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Actually, the wood does no such thing. Rather the micro organisms that decay the wood as they grow and reproduce to decay the wood take up local Nitrogen so they can grow. But eventually a balance is found and the decomposition actually starts to add Nitrogen to the soil as Nitrogen from the...

Mulch is great for your vegetable garden. Keeps the soil moist for your veggies so they can stay lush and prevent blossom end rot on your tomatoes. Even if wood mulch attracts slugs. As for vines, ideally you want the roots to grow deep, to seek deep water. Adding mulch may increase surface...

Bud break on my earliest to break, and to harvest, Turán grapes today, April 7 (ISO 2023-04-07). Which is within "normal" range for this grape for me over the years.

As someone with not a little bit of statistical education, I can only say that online poll systems are really for fun and entertainment value only. :cool: Which is completely fine for "decision making", within those limits. Hope this helps.

Because reds can tolerate and "expect" some O2 to make a red wine. White wines expect a mostly O2 free environment. There are some exceptions (e.g. Chardonnay). If you need more info, basically, it is due to the chemistry of how red versus white wines are made. Skin contact has an impact...

I use demijohns, up to 30 L, which come with their own basket. Which have handles. Completely understand your issues and fear of breakage and handling issues. 😀 Well said. 😀😎😍

Because there are different ways to make plastics. Plastic chemistry. Some are dense, and some are porous. Flex tanks were designed to allow micro oxygenation like a barrel. Other tanks were designed to let less O2 move through them. All HDPE plastic. HDPE has some fixed physical properties...

For white wine you can consider tanks made of PP (Polypropylene), HDPE (high density polyethylene -- eg Speidel tanks), SS (stainless steel), or glass carboys or demijohns. For me, the PP and SS options are the only ones with variable capacities (lid with air sealing ring) less than 200 L.

If you have a lot of wine,and a lot of weight, the only option is maybe hydraulic jacks. Which might require a different rack structure. --- My rack bases are 15x15 cm (6x6 in) beams. Which can be jacked up if needed. Consider for this year: Racking the wine into "floor" containers. And...

Good grief...Then just level them, all, plumb and square!!! Hammer in wood wedges if and as needed.

Are you racking from barrels on their side, with the top bung so horizontal, or from bottom tapped vertical barrels? Otherwise, not sure what is the issue you are trying to solve..... Since you do not want to rack fully anyway. You want to leave the lees at the bottom. So slope may not be...

Going off topic, but doing so to make a point: I can get new bottles for $0.70 each (with a 27% VAT .. so pre-tax rate is $0.55). Prices are relative, and geographical. Which is why one should not be dwelling on costs, but rather on techniques. As I said. Something to think about.... Hope this...

Do not focus on the trivial and the transitory. Prices of course go up over time. Price is not the issue. As with all wine making, techniques are the issue. And good, reliable techniques transend time and economics.... Rather focus on the main points of the topic: Sanitation of **new** bottles...

A bit of an old thread. But I agree with @Rice_Guy : New Bottle Sanitizing @winemaker81 : New Bottle Sanitizing If in doubt, about a public professional view, see:

Snip from OP comment above: Hate to say this, but far too much ambiguity there. For example, Brix alone is not enough. A pH number is essential to get a Brix/pH ratio or a TA number to get a TA ratio, which is important for good wine making. That is, you may have an ideal Brix, but too low...

Personally, I do the following: Tubing: Rinse immediately. Send some hot water through it. Or KMeta solution. Grab in the middle and spin it around to remove most of the water. Then hang dry. Ideally add weights to the ends as the tubing may curl, and the water may not all drain out. Let air...

I agree. As stated above, I have a Rover Pompe. An impeller. And only use it to move must. I love it. It is a great pump. But... Rover Pompe is quite popular in Europe to move and filter finished wine (they even sell combined pump and filter pad units which many people I know like to use). I...

For must, I use a Rover Pumpe 20 CE model to move must into barrels. Moves a lot of juice, very fast. But after any fermentation, I do it by gravity. Slowly. Slow is more gentle. And slower and gentle is better. All that time of wine making, up to the racking points... trying to be then fast is...

Interesting. I have not been to this area to wine taste in 20 years. And back then most winery tasting was complementary.... I think I only paid at Sterling (but I got a tram ride out of that as a bonus.... :) ) and the cost was purchase deductible. I guess a lot has changed. Too many have...

Yes that takes experience to describe a wine. It took quite a lot of wine tasting for me till the ball dropped and.... yes I could taste that chocolate.... But off flavors or aromas are easier, in theory. Mainly because they are often very easy to detect and are not so subtle. Especially if you...