Beer Cellar

The beer collection has been expanding lately. This is the time of year the LCBO releases a lot of interesting beers, many of them only available once a year. I counted 79 bottles at present and 44 different styles. Some of the bigger beers will be aged for a while, others will be savored until they come available again and the lighter beers will be consumed fresh.

The collection is not finished for the year though. I am still waiting on La Trappe Quadrupel Ale, St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Meantime Coffee Porter. It also can't hurt to get a few more Orval!

Photos and a spreadsheet that list everything to follow:

Step 5: Filtering & Bottling the Wine Kit

Here is the final step of the six week process to make the KenRidge New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine kit. Above is a photo of the wine after clarifying for 16 days and after it was transferred off the sediment. It was pretty much crystal clear at this point.

I decided to filter the wine even though it looked really clear. It was cheap to rent so I figured why not. After it was done I think it did make a big difference in the finished product. It was pretty easy to run the machine. Just add filter pads, rinse it out, put the sucking hose in the carboy, the draining hose in the bottling bucket and turn it on.

With the wine crystal clear I siphoned it into sterilized bottles. I then sterilized the corks and corked the bottles with a rented floor corker.

After all this time, here is the finished product. Twenty Eight bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. The labels came with the kit but the shrink caps did not. It is tasting very good at the moment but I think it will be even better after sitting in the bottles for a couple months.

Step 3 & 4; Degas, Stabilize and Clarify the Wine Kit

The gravity sample above shows the wine has completed fermentation. This means it is time to degas the KenRidge New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine kit. The degassing is done to remove excess carbon dioxide so the wine can clarify properly.

I degassed with this tool that goes on a drill. It does a good job and is very quick. The degassing can also be done with a spoon or by shaking the carboy.

First thing for step 3 was to transfer the wine off the sediment to a new carboy. Then add Potassium Metabisulphite to the wine and degas. The photo above shows the wine after degassing, it produces alot of foam. Now the wine has to sit for two days before clarifying.

Step 4 consists of adding a packet of Potassium Sorbate and a packet of ISOKLEER to clarify the wine. After that you simply stir it well and let is sit for 16 days to clarify.

Here is a sample taken just before adding the clarifying agent. The wine is quite clear already but it does show some hazing in the carboy.

Step 2, Racking the Wine Kit

Last Friday I racked the KenRidge New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine kit into a glass carboy. Primary fermentation went well during the first 10 days and it almost fermented to dryness in that time. The photo above shows the wine before I transferred it. Smells really good so far!

This is a photo of the lees left in the bottom of the fermenter after racking. It was pretty thick stuff.

Here it is in the secondary fermenter. It is still very cloud but it will settle out over the next two weeks. Then in the third step I will degas the wine and add a fining agent to further clarify the wine.

I took a gravity sample to test the sugar levels. It came in at 0.995 which means the yeast are just about done consuming all the sugar. It should lower a little bit more by the next sampling. I then let the sample settle out in the fridge for a taste test. It was excellent, a little yeast at the moment but there definitely is a nice tasting wine in there.