Search results

Keep in mind that "Browning of the fruit does not mean it's oxidizing or that you are losing flavor at all. Try to prep apples and not get some brown in the fruit and when you run it through even a slow juicer like an Omega - what comes out is a brown apple cider/ juice. Taking normal...

OH NO Mr Bill !

Made a one gallon batch about 3 years ago. Used 4 lbs of de-seeded loquats from our daughter home in California. Taste was too light so if I did it again I'd go with at least 6-8 lbs of fruit. It's an interesting fruit and reminds me in shape, texture and the seeds to a persimmon. I...

Something to consider for both sides of the "How much fruit is enough?" camps I don't pretend to have a love for light delicate flavors so a lot of the white wines I've had didn't impress me. Red wines.... well I've never found one I liked, they are always too bold for my likening. It might...

The citric based solvent products are pretty good stuff. I've seen a few calling themselves Citrus based but actually had petroleum products in there, those I avoid. When I worked at Lowe's we used a "Forbidden" product that was actually sold as an "Air Freshener" in as pump spray can about...

My Old style of Logging and tracking.

I keep track of my recipes/notes in an old black and white "Theme Book" hard cover book with plenty of pages. I also put hard plastic tags on the carboys with start date and racking info on them. If I dose it with K-Sorbate before bottling, I also note that on the carboy tag. Funny Game...

I've never gone that low in fruit per gallon. ( 2, 3, or 4 lbs/gal) Some folks prefer a lighter flavor but most folks on here that do a lot of fruit wines tend to go with as little water addition as possible with most fruits gettign all the liquid from the fruit itself with a very small amount...

When making a new wine variety for the first time - it's wise to check a recipe out with more than one source when possible and ALWAYS take measurements for for the SG and pH BEFORE making additions. Undoing additions to wine batches is not a fun process. You are not the first to have a...

Agree with above - check the pH. It's likely to be skewed now because of some fermentation but still good to check on it. Blueberries often run pretty acidic so that can cause fermentation issues. If the pH is significantly below 3.00 that may well be the issue. I've seen a pH in...

Wild roses are flesh shredding diabolical plants. Blackberry thorns can draw blood cut roses will shred you and get through just about any clothes or destroy the clothes. When I'm out clearing trails or walking around getting rid of the ever present climbing vine (Grape and others) Roses are...

My approach for bottles is relatively simple. When I first get them from the recycling center I de-label, clean them and then sanitize before storing in big plastic tub container. (I use star-san for sanitizing.) Then just before bottling my wine, I select the bottles I need and sanitize...

I've gone to periodic swap out of airlocks as those fruit flies seem to blend-in inside my airlocks. Numerous times I've taken an airlock to the sink to rinse and refill only to find a number of fruit flies I hadn't seen before rinsing. I'm using starsan solution so even if it breaks down it...

I've ended up with extra simple syrup (SS) many times and I just keep it in the fridge. Now I did have it turn to rock candy once but by letting sit out and warm up and adding in some warm I was able to re-constitute it to a liquid. Just have to keep track of how much water you added to the...

I'm of the mindset that bulk aging has the advantage of allowing you to make adjustments AFTER the wine has reached a very drinkable state, mellowed out. That permits more accurate back-sweetening if desired and of course if there should be any other adjustments you need or want to make. For...

Dawg - I think the reason we lose out with so many of our fruit trees is that are in sort of middle ground. If we were further south we would not likely have as many killing frosts that ruin things. Further north and the trees would stay dormant longer and not bloom so early. I've had plum...

Not sure the best varieties for where you live but if you are planting apple trees primarily for wine/cider making the most common recommendation I've seen is that you should use at least 60 percent tart apples and so no more than 40 sweet apples for the best flavor. Other than that, I'd plant...

I BOMBED when I tried strawberry wine. I started out with blueberries but that was because I had blueberry bushes. Being on the cheap side I tend to look at those less expensive solutions. I suspect that if you use a Coloma product you will be happy. I would suggest using the concentrate...

First - The type of fruit. hard or some semi-firm fruit, including peaches, can be tough to get to break down without some 'processing of some type. Freezing may work with some but with others like apples, you may have to resort to stronger process. Second - Any method you use that uses high...

IF you don't have the means to check your SO2 levels, racking every 3 months with a K-meta addition is considered the safe route. You may do fine without racking and K-Meta additions and the choice is yours. The key is how much risk you are willing to take and of course your experience in the...