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Thanks, something else I knew nothing about. I’ve done some more reading after seeing your post.

It is described as American White Oak Medium Toast Level. I haven’t put any water in it yet.

Thanks @Johnd, that’s just what I needed to know.

I got a 2.5 gallon oak barrel for Christmas and I’ve read about prepping it, etc. I have 20 gallons of cleared wine ready to rotate through it, and I know it will be a juggling act so that I don’t over-oak, but still get most of the wine through it. Having only used carboys in the past, I’m...

I’ve had some successes with MLF (most notably with VP41) and some failures (wyeast liquid). When it wasn’t finishing after 3 months and added nutrients, I sulfited and continued to bulk age. Those wines turned out fine.

I just opened the kit and found 2 yeasts (RC212 and EC1118) and French oak cubes and med toast chips. Also, a large bag of skins. All goes in the batch, according to the instructions. I’ve not used 2 yeasts together before. My inclination was to use just the RC212. What is the advantage to...

Good luck to all of you! Keto is great (until you stop it), but I still go with the old calories in, calories out. While the weather has not been very cooperative, I’ve walked 87 miles outside so far this month. No weight loss, but I’m still enjoying all the leftover holiday treats with no...

Thanks, I always appreciate your input. I’ve got plenty of oak, but no tannin. This kit comes with skins (2L). I haven’t done a WE kit yet, have only done RJS, but the sale price roped me in.

I just got the WE Private Reserve Amarone kit delivered, and wondered if that’s the WE one you didn’t like as well as RJS? Any specific issue I should look out for? Thanks.

Wow, I thought this thread was about some wine term I didn’t know, something like “wine diamonds”. Sorry I started reading it and then sorry I read every post, like rubber-necking at an accident.

I use the boiling water method, but it only works on a limited number of bottles , J Lohr, St. francis cabs come off super easy. And then olive oil to get rid of any residue if its not one of those two. Those chemicals sound scary. If a label is too hard to remove, I drink a different wine...

Gino Pinto got back to me and said that for the last 2 years their carboys have come from Italy… but I am still concerned that the ones I bought in the last 2 years may have been older stock. I haven’t looked at all of them, but the ones I did look at had no markings. The italian ones I have...

This was the first kit I made a couple of years ago… and I messed it up. Not with additives, but I followed the directions and bottled as directed. It wasn’t properly degassed and it is still fizzy now. When I open a bottle now, I decant it and stir with a fork and let it sit a bit. What a...

My current chromatography kit is 3 years old and all I have had to repurchase is the developer solution. Like @stickman I don’t bother with the standards anymore, which also saves on the little pipettes. You get a lot of test paper, it is a worthwhile initial investment and inexpensive to...

I bottled it on 9/21, so almost 9 months after starting. I’ve only had one bottle since, but I thought it was pretty good. I did concentrate on degassing this time and it paid off. For the price, I think this kit is a good value. If my calculation is correct, it came out to be almost 14.5%...

After reading all this and not relishing the thought of 5 or 6 gallons of wine on my basement floor, I went out and bought tubtrugs (https://www.amazon.com/TUBTRUGS-Large-Tub-Gallon-Blue) for my filled carboys. 3 gallon ones fit in juice pails I already had. Some of my carboys have no markings...

How wonderful and exciting! Keep us posted every step of the way. Congratulations!

Have fun, and I hope you can record and post the zoom tasting. I can’t get wine shipped to NJ, and only see the cab in stores, but I’d like to watch after and see how you all made out.

Gino Pinto in Hammonton had both grapes and juice earlier this fall. Their list of available products looked like it had in the past.

Wine can be shipped to PA, but not NJ