I agree with the above. Especially for the first few kits, make them the
way the instructions say. After you gain some experience (and have a
backlog of wines stocked up) then try experimenting.

As far as the cherry wood, it probably will do nothing. It is surprising
which woods will impart flavor and which will not. My understanding is that
woods like cherry, pecan, and walnut will impart very little flavor. I
would think any wood used to smoke meat would be good but not so. This is
not from personal experience but rather form people who have experimented a
lot.

Ray

"jim" > wrote in message
...
> Generally the wisdom seems to be that if you want an easy life you just do
> what your kit instructs so you can be confident it will turn out right. I
> know you wouldn't be asking if you didn't feel like researching and
> experimenting though
>
> I believe 'time' is the main way to clear / settle out wine. The effect
> of gravity on the particles in the wine apparently 'always' clears it
> 'eventually'. Saying that I've had hazes and wines that didn't seem to
> clear by themselves and have used various agents. I don't mind using
> clearing agents in those circumstances one bit. But I'm not a winehead
> yet!
>
> Jim
>
>
> "Dirty Harry" > wrote in message
> news:slEHh.1242225$1T2.181778@pd7urf2no...
>> Hi all, I'm new here and have a few questions. I started a white
>> Zinfandel kit with the intention of making most of it into sparkling
>> Zinfandel. I'm wondering about the stabilizing and clearing stages. The
>> kit contains a few things like potassium sorbate, potassium
>> metabisulphite, kieselsol and "pack D" which reads: Clarifier, add last
>> after kieselsol
>> Allergy Alert Chitosan is A shellfish derivative
>>
>> So, which of these would kill the yeast? Which are safe to add? Are
>> there any alternative methods of clearing the wine without adding all
>> these chemicals?
>>
>> On a final note I added about a cup of cherry wood chips in hot water to
>> the kit at the start because I thought it might improve the taste, any
>> thoughts?
>>
>> Thanks everyone!
>>
>>
>
>