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Carboy Wine Level Indicator 120 I actually tried this season adding 1 gallon quanbreasties of water and marking the divisions with masking tape and then using the masking tape... Vines 184 My experience is that when a wine tastes that good young, it may not age very well. Nothing wrong with this, just keep it in mind. Drink it while it is good and do... Inert Gas What about using Argon. Its a noble gas and heavier than air and readily available from welding supply stores. You can... Fining 355 Yeah, gelatin is really powerfull and can strip a lot out of wine. Bentonite on the other hand is fairly gentle. Isenglbutt and aparkaloid... Making an offdry wine. 363 Alright. Next (related) question. Seems like ferment to dryness is the most popular method. Now, what if I were to say that... Vine reccomendations requested Casey, Seems like wine grapevines grow just about anywhere. The trick of course is getting quality grapes. I suspect heat will be your problem. Vines tend to... Using breastrets with red wine 68 I usually sulphite to 50ppm (depending on pH) when I put in barrel. I then send off a sample after a few months. After a while you can get... VinOpinions.com needs help from winemakers Hello, Over the holidays, a few friends were sitting around talking about how a handful of critics and a few giant companies are homogenizing the wines... My wine's TA is 0.87%. What should I do Well, after replacing my overly concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide from my friends at Carlson, I measured my wine (Cabernet-Merlot) with a standardized solution and I got 0.87%. The... Sake ingredients Rice Wine: Called Sake in the Orient, rice wine is a favorite with the subtle flavors of Oriental foods.. The Japanese often warm this wine to about... when to degas The overly simple answer is never. If you bulk age long enough there will not be a problem with fuzziness. It will escape on... Clearing plum wine 118 Thanks again Dar. Yes, I am aware of bottle plants, air spaces and sediments, and the fact that... Fruit Fly Trouble 132 I think people worry too much about vinegar infection. It is easy to start vinegar with a good mother of vinegar inoculation and you can make some good vinegar. You can... Permethrin On Grapes gene Thanks for the study link. I used permethrin on my grapes to control a bad infestation of Japanese Beetles. Now that some of the grapes are becoming ripe, I... 1 tsp. Acid Blend Thanks for the comments everyone. I did use tartaric instead of acid blend based on your suggestion Tom. Not only is... Methanol aaaaaahah I can't seem to avoid getting so far what I think is an abnormal amount of methanol. I am no expert and was trying to do the following... Fruit Wine Crops Long time lurker, first time poster here. I have been making wine for a few months now... Sonoma County grape report was New to the list and wine making Up here in Sonoma County, CA we're getting lots of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Noit and Zinfandel. No Cabernet Sauvignon yet. Some of the Zin is coming in with low sugar... Pumpkin Wine: Any tricks 211 Hi. I am making pumpkin wine for the first time. I am also cutting into chunks - 15 pounds for... Fermentation question Werner, Do you have a hydrometer? It would help you to figure out when your primary fermentation is done. For example, I started a batch a... How do you operate a small winery 322 Maybe there is a bit of a difference in winemaking culture between Texas and other regions such as the the Pacific Northwest. While it is true that Texans tend to... Strawberry Wine Rookiewinemaker - I don't make strawberry wine so others may have a better idea. I would crush the strawberries and add most of the water you will use. If it were me I... Homebrew Exchange is now open If you make homemade beer or wine and are looking for folks to trade with, or just to share... Do I have all I need for Crush I should be harvesting a week from this coming Sat (9-30) for my 1-2 ton of Cab fruit. What I'll get is a full macrobin of fruit. I've done... reasons for winemaking 428 I spent a few years living-working in south west france and during one of these years i followed and participated in the process from pruning the vine to... pinot gris fining 233 Dan, I used bentonite soley this year on Okanagan Pinot Gris without any trouble. A couple of things I know of that affect... Reinventing the wheel part B: transfer pumps 324 Look into either the last or before last issue of Wine Maker. They had an article about using a pump to not pump the wine, but pump the air out of the... Why test pH Well, you also have the case where some acids are stronger than others. You can have a fairly low TA and a low pH if the acids are fairly... Aluminum or Stainless Steel 375 You'll be fine. When you say must, I'm buttuming that your talking about mead and other wild wines as grape must... Problems with my Sangioveses 381 Use tartaric only, it's more natural to the wine and will bring the pH down better that anything... Beginning Wine I am a beginning winemaker and decided to start with an apple cider. I placed the tannins and... Island Mists White ZinfandelWhites in genearl 422 For anyone curious, I got around to bottling this batch(yes, I did the minimum 28 days on this bathc and the one before, and probably on next two too. Trying to get... Fermenting on oak chipsLeon Millot 116 Hi Tom: Yup, conversations with an owner of a newer vineyard here in indicate we're too warm for exquisite Pinot Noir. Evidently it becomes ripe too early in the season and... pinot gris fining 307 Darin, Pp and others; I don't think Darin's 0.5gm-liter (about the same as 2 grams-gallon) is over use of bentonite... Bottles 321 I love the romance of corks and the love affair ends right about there... :) As to corks if... Standardizing NaOH and HCL Thanx for your reply Droopy. That is what I meant as far as reading the concentration of NaOH with a pH meter. And the inaccuracy of such a... Grapes in Wisconsin Bob - I haven't done much of a study, really -- I mostly just like to visit wineries. :-) A lot of them buy grapes from other places (e.g., California) as well as growing some... Sweetening Wine Darlene and anyone else of course My method is a bit different, but along the same line of thinking. I take equal amounts of... reasons for winemaking 386 Ken wrote; "I've found that it's really very difficult to get a true appraisal from friends-family-acquaintances. They don't want to say negative things about something... Iodophor and cross contamination The high acid in Baco may be a benefit for "spontaneous" wine as it should inhibit the nasty organisms that like a higher pH environment and can produce off flavors. I... fermenting I agree with Darlene. 2 weeks is a bit long. Actually there is a simple way to tell when to move it. Start your fermentation. It will get to going real strong and all the... What is the wild yeast Just my take on this: In many areas of Europe where grapes have been grown for hundreds, if not thousands of years, natural yeast has developed in the area that is... Seeking an "Acidity of the Must 101" , or an Acidity FAQ Please There are two ways to measure acidity. breastratable acidity is usually expressed as grams per... Lifting Gear for Carboys for Jack Keller's Wine Blog. Search down for March 17th, 2005. There he discusses the Carboy Lifter Martin Benke invented for Jack. There are pictures and the pictures are accurate. I can... Sucrose Here's mine - makes 3 gallons: 9 lbs Sloes (frozen) 21 pints boiling water 9lbs sugar... Reducing acid one year old wine 374 That's an incredible amount of SO2, it's probably the issue. You have added 5 times too much several times... Presses versus an old washing machine 213 If you wanted to use a hydraulic jack, it'd be rather easy to set it up so that it can't... Too much Water 226 I was a little unsure of where you are in your process. I think you are saying that both primary and secondary are finished and... I have a question about cloudiness in my cranberry wine It is true that cranberry throws a LOT of sediment. I know that Jack has commented on... dry weight equivalent of sugar in juice Cidersugar - I make beer and get very good carbonation with 3-4 cup sugar per 5 gallons. Since you want lower carbonation that a typical beer try 1-2 cup sugar per 5 gallons. You will still... peach plant conundrum hellllloooo group! here's my latest, long winded conundrum ( I like that word!) I started this peach wine last october using a previously successful 60* (conveniently.) used red star champagne; the basement... Fruit Fly Trouble 370 Yeah, I'm having a big problem with them myself, there seems to be more and more around... POLL : To bottle or "bulk agein carboy" your wine Pros: simple logistics, from my point of view. I make about 25 gallons of wine in a season; work and home life mean I... Pinot Gris and 58W3 yeast I'm making a Pinot Gris this year, first time, and my