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FWIW, the SG on this exact kit for one of the 6 gallon batches was 1.090, I was thinking along your lines but with guidance from this forum, I will just make two separate batches and tweak each individually. btw, the pH was 3.61. First batch I tweaked with raisins, glycerin and a blackberry...

I've had the same issue... it helps to be sure everything is completely dry. As suggested, tried inserting the bung first then airlock, still creeps out, sometimes. I've solved it with 2 plastic zip ties. I put one around the neck of the carboy, (fairly tight, but not completely tight) then...

my 2 cents.... I add the fruit to the bucket first (say 24 lbs of blackberries) then add water (around 2 gallons) to get to the total I need (4 gallons total in the fermenter) which will yield 3 gallons of wine (when racked off lees) to fit in a 3 gallon carboy. Does that make it 12lbs per...

Yes, the CS double bag kit. It should arrive Friday. I have blended in the past with CS and BB (called it a "Black Cab") but always did it after fermenting separately. I was planning on using about 20-25 lbs of blackberries. On the wines I have blended, I typically like about 25-35% grape in...

I would like to make a Blackberry Merlot type of wine (actually a Cabernet/Blackberry). I am using a costco kit (low end) for the grape side and will be using cold pressed juice or frozen blackberries for the BB. The main question is to whether to ferment together or separate? I was planning...

Yes. K is the symbol for Potassium on the Periodic Table of Elements... and meta, well, it's shorten version of metabisulfite.

One more bit of information on this... I use a "corkador" for sanitizing corks with kmeta solution, this keeps the cork relatively dry. Because of the above described issue, the last time I bottled I did a light spray of StarSan to try some "lubrication" on the corks to see if this would help...

Ditto... I've seen the same, on the bottom of the cork, inside the bottle, Normacorcs only and the 10% number sounds about right. I have not been able to attribute it to bottle or any noticable difference on the compression stroke. I will pay more attention to centering, but I usually move the...

similar to mine. Used short piece of 1/2 inch PEX water tubing, with a dowel pushed into it for the drive end, and a small stainless bolt, with washers, on the cleaning end to hold microfiber cloth. works great, a little flex in it, easy on the carboy. Lots of ways to solve this one.

Well.... a picture is worth.... @rlg123, so your using the WHOLE lemon. That's a new one on me. Usually it is just the lemon juice (see Skeeter Pee recipe) or maybe a little bit of zest (just the thin yellow outside of lemon). I would be afraid the pith (the white part of the lemon) will...

One last point.... the yeast need oxygen early in fermentation... so it was also beneficial to "whip" (either stir vigorously or as I did use a metal whisk on the end of my battery drill) some oxygen into the must to help the yeast move things along... need to do this early and mid process...

There's a lot of great ideas on this forum (not mine, but from others). EC1118 is the right choice, if it doesn't kick it in gear not much else will either. Make a starter and keep the must on the warmer end of the fermenting range (I looked back at my notes and my lemon must was in the 76F...

Welcome. I have done a number of lemon wines and have suffered some similar issues... but this forum fixed me right up! I believe it was @cmason1957 that gave me the best tip and what I use now. From memory (you'd have to look for the thread) but he said to start with less lemon than the...

@ringmany I'm like you and use tannins in my Danger Dave. You could just brew a couple of tea bags in a cup to hot water, cool it down and add. I know some folks on the forum use regular black tea for the purpose of tannins. Btw, I even had one batch of DD's tasted by the good folks at Total...

I made 2 batches of pear wine last year... one suggestion, based on pear being a very light flavored wine, would be to back sweeten with pear syrup. I did that with one batch and thought it brought in more of the pear taste I wanted. I used brown sugar to get to the OSG on both. Looking at...

Ferment in fine mesh bag and squeeze... takes a little effort to squeeze it all (grab handfuls within the bag, squeeze, go to next handful). Saves a step and something else touching the wine (like a press). I tried a small homemade press but just squeezing worked as well or better for 5 and 6...

Earl, I looked at my last batch and I get about 1.3 cups of juice for every lb of blackberry (online it says between 1 and 1 1/3 cups of juice per lb of berries but the Prime Ark Freedoms are on the higher end. I thought you may need more water or more juice based on your original recipe of...

Earl, I also noted a marked increase in flavor when I changed to Lalvin 71B yeast from Ec1118. This was recommended by @Rembee who has a lot of good experience in fruit wines.

Yep, vigorous vines, 2 crops of berries, very large! You will trim out all the florocanes after they bear in the spring and that will allow room for the next years primocanes. I also find a lot of doubles and triples on the primocanes fruiting. Also, when I pick in the morning, I let the...

That sounds about right... I have made it at 3.3 up to 3.6 (thought was to smooth it out). Water will be around 7pH depending on where you get it from. I actually preferred the wine when it was closer to 3.3 than 3.6. You may not need to adjust at all once you get everything in the must...