# Encourage Me and Where to Get….



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 11, 2022)

Have a good friend who Is a fantastic wine maker, violin maker, cabinet maker -you know the type, great at everything he does. Got me started with my first batches of fruit wine.

I have a supply in my yard of tropical fruit, so it’s only logical to make the excess into wine.

I started with passion fruit wine. Fresh passion fruit off the vines. Used EC1118, and enzyme and energizer. Went very well, and has been in secondary for about 2 weeks. It’s clearing quite well. It has a nice amber color as well. bubbling has stopped, and I’m still looking for the right hydrometer. Give me some help as to a good place to source. Need to get it ordered VERY soon.
that batch will stay in secondary for a while longer

second batch just started with some frozen mango I had - fermenting now. Are you allowed to recommend sources for supplies here ?
thanks everybody.


----------



## Bossbaby (Feb 11, 2022)

Do you have Amazon? A tripple scale hydrometer is what you may want to use, they are fairly inexpensive so you should probably get two, one for use now and the other for when you break the first one. Definitely one of the most important tools in the wine room. Any wine making equipment store will carry them.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 11, 2022)

Bossbaby said:


> Do you have Amazon? A tripple scale hydrometer is what you may want to use, they are fairly inexpensive so you should probably get two, one for use now and the other for when you break the first one. Definitely one of the most important tools in the wine room. Any wine making equipment store will carry them.


Yup one or 2 day Amazon here. I see the triple the triple scale for under $15


----------



## sour_grapes (Feb 11, 2022)

Welcome to WMT!

Where are you located? Many areas have a brick and mortar shop catering to brewing (which is more widespread) and winemaking. We refer to them a LHBS, for "local home brew store." You can find them by going to your area on Google Maps and searching for "brewing" or some keyword like that.

There are also online stores that are dedicated to brewing/winemaking:
Northern Brewer Home Brew Supplies
Label Peelers Wine Making and Homebrewing Equipment and Supplies
Home Brew Ohio
MoreWine - Winemaking Supplies to Make Your Own Wine at Home
Midwest Supplies - Wine Making & Homebrew Supplies
etc.


----------



## Jovimaple (Feb 11, 2022)

I recommend you also get a test jar, especially if you are doing smaller batches of wine where the depth isn't enough for the hydrometer to float.

For example: Glass hydrometer test jar- 13"

Make sure you sanitize both the hydrometer and test jar, and then you can pour the sample back into the must and not waste it!


----------



## winemaker81 (Feb 12, 2022)

Another option is the FermTech wine thief, which is wide enough to accept a hydrometer. Since I got mine, the test jar sits unused.


----------



## hounddawg (Feb 12, 2022)

www.homebrewohio.com
www.ebay.com
www.Amazon.com
www.homebrewing.org
Dawg


----------



## hounddawg (Feb 12, 2022)

as stated above i keep a few wine thieves to take hydrometer readings =SG
i like the triple scale wine/beer hydrometers with color, the plain white ones give me trouble beings my eyes aint as sharp as they uset to be, 
and if possible either buy 3 or 4, or build up a stash of them, if you have only one and it brakes, well hehe that is a pain in the rear end, i broke one once dumping it into my hand, it hit my ring and just like that, it was no more, as you build up it never hurts to keep spares of most everything,,
Dawg


----------



## David Violante (Feb 13, 2022)

I’m super interested in how your passion wine turns out. Love passion fruit. I’m on my second batch of passion/mango. I didn’t add much else to the first one I made other than nutrients, and it tasted pretty good. To this one I added bananas, and some dried apricots. The depth of it is pretty amazing. There’s no banana taste but the mouthfeel is greatly improved. 

Keep us posted… and welcome!


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 13, 2022)

hounddawg said:


> www.homebrewohio.com
> www.ebay.com
> www.Amazon.com
> www.homebrewing.org
> Dawg


Thanks. Like to shop at smaller businesses like homebrewohio and they had good prices I believe, but then shipping makes it the same as Amazon. thanks dawg


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 13, 2022)

David Violante said:


> I’m super interested in how your passion wine turns out. Love passion fruit. I’m on my second batch of passion/mango. I didn’t add much else to the first one I made other than nutrients, and it tasted pretty good. To this one I added bananas, and some dried apricots. The depth of it is pretty amazing. There’s no banana taste but the mouthfeel is greatly improved.
> 
> Keep us posted… and welcome!