supplier, Bosa Grape, recommended I use an... Newbie Question, Alcohol Testing Last year, I made my first two batches of wine. One gallon from frozen blackberries, and one gallon from fresh... Island Mists White ZinfandelWhites in genearl 64 First, you are really wrong when you buttume that Island Mist makes standard kits. They are not. They make low alcohol (6-7%) fruit flavored wines that I call picnic... Smell I am new to wine making. I've made 6 gallons of Shiraz and 6 of Pinot Noir using kits. Both wines are in the 1-3 month bottling hold time. But when... Cab won't undergo MLF Suggestions Some additional info if it helps anyone- I took distilled water and sterilized it via boiling and added it to 3 separate containers, all sterile. Bactivaid was added in appropriate dosages. Each container... HELP! Pushed the rubber stopper into the carboy, now what Okay, this is the first batch ever, and we're very stupid, but learning quickly. (Please forgive us if this has been answered before... Best place to buy wine making supplies Well, Danny, I'm kinda new also, but purchase a lot of stuff online. Here was my approach. Google has a FROOGLE option to search retail stores - I found... Sweetining Wine and Oklahoma 362 Danny wrote "Our second endeavor is a blackberry wine which we started by picking Dan - The tart taste is due to high acid. The... Head Space in Secondary & sediment from primary Generally, an inch of headspace is recommended, but if it's still actively fermenting, you might want to leave a little more room... Wow...I made good wine I opened a bottle of my apple-mango-pbuttion fruit made from Old Orchard frozen concentrate last night and was really surprised at how good... Removing floating skins from primary technique Hi all. I am doing a SUPER TUSCAN wine kit from Winexpert Selection series. After pouring the... Foch Final Acid High This was my first year making wine and I guess I should have tested my acid more often. Harvested Foch last Oct with a Brix of 18 and TA... Raspberry wine question 46 Okay - actually I had to go to my wine book to see what it had to say - Terry Garey's Home Winemaking book. You raise a good point... when can i tell yeast is active DAve, It depends on the yeast you're using. I don't have any pics; its a bit different with each yeast you use and the temperature of the must. Montrachet yeast is very foamy... Best Temp for secondary 304 SPOTLIGHT ON A CURE Benefiting the Cystic fibrosis foundation No need to leave the city... We've brought California's... Reducing acid one year old wine 405 Fishhead - Fining generally doesn't alter the acidity. There are some chemicals you can use (usually potbuttium or calcium carbonate are recommended) but they do also alter the taste... Spontaneous fermentation I made a 5 gallon batch of must up following Jack Kellers recipe for mulberry wine only I used mulberry juice in place of the... 1 gallon of Mango wine needs a kick On 4-12-2006 12:06 AM, DAve Allison DAve, Do a web search for "Pearson square" and you'll find many links to... i'm sure you've heard this wine question before... 236 Duck, (Your name IS Duck, isn't it?) I also started by home brewing, which I've been doing for more than 20 years. Just started winemaking last year. In both cases... Carboy Wine Level Indicator 310 None of mine are the same, good point Steve. What I did was start noting on mine how many 750 ml bottles I... Homebrew Champagne 358 First off, I agree that Pinky's reply was snobby and ridiculous. This is supposed to be a group for all levels of winemaking, from decades of... Hard Tannins & Racking off Seeds During Ferment After 11 months in stainless steel tanks, our first vintage of merlot is heading into french oak on the weekend... New Winemaker Big Problems 22 I would agree with everything Pinky said, it's probably just 'youngness' that you are tasting. Kit... Ok to bottle Two bubbles per day. I am not sure how you count two bubbles per day. I sure could not watch them that well. But, joking aside, two bubbles perday could... Winery license cost Start at www.ttb.gov. You should start there by finding out who the agent for winery licensing in your area is... Help with blending and aging If the airlock is good and the air space was really well purged, then I would say it is safe, but remember that if you are purging 2 cu.ft. of space, putting 2... 2 liter plastic Pat Kennedy IMHO, you can get away with using your 2 liter soda bottle, but you will get a little flavor from whatever was previously... Reinventing the wheel part B: transfer pumps 320 Well the problem is we do not exactally know what pump you have. No make, model or anything. I guess the only thing I can say about it is that I do not know... Viticulture question I live near the Puget Sound. I planted a small vineyard two springs ago, going into the third year now. I planted... Best common US apples for hard cider Just a followup. I decided to use 1-2 Granny Smith and 1-2 Tydman. The latter variety I'd never heard of, but the guy in the produce section recommended it... Specific Gravity Thingie You can usually buy a tall thin cylinder for the hydrometer. My test cylinder takes just a bit less than a cup of the must. After you pour the must into the cylinder, gently add... Newbie Question, Alcohol Testing I have a lot of respect for Jack and for his recipes. But one thing I NEVER trust in anybodies recipes is the amount of sugar needed. It depends so... Brett or mold taste question It's a common misconception that it's OK to cook using inferior wine. If you do, your dinner will become inferior... Making oak additions Whatever floats your boat. ;^) It's too late for this batch, but in future I recommend... Dandelion wine question Miker, If you visit Jack Keller's dandelion recipe page you'll find a boatload of information as well as recipes. Two years ago I made... Water Quality hrs That's really weird. Is the temp too low?? I've been fermenting juice for over... Bottling Champagne I have recently been trying my hand at making proper champagne but have hit a problem with getting it... Viticulture question 401 CB, Here's my 2 cents. Cuttings should need almost no nutrient supplementation to grow well. Did the cuttings... New Winemaker Big Problems 4 Personally, due to the amountof time involved before one batch of wine is ready, and the fact I'm not sure which homemade wines I... Just a last visit Peacelover, I admire the loyalty you show to your friend & neighbor. I can only hope my neighbors and... Stopping fermentation 240 I've been reading this thread and decided to comment on a couple of points. First off, you shouldn't find... PET carboys and steeping Dave I'm sort of in the same boat. Started late this summer with my grandma's muscadine bush... Cold stabilization at 37F Useful or waste of time Charles E One way to get your carboy cold enough is to pretend you're making ice cream... use table salt or rock... reasons for winemaking 306 Probably not the whole purpose, and I suppose you should define "wasted". I tend to think of "wasted" as falling-down sloppy drunk... revisiting an old topic carboy stoppers The advantage of airlocks is that they will accomodate temperature variation reasonably well; the carboy is just a big thermometer. That said a solid stopper would... My first attempt at wine need some help please Hi Droopy. From a "newbie" perspective what I read as a 6 was actually the amount of the test liquid required to turn the juice sample black. I used a TA kit... Stupid Mistake Throw away or not As far as being safe or not, No I would not say it is unsafe. As a matter of fact... blueberry has issues I just bottled a batch of blueberry. It was a struggle, but well worth it, as it... A gallon of "sugar wine How much sugar would one use to make a gallon (3.8 litres) of water with a S.G. of about 1.090... Vaccuum Degbutting OK, hae a coupla carboys that I didn't rack as often as I normally do, but wanted them ready(bottled) as gifts when I visit family next month. Anyone used drawing a vaccuum... Problem: Help Hi Matthew, specific gravity is, (very) simply speaking, a measure of how much sugar is in the water, compared to water without any in. Alcohol is less dense than water and... Looking For A Good Source For Wine Bottles May be too late, but... I thought my 2 loacal wine supply stores were too high on their bottles, $13 or $15 for a dozen(case) of 750ml. I called a local winery to... Homebrew Champagne 219 I'm going to tell you one more time time: Air causes bottles shock. Expose your wine to less air, not more, if you intend to drink a wine... To top up Ray gave the best advice. Get at least one 5 gallon carboy and put the remainder into liter bottles and smaller sizes. BTW... TA not adding up Ok, so I'm rusty at my chemistry. I'll be honest about it. But, I'm having trouble getting the %TA and pH of tartaric acid to... Confused about hydrometer I buttume that you are referring to determining alcohol level when you refer to the hydrometer below. There are... Freeze