Bit of Help Required please

[Shroomy]

Have bought a wilko spicy cab sav 30 bottle kit
Now knowing you cant make a silk purse out of a pigs ear i thougt i would try and improve this a little bit (being adventurous) lol
What i decided to do was but some oak dust/chippings and some elderberries
Was going to put the oak cippings in a bag (half a pair of tights)
And approx 10 oz of dreied Elderberries in another bag (other part of the tights)
and leave untill ready to rack of after fermentation approx 7-10 days
Would this be the best way of proceeding
Thanks for your replies in Advance

[fatbloke]

Only thing I can think of doing, would be to rehydrate the elderberries first, just a little boiling water. Which you can always just add into the main batch water........

For the oak ? make sure it's cooperage quality white oak. There's a lot of red oak used in chippying and furniture, it's not suitable. I usually just pop down the garden centre and ask them if they've got any old half barrel planters that have dried out and fallen to pieces, and are gonna be thrown out. Take them home and dismantle them, clean up the wood to remove dirt and if it's a spirits barrel, the burn/char from the inner surface with a leccy plane and saw. Then you can either chop then up into 15cmX5mmX5mm little sticks, which can be toasted in a low oven until they've changed from yellow clean wood to the colour of a medium pencil lead, or just sand into dust or plane into shavings.

It's not actually necessary to toast oak for wines, as it wouldn't likely be for a wine barrel. Plus the smaller the particles, the quicker the flavour is imparted into the batch....... S'up to you.......

[Shroomy]

Thanks Fatbloke i have a pack of ritiches oak chips(dust) so thats ok
Guess i am finaly getting round to doing something right at last

[Shroomy]

HELP !!!! lol
Brewed this up and 3 weeks later its still fermenting temp is a steady 19c will this matter just let it ferment out ? or kill it
Thanks Guys

[CJR]

What is the gravity?

Personally I'd let it ferment out. As it's a kit, it's very unlikely to go extremely off-course. If you want to boost the temp, and therefore fermentation, consider investing in a aquarium heater.

[Shroomy]

Thanks CJR

[Shroomy]

Sorry CJR never answered your question
When i wrote this its gravity was 1040 it is now 990 so stabaliser and finnings a and an hour later b gone in just about to chill for 7 days Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa