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Good questions, I’m at a loss as well: PH meter is Milwaukee MW102 and was calibrated at 2 points (7.01 and 4.01) Preferment sample was indeed strained and was also tested about 3 times to help ensure accuracy TA kit is only a few months old but also tested a wine from last year and was able to...

Mine was by the book and not very oaky so don’t think there was a lot...but it was several years ago.

It’s tart, but I knew the pH when I tasted it so it was a biased taste. It’s in the barrel from now and will stay there for 6-9 months so I won’t be doing anything to it anytime soon.

This is getting pretty frustrating that the numbers look pretty good preferment and then swing wildly during fermentation and MLF. My Chilean Syrah started on 5/13 has changed as follows: pH: 3.52 ->3.23 TA: 0.42 -> 0.79 I had a hell of a time reducing acid on my Chilean Merlot from last year...

Is this the adjustable valve? I’ve always just made sure the blue marker lines (were on it when I got it) are aligned. Guess I can try adjusting.

So I have a cellar that I keep at about 60F which I use for bulk aging carboys for about 12-18 months before bottling. I also use the AIO vacuum pump which I use to rack the wine 2-4 times over this period. Given that I am bulk aging for over a year and also vacuum racking I don’t feel like I...

Interesting. I work in the power plant business and in these applications a typical cooling system has just one circulating pump running with each “load” having a supply and return branch to/from the main loop. You can easily adjust the temp for each load by opening/closing the throttle valve...

I did a 3 day cold soak on my Syrah this year but my scale is small. I use 2 chest freezers that I can fit about six 5 gal buckets in. I could probably double that by removing the lid, adding a 2x10 “collar” and then replacing the lid back on top of the collar to let me stack buckets on top of...

I can’t say it’s not worth the expense for you because some people really seem to enjoy the kits. I was just saying that the premium kits never really hit the mark for me even after trying several things to enhance the wine so I finally gave all grape a shot and am really happy. In the US there...

I have oaked some kits in a barrel now and have concluded it’s still not what I want so switched to all grape. There is really no comparison IMO.

Interesting read at the 6 month mark on an experiment between the two vessels: https://www.techniquesinhomewinemaking.com/blog/6-month-progress-report-on-my-comparative-study-on-the-evolution-of-wine-aged-in-a-flextank-vs-a-second-year-oak-barrel/

I’ve been wanting to try splitting a batch of the same must and fermenting it on 2 different yeasts so I did it this spring with my Chilean Syrah. I split the must 50/50 and one got BM4x4 while the other got RC212. Both of the fermentation’s were pretty similar in terms of temp and time. Before...

I have fermented buckets that I dumped on freshly pressed skins from a all grape batch. They fermented really quickly due to all the yeast on those skins (3-4 days) and came out thin. My thought are the longer they are on the skins the better so if I ever do a bucket again I’m not pressing for...

I only make reds and I never bottle before a year. I’ve also never noticed any sediment in my finished wines that are over 4 years old at this point. I’m a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of guy so doubt I’ll ever bother.

I did that last year but found the bucket/skin combo to be a bit thin for my liking. Still better than any kit though so not a bad deal for cost of a bucket. I have tried buckets alone without any skins and found them to be super thin so it certainly makes a difference.

Curious, do you combine the grapes and buckets or keep separate?

My Chilean Merlot was about 4 last year and saw pretty much the same with the Syrah this year so 2/2 on low acid for me!

Wow. What was your pre-press volume? Last year I got about 8 gallons out of 118 pounds of Chilean Merlot with a bucket press and didn’t even press that hard. I never bother to actually weigh the grapes but maybe they vary quite a bit.

Thanks for the feedback. I overdid a acid adjustment last spring so I’m a bit gunshy now. I added just 1/4th what I think is needed and will check the results tomorrow.

Just picked up the Syrah this morning! Haven’t crushed yet but snagged a few grapes from each box and threw them in a food processor. The filtered juice revealed the following (freshly calibrated pH meter): pH=3.59 TA=0.41 SG=21.75 brix Will recheck everything post crush to confirm but if I...