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Oh good Lord. my wife has decided she likes to be the partner that measures SG. So, she told me what it was and I didn’t recheck. The SG is 1.088. Not, 1.88. So, I can honestly blame her for this mistake. At least that’s what I’m saying since she’s not on here. Thanks.

EMERGENCY QUESTION: So, we started the next batch of rhubarb using a recommended recipe. 22 lbs rhubarb 4 lbs strawberries 12 lbs sugar. Let sit for 24 hours. Squeezed all juice out of the pulp. Added 3.5 gallons of water to get to 6 gallons. problem is, starting SG is 1.88. Way more than...

I just received some more oak sticks. I now see the package says to use one stick for a minimum of 3 months. I used two sticks for two months. Oh well. It worked

We racked our Malbec yesterday and took the oak out. We definitely didn’t over oak. It was in for just short of 2 months. We had two bottles separated to top off with when racking. Did a taste test between the two. We liked the oaked better. Very happy with how it turned out.

I'll buy yeast and use it right away. So, I'm assuming that's not it. If it's cold in the house, I saw where some people will turn their oven on "warm" just for a few minutes, shut it off them put the loaves in there to rise. The other night I had the fire place going which gets the house...

@CDrew @winemaker81 Thanks for the great input. I've had heavy toasted french oak in my Malbec for two months and am going to rack it this weekend, taste it and probably take out the oak. Since it's only been two months and it's a red wine, I'm hoping I didn't over do it. I'm assuming if I...

That's part of my problem. I'm not really finding a common theme as to how much of various ingredients to add. Thanks for the reply. My best guess is: 1.25 tsp Blanc soft tannins Juice from 2 lemons for acid 2-3 tsp pectic enzyms.

I've tried both Redstar Active dry yeast and fleischmanns bread machine yeast. I don't use a bread machine, but it's what my wife picked up unfortunately. But, I have the same problem with either. Any recipe I use says to let it rise 1-2 hours the second time. To short of time?

Thanks for the reply. So, maybe go by the final amount of juice? Last time I ended with 5 gallons and used 10 gallons of sugar. So, this time I'm trying for 6 gallons, so maybe 12 lbs of sugar would get me to the 1.090 SG?

OK...I'm really hoping someone can give me some advice here. I desperately want to be able to make good bread and it's one type of cooking that I have not been able to master. I've tried white bread, wheat bread...this weekend I tried Brioche. I've tried multiple recipes, read articles on...

Thanks for the reply. So, when you oak your red wines, how long do you typically leave the sticks in? I know it's more based on preference and how it tastes, but I'm looking for more of a general guidance here. I don't know if people leave them in for 1-2 months or a year. I don't remember...

Ok, revisiting this thread. I bottled this wine and we have been pretty happy with the results. So, in the next month or two, I'm going to start my second batch. Remembering some comments here, I understand my process and recipe wasn't exactly what others use. So, I'm planning on tweaking...

I understand that oaking a wine and how much is more on preference than anything. I'm currently aging a Chilean Malbec that has had French Oak heavy toast sticks in for two months and I will rack again next weekend, then bottle sometime after that. I'm then going to start a Shiraz and then...

German Cellars. German is my last name, pronounced with a hard G. Even before I started making wine, I had a G in an interesting font that I would use on various things. I include that now on my labels.

I love to cook. So, about 15 years ago, I got heavily into BBQ. Did contests for about 10 years. Did some cooking for large events 300-400 people. Largest was 800. I’ve cut back in that. Now, my son and I process all our own venison. So, we make various kinds of sausage. Our favorites are...

I’m new enough to wine that I don’t have answers for you. But, I’m interested in what others say. Interestingly, a few days before you posted this, I found a bottle that was given to us when we purchased our first home. (1993) It’s had the same life style as your bottle. It hasn’t been stored...

I did, it's called "Remodeling spare room into wine cellar and building wine racks".:p

I used to do BBQ competitions. When I first started learning how to BBQ, I thought it was horrible that I had to wait 8-10 hours to enjoy it. I learned to enjoy the process. Now, I’ve started making wine. I’ve really had to learn that lesson all over again. I keep telling myself that...

@Rice_Guy , as always....thank you so much for your information. This makes me feel better. I always keep it in a sealed container. It also might explain why my spray bottle seems to be working less and less.

Thanks for the information. But, earlier in this thread there's a post that says the K Meta will "gas off" within a day or two and become useless. Is that not true?