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I don't have enough space in my wine room for a huge rack. So I store some of my wine upside down in boxes. It stores very well that way. If you use synthetic corks, you can store it right side up. I keep 5-6 bottles of each variety on the rack for ready access, and bring more out as needed. If...

I am using this one in my wine room: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PPQ9HDF/ If you are using natural cork, it is important to store the bottles on their side or upside down. You can store them upside down in a wine box from the grocery store. I do that as well. The only down side to...

@back2it I'm also wondering, how much fruit did you use? How much water did you add?

pH is a logarithmic scale, so the change that you measured would indicate a 10x time increase in acidity. I don't think that any fermentation process could cause that. Some possibilities: * One or the other of your pH readings was wrong * If you added any acid blend (not mentioned above), maybe...

Lots of web sites insist that elderberries must be heated before eating, but there is not much scientific support for that idea. The best scientific paper on the subject of Cyanogenic Glycosides in elderberries that I have found is here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7961730/ A...

I'm getting ready... The harvest is still coming in.

@BigDaveK Thanks for the update! I'll have to try this. Did you add any other flavor ingredients, besides the bramble tips? I'm not surprised by the astringency, since blackberry leaves are high in tannins.

@BigDaveK And the big question, how does it taste? Would you make this again?

@BigDaveK Any update on your blackberry tip wine? My thornless blackberries have primocanes over 20 feet long, so I need to prune them back. I'm wondering if I can use more than just the tips of the new growth. Deer love the tender new growth of berries, and cherry and apple trees. But a while...

I suggest that you do bench testing with lactose and other sweeteners. I have tested various sweeteners in my chocolate peppermint wine. Lactose adds some sweetness and body, but it didn't make it taste like milk. I didn't really like the lactose version. When I bottle that batch I will probably...

I am following this discussion with interest. I have about 12 lbs. of blackberries in the freezer so far, and my thornless blackberries are still going strong. I don't want to add much water, but I am willing to add a little bit. I'm hoping for a 3-gallon batch if I get enough berries. From what...

Dashlane uses zero knowledge encryption: https://www.dashlane.com/security That means that your passwords are encrypted in transit and storage, and that your master password is never stored either on your computer or their servers. Your passwords are decrypted on your local machine, not on...

We haven't had much of a problem with birds. Last year I used reflective bird tape to keep them away. This year I didn't bother because there aren't many birds. Maybe that is because we have three barn cats! We occasionally find a dead bird laying around.

It's blackberry harvest time now in my area. I have Triple Crown thornless blackberries. They are close to 1" long, and very juicy and sweet. Of course one difference is that I have an irrigation system set up for them, so they receive regular watering. Today a friend was over, and he said that...

Interesting idea. I like not needing to boil it. Do you grind the ginger before freezing it? Then do you put the thawed ginger pulp directly into the primary fermenter?

I am leaning in this direction as well. I put only a limited amount of spices or ginger in the primary, and make a starter as @Rice_Guy suggested. Then if I want more spice, I add spices in the secondary stage.

Interesting discussion. I think that there are many factors that influence aroma and flavor, and whether K&C will harm the aroma or flavor: * The flavor profile of that particular wine * The amount of solids in the wine that need to be cleared, and exactly what they are * The dosage of K&C used...

Just wondering, is the SG still 1.100 (unchanged)? Did it not start at all? For difficult ferments, I make the starter using the must rather than sugar water: * Rehydrate the yeast with GoFerm * Once that is fermenting well, stir and add an equal volume of must, and wait for it to start...