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I've used it for clearing 3 times and each wine - 10-12 months old - was actually opaque, not plain hazy. No, it didn't work fast. After a week I could see through all of them, after two weeks they were crystal clear.

As mentioned, into the must at the beginning. It can also be used much later to clear a stubborn wine. And I noticed my dedicated banana wines are possibly my fastest clearing.

Cultured butter. Store bought heavy cream, homemade yogurt and buttermilk. Flavor? Oh my! THIS is butter!

Banana water is made by briefly boiling ripe bananas, letting it cool a bit, then straining. It's something like a lb of bananas to a pint of water. I can't detect banana flavor at 100 ml per gallon but everyone's mouth is different. Another possibility is potato water. Boil potatoes, save...

I assume you mean at the beginning rather than at bottling. In that case, oh yeah! Keep in mind bananas can be used to raise the pH of a must that's too acidic. My starting pH was 4.6. With a volume a little over 1.5 gal. I used 8 tsp of acid blend and got the pH to 3.3, a little low, but at...

My last banana wine used 12 lbs VERY ripe bananas, frozen for a couple days, for a one gallon batch. Crazy intense banana flavor. When you back sweeten consider using a little brown sugar, not too much. I think I did 25% brown sugar. Good luck!

And the cheese hobby continues! I haven't bought cottage cheese in years because I don't like the flavor or texture. Some recipes call for an acid like vinegar or lemon juice to form curds. I went with a lactic acid culture and the flavor is phenomenal! THIS is how I remember cottage cheese...

I totally agree! I was drinking some just yesterday and immediately thought "Holy Sh*t!" Checked my notes to see if I added glycerine - nope. Then I checked fruit weight (6.5 lbs) and pulled more from the freezer to start another. What was I waiting for?

Hazy wine can be caused by pectin, starch, and protein. With apple pectin comes to mind first. But then apples also have starch, which they lose as they ripen. I had two wines that absolutely refused to clear. I don't mean hazy - they were darn opaque after a year! Out of curiosity I tried CJJ...

First attempt with the new hobby. Started with something easy - cream cheese, 2.5 lbs. Damn it's good! Next up, cottage cheese and feta then the hard cheeses that need aging. Who knew a pH meter would come in handy and that "patience" would rear it's ugly head again?

Welcome to WMT and good luck with the prickly pear!

Welcome to the forum! For more flavor, as mentioned, more fruit. For most I use a minimum of 6 lbs / gallon. Complex flavor, combine fruits. And possibly use juice instead of water. Some water is usually unavoidable but there's always a voice reminding me "Water is for soup and stew."😄 I've...

Another possibility to consider.... I had leakage in a couple of my winter bottled wines so it could be a temperature/barometric pressure thing. I didn't replace the corks - I took it as a sign from The Universe to drink the wine now! 😄

Elderberries are about 80% water so multiply dried weight by 5 to get a rough fresh equivalent. Keller's recipe is equivalent to around 1.5 lbs, shy of the 3 lb fresh (or more) that many recipes call for. But then, more elderberries longer aging. His recipe would be drinkable sooner.

I would try to identify by the leaves. Might narrow it down. Did a quick search, leaves don't look like Concord but Boskoop Glory is actually a possibility. Good luck!

I have 1 gallon jugs from 3 manufacturers. The ones I got from North Mountain slip 99% of the time, others are rock solid. Getting everything absolutely dry might help. I quit fighting and use duct tape to hold the stoppers in place.

That's an interesting observation about batch size and goo presence and seems to be true. This is my 2nd year with elderberries, multiple one gallon batches, and I've never seen even a hint of goo.

Wow, what rotten luck. This Himalayan pink salt is at least 200 million years old and I get a batch only good for another five.

@Codfish I forgot to mention - it almost seems the rosehips dissolve into super small particles. When the lees start to form be prepared for a crazy amount. My only other wine with a comparable insane amount was tomato.

We PM'd but in case there's other interest I'll copy some here... I made two rosehip wines using wild roses from the property, rosa canina, the dog rose. The first one I left the seeds and OMG is it bitter. There might be flavor hidden somewhere but the bitterness was overpowering. I think my...