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I have not heard that about Grenache. I would add oak chips in the primary even if you don’t want to add oak during bulk aging. The oak in primary will help address oxidation issues.

I forgot I have a couple cases of those, called Grolsch-style bottles. Mine are 500ml, a perfect intermediate between 750 and 375 bottles. Thanks for jolting the memory, I’m going to put them into service at the next bottling.

One should always strive to keep the air space under the airlock to a minimum. This is to prevent oxygen in the headspace from oxidizing the wine. Many people have various odd sizes of jugs/bottles. You can also use inert sanitized objects like glass marbles to take up the space. Just be sure...

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Once you add the Kmeta and put on the airlock, just leave the carboy alone, do not open it. This only invites oxygen and bacteria in, both of which are bad for the wine, and is the reason you’re putting in the Kmeta to begin with.

I use Fermonsters, I have 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7g sizes. They work great for maintaining an airlock while still accepting skins in cheesecloth, like you get with FWK kits. Primary is still done in buckets, but once the SG gets to 1.010, it goes to a Fermonster.

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You could try cold crashing, but also consider back sweetening with sugar syrup. Sweetness tends to mask/balance the acid. It might also accentuate the flavor of the fruit.

I’ve collected a number of “odd shaped” bottles over the years. They don’t fit with my storage system so they take up space and never get used. I’m offering them for free, as long as your willing to pick them up. I could be convinced to meet you at the Grape & Granary, as I need to stop there...

Today I pressed my blackberry wine. Full disclosure, I simmered 1lb of light malt in a quart of water, simmered a couple pounds of prunes in a couple quarts of water, added sugar which was boiled in water, in a solution as thick as I could make it, added 1 bunch of over ripe bananas simmered in...

As with nearly every company trying to manage labor costs, the more jobs you are capable of handling, the more valuable you will be. That might even mean volunteering at one winery as a “pair of hands” while still working your day job in the vineyard. Establishing relationships in the industry...

When you can take the pebble from the hand, grasshopper, you will become a full member. :p

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Daily stirring is beneficial no matter if it’s juice or fruit. It’s mandatory, IMO, for fruit or skins, as the dry cap will invite problems unless you punch it down. Stirring/punching also introduces oxygen which the yeast need. When the SG gets to say 1.010, put on an airlock. This traps in...

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I have been averaging 8lbs per gallon of pressed blackberry wine. This is an average of about 5 years. The total weight of the fruit is pretty straight forward. My process is to boil sugar in water and get to SG = 1.090, no additional water is added. Once the wine is fermented dry, I use a...

Yes, spring loaded.

No, simply press the nail in where you want it. It’s a starter really, not a full driver.

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It’s a nail driver.