On Fri, 9 Jan 1998 17:44:29 GMT, Tonya Rose
Quote:
>> Always top off with wine. Never top off with water. I also know two
>> people who have made this mistake, having topped off with water. When I
>> read the directions to one of these kits, I could see how easily that
>> could be done.
>Okay, I am new to this too. Just started my first batch in the primary
>last week (a kit). The kit I have says to top up with cooled boiled
>water. If you don't top up with water, what do you top up with?
I'd use an inexpensive, decent tasting wine. If you don't like the
taste, then don't use it.
Casarsa (Italian) makes a Merlot and a Pinot Grigio that are
inexpensive ($5 US for 1.5 liter at Sam's Wholesale Club) and taste
decent. These aren't exceptional wines, but neither will they
interfere with taste of most wines.
In the future you could reserve a few bottles from your current batch
to use in topping off future batches.
Most of my wine is made from fresh grapes, so I tend to buy more than
I anticipate will fill an even number of carboys. I keep extra 4
liter, 1.5 liter, 750 ml, and 375 ml bottles for holding extra without
much air space. Then each time I rack I top up the carboys with the
smaller bottles.
When making wine from kits, you can purchase an extra can of
concentrate to make a slightly larger quantity of wine, so you'll have
a bit extra to keep the carboy topped up.
Quote:
>Just for your information. My boyfriend bought a huge pile of apples
>today to try apple cider with and when I go home next year I intend to get
>a bunch of wild blueberries and partridge berries (something like a wild
>cranberry) for wine making. My father used to make wines when I was
>growing up and I liberated his recipes the last time I was home. So I
>also intend to get into this seriously - I grew up on wine.
Sounds good. For more information and recipes, check out Don Buchan's
web site (see my sig line). In addition to hosting the r.c.w FAQ, he
has a serious load of other good stuff there.
---
Bryan
for more info check out the rec.crafts.winemaking
FAQ: http://www.pobox.com/~malak/rcw.faq