don't agree with 2 inches of fermented
headspace, I like to keep that at less than 1 inch. I have never
understood 'strong' either; I hear that and they seem to mean it as a
compliment. My wines are softer than most commercial wines and the
alcohol is similar or lower. It may mean they liked it enough to
drink more than normal so the 'effect' was strong... dunno...

Joe