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The aquarium pump is working, although it not as quick as I'd like. After 3 days, free SO2 is down to 380, so about 66 ppm per day. I ordered an additional reagent from Vinmetrica that will let me test for total SO2. That should tell if and when I reach what is considered a safe level. I was...

Whitish... it's pear wine.

Thanks for your help. After spending an hour splashing the wine from one bucket to another and only reducing SO2 from 640 to 580, I was tired and cranky. When I returned upstairs my wife was doing some work on her aquarium, which gave me an idea for a possible easier solution. I bought an...

It was actually even higher! North of 600 ppm actually. My math was faulty. My sanitizing solution is 3 tbsps/gallon.

I made a stupid mistake today. A 12 gallon batch of pear wine finished fermenting a few days ago. So, I added sulfite powder to bring it up to 50 ppm and let it settle until today. I cleaned two 6 gallon carboys in preparation of racking the wine from the fermenter. Then I added a couple inches...

I picked up a case of EZ Cap bottles yesterday. They look sturdy enough! Thanks for the suggestion.

I have a 13 gallon batch of apple wine made from heirloom apples, which is just about done fermenting. This batch is exceptionally carbonated. Normally I would totally degas the wine before finishing it, but I was thinking about setting aside about 3 gallons and not degassing it at all in hopes...

I make a lot of apple and pear cider wine from fruit. All I do is wash the fruit and let it air dry, trim out any bad spots, then freeze them whole. After a couple weeks in the freezer, I thaw them and press them in a bladder press. Any press will do I imagine. The freezing totally breaks down...

Check it with a hydrometer regularly. The decrease in specific gravity will slow down and eventually stop after the sugar in the wine has been converted to alcohol or the level of alcohol has become so high that the yeast can't survive. This is usually in the neighborhood of 0.996. With fruit...

Yes, yeast nutrient should help. Stir it daily to give the yeast some oxygen too, especially if it is under an airlock.

We have lift off! Added nutrient and sprinkled in another packet of yeast yesterday.

Thanks. I used GoFerm Protect Evolution which is a nutrient by Scott Labs. The rehydration was definitely at 104 degrees. The must itself is at 76 degrees and I waited for the temperature of the rehydrate to drop to under 90 before stirring it in. Based on all your thoughts I could add some...

Six days ago I added rehydrated yeast to a 3 gallon batch of strawberry rhubarb wine. After a couple days I saw a little activity in the air lock, but it was very weak. I measured the brix today and there is no detectable change. Not sure what the problem could be. Here's the pertinent info...

This wasn't very scientifically done, but some of you might find it interesting. I made some rhubarb wine a few years ago and didn't care for it because of it's unpleasant acidity. Since then I read Luc's blog post about reducing acid in rhubarb...

Before. Thanks.

When I start a batch of cider wine I add pectic enzyme and let it sit for a couple days in the cellar. Over those days solids will settle to the bottom of the carboy. I have been siphoning the cider off of that because I assume that it will help the wine to clear later on. But now I wonder if...

I have 7 gallons of pear fermenting in the cellar right now. Roughly equal parts Comice, Bartlett and Bosc. The Bartletts were ripe in early September so I froze them. When thawed and pressed they had a better yield than the fresh grated pears. I have a bladder press. Brix of the blend was...

I added some acid blend to a fruit wine to bring the pH down a bit. Having over added acid to a wine in the past, I wanted to be careful. So I only added half of what I think is needed. My question is this: If I immediately test the pH again after stirring in the acid, will the reading be...

Yup, crabs are high in tannin and many of them are also high in acid. But those are two different things. How does it taste? If it's too strong in either tannin or acid, then blending with some sweet cider might be an option. What stage of the winemaking process is it in?

Thanks for your input. I should say that after I posted this, I spoke with Vinmetrica on the phone again. They offered to replace my meter with a new one because of the ongoing issues I've had with it. They did this even though it was well past warranty. Vinmetrica is a nice company trying to do...