Interesting. Thanks ve almost always got fresh crop of banana here, and I wondered why would you want banana tasting wine, but the threads I’ve read kind of all indicate theres nothing banana about it, so I’m kind of wondering why make it at all. I’ve had some terrible small winery citrus fruit wines, but had some passion fruit wine from Key West winery (now out of business) that was really good. So I’m hoping it’s going to be good. It’s been in secondary now for only. A couple of weeks so it will. Be a while before I bottle it or tempt myself to taste it. That’s probably the hardest thing for a newbie winemaker, resisting the urge to keep tasting it. It is clearing up very nicely now and has a great amber color. I’ll be sure to let you know how it comes out. I’ve got a straight mango in the bucket now fermenting, and it will probably be going to secondary in a few day. 

I’ve given thought to mixing passion fruit and mango, but they both go well by themselves. Depending how they come out I might consider blending after.

also it will be loquat season in about a month or so. They probably would make a lighter flavor taste so that might be my next batch.
thanks


----------



## hounddawg (Feb 14, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> Interesting. Thanks ve almost always got fresh crop of banana here, and I wondered why would you want banana tasting wine, but the threads I’ve read kind of all indicate theres nothing banana about it, so I’m kind of wondering why make it at all. I’ve had some terrible small winery citrus fruit wines, but had some passion fruit wine from Key West winery (now out of business) that was really good. So I’m hoping it’s going to be good. It’s been in secondary now for only. A couple of weeks so it will. Be a while before I bottle it or tempt myself to taste it. That’s probably the hardestraisins thing for a newbie winemaker, resisting the urge to keep tasting it. It is clearing up very nicely now and has a great amber color. I’ll be sure to let you know how it comes out. I’ve got a straight mango in the bucket now fermenting, and it will probably be going to secondary in a few day.
> 
> I’ve given thought to mixing passion fruit and mango, but they both go well by themselves. Depending how they come out I might consider blending after.
> 
> ...


Banana, golden raisins, apple juice, cinnamon stick and a touch of allspice, 
Dawg


----------



## G259 (Feb 14, 2022)

That sounds amazing!

I was intrigued about 5 spice, so I have a 1 gal. - 5 spice apple mead going, high hopes!

I have never added banana, but have seen it a lot. My next foray!


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 14, 2022)

First racking today on the passion fruit. Nice light color and fairly clear. I’ll look tomorrow and see what settles out.

the mango in the primary is still working pretty good after a week.


----------



## Rice_Guy (Feb 15, 2022)

you have me jealous, back yard passion fruit. I would mix 5% passion fruit in everything to add aromatics.


FlamingoEmporium said:


> I’ve given thought to mixing passion fruit and mango, but they both go well by themselves. Depending how they come out I might consider blending after.
> also it will be loquat season in about a month or so. They probably would make a lighter flavor taste so that might be my next batch.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 15, 2022)

Rice_Guy said:


> you have me jealous, back yard passion fruit. I would mix 5% passion fruit in everything to add aromatics.


I’ve got some in the fridge drawer now, and the vines are just starting to green out for this years crop. I’m pretty sure I have a bag of juice in the freezer. It’s orange and sticky anyhow.


----------



## hounddawg (Feb 15, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> I’ve got some in the fridge drawer now, and the vines are just starting to green out for this years crop. I’m pretty sure I have a bag of juice in the freezer. It’s orange and sticky anyhow.


orange and sticky. hum, ain't that just the sliced bread, me learning all these new fancy vintner words,, lol
Dawg


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 16, 2022)

Passion fruit is at .998 now. Just moved mango into secondary, today was its 8th day. It is a nice light yellow right now and should clear up very light. The passion fruit is a nice bronze color.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 16, 2022)

I’ve only got a 1/2 pint of mango left after moving into secondary Saved for keeping headspace up after racking. I don’t have another bubbler left for it. What can I do with it / where to store it ? Fridge ? Or just keep it covered so it can gas ? Thanks


----------



## hounddawg (Feb 16, 2022)

Fridge, plug it, get you spare S type airlocks or ventless silicone bungs, 
Dawg


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 16, 2022)

hounddawg said:


> Fridge, plug it, get you spare S type airlocks or ventless silicone bungs,
> Dawg


Yup. Gotta get some extra stuff.


