ChuckD's latest activity

My crazy story is Hurricane Helene going through and destroying our community in the middle of fermentation. No power, no water, no...

I have had successful malolactic fermentations with tiny bubbles visible and without. I have never detected an airlock burble from any...

I normally do 200 -300 lb batches usually separated in 4-5 ferments with different yeasts. These are typically in 10 gallon brutes. When...

2024 winemaking kicked off for me this weekend. Early Sat morning, I picked up 1,000 lbs of grapes that I had ordered a few weeks prior...

Winemaking. Short bursts of intense activity… and lots of waiting!

Today was barrel day , cleaned and rinsed the barrels. Filled the 15 gallon and one ten gallon completely. For the last ten gallon I had...

The wood is all black locust except for the block under the C channel, I made the piston and the basket. I used C channel for strength...

i use a laundry bag that menards sells, the mesh is just right for pressing grapes. i sanitize it and use one or two for pressing and...

The ferment looks (and tastes) good so far. Wine is typically pretty harsh at end of primary, but not so much this time. It’s all...

Update: Mourvèdre Left a little earlier than I was expecting and arrived at the vineyard at 8:15am. I was back on the road at 8:30am...

Do you let the gross lees settle out first? I pressed Friday evening and put it in glass. There is already 2-3” of gross lees in each...

Today I pressed 600 lbs of fermented grapes. They were picked 9 days ago. I used my homemade press and it worked great. Yield was about...

I have some jug/cork combinations that just won’t stay put either. I typically use electrical tape over the top on each side of the...

I love this idea. Stealing

K-meta (Campden) does not prevent fermentation nor stabilize a wine. To stabilize a wine you need potassium sorbate + K-meta. If you...