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I'm sure the city did not add any sugar to the water. Not only would this be very expensive, it would promote bacterial growth, requiring more chlorine. Any dissolved solids in the water will raise the specific gravity. How high is the mineral content in your water? Mineral content varies around...

There was a cougar that lay as road kill on the side of the highway I commute on daily. Surprised the heck out of me, but they say there are cougars in west TN. I knew there were cougars here, but I thought they were 40-something women who liked 20-something men. :-)

It is almost impossible to stop a fermentation for residual sweetness. The best thing to do is ferment to dry, rack off the lees, treat with sulfite and sorbate, and back sweeten. You can use simple syrup for the sweetening or a fruit juice concentrate.

At .999 you are pretty close to dry. You will not see a lot of airlock action at this point. Most of my wines finish at about .996, but even at .999 you could be done. Give it a day or two and check the sg again.

Dean, how do you rate the Primitivo? Any tweaks I should make to the kit? I have it in secondary now (transfered from primary on Sunday).

Mike, When I tested the Accuvin tests when George first started carrying them I found that it was best to view the color comparisons under a 60 watt incandescent bulb. Sunlight and fluorescent were the wrong color temperature. If you are going to put a solid stopper in a carboy and...

I store my wines in the case boxes, closed up and on their side, so the color of the bottle is irrelevant.

Heck, I've got one in my garage with about 3 gallons of used motor oil in it. More secure for transporting to recycle.

George doesn't stock presses because of the space they take up in the shop, but he can custom order just about anything for you.

I made mine dry. It is a wonderful kit, and I wish they had offered it again this year. I would have bought it.

Here in W TN it is a little cooler than normal. Two weeks ago we had unseasonably warm weather, but then it cooled back down.

Yes, the 8.2 pH is the TA test. In the SO2 iodide/iodate test the endpoint is when the indicator first goes black. In red wines it is hard to see, so people often add more titrant than they should have, resulting in a higher reading than the actual SO2 level. That's why you have to go slow and...

You have to catch the endpoint just right. That's what makes it hard in reds.

The SO2 iodide/iodate titration method is the lab standard, but takes some practice to read - especially in reds.

I did two last year (Barolo and Amarone) and have three this year (Barolo, Amarone, and Old Vines Zin) this year.

It's not Waterford. Forget it.

I bottle on the floor with the wand. I sit in a chair next to my bottle tree, and as one bottle is filling I get another bottle off the tree to be ready for the switch. Because I am sitting over the filling bottle, even with reds I can look down into the neck to see the level in the bottle. I...

I think every one of us has pushed the grommet through into the must. I did it on a red, and knew I had no chance of getting it out, so I just left it in. The wine came out fine, and I recovered the grommet after racking to glass.

The mfg info on the web indicates that this is a battery powered unit (rechargeable) that will run for 45 minutes on a charge. Just be sure the battery will hold a charge.

Yes, it will, but unless you plan to store your wines for 20 years it's overkill. Unless your humidity in your storage area is regularly less than 30% (live in the desert with no humidifier or swamp cooler) or higher than 70% (live in the deep south with no A/C) it won't be a problem to use the...