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I took Smurfe's advise and got me a corny keg and a counter pressure filler. It took some experimenting, but I finally worked out a procedure that makes a great sparkling. 1. Fill the corney keg to about 3/4. 2. Place in the refrigerator and get the temperature as cold as it will go...

Now that's the kind of information I was looking for. Thanks a bunch!

St Allie. I don't usually have luck with small one gallon batches. Seems the bigger the better for some reason. Grapefruit, hmmmmm.....? Someone once told me to stay away from the high acidic fruits like orange, lemon, and grapefruit, so I did. I did a large batch of pineapple and ended up...

I ferment mine in Home Depot buckets. Keep an eye open on Craigslist for used carboys. Wives are usually selling them off after their husbands drank themselves to death. A new six gallon glass carboy is really expensive on-line or at the local home brew shops. The Ozarka water bottles do...

Zack, Just remember that anything with sugar in it wants to become wine on its own whether our not you do anything to it. I've experimented with everything from Kiwi fruit to watermellon. Some would gag a maggott at bottling time. Here are the main things I learned from my mistakes...

In this forum I've read that many people cover their must with simple cheese cloth to keep out the bugs. Others say they fasten the lid on tight and put in an air lock. It makes sense what you say about the C02. There is so much of that coming out that no O2 can get in. I guess as long as...

Wow, New Zealand! I worked in Windy Wellington from 89 through 92 and remember the stores were lacking in things like frozen concentrates. Almost everything came fresh out of the gardens there and it wasn't easy to find everything you needed at just one place like here in the states. Kits...

Don't give up on it. I made a watermelon wine last year and I thought I was going to puke when it came time to bottle. I almost threw 20 gallons down the drain, but decided to bottle it anyway. After a year, it melowed out and ain't half bad. I bet in another year it will be some pretty...

My mistake. Fingers too fat for the keyboard due to drinking too much. I meant I usually start at 1.100 SG.

I've read about it both ways. During primary fermentation, should you use an air lock and keep out the oxygen, or use cheese cloth to allow the yeast to be exposed to oxygen? I've tried it both ways and haven't seen a lot of difference int he results; however, fermentation seems to slow down...

Who really cares with wine? If your starting SG = 1.000 your alcohol level normally runs 12-13%. Higher SG gives you higher alcohol if you use high tolerance yeasts like Champagne Yeast which goes as high as 18%. Stay with the same SG levels you like and you will get the same alcohol level...

I've made a lot of good wine cheaply from store bought frozen concentrates. Bottled juices usually have a lot of perservatives and not enough sugar. Whites do best in the concentrates. I stay away from Welches Dark Grape because the wine ends up tasting just like the grape juice. I never...

Using the blender probably explains your taste problems. Grape seeds add bitterness. Grind them into the must and you add a lot of acidity. The only suggestion I can think of at this late time is to try a malolatic fermentation. If you haven't already added a lot of sulfites, it should...

A small pack of malolactic bacteria averages $10 in the brew shops. They say it takes a packet for each 6 gallons. That gets expensive when you have eight carboys needing some help. Is it possible to stretch one packet for all eight carboys by starting it in one and transferring portions...

These are good points about the length of the hose and keeping both wine and bottles at the same cold temperatures. It makes sense. Then there is the question about the temperature of the hose. Regardless of length, the fact that it is at room temperature, wouldn't the cold carbonated wine...

Someone once told me that you can bypass the whole second fermentation thing by injecting carbon dioxide similar to the way it is done in making beer. The trick, I was told, is to get a wine that has a 15% - 18% alcohol level, pour into your pressure chamber, chill the container in a bucket of...

Sparkling Wine by Adding C02 Someone once told me that you can bypass the whole second fermentation thing by injecting carbon dioxide similar to the way it is done in making beer. The trick, I was told, is to get a wine that has a 15% - 18% alcohol level, pour into your pressure chamber, chill...