Recent content by Kev6

I do make a syrup before adding to the must. I don't doubt that reducing the volume will also increase the potential alcohol. It also leaves too much head space in my 6gal carboy. I'm not inclined to top up with that much store bought wine. I have purchased a 5gal so moving forward I'll have...

I've had yeast packets in the past that were not viable and it was 2-3 days before I knew no fermentation was going on. With the yeast starter I know within hours and the yeast colony has a jump start. The kit potential alcohol was around 10%.. I bumped it to over 12%. If I wanted anything...

I didn't adjust initially. Fermentation was great until I racked it. I made 2 adjustments with calcium carbonate while trying to get things moving again. First to 3.0 then again to 3.2.

When I make a kit per mfg instructions, I only track sg but when I start monkeying around I will check ph. Grapefruit brought more acid to the table. Kits are supposed to have nutrients so I didn't add any at the start. I did when trying to get it restarted.

It's a RJS Cru pinot grigio. Made a yeast starter with Lalvin k1-v1116. Bentonite per kit, juice concentrate and spring water to 6gal, 1/2tsp tannins, zest of one grapefruit, sugar to sg 1.096, ph 3.2. Pitched starter, kept must temperature below 75°f . After 6 days sg 1.018 ph down 2.8. 2 days...

Ran into a problem that I haven't been able to solve. When sg dropped to 1.006 I racked to a carboy. Then all activity stopped. After 4 days sg was still 1.006, checked ph and it was 2.8. Adjusted ph to 3.0 with calcium carbonate added yeast energizer. Another few days after and no change so I...

The pinot is underway. Planning on keeping the must temperature in the low 70's. Wow! The grapefruit smell is really there. Decided to do the pear separately, may use it as a topper at racking if the flavors meld.

Forgot to ask, is zest of one grapefruit enough for 6gal or should I use 2?

Getting ready to start a RJS Cru Italian style pinot grigio. After reading as many posts that I could search through, my plan is to add grapefruit zest to primary and sugar syrup to right around 13% potential alcohol. Would there be any benefits from adding the grapefruit pulp as well? Looking...

I use the Avery 18163, 10 per sheet. 3 sheets does my 6 gal carboy. I have been accused of being a penny pincher but I prefer cost conscious 🙃 I spray the sheets with clear coat after printing and I get no color bleeding with condensation. After rinsing the empty, 30 minutes in the freezer and...

I just started an amarone style kit from Argentia Coast (Costco). It's a 14l juice concentrate for a 6gal yield. I had a 128g dry grapeskin pack that had lost vacuum. I put that in a muslin bag, 8oz Zante currants and the 90g oak blend that was included in the kit also in bags. I soaked all in 1...

The unit itself I found on Ebay several years ago. Search suction machines.

I am using a gomco(sp) suction unit l got off ebay for $50. The canister is from Amazon $10 to catch any overfill should I be slow to release the valve. Got the tubing valve setup from the all-in-one guy. Works really well as long as I remember to pull from the bucket lower than the bottle 😏

I've been making small batches of muscadine wine in northeast Florida with varying degrees of success over the last several years. Did you try malolactic fermentation and what was the result?