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Not a bad idea at all. I asked Speidel tech support the same question and the answer was to just rinse it with water or if it gets to dirty, use a laundry machine with the water not hotter than 30C (86F(.

Hi all, I just started fermentation on a Muscat Blanc and something unusual happened. Initial SG was 1.100 (23.7BRIX) After pitching the yeast, in the first 15 hours SG increased gradually to 1.117 (27.6 BRIX) Three hours later it went down to ISG of 1.1, This is not reading error, last year...

Hello Fingaluna, Thank you for the detailed explanation on a not so complicated, but not so readily available method for a small operation like mine. You definitely know more about this than an average winemaker, I’m curious about your background in Enology, if you don’t mind sharing. Cheers! John

Salcoco and Obelix, Thank you for the feedback. I tried with some crushed grape juice and it worked. The sugar test did not show any signs of life, not sure why. I forgot to mention that the yeast is Chr-Hansen-Viniflora-RHYTHM- that does not show a vigorous reaction when pitched like a...

Hi Salcoco, Thank you for the reply. I just want to test my yeast to see if it is still good. I know how to use it, just looking for a proven method to test it without actual grape juice. Sugar solution should work, in my case it doesn’t work, perhaps the yeast is dead. Cheers John

Hi Obelix and all, How do you test the yeast without using grape juice? I tried some yeast from last year with sugar solution and it failed. I did store the yeast in the fridge and was surprised that it did not show any life. Please let me know about a solution that works. Thanks John

I am on the other side of the bay, in Pleasanton

CoteRotie, welcome to the Forum What part of Bay Area are you in?

In the red wine making manual from More Wine, it says that for 100 Lb. of grapes, you get on average 8 gallons of must and 5 gallons of wine.

Oak chips may work with basket presses, but since I use a bladder press, I’m afraid that it may perforate the bladder. Also, if you have grapes with medium to high tannin levels, you may end up with crushed seeds and too much tannin.

Adding to my comments It seems that some of you add oak chips or cubes to red wine primary fermentation and I’m curious if you remove them before pressing and if yes, how? Thanks

I never considered adding oak chips or cubes to a primary fermentation vessel, because I don’t see a practical benefit. You can do it for white wine, but I like my whites less oaked or not at all. For red wine with the skins in, it is a nonstarter.

I place the bottles in a 200 degree oven for 20 minutes, most labels will peel off easily

Hi Ken, My grapes are from my own small vineyard, from my front yard in the East Bay. I make about 20 to 25 gallons of Cab on average, some times more depending on a number of factors I’m still trying to understand. My worst year was in 2015 and my best in 2016 when I made 35 gallons from...

Hi kenthelawyer and welcome to the forum I’m also a Californian making wine from Cabernet grapes for the last eight years. In the beginning I didn’t know much about wine making, but I found very good literature morewinemaking.com There are two PDFs; one for red and one for white, you can...

Hi all, If you happen to be driving down Highway 1 on the Pacific coast of California between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, treat yourself to one of the most incredible breads you ever tasted. About 3 miles inland there is a small town called Pescadero where you will find Arcangeli Grocery...

Thank you Stickman, I never knew about St Pat's of Texas. It looks like they carry lots of things others don’t, but a bit pricy perhaps. I was able to find an affordable valve assembly on US Plastics online store site. It is made up of three components, all FDA approved for potable water...

Hello Stickman, Where did you get the drain valve? I will try it if I can install a large diameter valve on my 44 Gal fermenter Thanks

Forgot to add the link, here it is: https://duartenursery.com/products/grapevines/

Hi all, Has anyone planted the UberVine from Duarte Nursery? this will really give you a head start. Unfortunately they do not sell you less than 200 vines, so the small backyard grower has no chance to buy them, unless he teams up with a few other small growers in the same area.