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Hi all - I'm planning a batch of rosé this spring with Chilean grapes. This will be my first go with grapes, and I can't get my head around sizing equipment. For 100-115 pounds of grapes, how much primary fermenter space will I need? Is there a rule of thumb for sizing these things? Thanks!

I haven't tried egg whites - IME this is more a strategy for removing astringency in reds. I've never used DE for clarification. My understanding is it works kind of as an in situ filtration medium, and generates a cake as it's removed. I have a filter system I'll use later. FWIW, I hit this...

That's good to hear. Next red I'm giving this a try. Thanks for the info!

How well does that work for you? I haven't tried this yet, have always wanted to, but have heard mixed reviews (a wine educator I know recommends against it). Yeast produce sulfite during the alcoholic fermentation process, though I can't find anything really quantitative. This article gives...

I fill a bucket with StarSan at the recommended rate (1 oz/5 gal), submerge the bottles probably about 8 at a time, let them sit in the solution submerged for a few minutes, dump them back into the bucket and let them drain. And new bottles are dirty, contaminated with cardboard dust and...

Hi all - I have a batch of berry/dragon fruit wine going. Have been battling H2S issues since second racking. Have sulifited it heavy, degassed, hit it with Reduless, fined, racked over and over. I think I'm on the good side of this now - no detectable sulfide coming off it. At last racking...

Revisiting this, as I hope to have some bottling to do in the next few weeks. I've contacted Waterloo, who advertise no minimum quantity and that they sell to home winemakers, but never received a response. Does anyone have a source for GPI 1680 (BVS and BVP 30 x 60 neck) Stelvin bottles? In...

Thanks. Plan is still to use the well-aged cherry I found in my lumber pile. I need to get back off dead zero on this. Have to many irons in too many fires. I have to check the cherry - it's from several mills, and several old projects, so I think there's some discrepancy in thicknesses...

+1. Most likely that. When I've received new machinery that has been oiled to prevent rust in transport, I wipe down with either mineral spirits or VM&P naphtha to remove. In this case, that's what I'd do, let the solvent dry thoroughly, then scrub the he77 out of it with PBW. My $0.02...

Linseed oil (not boiled linseed oil) is a food safe finish. Boiled linseed oil has metallic dryers added to speed curing. Pure linseed oil will eventually cure, but it is slow, and doesn't build. Pure tung oil, also food safe, is a better choice IMO. Dries to a hard finish, and will build if...

I grew up right near Coloma. That's funny - not the location you expect to run into on internet fora...

Okay, started today. Mix of berries, red dragonfruit (Pitaya from Costco, 3 pounds frozen) and yellow dragonfruit (again from Costco, but fresh fruit, 1.5 pounds). The red has a distinct flavor, but is very mild and not very sweet, very nice pink/red flesh. The yellow has white flesh, is very...

Do you have a reasonable source for new bottles, or are you only reusing? I'm having a bear of a time finding the bottles I want in less than a pallet quantity...

Hi all - Stupid question. I'm planning out my spring, and want to make a white. I'm looking at my usual local sources of Chilean grapes and juice, and it seems they only list reds as grapes available. Is this universal? Are Chilean whites only available as buckets? Thanks.

Sorry for the late reply - was watching SpaceX launch. Okay, here's my completely inexperienced, worth-less-than-you're-paying-for thoughts: Hardwood. Check. Closed grain. Better than open. White oak passes due to the tyloses. Red oak does not have them, which is why it's not used for...

Where I grew up, maple-beech was the climax forest, and they grew huge. Around here there are a lot of ash and walnut, and they're not all that nice. And the ash is all being devastated by the emerald ash borer, they expect them to be entirely gone in a few years.

Turns out, plenty of cherry. OLD cherry... by Scott, on Flickr

I'm leaning toward maple right now. I really like the idea of fumed QSWO, but my mill is low on QS, and fuming rift sawn doesn't seem worth the trouble. I know - I shouldn't let my vanity play a role in this decision, but for the effort going into the project, I want something that's more than...

And while we're at it... I was planning on quartered or rift sawn white oak for the staves, as this seems compatible with the process. However, I'm planning to finish the staves with pure tung oil, which provides a food safe, hard finish. So oak's properties and utility in winemaking are...

Quick question: What wood to make the spacer blocks from? I can see something tight-grained like maple, but 12/4 maple is gonna be pricey. OTOH, dimensional SPF from 84 Lumber would be much more reasonable, but I'd almost consider it something that would need occasional replacing, as I'd...