concentrating brandy Well lets see, I routinely precipitate nucleic acids out of solution with ethanol at -80 C...but I use... Bottled Turbo Wine Dorothy, I started fermenting it some 6 weeks ago and the thing stopped fermenting. I did stabilize with sulfite. I am a novice winemaler and this is my... Gallon batches first container is I've recently begun using an 8qt stainless steel stockpot with lid. Found it when I was up at the local Family Dollar store for 6 bucks. I... Sharing Fun With Labels I've been doing this wine thing for about five months now, and it's been a... Clearing plum wine Hello. I hope someone can indulge a complete beginner and help me out with a few questions... regimes Collecter rapidement les informations nÈcessaires pour travailler de chez soi               &nbsp... Hard Tannins & Racking off Seeds During Ferment It sounds to me like this wine doesn't have sufficient fruit to stand up to a new barrel. I recommend that you save... Another rest period You want elitist? check out alt.food.wine now THAT's elitist. You gotta wear a bullet proof vest to voice a contrary opinion on that group. It blows me that so many who... Alternative Technique To Topping Off Wine Crazy Product Idea Hello everyone. I need your opinions on a crazy idea I had for a product recently... Americans tap wine over beer 50 glbuttes a year? That's less than one per week. I would guess that that's the average for all Americans, not just wine drinkers. "Per capita wine consumption in the United... Help me Please Agree with most everything said above. 1) You basically built you own airlock. That is fine but commercial airlocks are very cheap and much easier. Less than a dollar each. You should... how does SO2campden affect pectic enzyme raindog Jack Keller says, buried somewhere on his website, that the SO2 gas released inhibits pectic enzyme... Repitching Yeast Revisited I am really cheap and am trying to make wine out of table sugar and budget econo juice. I have lalvin 1116... First Timer: Equipment and Kit Guidance Thanks for all of your responses. I got swamped for a few days so I didn't get to check back until now. I really like the idea of being able to go into... Racking and Aging clarification please Hi. Though I've been brewing wine's since July - I'm still new at this. I'm now the proud owner of my 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th bottling in... H2s odor still lingering 45 The yeast not being happy during primary fermentation (high H2S consistent with the fermentation going reductive) may have led to some cap spoilage, if it started to dry out at... Napa Valley Floor Fruit Yea, but that's premium fruit to commercial wineries, not readily avalaible to us hobbyists. As I said in my earlier post, there... Racking and Aging clarification please Dave, Those are guidelines, fruit wine has a mind of it's own and each will behave differently. For the most part, once wine is fully fermented which is usually... First Timer Apple wine 36 The primary foamed and bubbled for about a week, then slowed down. I didn't have time to transfer it, so I added 1cup of sugar. Last night, 8 days after adding yeast, I strained... i'm sure you've heard this wine question before... 182 Duck Redbeard I've heard it recommended that if it's your first wine kit you should follow the instructions to the letter. Everything is already pre-balanced for 6 gallons; by concentrating the wine... Making wine from Zinger TeaGrapefruitlemons Glad to report that Zinger teas made from the Clbuttic Zinger teabags-lemons have been... Dissolving bentonite I've been experimenting with using bentonite to clarify. I've been trying to add it with the must before pitching the yeast. Adding it as it's packaged causes it just to settle to... Concentrate vs supermarket grape juice Not exactly correct. Grape juice may or may not increase body. After all, grape wines may be high or low in body. Grape juice is added it improve... Can H2S be measured Igor, A simple way of removing H2S is to add enough copper sulfate to produce about 0.1 ppm of copper in the wine. Then the wine should be stirred thoroughly, and... Homebrew Champagne 164 Well P.S. our wine club has a Champagne party every July. Members bring homemade sparkling wine, store bought and in one instance a keg of carbonated white... Fruit Fly Trouble 180 1) You can buy flying insect spray for fruit flies. I don't care what the brand or the price -- THEY DO NOT WORK... reuse of old bottles Dan: The short answer is NO!!!! And as a result, I have stopped removing commercial labels in quanbreasty. If I need a bunch of bottles, I buy them new. That way... Viticulture question 255 Sure here's what it says: pH - moderately acid - 5.2-6.0 Phosphorus (P) - high - 40-100 ppm Iron - good - not specified ? They recommended pH in the soil between 5 and 6 so that is just right. Calcium... Can my wine move with me to Canada The following is from about.com. The figures suppose that the individual is taking the wine from... Barrel Advice Gene, Tom, Thanks, I'm and electronics guy so I know what Gene is getting at. I doubt I could get away with getting a lamp in there without blowing up... Raspberry wine question 387 Hi, Michael. There is no problem with this, Bottle your wine, it will improve with age, that is in the bottle. Leave for 12 to 18 months, by which... high pH opinion Ray Calvert Thanks, Ray. I heard this as a general principle but never saw it really quantified, whether the decline is a... Question on Wine storage 258 A bit OT Ah -- the floor of the cellar was not a dirt one but part "concrete" and part ancient stone slabs ( the pub had originally been built in the mid 17th century) . The v... Wild Grape anyone ever make OK, So I'm a bit of an experiementer, and I have Terry Garey's book on home winemaking. Inside she has a recipe for wild grape, which is more like a... PortForified Wine Phil Ayres My port is still fermenting, so my advise is what I'm "gonna" do, rather than what I did. :) I'm going to buy a... Adjusting acid Jim Stewart First, sweetening does not actually change the acid level, it just balances out the acid. If you want to lower acid... Bordeaux Style 365 That's really good advice, the goal of blending is to get a better wine out of the blending stock. A lot... Barrel advice 415 I have been using barrels for a cpl of my annual batches of reds for the... Question from beginner 207 I live in far south Texas near Corpus Christi, and I just made my first batch of wild Mustang grape wine. I did my first fermentation... Stopping fermentation 292 Hi Tom, The Mini-jet filters are really small, they are only meant for 5 gallons of wine. The pump... Newby question. Should I try to sweeten it up You've got good advice on sweetening from the other posters, and you'll find if you do sweeten the blackberry flavour... Quick & Easy Pistol Grip Bottle Filler Thought I'd share a recent project with the group. I'd tired of waiting for the spring loaded pistol type bottle filler to be back in stock by a major supply house, so built my... Saving my red wine You can add tannin but that will only help with the structure of the wines... Acetic in barrel The price I mentioned was the price listed in a winemakers supply company catalog and included a vacuum pump instead of hooking up to a sink. I am sure that... Tart acid question I made a few batches of wine from various frozen concentrates before I had an acid test kit... Sweetining Wine and Oklahoma 66 It is a great idea to craft wines to the taste of your loved one. But you do not need to craft it all one way. You might... My wine's TA is 0.87%. What should I do 126 I am not sure why Jeff Cox said that. The reaction of calcium carbonate in wine is fairly simple and complete. The... Too much Water 200 Hi, Could you give us some more information, like type of wine, or a wine kit, how old is the wine, and original batch size...? I'm sure you did the... Why Is The Airlock Moving 225 Charles E It seems like the original purpose of the post got lost in this thread? You've said... Yet another newbie question. About sweetness and SG The best way that I have found to sweeten a fruit wine is to make a syrup of 1 pound of sugar to 1 cup water, cook unit the sugar is dissolved... gross lees vs. fine lees and when to rack 131 Thanks Tom and Ben. I do not dispute your statements at all and I am sure that what you say is true. I can only say that I have not had... is my fermentation stuck I'm a newbie working on my fourth batch of kit wine, an amarone-style with raisins from Wine Kitz. The last batch of red I did, a merlot, ended up... Jalapeno wine receipe This wine is not for the faint of heart,,,,,,it is hot and stays hot,,,,,but makes a great marinade for bbq... Ruby Cabarnet Grapes 227 Bruce, I have made Ruby Cab a few times and the only thing I noticed was the acid was a bit higher than the... Juice Alistair, here's a little info. on Black Hamburg; MUSCAT HAMBURG: According to the Geilweilerhof (Genres) database... Crazily