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I tasted one of the clear bottles today. It's very bitter, and not at all enjoyable. I won't taste this again for a least 6 months. So far it seems to be my biggest disappointment compared to everything else I've made. So I wouldn't recommend this recipe at all yet. (It's the "Falls Spice...

Well I bottled mine two days ago. What I tasted included the small amount of lees at the bottom (probably along with some of the spices that made it though the first rack) and I was not at all impressed. I can't really tell what it tastes like. I can taste the orange, but the vanilla doesn't...

I don't think any of us start out with enough patience! It's hard on the first batch (or 5th) to give it the time it really needs. I'm still in a rush to "do something" whenever I've got something going. It's taking a LOT of self control to just let stuff sit and age. Waiting does not come...

I"m not known for my patience ;) Here's an interesting note. These are two different 3 gallon carboys of my Cabernet. Same juice, same yeast. The only difference is the one on the left came from the bucket where I added the lug of grapes (in a bag). When I degas the wine, the one that had...

So today I went ahead and stabilized the Pinot Grigio. pH is 3.2, TA is .625, SG This morning is 1.004. Taste is very fruity, which is what a I was going for. I think I need to bump up the TA a little, but all I have is acid blend at the house (I normally do country wines). I'll pick some...

Today my Cabernet is down to .994. Took much longer than I expected (11 days from pitching the yeast). My Pinot Grigio has only made it down to 1.004. I'm actually thinking about stopping the Pinot tomorrow to leave it just a little residual sweetness. I doubt it's going to finish to dry...

I'm using https://morewinemaking.com/products/wyeast-4007-liquid-malolactic-bacteria-125ml.html since it's all they had at my local HBS. Packet says it's good for 5 gallons. It's probably too late for me to try and do a starter culture to expand it. Plan is to split it between my two buckets...

I've been checking my SG every day, and this has been the slowest ferments I've ever had. Granted, the juice is right at the low end of acceptable for the yeast. At 8 days after pitching the yeast my SG is at 1.008 for the Cab buckets and 1.020 for the Pinot Grigio. The house is warming up...

My buckets have been slowly chugging along, which I guess is good for the Pinot Grigio, maybe not as good for the Cab. They are both sitting in my kitchen, and the temps have been mid 60s in the house. I just added a heating belt to the Cab bucket that has the grapes in it. (The SG was higher...

I've spent a lot of time on Jack Keller's website. He's pretty up front in some sections that he doesn't mention all the things you should be doing to make sure it's "good." I think he's pretty explicit that sulfites should be added every 3 months, sorbate before back sweetening, adjusting...

As a follow-up, my Pinot Grigio bucket is now fermenting along just fine. Just needed a little more time. Did a big squeeze on the grapes in the bag today for the Cab bucket. RIght now I can't tell any difference in taste between the bucket with grapes and the bucket of straight juice. Maybe...

I bought two buckets and one lug. My Pinot Grigio bucket (Chilean) doesn't seem to be doing much yet. I'm using 71B yeast on it. I split the South African Cab bucket into two, and added the lug of grapes to one of them. Those are both fermenting away. THis evening I'll check the SG on the...

Both my buckets tested really low on TA. My assumption was that the test kit was old, although I bought it less than 6 months ago. (Had to, since I've been in the hobby only 6 months, and I didn't have it at first!) The pH was Ok on both my buckets (one from South Africa, one from Chile) but...

This is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm not really sure what "good" grapes are supposed to look like. Before I added some bucket juice to the grapes I tasted a little of the straight grapes juice. Taste was more or less equivalent. It's hard to taste nuances of the flavor with...

I've got no horror story on my country wines yet, but my blackberry port better turn around in a year! Welcome to the forum, and don't be afraid to just ask. They haven't slapped me around for doing that yet!

My wife and I got there around 3 PM. Picked up a Chilean Pinot Grigio bucket, a South African Cabernet bucket and a lug of South African Cabernet grapes. I tried to test everything, but the acid titration didn't seem to work at all. The wine is still cold (39 degrees) but I don't know if...

Transferred, added a vanilla bean. SG is too high. I should have added sorbate at the first transfer. Even though I used 71B, it went to 16.3%. I had to top it off with water, which took it back down to 15%. I didn't check the SG after dilution, but before I did the SG was 1.016. I hope...

In case anyone cares, here's what I did. Started with the skins of a cranberry wine batch. That was the skins from about 3.5 lbs of cranberries. 1 gallon apple juice 1/2 lb new cranberries 1 pound 2 oz sugar Pectic enzyme Energizer Nutrient 71B Yeast IG was 1.086. Took it down to 0.994...

I was going to be up there in the morning if it was this last weekend, but this weekend is tougher. I have a family date with the wife and kids to go see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Saturday morning. (It's still $20/ticket for Imax 3D for a matinee!) SO I'll be up there some time before...

So it did clear up eventually. Bottled this last weekend, and snuck a taste. This might be my favorite wine so far, which was not what I was expecting! At least it's coming across as an early drinker. Not sure I can easily replicate, since I was using the skins off of a cranberry batch. But...