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When you are designing your production facility, be sure to ventilate the production area really well. During fermentation, a lot of CO2 (carbon dioxide) is generated. CO2 is an asphyxiant. It is what kills people when they go into their garage and run the car with the garage door closed. I...

I am beginning to think that citrus wines are very sensitive to oxygen. I opened a bottle of my Ruby Red Grapefruit wine last week. I was really good for a rookie like me. (I need to work on the acidity/sweetness balance). I drank a couple of glasses on the first day, but after a day and a...

Satsuma Wine update, I made another three batches of Satsuma Wine from this year's harvest. I changed up the fermentation methodology this year trying to improve the outcome. The results are very encouraging. First, my basic process: 1) I juice the satsumas and then freeze the juice. It can...

Tasted the 6 batches made from 2017 satsumas. Some had a nutty taste some did not. 2 batches were deemed to be better than the others so I bottled them. I combined the other 4 batches and bulk aged them for about 4 months, then I bottled them. A friend made a Sangria out of the combined...

I boil mine. It is good to hear that someone else is paranoid about cleanliness. Do not know if it is necessary, but the only batch I oaked, the results were really good. cxwgfamily

Thanks to all comments. I will continue to wash and let dry (I failed to mention that after washing I do a drying step). I feel I am slowly learning how to make wine. Cxwgfamily

I just saw a thread in the wine from grapes section regarding washing the grapes. It was a bad idea. But this got me thinking about washing fruit prior to wine making. I always wash my fruit prior to making wine. This is because I do not know the grower's chemical program and I want to make...

A quick update. I added 6 lbs of sugar to the must after I pressed it and then added the usual Yeast nutrient, tannin, acid blend, and pectic enzyme. After 24 hours, I added the yeast. the fermentation took off like a bat out of "you know where." The original sp gr was 1.054, after 24 hours...

Thanks, Heather

I purchased some muscadine must from a local vineyard. It had been on the lees for about a week. The Sp Gr is about 1.01. It has a little sweetness left. I have squeezed the must to separate the skins. I now have juice. I have several ideas on how to proceed but wanted to get some quick...

I like to recommendation of yeast nutrient and more yeast. My last Blueberry batch was in the primary for 21 days. I had slow and steady progress to 1.0 but I think I did have to add another shot of yeast toward the end to help finish off the fermentation. I understand blueberries can be...

Anybody out there have a good Recipe / Procedure / advice for making a batch of Ruby Red Grapefruit wine??? I have about 4 gallons of juice in my daughter's freezer and she is wanting me to get it out. Any and all help will be very much appreciated. cxwgfamily

Where are you located? Can you send more pictures of the 180 L fermentor to me privately or publicly. cxwgfamily

Thanks, Keith. Your wisdom, experience and sense of humor shines bright through your post.

all, My worst wine was a Satsuma wine. It was my first batch. Followed the directions closely but did something wrong. Fermentation got stuck. I kept the must for a year and added another batch to it. Fermentation went well but the results were terrible. It tastes like you are drinking...

All, I am in the process of bring a strawberry batch into secondary fermentation. I wanted to experiment with adding an Oak strip to the secondary after fermentation stops and I go into bulk aging. Any suggestions??? I am looking for any thing from "do not do it" to "a brief description of...

all, Let's keep posting on Satsuma Wine. I made 6 batches at 3 gallons each this year to test different process variables. I adjusted things like Fermentation Temp, Yeast strains, and malolactic fermentation. I will do a taste of the 6 batches in the coming weeks with some friends who helped...

Winemanic, A couple of comments, 1) my recipe for strawberry wine call for 15 lbs for a 6 gal batch. this usually gives me a starting SG around 1.1. 2) I take a SG measurement directly in the must. this way I only have to sterilize the hydrometer. I am paranoid about contamination so the...

I made a fig wine last summer. It did not turn out well. There was a strong unpleasant smell and off taste that is hard to explain. I read later that figs need time in the cellar to "smooth out." I put up the batch and I am waiting til this summer to taste. The recipe was: 6 lbs figs, 6...

all, a quick update on the progress of the blueberry wine mentioned above. I bottled it and after 2 months in the bottle, i took it to my wine club for tasting. I put it next a guy's blueberry wine who has been making wine for 20 years. his comment about my blueberry wine was "Oh, this is...