Solomon Grundy Wine Kits

Make Solomon Grundy Wine Kits at Home.

Solomon Grundy gold wine making kits come in a six-bottle size and a thirty-bottle size. It provides an excellent opportunity to experiment with the six-bottle sizes and then move on to the 30 bottle kits when you find the flavour of your choice.

The original Solomon Grundy range came on the market in 1995 and has proved very popular with its reputation growing year on year.

Solomon Grundy has increased its range of wine kits and currently has sixteen styles across four fields Classic, Country, Gold and Platinum.

The Classic and Gold range is available in six and thirty bottle kits.

The Country range is available in 6 bottle wine kits.

The Platinum range is available in 30 bottle wine kits.

Solomon Grundy Classic flavours are - medium dry white, sweet white, rose, medium-dry red.

Solomon Grundy Country flavours 1-gallon wine from fruit kit - apricot, bilberry, black cherry, cherry, elderflower, peach, strawberry.

Solomon Grundy Gold flavours are - cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, merlot, piesporter, sauvignon blanc, sauvignon shiraz, zinfandel rose.

Solomon Grundy Platinum flavours are - cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, merlot, pinot grigio, rose, sauvignon blanc, shiraz.

SOLOMON GRUNDY WINE KIT INSTRUCTIONS

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING

All your equipment must be thoroughly cleaned and sterilised before starting. Use any suitable homebrew steriliser. Follow the manufacturer's instructions.

STARTING THE FERMENTATION OF YOUR SOLOMON GRUNDY WINE KIT

1. Pour 5 litres (9 pints) of boiling water into a 25-litre fermenter. 
2. Then add 3 kilos of brewing sugar for White and Rosé wines, add 4 Kilos of brewing sugar for a Red wine, and stir to dissolve completely. 
3. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the large bottle/can of concentrate (do not add the smaller incredibly concentrated wine compound yet)
4.  Rinse any remains in the bottle with cold water and add to the fermenter.
5. Top up to 22.5 litres (5 gallons) with cold water, then add the Wine Yeast and the Yeast Nutrient sachets.
6.  Stir the fermenter contents well until all the yeast particles disappear.
7. Attach a fermenter lid with hole and grommet fit an airlock, and half fill it with cold water. 
8. Transfer the fermenter somewhere warm between 24º-30ºC (76º-86ºF) to ferment for five days. 
9. To produce better quality wine, allow the wine to ferment at a lower temperature. The lower temperature will take a few more days to complete but will deliver better wine.

THE NEXT STAGE - THE END OF FERMENTATION

Using a hydrometer, check the specific gravity of your wine. If it reads below 999, you are free to move on. 

If you do not own a hydrometer, you can wait until the water in the airlock stops bubbling and then taste the cloudy wine. Make sure the wine is dry (does not taste too sweet) before adding the sachets referred to below. If the wine tastes too sweet, leave for a few more days before continuing to the next stage.

Once you are sure fermentation is complete, add the sachets of Stabiliser and Wine Finings A (and a sachet of Sweetener if you are making a medium-sweet wine kit). Stir the wine vigorously for at least two minutes to remove all the C02 gas (essential for rapid clearing). Then leave the wine to stand for one hour. Note: All stabilisers give off gas when added to wine; try not to inhale this. 

De gassing is essential for the rapid clearing of the wine.

The different ways of de-gassing a wine are

1. Use a Degasser, which attaches to a drill.
2. Transfer the gassy wine from container to container ten times, taking care not to splash. The action of pouring removes the gas. 
3.  You can stir the wine vigorously - but make sure to do this long enough to remove all the gas. Stirring usually takes at least five whole minutes.
4. Once the hour has passed, you can add the sachet of Wine Finings B and stir gently for thirty seconds. Leave to stand for a further one hour.
5. Now add the sachet of Wine Finings C plus the sachet of Wine Compound and stir well for thirty seconds. Leave to stand somewhere cool for approximately twenty-four hours to allow to clear.
6.  The good idea is to place your fermenter at table height, ready for the next stage.
7. Carefully syphon the clear wine into another 25-litre container/fermenter, taking care not to disturb any of the sediment. 
8. Sweeten your wine. The information below gives recommended sugar additions. Brew Mart suggests adding only 2/3 or 3/4 of these amounts. Stir thoroughly to dissolve the sugar, then taste. You can add more sugar in small additions until you find your preferred level of sweetness. 

RECOMMENDED SUGAR ADDITION PER (5 GALLONS)

 Blush - 400g 

Chardonnay - 112g 

 Piesporter - 180g 

BOTTLING

Once the wine is clear, use a syphon to either bottle or put the wine into a bag/box dispenser. Bag dispensers such as a Vinotainer allow a glassful of wine to be drawn off without risk of spoilage and oxidation of the wine. Expel any air from the bag before fitting the cap. If you decide to use bottles, we recommend plastic stoppers that allow the wine to be stored upright and sterilised efficiently and adequately inserted into the bottles. Both bottles and stoppers should be sterilised, rinsed thoroughly before use, and then fill the bottles to approx—50 mm ( 2") from the top before sealing with stoppers. You can then add capsules and labels of your choice.

For storage of wine for a more extended period, use good quality corks. These may need to be soaked overnight in sterilising solution and rinsed before inserting into the wine bottle with a corking machine. Again you can apply capsules and labels. You can use the newer waxed corks immediately as they don't need soaking.

Please find a selection of corks and bottles on our website.

F.A.Q.

Q. What do I do if the fermentation does not seem to have started?

A. Check the surface of your wort for bubbles. If bubbles are visible, then the fermentation has started. It may be a bit slow if the temperature is cooler.

Q. Why is my airlock not bubbling? A. Check there is not a leak between the container and airlock. 

Q. How do I know if the fermentation is complete?

A. If you do not have a hydrometer, it is not easy to know when the fermentation is complete. If you are not completely sure, it is advisable to wait for a few more days. Waiting will not affect the quality of the wine in any way. 

Q. What are the indications that the fermentation is complete?

A. Make sure that;

1. The airlock has stopped bubbling
2. The wine is clearing (difficult to tell for red wines)
3. The wine is not sweet and tastes bone dry (sipping cloudy wine is not harmful)
4.  No more bubbles rise to the surface.

Q. Why is my fermentation not clear after five days?

A. Fermentation can take longer than five days if the temperature has been below 21ºC (70ºF) and if the temperature has fallen during the night. A longer fermentation time does not the affect quality of the wine.

Q. Can I add the stabilisers etc., towards the end of the fermentation if it is taking a long time?

 A. No, do not add stabiliser etc., until you are sure fermentation is complete. 

Q. Why is my wine not clearing?

A.The wine, not clearing can happen if the temperature is too high or gas remains in the wine at the end of the fermentation period. Usually, the wine will clear if you leave it for a few more days. After seven days, if the wine is still not clear, syphon off into another container. Add five teaspoons of Campden Powder (or 1/2 teaspoon sodium metabisulphite) and more wine finings.

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• Uodated February2022