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it’s safe to assume the bucket was about 1.090 SG and a decent ph if they are like all the other buckets i’ve done. I’ve read here some people will hit it with some so2 and try to kill the ferment before adding their yeast of choice. I’ve never done it though. I just add a strong yeast and...

Heather, why would you go less than 3.4 on a red? That seems low to me if already at 3.7. i stopped messing with juice bucket ph’s altogether. for whatever reason after fermentation and mlf it always seems to fall into place for me. i do however like to bump sugar to about 1.100 sg. that...

It really was. time certainly flies. that was 2017. i wish we did more of that family winemaking time looking back. @winemaker81 come to think of it, i’m definitely going to try and make that happen again this fall with all the kids. maybe pick up a few extra lugs specifically for this and time...

na no grapes. just a couple buckets of juice. i think he’s planning to grab them tomorrow

yeah man after reading this forum for a couple years it seems that everyone has set their own bar when it comes to sorting grapes, 1st grape purchase i made was total impulse. Had zero equipment. I decided to destem 1st and it took 3 of us over 2 hours for just x3 18lb lugs! Way too much...

i wasn’t planning on any new wine this spring since chilean grapes were so scarce. went down the shore with my dad last week for a job. he’s in philly and i’m in jersey so we met at my house 1st. we took rt 206 to white horse pike. He liked the drive a lot and has used this route multiple...

last one?! not cool man when do you expect them to be in your possession by? i may have to grab another now that i know it’s the last hoorah

yea i utilized their crush/destem service last fall. also my 1st time getting keystone’s fruit. i’ve got my own machine similar size to theirs but i figured why not. wasn’t bad at all. they had a tent set up out back and you just supply whatever buckets/containers you are using and the...

https://morewinemaking.com/products/rubber-stopper-6-solid.html 6.5’s usually fit those jugs as well

i started using them just because that’s what my dad had. they beasts tho. stronger than you’d think. around 350lbs of grapes gives me a demi and a carboy along with a small batch of rosé if i want. and a 50L 1/4 barrel compliments the demi perfectly. and still got the extra carboy...

someone posted about mlf on a kit experiment about a year ago. apparently the malic acid in kit juice is partly natural and partly man made. and apparently the man made malic acid is not capable of converting to lactic for whatever reason. so in the event it did happen in your kit only part...

nice! buckets are fun move past kits. what’s the instructions even say? regardless tho i’d disregard altogether. do it as you would a kit. check SG with hydrometer. red buckets usually balanced around 1.090. sprinkle your yeast on top and leave lid on top resting loose. or...

demijohns. the black sheep of wine storage

🤞 i did rack it after primary fermentation to be clear. fermented dry in open fermentor and once dry it was racked and pressed. So technically 1 rack i guess.

off topic- but this convo prompted me to check on these wines which i haven’t done in a while. i have had a few other larger batches going so tending to these wines was kinda put on the backburner. Didn’t realize till now that i’ve never racked these at all. i did maintain sulphites, &...

when i first started using it i thought mine was busted because i couldn’t get the solution to pump through. But then realized on an initial fill you gotta pump it a whole bunch of times to work the solution up into the nozzle pump system before it squirts with every pump.

yeah. a bucket and a lug each.

Not yet! Got a Zin and a Franc, both made with petite sirah grapes last fall. Will probably do a 50/50 blend and keep maybe a case of each as single varietal.

you could, but one yeast eventually take over because... science. sounds like @jgmann67 wanted to ensure a complete ferment but also wanted to gain some complexity so tossed in the super strong 1118 after a couple days of rc212. Or you could do split ferments. the split batch of d80 and d254 is...

i would rack but not stabilize. why rush? There’s plenty of co2 in there to protect it for a while so no need to degas or add so2. (and really no need to ever degas since time will do it for ya) Sometimes that last little bit of fermentation limps across the finish line. So if mine i would...