----------



## Rice_Guy (Feb 16, 2022)

the method before plastic air locks was to lead a tube out of a single hole cork and run it into a bucket of water 
the you tube way is to put a balloon on the bottle
as Dawg says solid could be done, but it should be refrigerated to keep it from exploding out
If you have a Groch beer bottle it would survive some pressure


FlamingoEmporium said:


> I’ve only got a 1/2 pint of mango left after moving into secondary Saved for keeping headspace up after racking. I don’t have another bubbler left for it. What can I do with it / where to store it ? Fridge ? Or just keep it covered so it can gas ? Thanks


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 17, 2022)

wow. Lees dropped right out in the fridge. If my finished carboy clears up like that,it will be a nice light color. This could be enjoyable if it goes right.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 24, 2022)

David Violante said:


> I’m super interested in how your passion wine turns out. Love passion fruit. ..l..l
> 
> Keep us posted… and welcome!


 Passion fruit update.
second racking Today. It was very clear a little lees, not much. Added k-meta and topped up two or three ounces with some of my mango I had set aside in fridge. 
Dry. it tasted like a Chardonnay but really little fruit taste. I will backsweeten just a little when I bottle it in a few more weeks. A little off gassing 

the mango is still going at 1.001 first racking since going into secondary. This one tastes delicious already. I was worried I didn’t add enough fruit. 
This is the passion fruit


----------



## David Violante (Feb 25, 2022)

Looks great! It should clear up nicely. I would love to make a passion fruit from fruit, but no access for me here in NY. Well, no low-cost access anyway… that and I would love to make a frangipani / plumeria wine. Same deal. I’ll have to make a trip south…


----------



## Ohio Bob (Feb 25, 2022)

Check out Vintners Harvest


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 25, 2022)

Ohio Bob said:


> View attachment 85105
> 
> 
> Check out Vintners Harvest


I prefer these. It’s probably hard to find purée without additives unless it specifically for brewing like above.


----------



## David Violante (Feb 25, 2022)

I was looking at Coloma frozen too. Their concentrates are vacuum and heat evaporated. If it’s not too high a heat, the flavor would probably be fairly good. I’ll have to look back through the forums here, I remember a lot of discussion about it. 








Passion Fruit Concentrate for brewing and wine making.


Our 50 brix Passion Fruit Juice concentrate is not an extract, but a pure juice concentrate, made from 100% pure fruit juice. Available in quarts, 1.5 gal, 3 gallon, 4 gallon, and 52 gallon drums.



colomafrozen.com


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 25, 2022)

It’s amazing how pricey it is. not terrible, but a little steep. but I get mine for just a little fertilizer and some labor. I probably have enough in the freezer for another batch. 

i guess I’m fortunate to live in a tropical paradise.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 25, 2022)

David Violante said:


> I was looking at Coloma frozen too. Their concentrates are vacuum and heat evaporated. If it’s not too high a heat, the flavor would probably be fairly good. I’ll have to look back through the forums here, I remember a lot of discussion about it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Where about in NY are you dave ? That bridge in your avatar looks familiar.

im thinking if I have a banner year for passion fruit I might have to mail some out.
i might throw some seed across the street and see if it grows. Maybe plant some around the telephone pole. I’m out of room in my yard. I’ve got 3 vines but one is really old and one not producing yet.


----------



## David Violante (Feb 26, 2022)

I’m in the mid-Hudson Valley, Newburgh area. That picture is looking north from Beacon towards the Newburgh-Beacon bridge on the Beacon side of the Hudson River. There’s a great spot to put in at a small park near the train station and you can go south to Bannerman Island, across to Plum Pointe and the Moodna Creek or north towards Poughkeepsie and the Mid-Hudson Bridge. Very pretty and historic areas.


----------



## David Violante (Feb 26, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> im thinking if I have a banner year for passion fruit I might have to mail some out.


That would be fantastic… I occasionally come down to the Daytona area, we could coordinate something then also perhaps. Wow that would be great!


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 26, 2022)

David Violante said:


> I’m in the mid-Hudson Valley, Newburgh area. That picture is looking north from Beacon towards the Newburgh-Beacon bridge on the Beacon side of the Hudson River. There’s a great spot to put in at a small park near the train station and you can go south to Bannerman Island, across to Plum Pointe and the Moodna Creek or north towards Poughkeepsie and the Mid-Hudson Bridge. Very pretty and historic areas.


