First timer questions

[DaveGillespie]

Hello all, long time brewer but looking at dabbling in some Wine making now and have a few questions.

Is there a decent realistic how-to out there that shows the real process, timescales etc. for everything involved with a juice-based kit wine? I know enough from the one kit beer I did before going AG to pay no heed to manufacturers instructions in terms of timescale.

Will a kit contain everything I need ingredients-wise to produce the wine (ie. finings etc. outside of the juice and yeast)?

Are the same sanitisers & levels of sanitation used in beer making applicable to wine? I use StarSan myself.

Are wines generally bulk aged and if so is this OK to do in 5 litre Tesco Ashbeck bottles rather than glass demijohns?

Are screw top bottles OK or will I need to get my hands on a corker?

For how long will I need to keep strict temperature control over my wine fermentation? I have a temperature controlled brew fridge so this is not an issue but I will need to factor this around beer production.

Could someone recommend a good starter kit for a Red, Shiraz or something like that. 30 bottles might be a bit too much to start with but 6 bottles seems a bit on the low side. Do kits come in 15 bottle sizes?

[Horden Hillbilly]

I've got a "how to" Hillbilly style winemaking guide on my website, based on my own experiences.

http://uk-homebrew.tripod.com/id27.html

[jonesygj]

Q1: Will a kit contain everything I need ingredients-wise to produce the wine (ie. finings etc. outside of the juice and yeast)?
A:1 All the kits I ave brewed over the last few years do yes.

Q2: Are the same sanitisers & levels of sanitation used in beer making applicable to wine? I use StarSan myself.
A2: I would say that I tend to go OTT with Starsan on my wine making, I make sure absolutely everything is spot on with my sterilising, its bad enough losing a beer kit at £20.00 let alone a £50.00 plus Wine Kit

Q3: Are wines generally bulk aged and if so is this OK to do in 5 litre Tesco Ashbeck bottles rather than glass demijohns?
A3: I only use 25 litre buckets with airlocks, I have found bulk ageing in my buckets is fine as long as the air lock is topped up and that your temperature is ok. I haven't ever bulk aged in anything other so I cant comment on the Tesco plastic bottles.

Q3: Are screw top bottles OK or will I need to get my hands on a corker?
A3: Never tried screw top so cant safely say

Q4: For how long will I need to keep strict temperature control over my wine fermentation? I have a temperature controlled brew fridge so this is not an issue but I will need to factor this around beer production.
A4: I have an STC1000 controlled freezer, and I find that its minimum 4 weeks it will live in there on average 5, I tend to run the temperature a little lower to slow the process. Once the 4 weeks is up, I bottle and usually pop them in insulated boxes in my garage.

Q5: Could someone recommend a good starter kit for a Red, Shiraz or something like that. 30 bottles might be a bit too much to start with but 6 bottles seems a bit on the low side. Do kits come in 15 bottle sizes?
A5: I haven't seen 15 bottle kits, but honestly 30 isn't a lot when you are done, its only two cases, and if like me you like people trying what you've brewed it wont last long. I currently have 120 bottles aging, 60 in the fermenter, and 60 to brew. I can highly recommend the Mosti Monidal kits (Google) however not a great first time kit as the process is slightly different so I'd say a Wine Expert kit is pretty good.

[Jim]

Wow, jonesygj, you really are a big fan of Mosti wine kits. In fact all 3 of your posts since joining the forum have been praising them up.

One would almost think you had a vested interest in them.

[jonesygj]

Wow do you think so? I mentioned them because I have recently used them, if I had a vested interest would you perhaps think that I would have mentioned to the above person to use one? Or as you can see did I mention that I would use a wine expert kit? I'm a regular contributor on the home brew forum, however only stumbled across this site today because most of the time I'm busy with my family, my brewing or my work which in case you're interested is as a funeral director, (lot of call for Mosti wine kits in the funeral industry) So if you would like to make any more insinuations about what and why I'm posting, I suggest you don't bother and just remove my profile. I thought I was joining a forum where we could share our experiences of brewing and the items that we have tried, and most recently I have tried the Mosti kits and for now they are my preferred kit, as wine expert kits were before them, and ken ridge before that.

[Jim]

I'm sure you're who you say you are, jonesygj. However, your first three posts on this forum did all promote Mosti wine kits in one way or another which is the kind of posting that can indicate a sock puppet account (it's happened already before on here in relation to the same wine kits).

I'm certainly not going to ban you for mentioning them though.

[jonesygj]

That's because I came across your site after Google searching people's experiences with these kits, and found a subject line. I'm interested in knowing people's thoughts and I'm sure that should anyone else find something they like that they would promote what they'd found, are they the best? Probably not, are they the best I've used, absolutely. I've done many posts on many products, my partner loves rose wine ive done tons of themrose I'm a massive promoter of the Zinfandel Rose by Ken Ridge it's a superb product, as is the Cabernet Sauvignon Skins by Wine expert, doesn't mean I'm anyone's puppet. I enjoy getting people to take up this hobby and enjoy giving advice and help to others where I can, after all its why we use these sites.