sweet maple must A friend gave me some half-boiled sap to start some maple wine. Ok, Let's start at the beginning. Finished maple syrup is about... making my first really crappy wine an ingenious one, at that :)) I hope you used real wine yeast and not bread yeast or... Novice Winemaker Yeaster Starter Question I am a newbie and was having the same problem. It was difficult finding any info about starting the yeast going. Seems to me the old timers forget us newbies don't understand... How do you operate a small winery 311 Franco - apologies if my response seems discourteous, it is not meant to be so. But I think that you might start by... Easiest homemade wine OK, I found a couple websites describing how to make super-easy homemade wine from your own fruit or grapes. I've made batches "scientifically" in the past but recently... reasons for winemaking 341 I would be the first to say all of the hardware I use to test wines has only a minimal effect on making wine better. Mine... Clearing plum wine 102 Hello, Your wine is very young, and you're fine. I've made plum wine, and you need to give it more time to... seeking PH Meter recommendation more questions for you if I may .... I would This meter is only $36 so it's the price of just a normal probe. Don't care about the probe with this one... SO2 levels after ML Hi, I have been reading some past messages of this forum but still have some questions about the use of breastrets to know if I should add any sulphite... newbie question: start with a 5g carboy or go smaller 361 When I started out, I faced the same decision you did. I went with 1-gallon... Ruby Cabarnet Grapes 241 Actually, my Ruby Cabs seemed easier to handle than the Zinfandels I did last year. A qualification: I have been stripping them from... Stopping fermentation 281 I follow you, I'm in Amarillo now so can't speak to what I use as the minimum level but should be home tomorrow. I have bypbutt problems on... OT Synthetic Whiskey there are 3 phases to a alcohol distillation, the first part, called the heads (some people further divide this up into two more categories... Greater Kansas City Wine Clbuttic We held our 7th annual amateur wine contest last weekend. Best-Of-Show and Best-Of-Clbutt winners are... Bottling Champagne 128 alien The technique I'm using is one based on 'Making Sparkling Wine' Restall & Hobbs published here in UK. I diluted some concentrated wine juice to 2 gals & adjusted SG to 1.070 with sugar. Acidity adjusted... Presses versus an old washing machine I am starting to realize that not having a press is costing me money, almost a gallon of usable... experienced brewer, about to start wine making 79 I did diagnose myself. How I concluded that my headaches are from sulfites is that I don't get the headaches from any other alcohol, I do get headaches from wines with sulfites... Plastic carboys A late comment. I have been using plastic ( polyethelene) 25 litre fermenters ( ie 5 gals imp + headroom) for about 15 years. I use them mainly for secondary fermentation... Fresh Juice mlf needed MLF (on a Regina juice at least) may be problematic. Most central valley juice sold here in... Fining with both + and agents John, RE: Searches: I rarely need to ask a question on this site. I always find a wealth of information when I do a search ... there's more info than one can imagine. I have never... Non fruit wines Well I have to disagree on this a bit although I think it is the right idea. Artificial flavors are for the most part the same chemicals that creat the natural... Saving my red wine I posted this earlier under the 'drying out my red wines' but I'll repost under a new subject in hopes I can obtain an answer... To Airlock of just seal the carboy Hi, This may be a simple question, but google and Jack's website and this newsgroup doesn't seem to have an answer (or I'm a little slow on my searches). I... First Timer Apple wine I've always wanted to make apple wine, and decided this is the year. I have one heaping wheelbarrel full, so far. I hope to make 3 or 4 5gal batches. I didn't spray the... Racking and Aging clarification please Dave, I may be quite wrong, but I've always considered that the day the primary fermentation is complete as a starting... Raspberry wine question 250 Most likely. Winemakers need to be careful in the juice processing of raspberry in order to avoid picking up excessive... Cabernet Kit On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 10:50:58 -0500, "Crhoff" I wish you were more specific regarding which kits... Zucchini wine 70 I think the name derives from pectin and haze, I'll check it. Thanks again Darlene, I already have the good luck to be in this most helpful group. I used an SG table in... This is too easy Years ago I became interested in brewing and decided to try fermenting a gallon of apply juice. The resulting beverage was nice, but uninspiring. A... Raspberry Wine Question I am about to follow this recipe from 'First Steps in Winemaking' by CJJ Berry: 4 lb. raspberries 1... when to degas 305 I've been making wine for awhile now and there's one issue that always stumps me: when to de-gas. Fairly often I end... New Winemaker Big Problems Hello all, I am hoping that you all might be able to help me out. I have made two wines from kits, and one wine from fresh berries. The... Carboy airlock is spewing foam ,,,advice please quick I checked th SG this morning of my first batch of wine. I started the whole process with 5 gal of squeezed strained juice from my own Buffalo grapes (no skins no seeds). I... Wine Kits and Wine Quality Hello all! I am new to this group, but I am not new to winemaking. I... when degbutting looks like aeration Aeration takes place where the wine is in contact with air. If the wine is still, aeration will be slower as the O2 is must diffuse into the wine. If you stir... Pumpkin Wine: Any tricks 231 Well, mine has been in a secondary for a few days now. Here is what I learned. 1. Use course nylon bag, i used a fine one and it took... Sparkling wine question I have done this following Lum Eisenman's instructions, and had good results. Here is the link: Read Chapter 20 for sparkling wines. The amount of carbonation you get does depend on the amount of... Bland wine kit I have had very good results with my own grapes and cans of juice (Alexander) and decided to try a... should I pretreat with bicarbonate 245 That sounds like underripe fruit to me. I had a similar situation to deal with in 1985 with... Using innert gas in a large head space 360 Ray Calvert wrote "This topic comes up fairly frequently. I would like to throw out two issues I have with using gas to top... Alternative Technique To Topping Off Wine Crazy Product Idea I just filed a preliminary patent app which only costs $75 and buys you some time to investigate... tell me about yeast mutation Yeast can undergo different changes, which can affect fermentation, in response to their environment. They can undergo physiological changes and they can undergo... Mead Wine receipe On 4-13-2006 11:02 AM, Ray Calvert Ray, I think you'd find that 4 lbs of honey in a 1 gallon batch will be pretty close (by my guesstimate, at least) to wine strength... Getting startedPlease help 181 Welcome to the group. Wine making is amazingly easy and, compared to other hobbies, amazingly cheap. It will cost you from 50 to... MLF question 332 Jon Gilliam wrote "If you're cold stabilizing to reduce acidity, note that cold stabilization isn't really very effective for that (0.05 TA reduction is about all)." I disagree and I guess it... Citric Acid Overdone First recommendation is that there is a meadmaking group. Your question is very valid for the wine making group as mead is just a... Insane Zinfandel: Starting SG 0.995 Evening all- Just started 35 gallons of wine and have run into a bit of a snag. The 5 gallons of Chilean Zin I purchased hasn't come out of the lag period... Jumex Nectar Anyone here use these before? (archived posts only brought up one thread where Jack K and Ben from Honeycreek, said they were good - at least juice... Canned Cherry Wine OK, I've just finished my second batch of Tinned-Canned cherry wine, using Jack Keller's recipe. Of course, the day after I put... Question on Wine storage 103 My own belief is that temperature contol is the most important. The debate about corks and other closures is much more difficult! But, that being said, if you... Bordeaux Blend 32 One other comment: There is an advantage to having at least one person who does not know what... Before I begin I have a plentiful supply of blackcurrants in the freezer, beetroot in the garden, a 1kg. can of Solvino 'Spanish Rich Red' grape juice concentrate and various wine additives... Removing floating skins from primary technique How big are the skins? I can see taking a small mesh bag and tying it to the delivery end of the siphon, capturing all the skins... Wine Kits and Wine Quality gene Well, the things that can infect your wine will be present in your winery microenvironment to begin with. The... hydroponic viticulture update Bob, Last year the vines were less than half the size. This years growth is vigorous. Last year I had powdery mildew. this... Blackberry port and how to extract juices I made a blueberry port earlier this year. My suggestions would be to first use twice as much fruit per gallon as you... Help! funny smell You got Hydrogen Sulfide! 