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My first major experience with D47, fermenting at a controlled 55-60F, I did end up with low residual sugar with Cayuga White. It turned out to be the perfect balance of alcohol and sugar and I didn't have to back-sweeten so I actually liked it. It was the second highest scoring wine I ever...

If you don't mind, what is your general area? There are a number of us on here from Indiana. I'm west of Indy.

RC212 should be a safe bet. Out wet July here in Indiana did a number on my Marquette (black rot), and this was supposed to be my first yield, so I can't speak from experience. The only caveat is off the top of my head I don't recall the alcohol tolerance of RC212. If you use a high alcohol...

Thanks grapeman. I was really hoping to avoid the chore on these ones...I love red wine but the grapes are so much more work!

This is my first year with grapes on my Marquette. They are definitely bigger than my other reds (Foch, Oberlin Noir). Do people typically need to net Marquette to keep the birds from taking them? Netting Foch and Oberlin is a MUST, but it would be nice if I did not have to net yet another...

I had 10 gallons of apple wine that did not turn out well at all a few years ago. I didn't allow anyone other than myself to have a single sip. It seemed to take forever to finish it. If I go share, I'm bringing my good stuff.

To each their own...I used to make 180gal/year and use a vacuum pump to facilitate transfer...and that did degas...but I've found with proper patience to let the wine mature I've never need to degas for the sake of degassing.

I've posted this on here before, but this is the homemade job I use -- made for me by my father, constructed from memory off a magazine ad he saw in the 50s....the screws are stainless. Works like a dream...

I have a peach wine I expect to do well in competition this year. No water was added; it was about 80% peaches and about 20% Ontario grapes (ripened at the same time). The grapes help with the balance. I would never dilute a peach wine.

Patience is the winemaker's friend. I once made a batch of apple that would not clear for anything. It was opaque and smelled yeasty and impervious to multiple attempts to clear it. Finally, we pushed it in the corner of the basement under a tarp and didn't touch it for a year. After that...

Black raspberry followed by peach. I split out my poorly managed black raspberries to 113 hills last week. I'm hoping next year I get another batch, I've only had enough for one in 7 years. But that 5 gallons of port was worth every berry.

2,4-D should not be killing pine trees. But it is lethal at very low doses to vines. My neighbor with a lawn business did me a "favor" last year and emptied his sprayer on part of my property frontage to kill the thistles...took out 3 vines weakened from the winter. Had a nice talk with him...

I'm generally in your area, a bit west of Indy. The above are correct, nip the flowers off all of your vines in the second year. Also, it does not matter how old your vines were before you replanted them. When you replant them they lose the majority of the root, which is what needs to be...

I personally go for bigger holes...lot of people swear by 7mm but I know people who lost animals they don't think they should have, so I went 30cal. 338 is probably better but recoil is up up up to get to long range with those weights. Indiana has weird deer rifle regs (which will likely...

I can only hope we can find some ranchers willing to give us access. The public land situation in Thunder Basin Grasslands is murky and I still need to call local game officers to gain an understanding of where to go. But I'm buying parts to build a 243AI and hope to be ready for 800-1000yd...

Yes the wind is always the hard part, especially shooting across a gap between mountains. I shot him twice where I wanted to, but he didn't react at all but I heard the first one hit so I thought maybe I'd mis-judged the wind and held for more, which caused the spot on his nose but allowed us...

Late to the party here. Wow, 21 pheasants in ND. Impressive. Three of us went last year, hunted hard for a week and got 12. Four years before one of the guys (who grew up there) took another friend and they always limited out by 10am. Always my luck with pheasants, but dang do I love...

Not sure what your overall goal is, but I will share images of the fruit chopper made for me by my father. The goal is not to get the juice out -- but to chop up the fruit for fermentation followed by later pressing. Works great on all fruits. Great for ripping up soft fruits (de-pitted...

As a biologist, I have a penchant for running experiments whenever possible. On my 2012 vintage, I tested free run versus pressed using a single yeast (Cotes des Blancs). My determination was that the free run was superior in every way. Slightly back-sweetened, this wine won a bronze in the...

Pectic enzyme if you have not. Otherwise, patience. The best batch of apple wine I ever made took more than a year to drop clear.