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I already liked you on facebook :) So I have now followed you on Twitter. :) Fingers crossed.

I recently inherited some batches of Elderberry wine when a friend of the family passed away. The wine was made from berries he grew in his back yard, and it appears the batches are marked Nov 11th 2011. The wine tastes great, a bit sweet, but there is 'some' alcohol content from what I can...

Kit doesn't call for any fortify. I'll give it a good stir and leave it a couple more days. Temp is steady at 26, or about 78degF with the brew-belt on. What's the benefit of putting a bottle of brandy in? Just to bump the alc content?

The taste is sweet, and you can tell it's a little stronger than my average wine of 12-13%. Still a strong CO2 taste, but I'm thinking that's to be expected. Guess I'm worried if I dump the flavour pack in now, and start the rest of the process (stabilize/degass/clearing) do I risk...

Well, the kit said starting SG should be in the 1.110-1.125 range, so I was just outside the high range. I chalked it up to margin of error in my eyesight. 1.125 should yield 17%. Is that not normal for a Port? At this point, how do I rescue it? If I continue on with the instructions, will...

Picked up a Cru Select White Chocolate Port. Started as per the directions with a reading of 1.126 SG. It fermented nice and strong after 1 day. Racked to secondary on day 14. However, the reading was still 1.012. It's been in the secondary for 2 days now, and still reading 1.012. I have had the...

Forgot to update this one... Actually picked up the kit earlier this month, and have gone through the first 10 days in the primary. This kit looks very promising. The juice is a deep burgundy colour, with a great aroma. The kit comes with toasted Euro Oak cubes (are these re-useable?). Racked to...

Bottled up the batch tonight. I had stabilized with Pot Sorbate, and clarified for 14 days with isinglass. Then filtered with a #2 pad. Turned out nice and clear. I decided on 375ml clear bottles to show off the nice honey colouring. Of course, I had a 3/4 bottle left over, so can't let that go...

What was the #1 song the day you were born :) http://joshhosler.biz Mine's The Joker lol -= Some people call me the space cowboy =-

Going to be picking up a Blackberry/Merlot kit this afternoon, and I was wondering what the safe way would be to increase the alcohol content without ruining the balance? The last Mist kit we got was a little light (6%?) and we'd like to bring it up to maybe 9 or 10%. Can we just add plain white...

LoL.... It's proof that Martians washed their cars ;) :cw

Heh, and when in doubt, if they really get on your nerves, you can run them over with the garbage truck :)

Well, you can likely get a lot of the equipment used if you check around the bargain sites (kijiji/ebay etc...) or buy a kit from a local store like this one: http://store.defalcowines.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=21253&category_id=309 Then you'll also need a Wine kit (juice...

Snippet from Wiki: "Possible toxicity of PET An article published in Environmental Health Perspectives in November 2009 presented evidence that PET may yield endocrine disruptors under conditions of common use. Possible mechanisms include leaching of phthalates as well as leaching of...

Just reserved my KenRidge Showcase Italian Primitivo/Syrah limited edition kit :) Can't wait!!! WooT! Only comes in March though :( Late xmas gift. From Vineco's site: Italy, Sicily, Primitivo/Syrah - The Region: Located just off the toe of Italy, this large island with hilly and...

I picked up one of these bad boys: http://store.defalcowines.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=19927&substring=vacuum And I'm amazed how well it works. Even after the 3 days of degassing with the drill wand. The pump fits right over a #7 bung, and then I just pump it up about 30-40...

Moral of the story is... Glass Carboys are great for making wine. But don't store pennies in em... ;) I'd worry about scratches in the plastic jugs... I keep reading about bacteria that grow inside those tiny scratches that are difficult to get out.

That would be Mitch Hedberg :) Great comedian. May he rip...

So if I vacuum degas it at this stage, will I need to re-stabilize and re-clarify?

Well, I guess I didn't beat it enough lol. I'm at day 27 now, and decided to give it a taste before the final rack/filter/bottle, and there's still tingly gas in it, and it's giving it an off taste :( I already added the clarifiers 6 days ago... can I still degas, or will I need to clarify again...