Search results

I am not an engineer but I am a biochemist. Nothing harmful will come of soaking oak in alcohol to make an extract.

You can get down to .990 or so because the alcohol that is now in the wine is less dense than water, so the wine (water+alcohol) is less dense than water (1.000).

Typically I would not fear some unseasonable cold. But my vines just took a bad hit last year. I had to cut one variety off at the ground and train them back up. That cost me at least 2 years of production. Another hard winter like this is shaping up to be....I'd rather not think about it. :(

The autosiphon devices work very well and are cheap. Unless it gets you to simultaneous multi-bottle filling, I'm not sure where all this effort gets you...except satisfying an intellectual itch (which is not necessarily something to be dismissed!).

I'm happy for...and jealous of...you! :)

Drinking while bottling? Rarely. But afterward, the dregs from the bottom of the carboy have to be put to good use...

I do not believe so. It just gets hot and humid, and they rot. That, and the yellow jackets got into them something fierce. I lost 15-20% of the Foch as well but caught them just in time to get a tad under 5 gallons of juice from the 16 vines that produced this year.

I ended up buying my Marquette from Midwest Supplies; they did just fine. I lost 2/30 but that was due to extreme weather and rabbits, not the stock. All of my other vines came from Double A. I've never had one fail to take. But I will say, double check that you get that confirmation email...

Depending on your environment and wildlife, trim and mow all grass anywhere near to keep rodents away and rabbits from habitating too closely. Mice/rats/rabbits could take an interest in a hard winter.

As I told my wife, I took a deliberate gamble on the Oberlin. The problem here in Indiana is that it stays so hot so late (and this was an exceptionally cool year) that you can't let the grapes hang. They get to a certain point and you either pull them or lose them. I elected to take the risk...

Site ate my post. Don't feel like retyping it all now. :( Basically, I am a fan of D47 for white wines of around 10% ABV where residual sweetness is desired (Reisling fits this nicely). In my experience, there are better choices for high acid (think 71B) or dry white (think 71B or Cotes des...

Bacardi Rum and some diet juice mixer, because we're on vacation and trying to finish off everything in the house since we'll have to throw it away. Though I spent most of the week working through a nice selection of $10-$18 Malbecs my wife picked up at the local Costco. The Costco-brand...

Apologies for a partial hijack, but where do you obtain multiple MLB strains like MB31? I recall searching around last year and not finding much in the way of MLB options, especially from a common source like Midwest.

Over a gallon per vine off the Foch, I am envious. I can't get near that here (yet). What training style are you using? I grow Oberlin as well. Last year I went off a faulty pH reading (faulty meter) and didn't realize my mistake until it was bottled. But except for the acid it has as much...

I was addressing only the breakage issue; my shipments to competitions were entirely legal. Beyond that, individuals must be responsible the knowing applicable laws as they vary greatly by geography.

I ship beer and have shipped wine. Use bubble wrap, crumpled newspaper, and corrugated cardboard to cushion it and you should be fine. I've never had anything broken. You can ship UPS, I don't think USPS will take it.

My experience with ripe apples is brief, a batch bottled recently. It fermented down to a SG I have never seen reached before which put it at 14.5% ABV. So I had to sweeten decently to make it palatable. In general, my opinion is that the best apple wines are from slightly green apples with...

Plastic bottles are air-permeable over a relatively short time frame (a year or under). I would not put wine in them not intended for near-immediate consumption. Through friends, recycling bins, and restaurants, you should be able to find plenty if you are resourceful. I've got several...

I've never seen a need to degas. I bottle about 8-9 months after starting a wine. Back when I had a couple old vacuum pumps and used them to rack, I guess I automatically degassed with every rack.

With reds, in general, you ferment on the skins. Except with certain grapes (like Foch) where extended time on skin may introduce unwanted flavors. This is also where the art of winemaking comes in. Want a full, tannic wine that sticks to your tongue? Ferment on skins until you press out...