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I am building a vacuum racking/degassing system and have a question about the strength of pump I need. I found a pump on e-bay that has the following specs: OIL FREE THOMAS COMPRESSOR VACUUM PUMP: Model Number 100 115V, 60HZ, 4.0A 3.5 cfm FREE FLOW MAX: 6.6 CFM / 187 LITERS/MIN MAX...

Zinns can sometimes have a little residual sugar, depending on where the starting SG level. A dry Zinn will be about .998 so 1.000 sounds like it will be "jammy". I like my zinns that way. If it is still that SG when you bottle, be sure and stabilize it. I have seen a sweet zin referment in...

The bugs and raisins are fine. I leave them in. All wine has earwigs and spiders in it. Seriously, all that stuff settles out when it clears. I wouldn't bother with the pectic enzyme in a red wine. The yeast and alcohol will break it all down effectively.

I looked at my notes and forgot to add that around 10-12 brix it started to smell a little sulphur-y so I added 2 teaspoons DAP and stirred it a bit to get some oxygen in there and the smell went away the next day and stayed away. I pressed when it hit 1-2 brix after 5 days. It fermented down...

One of my first wines was a Napa Syrah from fresh grapes and it practically made itself. If you let it sit for a day, and can't sulphite it, be sure and keep it cold (below 60) to keep it from starting fermentation with the wild yeast. Sanitize ice packs or frozen 2 liter soda bottles and...

I added oak cubes to my mead and they floated for a little while but when I checked on it today, the cubes are sitting on the bottom of the carboy. How does that work? They are wood, right?

I am planning on making mead with the pomace from my Zinn this year. Has anyone else done this? Does anyone have any recommendations on a good honey flavor to use? I am thinking either wildflower or orange blossom.

Speaking of messes, while bottling a Syrah out of a 3Gallon Better Bottle, I didn't take into consideration that plastic is way lighter than glass and when there was about 1-2 liters left, the bottle tipped over and dumped the wine on my back!

I want to use some prunes for mouth-feel and noticed after buying them that they are preserved with Potassium Sorbate. Will boiling the plums lower the content of K-Sorb? Also, I have a plum tree, but the plums do not seperate from the pits. How important is it that they be pitted? I was...

OK. I added 1 tsp of DAP. Another thing that concerns me. Should I move it to secondary and cut off the air space while it takes a while to ferment out?

I have had 2 additions of Fermaid K energizer. Once at the begining and then again 5-6 days later when I got worried about it moving so slowly.

It's also 72 degrees. I think that is the perfect temp for this yeast.

It's 1.055 today. So I guess I shouldn't worry. It's a 6G batch, how much Fermaid should I add again? Or I could just keep checking every few days. The EC-1118 starter is bubbling away. Maybe I'll take a gallon off and see the difference in the final product. I don't have equipment for...

I am making a mead and it is taking a while to ferment. It started at 1.080 and is down to 1.060 today after 10 days. Is D-47 usually that slow with mead? I have added nutrients twice. First when I prepared the must and then again when it had been 6 days and it was only down to 1.070. I...

Do you use red or white grape juice?

What about using welches red concentrate instead of sugar? What impact does that have on the flavor? Positive or negative? I am having a real hard time finding Morello charries in the Bay Area of California, but Trader Joes has cherry juice with grape to sweeten it and dried cherries. Do...

Interestingly, when I soak a bucket in OxyClean the wine smell goes away, but when I do the same with a beer fermenting bucket, there is always a faint beer smell left. Only the plastic does this. My glass and stainless come as clean as the day I bought them.

the science of it is fun. I have successfully done it with beer yeast. And over time you could have quite a selection and not have to wait for a specific strain to come in the mail (I have 6 different strains banked for beer now). In spite of the 3 P's, what about minimum shipping cost on...

Has anyone used DME in a pinch for nutrient?

I have searched the forums and have not seen any posts of anyone trying to "bank" wine yeast. In beer making people do it from the primary or make a low gravity starter and propagate from that. I understand why you would not use yeast from a wine primary since it is stressed out from the high...