158 Stu Pedaso You have come down with the dreaded Hydrogen Sulfide disease my friend! Hydrogen Sulfide forms during fermentation when there is an excess of Sulfur present on... Aluminum or Stainless Steel 204 Not exactly. How well a plate of metal disperses heat is a function of both its conductivity and its thickness. A good first-order... should I pretreat with bicarbonate 244 Thanks to all of you for your input. As always, this newsgroup is a great help. After listening to everything, I decided... How do you sulfite Well, here is what I do for 5 gallon carboys: Each rack I add 1-8 teaspoon of potbuttium metabisulfite powder dissolved in a few ml... Sulfur smell The most common source of sulfur smell (hydrogen sulfide = H2S) in aging wine is a byproduct of unhappy yeast. Best way that I know to get rid of it is to stir the wine 'vigorously... Be on HGTV WHO SAYS YOU NEED A DESIGNER OR CONTRACTOR TO CREATE WOW FACTOR! Have you done something absolutely amazing to your home? If you're... mold on wooden press slats Rob not a fun situation there. If the wood slats are varnished, then surface scrub with... 2 wines with promise Hello ng: Last fall was my 2nd season making wine. Racked everything yesterday for the last time before long term bulk aging or bottling. 2... Anticipated maturity As Gene says, it is a difficult question to answer but then again, maybe not so difficult. It will not always be the same for the same... screw caps Dave - I'm doing some experiments with different oaks and amounts. With StaVin American medium toast cubes at 11 grams per US gallon I got a definite oak aroma and flavor. My... Fermenting on oak chipsLeon Millot 297 spud wrote "Just asking about Leon Millot as it's early. Kind of like to spread the harvest time work load out if possible. Steve... Fining before fermenting The tartness I'm speaking of comes from the Sumac seed coverings themselves. I've made Sumac-aid before, and it'll sure make you pucker. I'm using a different technique than Jack... MLF question 171 Hi Pino, I would not buttume that the MLF is finished until you don't see any more bubbles at all, even teeny-tiny ones when you look really close... Chokecherry recipe add raisins or grape concentrate Jack's chokecherry recipes call for 2 to 2.5 lbs added to a gallon. If you use 12-13 lbs to make 6 gallons you will be just about right, not double. If you want a port... Campden VS Hot Water Hi Andie, That is an interesting question you've brought up. What I must point out first of all though is that if you simply use the boiling water to thaw the fruit then the temperature... Too much Water 127 Each carboy would be filled with wine except the last so they do not need topping.. The last one would ideally be a 1-2 gal. carboy... Getting startedPlease help 159 It is need...or neat. New winemakers are generally advised to start with a wine kit. Kit manufacturers are pretty adept at walking a newbie successfully thru the process and are usually foolproof if you... CranApple from Generic Juice I'm making a 5 gallon batch of cran-apple after succesfully making a one gallon batch... SucroseSloes 192 Sloe gin may very welll be "pink" but it is Sloe Gin not Pink Gin. Pink gin is an invention ( or adaptation ) of the... nice smells 285 Just want to add that the aroma can be diminished significantly if the wine is served too cold. If the wine is at or near room temperature and the aroma is still weak... stopping fermentationwine stabilizer I am going to try a quick way of making of lightly carbonated apple cider and I have a... Turning an Island Mist into an Ice Wine Guy: If you want to make an ice wine from a kit...buy an ice wine kit. There are some good ones out there. So far, I prefer... thank you for all the info our group does the same thing year in, year out: 4,5,6 7 of us pony up for 20 -35 case of red grapes every autumn. Every autumn... Stopping fermentation 208 Joe Sallustio Thanks, Joe, that's basically what I'm trying to do. I think the finest pads are #3 and not #1 - not sure about the colour - I'm buttuming those... Filtering again You can get a lot of filtration capacity by using a 0.45 micron depth filter to catch the major junk, with a 0.45... spray recommendations 98 BTW, I have tried to grow organically. It worked extremely well on chamboucin and not so well on vinifera. My secret spray, OxiClean. It's cheap and it's mostly sodium percarbonate. Basically it produces... Wonder Wine kit Anyone try these Dave, The kit contains everything you need except sugar and water. It's a dry kit and you disolve the flavor and the sugar in warm water, put it in your... Iodophor and cross contamination I make beer as well as wine. Both are made in my basement brewery-wine cellar with a lot of the same equipment. Regardless of the beverage all... Screwed up my sanitation 105 Yep, campden tablets are 1 per gallon. I do find it hard to beleive that a can... Why Is The Airlock Moving 289 That's difficult to say, a few days at least. I leave mine at 25 F for a few weeks. Is the wine... First time corking question I live near Presque Isle winery, and after speaking with owner Doug Moorehead decided to drop the best 48 bucks (USD) on a portugese floor corker. Doug uses almagamated corks... Autoclave bottles I've been heat sterilizing all my bottles for wine & beer for the past 3+ years, and have never had one break in the oven. I've also... How do you operate a small winery 249 That has been my experience up here in the North too; if you tell the tasting room person what you are after 9 times out... Amaronestyle kit OK, we all know how Amarone is made. So when the proprietor told me the En Primeur Amarone kit... Syrah Fresh Grapes All, Here is my latest batch. My first try with fresh grapes, and I am amazed at the experience and aromas. I live near the Presque Isle winery-supply house. They... Wine Breather off topic Planned to go to the Black Sea down the Danube and return by other means but when I got to Budapest I turned round due to lack of trust in my... Bland wine kit My experience with kit wines is that the more "full-bodied" varieties never really have enough tannin. This is probably due more to the quick extraction methods at the factory than anything you did... SucroseSloes 217 Alan - I guess what I mean by "residual sugar" is any fermentable sugar in a wine, after the initial fermentation has stopped. It doesn't really matter to the yeast whether the sugar is there because... Fruit wines worth aging and those that are not Sean, I have not seen a guide for fruit-veggie wines, but Terry Garey does... Fruit Wine Crops Sometimes raspberries grow a bit too well. We spent years pulling raspberry canes out of the yard, the back alley, the middle of the garage floor, the eavestroughs, etc. after growing raspberries for... multiberry wines Rick, Been there, done that...from scratch and twice from leftover top-up. I usually call it a Mystery red wine. Let's see, the first time it... Fermenting on oak chipsLeon Millot 16 I second Joe's Two Buck Chuck comment, 'cept maybe when he got lucky with his 2002... Problems with my Sangioveses 193 As Joe said, use tartaric. There's no way to predict how much acid will move the pH how far because it... announce recipe finished Matthew, We can get 6 gallon (US) pails of California wine juice for under $30 in Pittsburgh; PA. It's already balanced as to sugars and acids and has wild... Newbie question This is a question that is raised often. Tim Vandergrift (Tech Svcs Mgr at WinExpert) has answered this in other forums, as the WinExpert kits are... Novice Needs Help with Elderberry I am trying to finish up about 20 gals of elderberry wine that was started by someone... Making an offdry wine. 112 CJ Been there, done that. Cold. Definitely not guaranteed to work. At best, the SO2 will slow the yeast down but you would have... Best Temp for secondary 134 Alan, I got my original zucchini recipe from Jack's site suggest you take a look at Jack's recipe and mine; and then decide which you think you'd like best. For example, Jack uses ginger... H2s odor still lingering 18 buttuming for a minute that the problem is solely H2S, then Rick is likely faced with H2S that has already progressed to mercaptans... Reducing acid one year old wine 49 Fishhead Not really. The common method is to make up a strong solution of tartaric acid in water and then add a small... Stopping fermentation 214 Joe - If you have your sweetened wine stabilized, and by that I mean proper pH, sulfite and sufficient... Cranberry wine not fermenting....help Yeah, you added 1 tsp os acid in addition to 2.5 lbs of cranberries per