I thought it might be the Sacandaga. I’m from Fonda.


----------



## David Violante (Feb 26, 2022)

Ah yes that’s way north of me, what a beautiful area upon the Adirondacks! Love hiking and camping up there. Just beautiful and amazing.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 26, 2022)

Now I’m a little warmer.

plus I have a yard full of tropical fruit.


----------



## winemaker81 (Feb 26, 2022)

David Violante said:


> Ah yes that’s way north of me, what a beautiful area upon the Adirondacks! Love hiking and camping up there. Just beautiful and amazing.


I grew up north of Utica, and worked summer jobs in Old Forge while in college. When visiting family, we go to Nick's Lake. Lot of beautiful scenery.

However, I've gotten used to seeing snow on TV and not outside my window ...


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 26, 2022)

winemaker81 said:


> worked summer jobs in Old Forge while in college.


Water Safari


----------



## winemaker81 (Feb 26, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> Water Safari


I worked there before Water Safari existed -- it was just the Enchanted Forest.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 26, 2022)

winemaker81 said:


> I worked there before Water Safari existed -- it was just the Enchanted Forest.


I was there as a little kid. I remember Paul Bunyan


----------



## David Violante (Feb 27, 2022)

We used to do Scouting canoe trips up there through the 7-lakes. I started college at Ithaca and my wife at Keuka. The concords smelled amazing in the late summer.


----------



## montanarick (Feb 28, 2022)

Originally from Cohoes - spent many fond years at our family's camp on the Sacandaga


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 28, 2022)

So is this normal ? Actually when I’ve read nearly every post on here, I’ve come to realize, there is no “normal” but 4 days ago i did a second racking of my mango wine. It was pretty stable and fairly clear SG was down to 1.010 from 1.014 previous racking. But now it’s pretty effervescent with tiny bubbles and some fluffy light sediment that even gets picked up by the bubbles. should I rack it again to remove lees or just wait a while. I think it might have picked up some new life when I topped off with a few ounces of what I had stored. 
the site doesn’t like my iphone video .mov extension


----------



## mikewatkins727 (Feb 28, 2022)

This could be CO2 outgassing and picking up the sediment. Normal situation.


----------



## sour_grapes (Feb 28, 2022)

I would let it be. To make sure it can get across the finish line, don't rack until it is closer to finishing (~1.000 +/-)


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Feb 28, 2022)

sour_grapes said:


> I would let it be. To make sure it can get across the finish line, don't rack until it is closer to finishing (~1.000 +/-)


Got it.


----------



## Rice_Guy (Feb 28, 2022)

the most important thing to remember to make good wine is that oxygen is your enemy! 
You can fight oxygen with meta, eventually the level will build up and some folks can taste it,,
You can fight oxygen by minimizing exposure ( I agree with sour grapes do not rack ,,, yet)
You can fight oxygen by fermenting red grapes with lots of poly phenols that scavenge oxygen.


FlamingoEmporium said:


> So is this normal ? . . . . should I rack it again to remove lees or just wait a while. I think it might have picked up some new life when I topped off with a few ounces of what I had stored.


On a stressed fermentation, ,,, (example lots of meads) ,,, one can frequently restart a sluggish fermentation by racking or whipping in oxygen. Your renewed activity at 1.010 could be due to oxygen mixed in with the racking process. Looking at the math, if you put 100ml of fresh juice (two oz) in a five gallon carboy that represents about 0.5% which if high sugar might be as high as 28% fermentable, ,,,1.25 grams ,,, ie not a lot in comparison to the fermentable solids from the main batch at 1.010.

One can use a stopped/ sluggish fermentation to their advantage and retain more fruity aroma. Next time!


----------



## mikewatkins727 (Mar 1, 2022)

Rice_Guy said:


> the most important thing to remember to make good wine is that oxygen is your enemy!
> You can fight oxygen with meta, eventually the level will build up and some folks can taste it,,
> You can fight oxygen by minimizing exposure ( I agree with sour grapes do not rack ,,, yet)
> You can fight oxygen by fermenting red grapes with lots of poly phenols that scavenge oxygen.
> ...


