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Love the fight going on in the background. What a wonderful Disney experience.

I was online looking to order some oak and remembered someone on this forum recommended the Xoaker brand/style. Just looked them up on MoreWine and they have a much longer use period than the chips and cubes. I'm thinking of giving these a try for the next few kits.

The manufacturers and resellers say the oak gives up all it has to give in 6 weeks, but I think longer is better. I agree that there should be no harm in leaving it in longer.

Went on the LP web site this morning and they still had some leftover Winexpert LE 2018 kits. I could not resist. Nabbed the Corazon and the Gewurztraminer. The wife loves Gewurztraminer and the Corazon sounded interesting. Guess I will be keeping the fermenters busy for a while.

I agree with jgmann67 . . . that's pretty much my SOP for kits with significant F-pacs. Half in primary and half in clearing. For this style of wine I don't mind a lower ABV, but I usually do try to get it up to around 10-11% . . . . to protect the wine during aging (yeah, that's the reason)...

We were there the last week of March and had nearly 4 full days of sun and daytime highs in the 50's. Incredible amounts of continuous vertical (especially Keystone) and really neat above treeline skiing at Breck (pic is on Peak 6) and A-Basin. Definitely a change from eastern skiing. Next...

I totally agree. Whenever I taste commercial wines now I use my best homemade stuff as the benchmark. I hate to get locked into a cellar palette, but most of the time I prefer my own wine to the commercial ones. My wife recently switched from white to red and will always choose the homemade...

Generally speaking, the level of the kit correlates to the size of the juice bag. 10L and under are lower end, 12L-16L mid range (unless skins are included) and the high end kits are the 18L ones - Winexpert Eclipse / RJS En Primeur / Cellar Craft Showcase. The high end kits list for about...

Here's the new packet compared to a standard 2 pack kit. The SL Merlot had the new single packet while the PN had the usual.

Yes. First trip west skiing for me. When we got to Loveland (coming up from Denver) we opted to take the scenic route to Silverthorne. Fabulous scenery everywhere we went. Turned out to be a great way to enter into ski country.

I found those observations to be a little suspect also. Even the full stainless white wine makers bulk age 6 months to a year in the vat. There must be some benefits to bulk aging beyond simply clearing the wine. If the carboy is topped up properly I have to believe that the combination of...

I saw this quote in another thread. I just started 2 Eclipse kits (Stags Leap Merlot & Sonoma Pinot Noir). They also came with a combined Sorbate and Sulphite package. Are the manufacturers trying to make things simpler or is there some concern with all of the experienced home winemakers...

That's the kit. A couple years back I was buying Cline's Cashmere off the bargain rack which I thought was a Pinot Noir. The 3rd time I got one the guy at the liquor store pointed out that it was actually a GSM (I didn't even know what that meant). I bought this kit trying to replicate that...

Hope you guys have a good time. With a little luck we will be able to join you next year.

There are so many summer/beach scenes here that I thought I'd change it up a bit. The road to Arapahoe Basin, CO - end of March 2019.

This is a delayed post and a shout out to ajmassa5983. Last year at the M.A.N.E. meet up at Split Rock he gave me a bottle of his Bravado which I believe was a Super Tuscon kit. We sipped this a couple weeks back next to a Rossa Ardente kit I made. Similar flavor profiles, but A.J.'s was...

I would agree with DIYer . . . . if they were counting an F-Pac as additional volume (a bag of sugar) I think that would be deceptive, but a skin pack is much more than that and actually adds volume, flavor and body to the fermentation. If you're at the level of production that you're into the...

Note that the oak sold for winemaking is toasted to a specific degree. It is the combination of the type of oak and the toasting that contributes positively to the taste of the wine. I doubt the oak supplied for BBQ purposes is toasted at all and probably does not indicate the variety and/or...

You would think so if you read extensively in the "Tweaking Cheap Kits" thread. I've modified my starting procedure over time. At this point I do the bentonite thing and add the juice and then add water to about the 5 gal mark, stir vigorously and take an S.G. reading. From there I slowly...