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MLB are more sensitive to sulfites than yeast. Ideally you should start MLF right after the yeast fermentation finishes. That way you can get sulfites in as soon as possible...once MLF finishes.

LINK I worked in plant research many years ago before I switched to medical, so I found this pretty interesting. Discovering an entire new organelle dedicated to tannin production is no small deal.

I can't say for sure, but I've read that aerial rooting can result from frost damage, very wet growing conditions, or the two combined. If your location (Nevada) is accurate, I find it hard to believe either is the case. However, those roots are coming out of what looks like splits in the...

It's just getting started. Really, you shouldn't even bother looking at it for a couple months. Once my wines are off the heavy lees, I uncover the carboys every couple months and take a look while checking the airlock water level. I don't even worry about clarity for 5-6 months, minimum.

Yes, I've made hundreds of gallons of fruit wine using a blender (before I had other options. It often turns out fine. But with peaches and apples, it can go either way. Never had an issue with soft berries (raspberries) or cherries. I made a batch of peach this year, ran them through a...

Next time, I would recommend not using a blender. It creates more fines that can be hard to get out. Assuming you already used pectic enzyme, I would add no more clearing agents than you already have. Frankly you just need to be patient. I had a batch of apple once that behaved just as you...

I would be hesitant to put them anywhere with big temp swings, and certainly not anywhere that it will get above normal room temp. Not all of us have the luxury of aging our wines in a climate-controlled space specifically set to wine cellar temps, but at the very least keep it at room temp...

Already posted to my facebook. Thanks for that. I grew up on a farm. There is nothing worse than city people moving to the country to "get away from it all" and then doing everything they can to re-create everything they were trying to leave. Still living on a mini-farm, it does make for a...

Years back I never trusted running primaries with any air exposure; I'd put the lid on tight with an airlock. I made well north of 500 gallons of wine that way and never had an issue. Now, I do use a loose cover for primaries and also have had no issues. I do make white wines in carboys right...

An apple wine made from hard, green apples from an ancient tree in my parents' yard. It was the nastiest stuff we ever made and reeked of yeast after fermentation; somehow, a year forgotten in the corner of the basement worked miracles.

Nice to see you have good taste in wine AND dogs. :br

Since it was I that used the term "wine snob", I want to clarify that its use was in the most affectionate manner; I hope no one took offense to that. Perhaps a better term would be "people that have a lot of experience tasting and enjoying wines". My experience is that people new to wine will...

I think what you are hearing is well-intended advice to know what you are getting into, nothing more. I doubt Kansas is a center of wine snobs requiring vinifera varieties. I can tell you here in Indiana I talked with a decently successful winery here -- far bigger than you are seeking to be...

What?? Kidney failure?? My two dogs ate grapes dropping under the vines while we were harvesting and are none the worse for wear. They were so full they hardly ate their dog food that night. Where did this idea come from? An established vine will always come back up from the root. But you...

I have used both, I could tell no difference. As long as the dried yeast are working, it really shouldn't make a difference.

If you have means to shred the pears, like a fruit chopper, I would use the whole pears. Those types of machines typically don't grind up the seeds. I have made apple and pear wines many times via this method -- I ferment in the primary with the fruit and press when it goes into the secondary...

I believe most fruit wines give better flavor extraction on a "seconds" batch. Cherry, blueberry and black raspberry was perfectly acceptable. Red raspberry did OK. We tried grapes exactly once and never again. Scientific explanation? I'm lacking. But grapes just don't seem to work but...

He has 1N wanting to dilute to 0.2N. So it is a straightforward 5-fold dilution with distilled water.

It would spit a lot of pieces straight up through that, which is why I wanted to go the baffle route. Not hard to do, but it works so well the way it is I just haven't invested the time. ;)

I'm pretty sure it would jam if you did that. I put 4-5 apples in my left hand, open the lid, drop them in and drop the lid. My hand is never within a foot of the moving parts. If I were to modify it I'd add a ramp to roll them down, then they'd roll onto another going the other way so they...