I will agree with @Rice_Guy's statements but take exception with the first one. During the primary fermentation you want to introduce oxygen into the must because yeast requires it to reproduce, thereafter you need to exclude it.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 2, 2022)

Time to backsweeten the passion fruit batch. im going to need my carboy soon for loquat batch that I will be starting in a few days. 

its nice and clear and SG bottomed out at .098 or .097 

it doesn’t have any fruit smell that I notice, and that’s OK with me but it is dry and I would like to get just a hint of taste out of it if possible. I don’t want it sweet so how much sugar should I consider adding for the gallon ?

thanks. 

the next batch will be loquat with something else. Maybe mango since I’ve still got a bunch in the freezer. i don’t think the loquats will have much of a flavor by themselves.


----------



## Rice_Guy (Mar 2, 2022)

How old? Young wine should have sorbate.
The quantity of sugar is subjective and most of us will run a bench trial (there are several threads) to figure out where it tastes best. Best seems to be a function of how much acid but if you haven’t run TA going exclusively on taste works.


Rice_Guy said:


> ? When did you start the batch? September 2020?
> my rule of thumb is under nine months it always needs potassium sorbate! It still may referment at nine months age,, and at a year it usually is safe. A wine which is being bottled always needs meta since the process incorporates oxygen.
> 
> How much juice? The normal way to figure where you want to put it is to do a bench trial. As a home process I would mix up a one juice to ten parts wine dilution which allows some accuracy with volumes. If you have a balance weighing also gives accuracy.
> ...


If you find a target gravity, sugar addition is a linear function, ,,, see figure above.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 2, 2022)

Rice_Guy said:


> How old? Young wine should have sorbate.
> .


December. I need a carboy soon. Chart helps. Ive seen the threads about bench trials, i guess I’ll make notes. I just know after one taste test I won’t be able to tell the difference on the next

from what I read, after sorbate, if I backsweeten and let it sit and I’m still not happy with sweetness I can add a little more before I bottle

or get another carboy and just let it bulk age instead of bottling may be better I guess. It may eventually pick up flavor with time ?


----------



## sour_grapes (Mar 2, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> its nice and clear and SG bottomed out at .098 or .097



I assume you mean 0.998 or 0.997?


----------



## winemaker81 (Mar 3, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> or get another carboy and just let it bulk age instead of bottling may be better I guess. It may eventually pick up flavor with time ?


If you can, this is a better choice.

I agree with @Rice_Guy, the amount of sugar needed to backsweeten has no formula. Each wine is different and your taste buds make a huge difference. Add sugar in small quantities, stirring well in between, and taste. I recommend having plain crackers available to cleanse the palate between tastes.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 3, 2022)

sour_grapes said:


> I assume you mean 0.998 or 0.997?


Yep sorry.


----------



## Rice_Guy (Mar 3, 2022)

I have used a ”bag in box” wine bags as a carboy. The biggest problem is the spout which needs to be supported upright for an airlock. For long storage a solid cap works well. PM me if you want photos/ details.


FlamingoEmporium said:


> I need a carboy soon. It may eventually pick up flavor with time ?


The alcohol and fruity aromas in wine are reduced chemicals! Usually the flavor that a country wine picks up with time is acetaldehyde (oxidized ethyl alcohol) and loss of fresh aromatics. ,,, For my style of wine I am trying to keep knock your sox off flavor mainly with country wine ,,, and time isn’t my friend.

If I was dealing with lots of tannic flavor wines (ex I bottled choke cherry yesterday) then time lets larger tannin complexes form creating a smoother wine and time is my friend.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 8, 2022)

So basically you just store it spout side up with an airlock ?


Rice_Guy said:


> I have used a ”bag in box” wine bags as a carboy. The biggest problem is the spout which needs to be supported upright for an airlock..



in any event I will have a vacant carboy shortly. I tasted the passion fruit batch that’s all lol 3 months old and I was well pleased. It smelled quite pleasing and tasted smooth, not sharp or bitter like just a week ago. Not really a dry taste now but gentle. I added sorbate and a tiny bit of sugar to backsweeten just a hint. I think it will be a good drinker. It’s clear but still gassing a little. I tried to do a bit of degassing, but I’m thinking of bottling shortly. How long should I wait ?

i forgot to check SG before I put it away.


----------



## Rice_Guy (Mar 8, 2022)

Well basically. ,,,


,,, must have too much time on my hands
,,, or spent too many years improvising line conditions
the first mock up was a cardboard box that wouldn’t adjust width


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 8, 2022)

It’s not a Mercedes but it will get you where you need to be .


