Search results

I made maple sap wine 2 years ago that came out excellent. Jack Keller's recipe. It didn't taste anything like maple syrup, rather a spiced wine. If I recall, it took cloves and lemon zest. I wanted to make it again last spring but couldn't get any sap - it was a bad spring for the maple sugar...

I just started some blueberry wine which I used 5 pounds of raising with the 15 pounds of blueberries. I mashed the blueberries but just threw the raisins in the primary. Initially, the sg measured 1.005. I let the must sit for 2 days prior to adding sugar and the sg increased to 1.050. I'm...

I mentioned that although I have the Italian corker, I had major rust problems on the plate below the brass jaws. It became so bad that the jaws would stick closed when I raised the lever. I ended up taking the mechanism apart, used steel wool to clean the rust, than painted the inside with...

I soak my corks in a bucket with only about 1/2" of k-meta in it. But now I have a problem with my Italian corker. I know k-meta is very corrosive and now I have a rust problem under the sealed part of the corker. The flanges are starting to stick, the lever is harder to push down, and I'm even...

Thanks John, good points. My 80 gallon fermenters are Flextanks with floating lids. Technically, I don't need to use the gas at all, but Flextank says it can't hurt.

I started using argon for everything from 1 gallon carboys to 80 gallon fermentors. Beats trying to top off every time. So far, so good.

Tom, do you add water to the steamed juice? I use just the straight juice in the past and it seems to work well. Would be nice to increase the yield.

In Michigan, you still need to get your permit from the TTB (feds) along with your small winemakers certificate to sell legally. I just went through the process.

I am into my second year with 1500 new vines. Had the soil tested last year and the report noted that I lacked nitrogen and phosphorus. Added both last spring and this spring. The vines seems to be doing great this spring, of course we have had a lot of rain in the past month. Lots of grape buds...

I am doing a green apple reisling right now that is having a hard time clearing. Just added hot mix sparkaloid yesterday after it was still very hazy after 2 weeks of adding the f-pack and clearing agent that came with the kit. Had the same thing happen with the appricot peach chardonnay mist...

I started the mojito 1 week ago, will let you know as things progress.

Also got mine at Wine Makers Toy Store.

I made the Cellar Craft which is approaching a year old and it is fantastic. Supposed to get even better after 2 years.

Here's the link for the free winecalc download. It's a neat little program that figures out how much sugar to add to a batch to come up with a specific abv, plus other handy tools. http://winecalc.software.informer.com/2.3/ I use it all the time.

We started this same wine yesterday. We had to add 4.11 pounds of sugar to get it up to 1.080. I use the wine calculator to come up with the amounts of sugar to add.

Has anyone ever heard of somebody getting busted for the 200 gallon rule? Just curious.

Just ordered both of them. Sounds fun.

Been using my mini jet for about 2 yrs now, love the way it polishes the wines. Smurfe, I too have problems getting it primed - found the best way is to suck on the delivery end until the wine reaches the pump, then it starts up right away.

I store my k-meta in gallon milk jugs. Have not had any problems.

Has anyone used Monin syrups for backsweetening?