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Mike, I received my order yesterday and put the oak to work today. Thanks for the nice thank you note. Do you have any recommendations on whether or how many times the oak pieces can be re-used before they're spent, or do they need to be replaced for each new batch? Thsnks, Wayne Freeman

Oh, that IS a shame. I didn't have a local source for WE kits until just a couple years ago, so that's why I missed that.

I have no official documentation for my assertion, just that it's what I was told by Italian acquaintances while I lived in Italy for a time. It is, of course, opinion, but it's the opinion of some Italians. Not that Brunello isn't a wonderful wine; it is. It's just the opinion of some Italians...

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. I kinda thought it might have been Spagnols. You're right, it's made from a sangiovese grape as Chianti is, but grown and made outside of the Chianti region. Brunellos are good wines but Italians consider them to be mostly for tourists and export due to their...

Who did make that kit? I've never seen a Brunello kit anywhere. Thanks

I used to use spring water, but installed a RO system under the kitchen sink a few years ago. That's what I use now. I figure next to distilled, that's the closest I can come to what fills those little grape skins before we (or our kit makers) crush 'em. I should add that our water here along...

I never count the pumps. I pump for maybe a minute or so each time, until it's bubbling pretty well. Of course, after a few days, the bubbling decreases and I have to look closer to find any bubbles. It also depends on how much head space there is. I'll do this every time I make a trip down to...

Although I have the AIO wine pump I use it for everything but degassing. Racking and bottling are far more important uses for it. For degassing, I've repurposed (or added a purpose for) the AIO Head Space Eliminator. I have an old Vacu-Vin and have combined that with the head space eliminator...

Thanks for that perspective. I only started brewing WE kits about 2 years ago when my local brew store, Homebrew Heaven, closed down, which was my primary source for RJS kits, and had to source my kits from another retailer that primarily carries WE. I was really puzzled by the lack of a...

Yeah, I like the amount of head space. Prevents overflows and blowoffs.

Update: Thanks, works for me, too.

Thanks much, I was hoping that was the case.

I understand why that's an obvious answer, and I saw that on a review of the fermenter on Amazon. The main reason why I don't want to do that is that I don't want to mark up my beautiful new fermenter with crude Sharpie scrawlings. YMMV, but I know mine would be crude and scrawly and I don't...

Does anyone else think it's kinda strange that a fermenter of this quality doesn't have volume level markings? I knew it didn't when I ordered mine, and plan on using my stick-on thermometer strip as a 23-liter marker, so it's no big deal, but I still think it's odd. Or, as another thought, has...

FWIW, I seem to get satisfactory results, in my opinion (and my wifes!) with the 1 micron filter for whites.

I'm really curious about that. The AIO works by pulling air out of the bottles you're filling (thus creating the vacuum). Are your bottles very warm and moist inside, like from just having been sterilized in boiling water, and your winery air very chilly? That's about the only scenario I can...

Here's an apparatus I cobbled up from an All-in-One Wine Pump Headspace Eliminator and an old Vacu-Vin. Two or three times a day, as I go down to the garage or outside or to get a bottle or fill a carafe, I spend a minute or two pumping the Vacu-Vin pump. It's a good couple of minutes of...

Is that angled board a purchased item or DIY?

Glad to be of a little help!

I expect that you're right about that. I'd estimate that the pound that I added amounted to about two cups. It certainly didn't alter the character of the wine, at any rate. It still tastes like inexpensive sangiovese. My wife and I drank a lot of 1 euro bottles of that when we lived in Italy a...