First off I would like to thank the group for all the help as I get my first
batch of wine going. Most of your contributions have been made through
google searches so just because you haven't seen my questions doesn't mean
you haven't answered them.

My BK French Merlot is ready for its first racking. At this point I want to
add 1oz of French oak cubes, I have read that they will help with the wines
character and add some tannin flavor. How should I go about treating them
before adding them to the secondary or can I just throw them in right from
the bag? And should I fetch them out at future rackings and carry them
through a couple of rackings?

This brings me to part two. Accoring to my directions I am not to top up at
the first racking but I am supposed to at the second, with water. I've read
that it is better to top up with a similar wine rather than water. The folks
at my LHBS told me that water is fine because the kit is actually ment to
make 6.5 gallons. I think with what I've read about reds that I'd rather
just throw in a $6 bottle of merlot each time. Might add some quality to the
finished product. Is it true that the BK select kits are "supposed" to make
6.5 gallons and water is fine? I got a bottle of Merlot as well as another
gallon of bottles drinking water.

I don't think this batch will be ready to drink by xmas, but I also don't
think I'll be able to bulk age it for a year either. My plan is to keep it
in a carboy until mid december and then bottle it after I filter it. I have
a cartridge filter system that uses two kegs that use for melomels. I figure
it will be easier to bottle from the keg as well, just add enough CO2 to
pressurize the keg and push the wine into bottles. I think if I am carefull
not to shake the keg at all I can keep any appreciable amount of CO2 from
dissolving into the wine, plus I think 2-3 psi will do the job of pushing
the wine out and into bottles.

Thanks for any insight,

Mark

"Mark Garwatoski" > wrote in message
.com...
> My BK French Merlot is ready for its first racking. At this point I want
to
> add 1oz of French oak cubes, I have read that they will help with the
wines
> character and add some tannin flavor. How should I go about treating them
> before adding them to the secondary or can I just throw them in right from
> the bag?

Just dump them in. If you're anal-retentive, wet the chips, put them on a
microwaveable dish, nuke them until they steam and then dump them in. Don't
boil them in water or you'll end up throwing away part of the flavor.

And should I fetch them out at future rackings and carry them
> through a couple of rackings?

I'd tend to leave them in or replace them each racking until the oak is
noticeable, but the former might be a PIA to do.

> This brings me to part two. Accoring to my directions I am not to top up
at
> the first racking but I am supposed to at the second, with water. I've
read
> that it is better to top up with a similar wine rather than water. The
folks
> at my LHBS told me that water is fine because the kit is actually ment to
> make 6.5 gallons. I think with what I've read about reds that I'd rather
> just throw in a $6 bottle of merlot each time. Might add some quality to
the
> finished product. Is it true that the BK select kits are "supposed" to
make
> 6.5 gallons and water is fine?

Maybe, but I wouldn't top with water.

> I don't think this batch will be ready to drink by xmas, but I also don't
> think I'll be able to bulk age it for a year either. My plan is to keep it
> in a carboy until mid december and then bottle it after I filter it.

6 months bulk aging should be sufficient. If you're careful when you rack
it you shouldn't need to filter the wine. Also, if you're bottling in
December you should fine it in September or so and give it a last racking in
November. BTW, if the wine is dry DON'T put any sorbate into it. Sulfite
yes; sorbate no. Sorbate gives wines an off taste that many people can
detect.

I have
> a cartridge filter system that uses two kegs that use for melomels. I
figure
> it will be easier to bottle from the keg as well, just add enough CO2 to
> pressurize the keg and push the wine into bottles.

Save that for your melomel. If you pressurize the wine with CO2 it will go
into the bottle slightly fizzy, and I don't think you want that (unless
you're into dry lambrusco!).

Filtration is sometimes a useful tool, but if you can avoid it the wine will
be better.

Tom S

> 6 months bulk aging should be sufficient. If you're careful when you rack
> it you shouldn't need to filter the wine. Also, if you're bottling in
> December you should fine it in September or so and give it a last racking
in
> November. BTW, if the wine is dry DON'T put any sorbate into it. Sulfite
> yes; sorbate no. Sorbate gives wines an off taste that many people can
> detect.

I think I'm supposed to add the sorbate at step #3 with the sulphites. So
your saying I should hold off on this addition until later if at all? What
would you consider "dry"? I think the directions also say to add some
addtional sulphites if aging more than six months. When should this
addtional sulphites be added?

Thanks,

Mark

"Mark Garwatoski" > wrote in message
.com...
> I think I'm supposed to add the sorbate at step #3 with the sulphites. So
> your saying I should hold off on this addition until later if at all?

"Never" would be best. Sorbate is used to prevent restarting of
fermentation in a wine that has residual sugar. If the wine is dry there is
no sugar left to ferment, so sorbate is not necessary.