gallon? I think... Fining 160 Bentonite isn't that bad to prepare. I boil a liter of water, pour it while hot into a blender, turn it on low and dump 50 to 60 grams of bentonite in and... Best Temp for secondary 25 Ray, When I first started making these batches from Welch's frozen concentrate, I would start them in a carboy with a bung and airlock. I was following Terry's Garey's suggestions in Terry's book... Advice Needed How much wine are you talking about? If this is a gallon, I don't think you... experienced brewer, about to start wine making 229 It's commonly but mistakenly believed that sulfites are a common source of health problems. In fact, sulfites cause NO problems whatsoever for the vast, vast... Another rest period Every so often on here, I just get to a state where I feel the need to refrain from visiting very often... Riddling Racks On 5-30-2006 4:33 PM, pp Matthew, I've riddled using the method Pp outlines. The carton the bottles came in works fine as a riddling rack. I'd add... Wine grapes into jelly without 'wasting' good grapes I also make jelly from wine grapes (zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon), and no 'wasting' of good wine grapes... cuz I extract the pomace to get my 'juice' for jelly. This Wine... Wine grapes in UK 162 You are totally incorrect! A mulled wine is something entirely different in its preparation and drinking. It... Screwed up my sanitation Hello everybody, beer brewer here moving into wines. My first attempt went wrong, getting infected with a thick, mucus-like... Help! funny smell You got Hydrogen Sulfide! 51 The possible causes of hydrogen sulfide contamination are: * Too much sulfites, usually the result of grapes being dusted with too much sulfur during the growing season * Lack of proper... Apple Cider Juice Wine 1.100 and holding You know it's a hobby when it starts consuming all your daydreaming thoughts (see below). Gene DAve Allison Shoot, I just put a small light bulb in the spare bedroom closet where I do... a complicated wine math question 190 Lee Yeah, I just found that link on Google when I searched the question, so... Vine growing question The direct answer is 'yes' - buttuming you have reasonable soil and the vines are watered. I've seen numerous grapevines trained up trellises, poles, etc. The real question then becomes... Quick & Easy Pistol Grip Bottle Filler Mike, Sorry about the delay, but I've had-am having ISP issues on this end. Yes, I went... Bottles 196 I support what Ric said above about the history, and styles. What I've learned from my year experience - collect what you can, clean them good, and eventually if you get enough - you can... Clearing plum wine 19 This I think is one point where the kits are really nice for us beginners. While they don't necessarily make the best wine if you're following their instructions, the... Question from beginner 218 No basement, no wine cellar, and 100+ degrees in the garage? You're making it tough. I also live in a hot climate, but have... Clearing plum wine 48 Alan, There's two types of aging a wine. One is bulk aging in a carboy, and the other is bottle aging. I think... Vines 252 quote....... plus what my dog would eat hi again ....I found this... FYI Grape and raisin contagionings in Dogs Recently, there was a letter in the AVMA Journal from Dr. Gwaltney-Brant and others at... Island Mists White ZinfandelWhites in genearl Ok, this will probalby be the first(well, second, I guess) of many questions from me in here. Anyway, this saturday I started an Island Mist Exotic Fruits... nice smells 39 Pinky is exactly right. Many people expect fruit wine to taste like the original fruit. But let me butture you that a good Cabernet does... New Winemaker Big Problems 65 I am responding on the NG. It is a good idea to do this since you will then get more information-help from different people. Also other will also learn from the ensuing posts. Which... Bordeaux Blend 141 Paul is right. There are no hard and fast rules for the blend as it depends on the grapes. But there are proceedures. 1. Use what wines the wines that you have. It would be... 4 Week wine kits On 6-10-2006 2:07 PM, Jim Jim, Kits vary, by style and by manufacturer. Winexpert doesn't have a recommendation for their 4 week kit (that I could find... when to degas 246 I've had a persistent problem with my wines over the last several years, and I suspect... Beer Kegs as Fermentation Vessels BruceNolteN3LSY& Hi Bruce Kegs are great for bulk storage. There is a stainless steel ring that holds the dip... Do medicinal properties of herbs transfer to wine 210 StuPedaso The simple answer is Sometimes. It depends on what the medicinal agent in the herb is soluable in. If it is soluable in Alcohol... First tastings of a cranberry wine After Thanksgiving, I took advantage of the sale on cranberries by making cranberry wine. At Jack Keller's suggestion, I used the highbush... spray recommendations 67 Mike, It's a long story but it started out with finding a solution to keep my slate floors clean and snowballed from there. After the results I got from the... Pistol Bottle Filler link to pic billb Bill, Click the above link and then click the button labeled "Back to Photos". As to whether or not the plastic is food grade, let's... Stopping fermentation 172 Here's my recent story. I make Vidal wine sweetened with reserve juice I save at crush time in late September. The reserve juice is settled, racked clear... Homebrew Champagne 201 They are just different, that's all. Most prefer the taste you get when you ferment in the bottle. The longer you keep the yeast that fermented it... Zucchini wine 108 Alan, I'm not familiar with pectolase...but if it says on the package that it increases juice yield from fruits by breaking... Bordeaux Style 130 One other think I would like to add. The only way you are going to make a "Bordeaux" is to go to Bordeaux. This is not saying that you can... Sur Lies Sometimes it'll say on the label; sometimes on the winery's website. Many years ago when I first started doing sur lie on my Chardonnay it was rather uncommon and considered risky. Most... Newbie with cider brew questions Hi folks, Just doing my first home brew, decided to try a 'John Bull Cider' kit. For the inital fermentation I put it all into a sterile brewing bucket using 'brewing sugar', left the... Question on Wine storage 57 Joel, The main considerations for wine storage are: 1. Light. Ultriaviolet light ages wine prematurely. Especially reds. That... Racking question When you're wine shopping, pick up a few 1.5L bottles of wine, or sometimes you can find "jug wine" in intermediate sizes between 1.5L and 5 gallons. Those... Straining out fruit chunks and squeezing the rest of their juices Hi Adam, Here's what I do with wine grapes if I have an average sized (3 or more gallon) batch, and I think it would work with cranberries. You'll need two nylon straining bags... moving a carboy just before bottling As far as moving, this also bugged me when I first started. If you have plastic carboys, move it a few days, I move 4 days in advance, since... HELP! Was the kit bad Hi all, this is my first post here. I got a winemaking equipment kit for Christmas, but the White Zin. ingredient kit I got came without the... My first attempt at wine need some help please I picked 2 bushels of Buffalo grapes (home grown by me, color blue black)last Tues and my... MLF in a mostly blackberry wine Hello all, This is my first batch of wine, so I hope you'll excuse a newbie question on MLF in non-grape wines. I went to check on... Anyone using a "heat pipe" to cool fermenter How about a peltier driven heatpipe We used to use peltier devices as a pbuttive cooling system for the military back in the 60's. We built the first ones where I used to work; they were... sweetening cider news-server.socal.rr.com With the champagne yeast and all that honey and sugar, you are going to... Homebrew Champagne 113 Hey, watch the name calling. You started this you know, asking what bottle shock "crap" was, when a simple google search could have filled it all in. Just cause we care doesn't... Viticulture question 122 CD: I only have 3 references I use right now in addition to this ng. I should also count the viticulture FAQ, which you can find at... Heavy & Light A main contributor to perception of "body" in wine is alcohol content. Earlier in the game you... Sweetining Wine and Oklahoma Hi All, My wife and I just started making wine last June. First was a Riesling from aWine Expert kit... New Winemaker Big Problems 3 Yes, let it age a few more months; you have nothing to lose and you have the opportunity to learn from this. The bite... Question on Wine storage 23 Actually it's a high horse I absolutely agree with. Would love to have an underground cellar, just really not an option in this area(t... should I pretreat with bicarbonate 129 If you're planning on making a sweet wine, you can balance that acidity with sugar -- even then you might want to bring it down... Using breastrets with red wine 203 Franco, I still use breastrettes on red wine but do consider the practice questionable, that's why I haven't commented on this thread until now. I have both of those books and Margalit... experienced brewer, about to start wine making I'm considering wine making. My wife and I drink a lot of wine... and beer. I have been brewing for a long time and it recently occurred to me with how much wine we... Before I begin. 