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I am doing a very cheap Chardonnay kit (6L? Harvest - looks the same as Fontana even the instruction) by adding water to 5 gal and top up with 1 gal apple juice to 6 gal and some raisons, oak chips, pectic enzyme, tannin powder, some acid blend to drop pH in primary. QA23 was yeast to be used...

I used BM4x4 once. It started very slowly. Almost prepared to pitch EC1118 in Day 2 to save the batch. Fortunately, I held the tempt. Fermentation started in day 3. Haha. After it started, it went very vigorously and finished pretty dry. So far it is still in carboy in clearing phase. I cannot...

mine is quite clear now. the flash light is visible clearly from the opposite side. plan to rack and oak this weekend.

My color is close to Pinot more than GSM.:( But taste is nowhere close to Pinot.

Today, the wine becomes a kind of clear (by using a flash light from the opposite side). I took a sample. Very surprised to see the color of the wine is quite light. Maybe the effort to extract the color didn't work? Or it is because of the Grenache? But the flavor is pretty strong! Tart...

I did 10 days total skin contact, 3 days pre-soaking with pectic enzyme and 7 days fermentation. I tired to do extended maceration. Unfortunately, the fermentation went so fast and out of my control. As a result, I had to stop primary at day 7 after yeast inoculation as the SG was really too low...

I came across a couple of times when I did cider with the original plastic container, when the shape of the plastic changes. Haven't seen this with glass carboy.

I thought about using time as the clarifier at the beginning. However, after hesitation for while, I picked the middle way by reducing the dose of the fining agent by half. Hope that can help clarifying better before bulk aging while retaining more TDS in the wine. i will try the time-only...

That was exactly what I experienced. Actually, it will be even worse in my case. I topped up with two bottles after stabilization and fining agent addition. and after one week of clarification, the sludge thickness already reaches 1 inch. Looks like two more bottles top-up might be required...

bm4x4 is the yeast to use in leur of ec1118 Even after diluted the juice to about 21 L, the SG is only 1.090. pH at 3.50. This looks like a real lean kit. Just matching the price. Then I added the fruit and raisins in a nylon bag. Added pectic enzyme, will let it sit for one day, then add...

about to start my ar shiraz, it is on sale. planing to add a bag of frozen black fruit mix and black raosins to raise body. and to add 1 tbsp tannin in primary. my water addition will be based on sg. target to 1.095.

Just racked mine from secondary carboy to degassing/clarification 1 carboy. About 1 inch of sludge at the bottom which ends up with about 1 1/2 bottle of head space to top up. Not too bad. Planning to add one bag of fining agent tomorrow and then let it sit for 3 weeks before next rack and...

I will see how much sludge in my carboy tonight. From the transfer from the primary to secondary, I experienced the most painful racking ever. I have only a very oaky Merlot to use to top up. Hope it doesn't need too much. But after my production increases, my selection will increase. I am not...

Sounds a very popular kit. I will stablize, rack and degas tomorrow. today i raised the temperature to 24 d c for easier degassing. everyting looks ok, the airlock still has level differential, so the co2 is still positive inside, should be safe from oxygen. skipping sorbate for sure. and...

i got two as well. planning to use only one and save one for other batch. like a tough one to clarify. but i have time and patience.

i got two as well. planning to use only one and save one for other batch. feels like a tough one to clarifier.

I am not a super fan for the high abv either. One of the reasons is that I can drink more before getting drunk. I tested my SG as well. It reads 0.988. My lowest SG record ever in my short wine making history. Sounds it is almost time to wrap up. HaHa. My long fermentation plan is completely...

sulfite is not to stop fermentation until applying huge dose. patience plays the key role now to allow the fermentation finish by it own. i guess sorbate can inhibit yeast reproduction if u have some. filtration and reducing temperature can stop fermentation but usually not uses by home winemaker.

Temperature plays a huge role. I have some small batch of wines in the basement (16 degree C) without heating device that lasted forever to finish secondary fermentation, while a kit I did recently, only took 7 days to reach 0.995 from 1.10 with a temperature control device attached.

It makes sense to invest a pH meter. The handhold one is pretty good and stable much better than than the paper strip. The stock buffer solution from the powder can last pretty long time for calibration multiple time. I always prefer rehydrating yeast before pitching it after encountered a dead...