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 9, 2022)

Success. Off to the cellar (it’s Florida, no cellar but actually a closet) to age a little in the bottle. I am well pleased.



you may notice 2 of my corks did no go entirely in the bottle.
i guess I need practice with the hand corker until I decide to spend a princely sum on a floor corker. Any tips? Maybe I’m just not smooth enough. Almost pinched my left nipple once.

and now I have to pick and skin another batch of loquats. 
coming soon - loquat madness.


----------



## BigDaveK (Mar 9, 2022)

Congratulations!
When I started this addictive hobby last September I had to decide between saving money on a hand corker or go with a floor model. I decided on spending about 60 bucks for the Portuguese floor corker. One of my best decisions ever!!!! I love it! Get one as soon as you can. If bottling is going to leave you black and blue you might give up. We can't have that!


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 9, 2022)

BigDaveK said:


> Congratulations!
> If bottling is going to leave you black and blue you might give up. We can't have that!


 I’m no quitter, but I don’t know how I would explain to the ER that I got a nipple stuck in a corker….


----------



## ChuckD (Mar 9, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> I’m no quitter, but I don’t know how I would explain to the ER that I got a nipple stuck in a corker….




No advice here, but whatever you do, however you explain it, please record it!… I sense a viral video in the making!


----------



## Raptor99 (Mar 9, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> Success. Off to the cellar (it’s Florida, no cellar but actually a closet) to age a little in the bottle. I am well pleased.
> 
> View attachment 85547
> 
> ...



I find it helpful to soak the corks for 15 minutes in Kmeta sanitizing solution. That not only sanitizes them but makes them easier to put in. I also discovered that if I take care to get the cork centered in the hand corker it is more likely to go all the way in.


----------



## winemaker81 (Mar 9, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> I’m no quitter, but I don’t know how I would explain to the ER that I got a nipple stuck in a corker….


My family includes numerous nurses and I've heard entertaining stories ... this is a rated G or PG forum so I won't explain in detail, but that situation doesn't come any where near close to "embarrassing". Visualize the worst thing you can imagine, and you're probably well short of the mark.  

Get a floor corker. Use it once and your double-lever will go into a closet.

I have an Italian which I purchased ~1990, and it still works like a champ. My son will inherit it (although hopefully not any time soon!). This one has brass jaws, is solid steel, and will put any cork in any bottle.

The down side is it's big-n-heavy. The carboys in the background are 19 and 23 liter for size comparison. The Portuguese corker is much smaller, although the ones I'm familiar with have plastic jaws (which are replaceable). It's a trade-off, although far better than a double-lever corker.

Last fall I was visiting my son and we decided to bottle a wine. Since it wasn't arranged ahead of time, I didn't bring the floor corker. We used his double-lever, which he got with a hardware setup. I haven't used my double-lever in decades (it's seriously rusty, but surprisingly still works), and this reminded me _why_ I hadn't used it.


----------



## Raptor99 (Mar 9, 2022)

I don't have a floor corker yet. That looks pretty low to the ground. Do you have to bend over each time you place a bottle in the corker? All that bending over wouldn't be good for my back.


----------



## winemaker81 (Mar 9, 2022)

Raptor99 said:


> I don't have a floor corker yet. That looks pretty low to the ground. Do you have to bend over each time you place a bottle in the corker? All that bending over wouldn't be good for my back.


Oddly enough, I couldn't answer your question, as I've used the unit for so many years that I just don't think about it, and had to test it.  

I had to go downstairs to see how much I have to bend. I'm 5' 8" and I have to hunch a bit, but not bend. If I was 6' 4"? I'd be bending.


----------



## cmason1957 (Mar 9, 2022)

I am 6' 2" and don't bend to put a bottle in. My wife and I bottle using a Ferrari Automatic Bottle Filler, which is a gravity device, that shuts off when the bottle is full, or use our allinonewinepump. But in either case, we put the bottles into a case box, once a box gets filled, I place it next to the corker and sit down in a chair to cork them. The Blue Italian version is at a great height for that.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 9, 2022)

Raptor99 said:


> I find it helpful to soak the corks for 15 minutes in Kmeta sanitizing solution. That not only sanitizes them but makes them easier to put in. I also discovered that if I take care to get the cork centered in the hand corker it is more likely to go all the way in.


Now you tell me.  I only dipped in Kmeta to wet them. I kind of thought they centered themselves I’ll watch that next batch.


