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They taste too sour, and I've made the same kits numerous times before and not had these acid levels. I don't know what is causing it. I've started wondering if the bottled spring water I add has changed in pH, but I'm fermenting an Island Mist Green Apple Riesling right now. The must pH...

I've been having a problem for a couple of years now, with my wine kits producing wine with a high total acidity (TA) and low pH. It started out with TA's at 0.80%, but now I've had 2 kits end up with 0.90 - 0.93% TA, and low pH - around 3.2. They are all red wine kits from RJS (except one back...

When you degas a wine, are you doing this to remove ALL CO2 gas? Or just some of it/most of it? I've assumed all along that it was to remove ALL of it, but I ran a degassing paddle on a drill today intermittently for an hour and was still getting gas! And NO, I wasn't mixing air into it! I kept...

RJS has changed their date code slightly. Super Tuscan label is the old version. Amarone label is new version. Very similar. I assume the 20.06.30 is June 30, 2020.

I did an extended maceration on both. I've only tried 1 bottle of the Italian Amarone so far, but it was great. I'm planning to buy another one for this fall. The Super Tuscan is bulk aging and will be bottled in the next couple of weeks. This is the 3 time I've made this kit and the first 2...

Looks like they are in range. I've rarely had a final pH that high - and never had a TA greater than .75. Given that the wine tastes so sour, I thought something was wrong. I'll just bottle it and let it age.

Tasting very sour for a 7 month old wine.

I was just about to bottle a Wine Expert Stags Leap Merlot - when I found that the ph was 3.55 and the TA was 0.80%. All my previous red wine kits ended up with a pH around 3.4. A pH of 3.55 isn't bad (correct me if I'm wrong), but seems a little "off". And the TA is a bit higher than I've seen...

I use a Kmeta solution in a spray bottle to sanitize equipment. (3 tbps/gallon) Think it kills the virus?

FYI. Onlinelabels.com sells blank wine labels that become waterproof after you print them in your inkjet printer. I design my labels using photography software (Zoner Photo Studio), then upload the design to Onlinelabels.com. From Onlinelabels you can send full sheets of labels to your printer...

Racked the Toasted Caramel Port a few days ago. It's now bulk aging. Tasted great! It had that high alcohol mouthfeel/vapor even though it should only be about 14% ABV - so I'm not going to fortify it. Someday when I'm enjoying a bottle, I'll tinker with adding brandy or cognac to it to see what...

Thanks for the feedback. As far as oak goes, I'm expecting the "main" flavors in the port to be robust enough that the oak won't mask them - but you have a point in regards to the more subtle flavors. My aim with the Toasted Caramel Port is to add a subtle underlying vanilla/oak flavor to...

My RJS Toasted Caramel Port mentioned in the beginning of this thread calculated out to 15% ABV - but that was before adding the flavor pack. If the Raspberry Mocha Port I just started reaches an SG of 1.000, it will be 16% ABV - before adding the flavor pack. I wouldn't mind bumping them up to...

I have an RJS Toasted Caramel Port approaching day 42 when it's supposed to be racked. I added 20 grams of medium toasted French oak on Day 1 (not per instructions), but it fermented down to an SG of 1.000 in 6 or 7 days. At this time I racked it to a 3 gallon carboy per instructions, leaving...

Great thread. Started my first EM about 2 weeks ago on an RJS Australian Cabernet Shiraz. Planned to do it in a 7 gallon glass wide mouth carboy from Kegco - but it wasn't big enough - so I started it in a primary bucket instead - and ordered a 7 gallon FerMonster. At an SG of about 1.010 I...

New Zealand Sauv Blancs are known for their citrusy flavor. I've made the Eclipse brand twice but never got that flavor. Both of mine were good when young but they haven't aged well. According to my notes, both were great at 5 months of age. I have 5 bottles left of the first one, which are now...

According to my records; One Super Tuscan had ~1.5 gallons of water added. It's SG was 1.1056. It produced 30 bottles at 15% ABV. The other Super Tuscan had 2 gallons of water added. It's SG was 1.1029. It produced 29 bottles at 15% ABV.

Yes, I usually need to add ~2 gallons of water.

Great kit, isn't it!

Started the RJS Italian Amarone Wine Kit today. It had two 1.25 kg clear plastic bags of grape skins (wet) and one 375g silver/metallic package of raisins. Only 50g of medium toast oak chips. Looking forward to this one.