Having a visitor for the weekend was great. I could escape (for a bit) to the basement to engage in some hobbying. I've heard a lot of good things about wine kits* and decided to give it a shot. This kit is a Chianti and makes about 30 bottles. I mixed it up yesterday, added "oak", aerated it with my turbo mixer, did a final dilution and just let it ferment. It's going as we speak. It should be done in about 4-6 weeks. I figured I'd tell folks when it was going to be finished in case anyone wanted to "make plans to go away for the weekend". This entry will plot it's progress. I'll keep reposting it when something new happens.
03/14/04: Mixed kit, sp. gr. 1.085.
03/15/04: Sp. gr. 1.085, "krausen" apparent, getting ready for the big exothermic kick.
03/16/04: Sp. gr. 1.080, massive CO2 rush in the headspace.
03/17/04: Sp. gr. 1.074
04/04/04: Sp. gr. 0.994 (!), It's working well. Slow because it's cold in the basement. Racked it for the first time today. I'll be degassing it over the next few days-2 wks. Residual CO2 is leaving the solution of the fermented juice. I racked it to a glass carboy fitted with a rubber stopper and airlock and about 1/2" headspace. Next step is addn of isinglass, let settle overnight, bottle, wait a bit and have party. Stay tuned.
*If Mario and Amy (who have excellent taste in wine) are reading, don't worry, I'll only ask you to taste this stuff once.