107 I am learning fast. In the past hold on to your hair I have attempted to 'stop' wines with Campden tablets at an SG chosen to give a desired level of sweetness. The result... Wine Kit Question Joe - It's a good idea to try to follow the directions as closely as you reasonably can (at least the first time... making wine from juice. and another question.. thanks I have made many fruit wines with the same processes, and found a supplier for many different grape wines. I never really learned the why's behind... New Winemaker Big Problems 5 John, I can't respond to the questions on your wine kits, but I have made strawberry wine a number of times. You... Best Temp for secondary 176 Thanks Ray and Darlene for your responses. I have read a lot of the older group postings and have read a lot of your responses... Primary Fermenter Smell I am currently using a plastic bucket as my primary fermenter for 6 gallon wine kits. Part way through process on my first kit, which is also my first batch of wine, so still learning... Making wine at home Making wine at home isn't necessarily easy. There's a lot of work involved, especially in cleaning and... Make wine like a beer wart why not Answers below: Yes alcohol will preserve the wine from many infections and will prevent anything really bad... Regina Juice Marty, I made Regina Merlot this year and my acid and pH were identical to yours. (The SG was 1.086 since yours... what has been the strangest wine you have successfully made Maple mead . The maple wine I made was not mead. For some reason it appears making wine is terribly complicated, or... MLF wine kits On 3-31-2006 8:01 AM, Crhoff Crhoff, I recalled seeing an answer to your question from one of the kit manufacturers, but I was unable to find it in the archives or on... Trailer Park Chateau..Another good one privates, have you ever posted your "Chateau de Trailer Park" recipe here? I saw it in rec.crafts.meadmaking. If so, I am curious what the comments were. They may run you out of town... need more sulphite OK, true confession time. I made my first wine (from a kit) about 8 months ago. For the last ~6 months it's been bulk aging in a soda keg. At the time... Nomacorc and Floor Corkers with Brbutt Jaws Success- Recapping- I'd like to use Nomacorcs in my Brbutt-jawed floor corker. They don't work by default due to the design of the... reasons for winemaking 31 On 7-22-2006 7:47 PM, alien Not to derail the topic, but I very much enjoy the Bowmore 17 year old offering... MLF question 60 I certainly don't question the results you have obtained, but although you've been able to obtain a 0.08% TA decrease with cold stabilzation, I still feel that's a lot of work... gross lees vs. fine lees and when to rack 84 Take what I say as my opinion as it may not match the suggestions of... Screwed up my sanitation 170 I've not made more that 10 or 15 country wines so this is just a best guess. Others have said Idophor is probably not an issue with wine in general when used in correct... Blackberry port and how to extract juices I am planning to make a blackberry port soon. I'm trying to keep the berry taste in the final result, which I think means... Pink Volcano Tried my first batch of wine yesterday. It is a red beet wine. I decided to make it when I was preparing red beets from my garden for freezing and after... Canned Strawberry Wine Sadly, while I am going to look around again this weekend, it seems like I missed the frozen... When to add the ML culture I've read the 'ML?' post by Jim and it got me thinking about the two batches of Merlot I have... Zucchini wine Taking the recent good advice of Darlene V and Jack Keller as guidance, I started a two gallon batch of zucchini (courgette) wine this week. I used... Oxidation reduction I've become a more proficient taster since I've starting the hobbies of winemaking and homebrewing. Awhile back, I made a batch of Chilean Merlot from a kit... H2s odor still lingering 71 Yes it sounds as if it may be too late but I'm on vacation this week and would like to try and... reasons for winemaking 148 Ken, I agree that one's friends are often overly kind in their appraisal of homemade... Earn 12% daily of your investment I'm going to tell you about a TOP RATED AUTOSURF program that takes 5 mins of your day and then instantly credits... when you do a 12 recipe Hi, all. With all my different batches starting to come ready to bottle, I freed up... Yeast Explosion Facts Hi Matthew, Ummm... Yes and no. I have no idea what 2l plastic bottles are meant to hold pressure wise, but I doubt it's 90 PSIG and that is the maximum pressure a... Barrel advice 110 For a 225 liter barrel you'd need 3 to 4% per year to cover evaporative losses, plus ?% to cover tasting losses. For a... Apple Wine Where's The Character Apple wine, especially if you've fined and filtered it, doesn't have a strong apple aroma... H2s odor still lingering 69 Yes it sounds as if it may be too late but I'm on vacation this week and would like to try and remedy this asap which means I will not get the... How much sugar How to tell Are you wanting to add sugar to a must that you are going make into wine or are... My wine's TA is 0.87%. What should I do 205 I don't agree that these values are well within tolerance on this particular wine if the measurements are correct. I do agree with everything you say generally but if this wine really has a pH... when degbutting looks like aeration Degbutted my first kit wine (VR chianti) today...here's what I did... Got me one of those drill driven degbutting paddle deals, the one that fits... Sanatizing Wine Bottles Danny, Apologies, I have been traveling. Here is what I do; I have a bottle tree; it's as necessary as a corker as... Bordeaux Style 52 We would not have to adopt the stringent requirements you mentioned. My idea would allow each AVA to produce a blend made from whatever grapes they grow in the... Using innert gas in a large head space 197 Good point Droopy. That is a third problem. Diffution due to concentration differences. I don't know that it is a larger problem than the other two but it is a different problem. Good... Bordeaux Style 100 Andy You have made some valid points. The whole problem as I see it is the naming of BLENDS. Naming a wine after a single varital is no problem. Surely, however, you have... Baco Noir First Time Hi Folks, I've been making wine for a couple of years now from kits and also trying my own from different varieties... Blackberries Jack Keller's site has quite a wide selection of them, check under My experience is that lighter blackberry wines (made with 3 - 4 lbs of fruit per gallon) take a year or so at... a complicated wine math question 125 To answer yuor question, no. (In my opinion.) I use pH to decide how much sulfite I need and to get... Presses versus an old washing machine 138 Andy, Welded my press together, with a temporary basket support and using a brand new wire mesh trash can I got at Home Depot as the basket... Wine grapes in UK 55 An update. Got 90 kg of Sangiovese today. They were in excellent condition and think they were only picked last Friday in... Baco Noir First Time Revisited Ian - Don't add the extra sugar. You will end up with more fermentable sugar than any yeast can handle...the yeast will quit... Anyone made Pomegranite wine TT Hi Tom, pomegranite is high in acid. If this is the case you may want to try making a melomel from the juice, or from the fruit. One of the problem... First Timer Apple wine 44 Do play with your hydrometer. It is the winemakers easiest to use and best tool. Champagne yeast is... Foch Final Acid High Herman Krug wrote in message Herman - You can do lots to lower acid in Foch or other high acid grapes. 1. Amelioration - Foch has... Before I begin. 