Eclipse Merlot Kit - Recipe

Eclipse Merlot Kit (2 ratings)

Wine Recipe

Submitted By: BeerSmith (Shared)
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Brewer: Brad Smith
Batch Size: 6.00 gal	Style: Merlot (W1B)
Boil Size: 6.00 gal	Style Guide: Wine 2018
Color: Red10	Equipment: Brad's Mead/Cider Carboy
Bitterness: 0.0 IBUs	Boil Time: 1 min
Est OG: 1.096 (23.0° P)	Mash Profile: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Est FG: 0.995 SG (-1.3° P)	Fermentation: Wine - Premier Kit
ABV: 13.6%	Taste Rating: 30.0

Ingredients
Amount	Name	Type	#
4.96 gal	Eclipse Merlot Juice (and Grape Skins) [Primary] (3.0 SRM)	Juice	1
1.0 pkgs	Lalvin RC 212 (Bourgovin) (Lallemand - Lalvin #RC 212)	Yeast	2
0.30 tsp	Potassium Metabisulfite (Secondary 0 min)	Misc	3
1.00 items	Super-Kleer KC Finings (Secondary 3 days)	Misc	4
4.00 oz	Oak Cubes (Secondary 8 days)	Misc	5

Taste Notes

- One of my favorite red kits so far - premium quality and it came out relatively clean early on. Gets better with age - I will make this one again!

Notes

Started on 2/11 - substituted in RC212 yeast for the stock EC1118 yeast - better for Merlots - Yeast was just a bit slow foaming so I did add 1/4 tsp of GoFerm to get it going before pitching - On 2/16 I noticed fermentation was a bit sluggish - apparently RC212 has high nitrogen requirments -- Added 4.2 grams of Fermaid-O which I hope will help it finish out properly. -- Need to remember to add a bit of nutrient next time I use the RC212 on a kit - 2/18 Racked to secondary and it was 1.009 - thought about adding nutrients, but I think I'll let it run out... - Pulled sample on 2/27 as it was still fermenting a bit - read 1.001 which is high. I'm going to research and probably add some DAP or Fermaid-O to try to get it under 1.000 as it seems slow -- I believe RC212 is a high nutrient yeast -- Taste was pretty good - though not as tannic as I expected. Surprisingly drinkable. May want to leave a higher tannic batch (Borolo) on the grapeskins longer. -- Added 1/2 tsp of DAP to give it some nitrogen - hopefully will get yeast to finish out the last few points so I can rack this sucker! - Racked again on 3/2 after losing patience - gravity at 0.999 and added 1/2 tsp of DAP to get it going one more time -- Held off on adding clearing/stopping agents until I can get one more point out of it. Little activity after racking, so this may be the FG, but will wait another day or two before stabilizing - On 3/4 - added K-Sulfite, Oak Cubes and Clearing agents to clear it - should rack again late on 3/11 or early on 3/12 - Transferred to aging carboy on 3/11 (late 28 days) and it tasted very nice - I think this will develop well - Bottled/kegged on 4/4/17 at 52 days - tasted pretty darn good -- Sulfites were 18 ppm, and I added 25 ppm more to that in bottling bucket