----------



## Raptor99 (Mar 9, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> Now you tell me.  I only dipped in Kmeta to wet them. I kind of thought they centered themselves I’ll watch that next batch.



It took me a while to figure this out. I couldn't understand why some of my corks went all the way in and others did not.


----------



## Bossbaby (Mar 9, 2022)

I've only ever had the floor corker, My local wine supply shop was selling a slightly used one for 50 dollars, look around a bit for a used one, it's a good investment and they hold there value if you dont eventually need it but I doubt that..


----------



## SeniorHobby (Mar 23, 2022)

Great thread! I had a good laugh with the corking conversation! It reminded me of my co-worker's grandma who did her laundry with an old fashioned wringer washer, you can imagine what was wrung out there! Ha Ha! I have one question of Flamingoempori, do you have a ph tester? I found that I understand wine making much more once I invested in one. You can also test your acidity with it. Some of us up north in Minnesota have to worry about high acidity grapes!!


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 23, 2022)

I don’t. I was thinking of just getting some strips, and that might at least keep a batch from going to an extreme.but then I would need how to treat it if it wasn’t right.


----------



## SeniorHobby (Mar 23, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> I don’t. I was thinking of just getting some strips, and that might at least keep a batch from going to an extreme.but then I would need how to treat it if it wasn’t right.


I invested in one for about $80 on Amazon, it works great! If you get in any conversations with Rice Guy he talks about ph a lot in reference to being able to store wine for several years. Also, the acid level can also contribute to problems with fermenting.
Someone recommended this one to me, I tried to get the link in here but it was giving me trouble so I finally wrote it down.
Apera Instruments AI311 Premium Series PH60. You will get better at logging when you have one!! Also, love all the pictures! I wish I could have all the fruit trees you have, I just don't want the 90 degree weather that goes with it!! Good Luck!


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Mar 23, 2022)

SeniorHobby said:


> I wish I could have all the fruit trees you have, I just don't want the 90 degree weather that goes with it!! Good Luck!



there’s a new thing now called air conditioning. . Yeah it gets really hot and humid but only for about 5 months. But winter in south Florida is wonderful.


----------



## BigDaveK (Mar 24, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> I don’t. I was thinking of just getting some strips, and that might at least keep a batch from going to an extreme.but then I would need how to treat it if it wasn’t right.


I have some strips with a very narrow range - 2.0 to 4.0. They work ok for a newbie or the budget minded but I definitely plan to upgrade.


----------



## David Violante (Mar 24, 2022)

It’s definitely a super good idea to get a pH meter. It takes the guess work out, and they are not that expensive. When you’re looking find one that measures out two decimal places for accuracy and can automatically compensate for temperature. 

Knowing the pH of a must is always a question here, especially when trying to figure out what isn’t working so well. There are a few threads on pH meters here. I started with test strips but quickly moved on to a meter. I just couldn’t decide what the color was and whether there was any staining from fruit. Plus I wanted to figure out TA.


----------



## ChuckD (Mar 24, 2022)

A lot of us here, including myself, are using the Apera pH60. There are others out there as well. Most of the good ones will set you back about $80. I read about a lot of bad experiences with some of the cheap (<$30) pen type meters.


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Apr 4, 2022)

Light mango wine is now bottle aging. 
light backsweetening made this perfect. IMO
got it done just as the novacaine was wearing off. 

and corking went much better, all nipples intact.

yeah the one bottle was a little short.


----------



## BigDaveK (Apr 4, 2022)

FlamingoEmporium said:


> Light mango wine is now bottle aging.
> light backsweetening made this perfect. IMO
> got it done just as the novacaine was wearing off.
> 
> ...


I'm getting thirsty!

I treated myself and got a small bottle filler, the kind with a springy valve that shuts when lifted. Something like 3 bucks from Ohio Home Brew. I was making such a mess and had some waste using a plain tube. Love it! All my bottles have the same perfect headroom.

Oh, great news about your nipples!!


----------



## FlamingoEmporium (Apr 4, 2022)

BigDaveK said:


> I treated myself and got a small bottle filler, the kind with a springy valve that shuts when lifted.



now I gotta look for one of those. Tired of cleaning up my mess.


----------



## ChuckD (Apr 4, 2022)

BigDaveK said:


> Oh, great news about your nipples!!


I think we need to start a “WMT After Dark” forum or something


----------

