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Way to go! Upper body strength! Who neeeds a gym membership, right?? So I did take my pomace and started a 6-gallon batch of piquette yesterday. I figured it's a covid kind of experiment. If it works out, I might try different styles of piquette next year and definitely won't be stressing the...

Love it! My strategy this year was a glass pen. Will see how it goes...

Essentially it really doesn't matter for home winemakers. We don't have the industrial equipment that will press hard enough where we get those heavy tannic extractions that it makes a huge difference. I agree with @Rice_Guy , you get to a point where you're just not wanting to spend another 45...

Most likely. You shouldn't have a problem.

Let us know how it goes!

So I don't worry about reds - they need the higher temps to extract color/tannin, but I live in a very moderate climate with summer highs of about 65 - the yeast are never in danger of over cooking. I did my first chardonnay this year and I put the carboys in large rubbermaid containers filled...

Sure, I follow whatever the technical specifications are for the ML bacteria. Some are super user friendly and you just toss it in. Simple is good.

MLF bacteria are much more sensitive than yeasties. You'll want to find the specifications for your particular strain and then follows the directions - I've never found them printed on the packaging. Scottlabs is a great place to start reading through the different types. You can absolutely find...

Interesting annecdote. I think I'm going to give this a try and see where it takes me.

Okay - So I'm thinking of adding oak chips to my primary for fresh grapes this year. It could help decrease the number of rackings overall, don't have to worry about sanitizing, and I wouldn't have to divy up and measure chips amongst all the carboys. Is this what ya'll are doing?

I love the idea of soaking in hot water to get a better fit. Will try this next as I experiment with it over the next month. I bought new gaskets, so I'm good there. They're slowly deflating, but haven't lost the seal yet. So far, so good.

Thanks for letting me know @Rice_Guy - I'm not alone here. So I filled it up with water and have had it on the back porch for a week. It's leaking slowly, and out the 'green' range on the gauge, but it's still sealed. After it loses the seal, I'm going to re-do the experiment. I've got a little...

Went to visit the grower last weekend. First outing in 3 months. Cabernet all the way! The plan so far: 500 lbs Cab Sav. I'll be breaking this into 3 batches: 2 for me to play with yeast, 1 for The Girl. She's going to be in charge of making her own wine since she's stuck at home from college...

@JohnT : Questions for you. My new tanks didn't come with the inflatable bladders. I bought new ones and tested them out overnight. The next day, the lid was halfway down the tank. Not sure if you have these types of tanks or others, but will ask anyways: What pressure are you pumping the tubes...

Thank you! I'm inspired to hold out hope. It's in a single carboy, so not taking up much space. Will re-visit this post in a year.

Same problem, only in reverse. Nebbiolo kit. Followed the directions, but it came with a LOT of chips. Added them all and crossed my fingers. It's pretty strong. How noticeably does oak fade over time? The kit is 6 months old. Wondering how long to hold onto it before giving up.

TY for this post - very timely. Just made the switch, too. Got 3 variable capacity 200L marchisio tanks from a local salsa company. They're gorgeous. I'm making spicey wines this fall!

I'm curious to see what you all think of it. I'm wondering about the joints, resusability, durability.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> Syran Wrap - worth a try

Excellent diary! Thanks for sharing.