The reason the kit comes with sorbate is to cover the situation where the
wine has stuck the fermentation off-dry, but the newbie winemaker doesn't
know that and goes ahead and bottles the wine anyway. Without sorbate, the
wine would likely start fermenting again in the bottle - causing corks
popping in the middle of the night, a huge purple mess, and an angry
letter/call/e-mail to Brew King's customer support. IOW, it's there to
idiot-proof the product.

> What would you consider "dry"?

Specific gravity below 1.000 indicates a dry wine. Typical might be 0.994
or so.

I think the directions also say to add some
> addtional sulphites if aging more than six months. When should this
> addtional sulphites be added?

At the beginning of aging. You need the sulfite in there to render the wine
an unfriendly environment for spoilage organisms. It'd be nice if you could
measure the pH and free SO2 so you can set the free SO2 where it needs to
be. Putting in too much sulfite can render the wine undrinkable. Not that
it'd hurt you to drink it, but it wouldn't taste good.

Tom S

> At the beginning of aging. You need the sulfite in there to render the
wine
> an unfriendly environment for spoilage organisms. It'd be nice if you
could
> measure the pH and free SO2 so you can set the free SO2 where it needs to
> be. Putting in too much sulfite can render the wine undrinkable. Not
that
> it'd hurt you to drink it, but it wouldn't taste good.

At this point I don't have a way to measure the free SO2 so I'll go with the
1/4teas they recommend.

I've decided to add my 1oz of oak cubes during the clarification stage.
After about a month I'll taste it and add another oz and go from there
checking monthly.

Thanks,
Mark

Mark, Good advise above. One suggestion I would make is to wait until it
is clear and then get some 1 gal jugs. Rack the clearest wine off the top
into 5 or 6 wine bottles but do not cork them. Then rack the rest into the
1 gal jugs. If you need to top the last one up, use some of the wine that
you put in bottles. then cork the bottles that are left over and put
airlocks on the jugs. You can sample them as you desire. Then you can let
some of the gal. jugs bulk age longer and you can bottle a jug every now and
then so you can sample it. This way you have no need to top up and you get
to drink some along the way while bulk aging.

If, when topping up with the bottled wine, you end up with a partially full
one, well shucks, I guess you will have to drink that one so it don't go
bad. Life is tough.

Ray

"Mark Garwatoski" > wrote in message
.com...
> First off I would like to thank the group for all the help as I get my
first
> batch of wine going. Most of your contributions have been made through
> google searches so just because you haven't seen my questions doesn't mean
> you haven't answered them.
>
> My BK French Merlot is ready for its first racking. At this point I want
to
> add 1oz of French oak cubes, I have read that they will help with the
wines
> character and add some tannin flavor. How should I go about treating them
> before adding them to the secondary or can I just throw them in right from
> the bag? And should I fetch them out at future rackings and carry them
> through a couple of rackings?
>
> This brings me to part two. Accoring to my directions I am not to top up
at
> the first racking but I am supposed to at the second, with water. I've
read
> that it is better to top up with a similar wine rather than water. The
folks
> at my LHBS told me that water is fine because the kit is actually ment to
> make 6.5 gallons. I think with what I've read about reds that I'd rather
> just throw in a $6 bottle of merlot each time. Might add some quality to
the
> finished product. Is it true that the BK select kits are "supposed" to
make
> 6.5 gallons and water is fine? I got a bottle of Merlot as well as another
> gallon of bottles drinking water.
>
> I don't think this batch will be ready to drink by xmas, but I also don't
> think I'll be able to bulk age it for a year either. My plan is to keep it
> in a carboy until mid december and then bottle it after I filter it. I
have
> a cartridge filter system that uses two kegs that use for melomels. I
figure
> it will be easier to bottle from the keg as well, just add enough CO2 to
> pressurize the keg and push the wine into bottles. I think if I am
carefull
> not to shake the keg at all I can keep any appreciable amount of CO2 from
> dissolving into the wine, plus I think 2-3 psi will do the job of pushing
> the wine out and into bottles.
>
> Thanks for any insight,
>
> Mark
>
>

"Mark Garwatoski" > wrote in message r.com>...
> This brings me to part two. Accoring to my directions I am not to top up at
> the first racking but I am supposed to at the second, with water. I've read
> that it is better to top up with a similar wine rather than water. The folks
> at my LHBS told me that water is fine because the kit is actually ment to
> make 6.5 gallons. I think with what I've read about reds that I'd rather
> just throw in a $6 bottle of merlot each time. Might add some quality to the
> finished product. Is it true that the BK select kits are "supposed" to make
> 6.5 gallons and water is fine? I got a bottle of Merlot as well as another
> gallon of bottles drinking water.
>

The kits are designed to make 6 gals, not 6.5. According to Tim
Vandergrift, who made the kit, they will accommodate topping up with
water at the second racking up to about 1L max. with no detrimental
effects.

Pp