185 Alan - Yes, I normally ferment with the fruit or whatever for the first week or so, which is normally when fermentation starts to subside a bit. Potbuttium sorbate... Sbuttafrbutt Wine question DAZ928 Here's how I make a starter. Its given me good results. My method is sort of a hodgepoge of what I've read on the net and stuff I just made up... Aging If a wine tastes yeasty, it is probably because it still has yeast in it. It has not totally cleared even if you think it... UK damson wine Here's a recipe from my dim distant past. It will produce a wine of about 12 %abv. I confess it... Some Place Near Erie, PA Bob, funny you should mention the recommendation to the compebreastion. It isn't the local winery that is the compebreastion here, they all produce similar wines from the... One Step No Rinse Cleaner Bob, I second Joe's advice. Sterility is neither attainable nor necessary in winemaking. Cleanliness, however, is. Wine has been used throughout history to disinfect drinking water, so... Bottling Champagne 106 privates, I am a little confused by your terminology, was the secondary fermentation an actual re-ferment of sugar or is the pressure the result... Muscadine SecondRun Bart, I've got an old edition of the book "The Art of Making Wine"by Stanley Anderson. His recipe is below. I've used it a number of... Cranberry Wine from Juice Recipes Joel Sprague I will post a recipe I drummed up to use up a gallon... Chancellor Final Came Around Anyone have much experience with Chancellor? I made one back in '98 that is finally drinkable. It was black with tannins because I left... Results of my first Welch's experiment I'm working on winemaking basics by making small batches of white wine. I am using that Welch's white grape concentrate that has been discussed on here before. I prepare a gallon, which... Niagara Question Vidal Blanc Question Hey newsgroup! It has been a long time since I have been on here. I have a couple of questions... - please keep in... So, what's everybody made this season, and whaddya sipping 179 I'm sugar feeding a mixed berry port I made from red and black raspberries, frozen blueberries, mulberries frim the tree in my yard, elderberries from a... ACID BLEND QUESTION As another poster mentioned, acid blend on its own won't balance bitterness. You might want to taste the wine... Stuck Primary Fermintation It has Now Started I'm buttuming this is the Gewurtztraminer wine we're still talking about... The most important parameters in my experience for maintaining fruitiness after primary ferment are: 1) rack... Island Mists White ZinfandelWhites in genearl 17 By standard kit I was merely referring to it being a 7.5L kit, packets of yeast, pot meta, etc. I know it's a light picnic type "wine", or wine based beverage... Floor corker malfunctioning The following is a scenario I've seen on 2 separate Italian corkers: as the handle... Understanding Wine Technology David Bird You know, Joe, I have to disagree on Yair Margalit's "Winery Technology & Operations" (I'm leafing through it now). I'm really less enthuiastic about this book... although obviously you've... Cranberry Fruit Wine Base Sodium Bisulfite or Potbuttium Metabisulfite Here is the original 3 gallon recipe: 3 gallon recipe (fuller flavor and body) 1 - 96 oz. can Cranberry fruit wine base product 3 cans warm water (2.6 gallon) 6 lbs. white table... Using breastrets with red wine 92 fasteddy999 Accuvin has paper strip, colour change based tests for several variables, including free S)2. They have 2 colour strips for that one... MLF, Oak, Chardonnay, evOak staves Questions Good Evening- I've been speaking to a few people here privately around oaking different wines and upon their advice have purchased some Stavin cubes, medium and medium + toasts. My first foray into... Boycott Gettysburg Link to photos showing how the battlefield looked before superintendent John Latschar raped it. We loved... Limoncello recipe This is how I made a batch, I hear better vodka makes a difference but can't seem to believe that given the... Centrifuging wine update Tom mentioned a while back he uses a washing machine centrifuge. Some front load washing machines spin at 1200-1500 RPM. About twice the speed of uprights. The secret in making front load washers... Better Bottle was: Cranberry Mel On 2-6-2006 12:11 PM, Ray Calvert thread snipped cross-posted to rec.crafts.winemaking as a follow-up to the discussion on Better Bottles held there in... experienced brewer, about to start wine making 30 Scott Lindner Maybe if you top up with more wine you could see an increase in body, I suppose... Pumpkin Wine: Any tricks 77 StuPedaso I just caught this thread, so I'll insert some observations I have gathered from making pumpkin beer. I wasn't making a normal pumpkin beer where pumpkin... Inexpensive Wine Filling Rack 01 I've built a simple and inexpensive but effective wine filling rack from common Home Depot materials and thought I might share it with the group in case others are interested. I'm sure there are... make tons of cash EASY What is $5 and 15 minutes when it can make you earn $100,000 ? Not much, if you ask me... You've probably... So, what's everybody made this season, and whaddya sipping 78 Hi Bill, I've done 2 grades of blackberry, heavy, using 6lbs of fruit to the gallon, and medium using 3 - 4 lbs... Anyone using a "heat pipe" to cool fermenter How about a peltier driven heatpipe Bill Velek (months ago) What no one mentioned about a heat pipe is how they work. When a heat pipe... MLF question 9 My experiences are from Pennsylvania, working with likely very similar grape varieties : Chambourcin, De Chanauc, Foch, Cabernet Franc, Florental. And I still can't agree that cold stabilization is a significant acid decrease... Bordeaux Style 20 Paul E. Lehmann But you're trying to cross the US and France's way of doing things but, IMHO, throwing out the best parts of each. I'm OK with the US way of labeling... Screwed up my sanitation 28 A general outline for making wine would be this: Clean-sanitize equipment make must (fruit+sugar+acidity+enzymes and chemicals if needed) Add sulfite wait 24 hours pitch yeast the... Nomacorc and Floor Corkers with Brbutt Jaws Afternoon- Having been warned about possible incompatabilities with the Nomacorc and floor corkers with brbutt I obtained some samples for insertion testing. Two were 'live' tests with... New Winemaker Big Problems 11 then learn you Okay we will start with the strawberry. It was strawberry wine. I... newbie question: start with a 5g carboy or go smaller 42 On 3-10-2006 12:20 PM, Mr. Moody Mr. Moody, You have no doubt read the many various and valid... Fining 58 I have never used isinglbutt for fining, and my impression is that its use among home winemakers isn't as popular as other fining ingredients like Sparkolloid, betonite... sake making Can anyone give some advice as to making Japanese rice wine? Or recommend a website? I really like sake, and I have been homebrewing wine and beer for several years. Would like... Anyone using a "heat pipe" to cool fermenter How about a peltier driven heatpipe I originally cross-posted this to r.c.m and r.c.w., in addition to the beer brewing groups, because I know that we all use carboys and other fermenters, and believed... Cranberry wine Ray and Dave, Earlier this year, i was interested in the cranberry wine experiment. There was much debate as to how much cranberry to use, and... what next Hi Finnlamar, Can you order your winemaking supplies online? I'm sure there must be a homebrew store in Finland somewhere that would do mail-order. If you... This year's Lodi harvest Here's what the local Santa Rosa, California newspaper had to say about this year's area harvest..... "It's waiting time for first harvest in... Using innert gas in a large head space This topic comes up fairly frequently. I would like to throw out two issues I have with using gas to top up. Comments welcome. 1) One of the questions is how much gas is needed... a complicated wine math question 35 A buffer is somethign that resists pH changes. If somethign is buffered at 7.5 it will take more acid to make it... How to choose a wow wine gift No one wears ties anymore. Pashmina is so 2000. Now, let's see--that leaves wine... Finding a cause I made my first batch of wine this season. I made it from a grape vine in my yard. The grapes may be a cross between Isabella and Couderc Noir from... Question on Wine storage 21 Sorry to everyone else but this is about beer and not wine!!! Bill It is a long time ago and I cannot... Bottling Champagne 24 Your method did emulate the bulk transfer method or Charmat; they pressurize the bottles also to avoid losing pressure in the transfer and use a higher initial pressure. I start with a similar... experienced brewer, about to start wine making 8 Hi Scott, I'll take a stab at answering your questions, in-line below. On 2-26-2006 9:00 PM, Scott Lindner All of the juice... Do medicinal properties of herbs transfer to wine 6 Thanks for the feedback. Ken's reply brought back memories of college organic chemistry, taken 20 something years ago. I did some... MAKE LOADS OF MONEY FOR FREE MAKE THOUSANDS!!! I found this on a bulletin board and decided to try it: I don't care about the useless pre-fabricated crap this message usually says. All... European Wine Fighting for Survival Quite a profound article. What do you guys think? DER SPIEGEL 44-2005 - November 5, 2005 European Wine Fighting for Survival In Vino Vilitas By Barbara Supp They are fruity, soft... The Beatles caused the disintegration of mankind HIGH COURT (The Five Judges) (Judge T., Judge B., Judge S., Judge M. and Judge K.) 1st VERDICT "The Beatles caused the disintegration of mankind" The Rock revolution happened...

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