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Why is that I never add Kmeta and have yet in 12 years had any wine go bad? Does the alcohol and ph protect it? Did they use Kmeta in the old days?

I agree, that’s what the experts say, but in 12 years of doing it this way I have had nothing but superb results. Never even had an off smell. If left for longer time maybe that would occur but I’m guessing the acidic ph and alcohol prevents it. Or maybe Ne and my friends just don’t know what...

Actually, I find the air lock bubbles to be a fairly useful way to track the progress of fermentation. When you watch for several minutes and see no bubble activity you can assume fermentation is nearing completion. Then use your hydrometer to check SG to verify your “assumptions”. I also use...

Good photos. I see nothing wrong with the bottles. It looks like the plunger is out of alignment. I would exchange corker for another one. Mine works great. Must be very frustrating to have that problem with it.

A photo of bottle and a photo of bottle on corker would help. Also send photo of underside of corker where rim of bottle rests. Would be unusual but possible that corker has a manufacturing problem, bent metal or something. Some bottles, the very heavy ones, are larger than standard at the top...

This post is pretty old but hoping you are still member who can answer a questionhave one but I’m not sure what to connect to the vacuum pump. I tried just hooking the short hose to the vacuum and liquid flowed but when bottle filled the auto shutoff did not close and liquid started to suck...

Wine is not out of balance. The white grape concentrate adds body to the island mist white wine kits plus increases ABV which is now about 12.5%. Coconut taste is just too strong for my taste. The taste comes from the F-pack added after ferment. Those who like coconut should love this wine. Just...

great suggestion. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Made the island Mist Coconut Yuzo kit boosted with a box of white grape concentrate and 2.5 pounds of sugar. All turned out great except now I have 30 bottles of coconut wine that we don’t care for. The coconut flavor is overpowering. Any suggestions for modifying or blending this wine would be...

Same here. No off taste or odor in kits I have made however I generally only make the sweet summer fufu kits for the gals and high end seasonal special edition kits for their unique flavors. Mostly I make wine from juice, Chilean in the spring and California juice in the fall. Here I can get 6...

I think LP is doing the best they can with a bad situation; it’s WE that I’m upset with. WE should have paced their distribution and not shipped their entire stock prior to their order deadline! That way all distributors would have gotten some of their whiskey barrel product. I’m going with...

I have never seen a carboy break at the neck. I have seen the bottom fall out. Failure is usually due to cracking caused by banging two together or hitting them on floor or other object; not from lifting with neck handle. Always look for hairline crack before filling; it can be quite...

I have been making black raspberry wine for 8 years and all are excellent after aging 2 or more years. This is a favorite of my dark red wine loving friends. I have always used LALVIN RC-212 yeast with 6 tsp of yeast nutrient. I make 6 gallon batches putting 24 pounds of frozen berries in a...

Find an old ax handle or something similar, near the center of its length screw in two metal screw hooks about three inches apart (the distance of the opening of your carboy handle, hook handle to carboy and two people can move and lift much easier by each person lifting an end of the handle...

I really enjoy reading the experienced giving advice to the novice but I wonder why first time winemakers work so hard at what should be a very easy and fun hobby. I’ve been making wine now for about 8 years, first was 6 gallon from 24 pounds of black raspberries, then cheap WE fruity kits...

I have been tweaking the WE Island Mist kits for years to bring ABV up to about 12% using a liter of grape concentrate and about 3-4# sugar. Seems everyone likes it plus it should improve shelf life. Wonder why WE doesn’t just produce theses kits with higher ABV so folks don’t have to boost them?

I’ve found both Malbec and Carmenare from Chilean juice to produce wines I enjoy very much with no blending. I’ve also made Vinters Chilean Malbec kits but to add more body to these kits I have added frozen black raspberries to the juice concentrate in the primary before adding the yeast...

Someone posted a special plastic bag tapered at the top inserted into carboy then filled with water until the wine level reaches the top of the neck of the carboy. The bag keeps the water separated from the wine and allows complete top up of the carboy. I tried my first one several weeks ago...

Sunlight can lighten wine. If that is an issue, keep carboys covered during aging.

I’m not sure why no one suggests just topping off with a little bit of good water.