Two Finer Wine Kits Grape Skin Packs - Free Shipping

Because shipping is included in this product, it is excluded from all sales and is offered at an everyday low price. 

Finer Wine Kits Grape Skin Packs* are real unprocessed grape skins! They are great for improving tannins, mouthfeel, color, and aromas in your fresh juice, must and wine kits. Muslin bags are included and price includes shipping. Available in quantities of 2 to 10 packs per box. Each bag of skins weighs 2#. Default price is based on two pack minimum shipped. 

USAGE

Place the skins in the muslin bag. Add them to your batch before pitching yeast. Dunk them several times to saturate them. Punch down twice daily just as you would a must cap. If your fermenter is open, remove them when transferring to secondary. If your fermenter can be closed with an airlock, close up your batch when your SG reaches 1.010, leave them in until day 14 and do not open. Those few extra days will give you more extraction. Squeeze out the bags thoroughly and discard. You can also use a wide mouth carboy during secondary fermentation. See below for additional instructions. 

*Grape skins are an agricultural product and must be fermented or cooked before being consumed.

* Skin packs will ship separately FedEx two-day if ordered with other products. 

OTHER PRODUCTS YOU MIGHT NEED

Grape Seed Packs

Finer Wine Kits Grape Seed Packs are another great additive you can use for increased complexity, tannins and mouthfeel. Seeds get a bad rap but when used in the right quantity and for the right amount of time, they can dramatically improve the mouthfeel of your wine.  Add the seeds directly to your must, juice or wine. Available in 2 oz, 8 oz, 1 lb. and 10 lb. bags. Recommended Use: 2 ounce per six gallons for two weeks. 

Fermenters

A 7.9 Gallon Fermenter with a grommeted lid is the right vessel for use with your Finer Wine Kits Grape Skin Packs. Because it can be closed and fit with an airlock, you can keep your skins in longer without risk of oxidation to maximize extraction. 

Wide Mouth Carboy 

You can can also add your grape skins to your wine after primary fermentation using a wide mouth carboy. Submerge them in your wine and leave them in for about 10-14 days. Adding your skins in secondary will cause your batch to ferment for a bit longer because the skins do contain some residual sugar. Since your alcohol level is near maximum, extraction will happen more quickly because alcohol is a more powerful solvent than water. Check your wine on the tenth day to gauge the tannins and if you have reached the desired amount, squeeze out the bag and discard them. You can also leave them in longer for extended maceration however, be advised that more exposure extracts more tannins which requires more aging. Young tannins are small and taste bitter because they get into the taste receptors on your tongue. With aging, tannins form longer and longer chains which nullifies the bitterness because the molecules get too large to be tasted and can really increase mouthfeel. 

Airlocks

Airlocks should be periodically replaced. Though it might be easy to assume bacteria is not a concern with airlocks because they do not actually touch your wine, this is not the case. A small increase in temperature could cause your wine to swell and back up into the airlock. It happens often. You don't want to risk losing your wine over a potentially unsanitary and cheap piece of plastic. 

Hydrometers

Hydrometers can last a lifetime, if they don't break. If you have suffered the disappointment of breaking your favorite hydrometer you can view them here.  

 DID YOU KNOW?

Earlier techniques for Nebbiolo which is the grape used to make Barolo and Barbaresco called for 90 day maceration. The wines were so tannic they needed to be aged for upwards of twenty years to even be drinkable.