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So you only do punch downs for the first 5 days or so then seal it up? How does one decide when they are happy with the maceration time without opening for a sample? I have co2 so if I opened it I could give it a bit of a co2 blanket.

My understanding is that carbonic maceration and cold soaking are two different things. I didn’t think there would be a danger to cold soaking and that it would add to the flavor. I’m easy either way but I’m not afraid to try the cold soaking especially if there is some benefit.

I have lallzyme ex-v so I should be ok. So you would recommend fermenting around room temperature then. Makes it easier. So the extended maceration isn’t done by taste or anything like that? I assume you don’t want to keep opening it? I was things two weeks anyway. Not sure about 8 weeks. What...

I think I’m going to try a 2-3 day cold soak. In addition to that I was wondering about fermentation temperature. I’ve read and seen videos discussing that 85F or so will help extract color etc. so do I want to wrap a fermentation belt around the whole time? Or just for part of the...

I wonder why you can’t freeze dry yeast. I have always frozen bakers yeast.

It’s interesting as I’ve used RC-212 a few times and have never had the rotten egg smell. I have always used yeast nutrients though. I started my chokecherry wine with RC-212. What’s the difference between elderberry and chokecherry? They look similar. That said I took advice from this forum...

Sorry to highjack but my question fits nicely. How important is it that the Renaissance strain used is for the grape variety being fermented? What if I were to use Avante on Merlot grapes?

I was going to suggest PBW but someone beat me too it. I get the powder as it’s cheaper than the liquid. Never tried it on a carboy before but use it on my beer lines in my kegerator. I’ve gotten in trouble for mentioning bleach before but you won’t find anything cheaper and it works well. But...

I have natural grape tannin and some from a wine store that probably isn’t grape tannin. No idea how much it matters. I recall reading something about being cautious of synthetic tannin. Should I be aiming for an SG that would support an PA of 13-14.5 or just go with what they have naturally...

Thanks for your advice! I have quite a few 23L carboys and a few 11-13L and some 3 and 4 L jugs. Plus it’s usually not hard to find more carboys. I could also bottle something if I need an extra few. I picked up a whole bunch of used carboys and jugs in spring for cheap. Something like $50 for...

I was reading back a bit and come across the cold soak idea. Is this of any benefit when using enzymes? How much dry ice is needed to do this?

I need more friends that drink wine.

Well I definitely won’t drink it that fast lol. Will have 30-36 gallons likely. Probably take me a decade or two. I have some 20 year old chokecherry wine still. But I started making beer again too so I have to spread it out. Honestly the reason it’s still around is probably because it’s...

I was thinking I need to drink my kit wines while I’m waiting.

Well I missed out on the Alicante as someone else got them. Regardless I have probably gone way overboard anyway. Between two suppliers I’ll have 6 Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 Zinfandel and 3 Merlot. I’ll have to start drinking more wine.

Ok thanks. While I’m not sure about blending yet I’m assuming most of the wines I’ve purchased are probably blends and not pure varietals. So I’m not scared of blending but I do want to try each in the pure form as well. I might end up with two different supplier ls of zin and can as well so...

I have 23 L car boys. Would 3 lugs be sufficient or would 2.5 fill them too? Is there any pint to getting the Alicante for color if I have Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Merlot?

I’m wanting to get a few kinds but now I’m thinking if I get one or two lugs of one kinds to try I’m going to run into storage issues with part full carboys. Hmm….lol

I know that is the truth. I like port. I like reds mostly and like cab an zin. Although I know blends are where it’s at. I’d probably blend after fermentation. Unfortunately I’m forced to buy my grapes blindly without any idea of quality. So are the Zinfandel better because of price no idea...

If I were to pickup the 4 Zinfandel and 2 Cabernet should I also get the 2 Alicante? Also if I were to get more from the other supplier does anyone know why Zinfandel are $5 more than Cabernet Sauvignon per lug? I’m undecided which if those two I will get if I get more but I have to order by...