DIRECTIONS: SUNCAL NECESSITIES BOX

Thank you for your order and future patronage. We take pride in the service and products we offer to you as a home winemaker. It is our desire to make your fermentation experiences a fun and successful past-time.

INTRODUCTION:

The SunCal Necessities Box you received has been the doorway to a fun and rewarding hobby for many people over the years. It is not a kit but a collection of necessities needed to make wine at home.

The 6 gallon Poly-Fermenter container is designed to be used as both a primary and secondary type fermenter. It has an O-ring in its lid for a dependable, air-tight seal. It also has a faucet specially located just above the bottom so as not to draw any sediment when using it to "rack" your wine. You will find that these features are a big plus when making your wine.

The hydrometer comes with its own directions on its use as well as the additional information you have in the book, "First Steps in Winemaking." The hydrometer measures the concentration of sugar in your mixture. This will allow you to monitor the progress of your fermentation as well as determine the wine’s alcohol percentage when it is finished.

You also have all of the ingredients you need for your first batch of wine - and then some. The 46 fl. oz. can of Sun-Cal concentrated grape juice was made from California grown grapes. On the side of the Sun-Cal can are 8 steps that you should follow to make your first batch of wine, but we will elaborate a little more here on the process.

DIRECTIONS:

1. All you do to get started is stir together, inside the 6 gallon Poly-Fermenter, the contents of the can along with 13 cans of warm water, 6½ lbs. of sugar, 3 oz. (6 tablespoons) of Acid Blend, 5 teaspoons of Yeast Nutrient and 1 teaspoon of Grape Tannin.

2. Make sure that the contents have been mixed thoroughly. Then, allow the mixture to cool down to 70-75° F. At this point you should take a beginning Specific Gravity reading with your hydrometer. Write down your reading on a piece of paper or somewhere you will remember. You will use this reading later, when the wine is finished, to determine the wines alcohol content. Now add the yeast and cover the Poly-Fermenter with a piece of plastic or cloth and tie it down with a piece of string or similar. ADDING YEAST WHEN THE MIXTURE IS TOO WARM CAN KILL IT, so be sure your temperature is right before adding the yeast. You should see fermentation activity in the first 24-36 hours in the form of little patches of foam on the surface of the liquid, mostly around the edges. Yes, you can peek. The foaming will increase to a frothy head over the next couple of days.

3. After 5 to 10 days of fermentation you will notice the activity slowing down. It is at this point you need to drain the wine off the sediment that has collected during fermentation. This process is called "racking." You can do this with the aid of the faucet on the Poly-Fermenter. Clean the sediment out, and put the wine right back into the Poly-Fermenter. Only this time you use the screw-on lid that came with the Poly-Fermenter. Hand-tighten the lid and attach the provided air-lock. Also fill the air-lock about half full with water and snap its lid back on. This creates a water trap allowing gasses to escape the fermentation container without letting air get back in.

4. After you get this far, it’s smooth sailing. The wine will continue to ferment slowly. Just rack the wine off the sediment as before in 2 more weeks and again in 2 months. Keep track of racking dates and specific gravity readings on a piece of paper so you don’t loose track along the way.

5. After you have done the last racking, the wine may need more time to finish fermenting and to clear. Take a hydrometer reading to verify that the wine is ready to bottle. It should have a specific gravity reading between .992 and .998. If the reading is more the wine has not finished fermenting. In this case allow more time. Check your fermentation temperature. It needs to be 70-75°F. If the wine is too cool it may stop your fermentation prematurely or drag out the fermentation process for additional days or weeks.

6. When your wine is ready to bottle, crush up 5 Campden Tablets and thoroughly dissolve them into the wine. Fill up your wine bottles leaving about 1½ inches of air space in the neck. this can be done with the aid of the faucet on your Poly-Fermenter. Your wine will taste fairly harsh at this point, but after 2 to 6 months of aging in the bottle, you will notice dramatic improvement.

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NOTE: If you like your wine sweeter, you can sweeten to taste before bottling. You do this either by adding "Wine Conditioner", or by adding a sweetener such as cane sugar, honey, grape juice, etc. Add any of these sweeteners to taste. However, WHEN SWEETENING A WINE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ADD "WINE STABILZER" AT BOTTLING TIME, OR RE-FERMENTATION CAN OCCUR IN THE BOTTLES.
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7. Now you can insert the mushroom corks, apply the Heat-Shrink Capsules, and apply the wine bottle labels.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:

The book "First Steps in Winemaking" is an excellent book for beginning winemakers because of its understandable language. It is also very helpful to the more experienced winemaker because of its reference value and timeless collection of recipes. Once you get your first batch started a good idea is to read the first 80 pages of this book. It will give you an overview of winemaking in general and expose you to some further ideas as well as illustrate the full potential your Necessities Box has to offer.

If you have any questions give us a call. We like to see our customers get started successfully without a hitch. Just remember that once the wine starts fermenting, there is little reason to worry. Just wait for the times when you are supposed to rack your wine and then when it’s done, bottle. Excessive toying with your wine can only hurt, not help.

Best Wishes,
Customer Service at E. C. Kraus