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Go ahead and press. Let the last little bit of the ferment go ahead in the carboys.

Time is a winemakers best friend. I happened to open a bottle of blackberry wine for my wife last night and now it's close to a year in the bottle it's fantastic. Sharpness has gone and it's smooth as silk with wonderful blackberry flavor. Can't wait to do another batch as I have 4 bottles left...

As per the above. Bitterness and off flavors. Same goes for all stone fruits from my research. I haven't really heard of any pros apart from one recipe I saw for cherry wine that said a few stray pits won't hurt it but may be a bit bitter and take more time to age before drinking. If you have...

I have been known to make wine while I drink... I'm with Johnd on the giving myself a glass while I bottle when I'm only doing a small batch. Same as I like to have a beer while bottling a brew. But if I'm doing a significant bottling I won't drink till after as it's so much work. On my own...

Hey Obelix, How did your novatwist capsules turn out? I'm about to bottle a keg of my free run Grenache over the next few weeks and only have the screw cap bottles for now. All the pressings I have on oak are going under cork when they're ready. I took a sample from my free run keg tonight and...

I cleaned the absolute hell out of the old dirty press I used this year with a 3x strong star san solution. Wine was co-innoculated and the MLF finished perfectly. Either method is fine from what I've read. I just prefer starsan as I'm asthmatic and sensitive to Kmeta fumes.

I'm not sure but I couldn't imagine it releasing more than brewing the coffee from the beans. By adding to boil I should have clarified that if I went that way I'd be putting them in at flame out (right when the boil ends). Pretty sure a (commercial) brewer I know said he "dumped a **** load of...

In beer that approach would likely work best by adding the crushed beans into the boil or by adding to the fermenter like dry hopping. Beer is best bottled or kegged promptly after fermentation otherwise infection risk is high in the low alcohol environment. Having said that I have left heavy...

If it comes to it there's no need to waste him. I'd tan his hide and make myself a big warm hat!

I don't know much about those kits as in Australia we tend to stick to Coopers or Muntons. But I have been brewing for a good 15 years and love my stouts brewing several styles. I mostly do all grain now but cut my teeth on extract brews. Short answer to adding some coffee is a yes. However if...

I work with a guy who has a small commercial winery as a hobby. He told me a while back about a barrel of shiraz that was forgotten for a couple of years and the wine was still good. He did say it was a monster at 17% though so that may have helped...

General consensus is rack off sediment in secondary as soon as you can once there is no further fermentation. Technically the lees in secondary aren't the gross lees. I have left mine for a few weeks no problems at all but generally rack once from the secondary and sulfite, then leave to clear...

I'll definitely make a batch of plum wine when they come in around 5-6 months time. I try and forage as much fruit from my local area as I can. The Mrs went mad when I filled the freezer with 26kg of mulberries last summer so I got a bigger one now! Several plum trees are just up the road. And a...

Really interesting color there. What color were the plums? I have plums growing on the street near my home that are small and have dark red skin with yellow or pale red flesh. I didn't pick any last summer but really wanted to. Will have to give it a try next summer.

I think one aspect thats easy to forget when talking natural wines is when you plan to drink it. Historically speaking I'm pretty sure most home winemakers would have been making wine to be consumed by the family over the following year or so rather than cellaring for years and that goes for...

You can freeze cherries until you need them too. I don't have cherry trees but have mulberries and I pick and freeze until I have enough for 20 litres of wine. When you defrost them they break down a little easier too.

Also, if you have access to heaps of fruit and it's not expensive you can add more fruit for better wine. I was kinda on the low side as good cherries were $16 a kg when I got them.

Cherry wine is a piece of cake. Sour or sweet cherrys are fine and there's lots of threads to look at. Here's my take to keep it simple. 5-6 pounds cherries per 5 litres of wine. Pick cherries. Pit them and de-stem. Cut away any bruises on the fruit and discard. Put the fruit in a mesh bag if...

https://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/Researchers-Uncover-Identity-of-Historic-California-Grape_3412 Little bit of info I found. Looks like you have a good bit of history there. Glad the mystery is solved.

I very recently (last weekend) attended a venue here in South Australia that is well known for only having natural wines and using local produce in their kitchen etc. It's called the Aristologist at Summertown. Here I tried several wines including a light red that was reminiscent of grenache...