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This is exactly my question! It sounds like you could rack off initial lees carefully and get CO2 protection once ML starts, or you could leave it on the lees until ML is done. I am trying to decide between these! Additionally, I have some Acti-ML that is so old, it's before the concept of...

That's awesome! But we are working with potato masher volumes!

Thanks! That is the exact tool we are using. I guess everything's OK with our new baby.

Hi there wine folk, Me and my spouse got free buckets of Napa Cab Sauv and Merlot grapes unexpectedly so we are making our first wine from grapes! I've done juice buckets and various fruit wines, so I know basic processes but not specifics about starting from grapes. The Merlot grapes were...

I've got 21 lbs of U-pick strawberries for my dessert wine adventure! A couple questions as I start processing them. I plan to freeze them before getting into the wine making. 1. Do you slice them or ferment whole? 2. Do you mash them in the fermentation bucket or treat them gently? 3. Does...

Cool, I might try that! Thanks for the info on no seeds!

Ahh, I see what you mean, that it was confusing. I haven't quite determined the recipe, and also, I don't know how to make a dessert wine. But looks like there are some trade-offs, like: Use mostly moscato concentrate initially to get to the right SG...but too much and it might overwhelm the...

Thanks for your comment, sour_grapes. I guess one raises the sugar at the beginning, either by adding sugar or moscato concentrate or a combination thereof. It sounds as if you are recommending against this idea.

Hi Folks, I'm a week or two away from strawberry season and I'm making up a recipe for my first dessert wine. I was thinking of getting one of those concentrate kits for 1 gallon of moscato and using them together. Maybe go for 25% of the alcohol to come from the concentrate and the rest from...

Got it, thanks!

I just got a Chilean Chenin Blanc bucket. I haven't done buckets in a while--I forget, should I stir it everyday one it starts fermenting? Thanks!

Thank you, Scooter! My recipe added very little water, so the peaches decided on the volume, not me--I was lucky to get as much as I did! I am beginning to collect a bunch of 1 and 0.5 gallons--the next racking will be into smaller containers, as you suggest. I don't like the way any of my...

Patience is a bear! It's worse when things are going OK.

HI there, I have 3 gallons of wine from fresh/frozen peaches that I racked to secondary 2 days ago. I added a little bentonite at that point. SG went from 1.080 to 1.010 over 7 days at 66 degrees F with Montrachet. So far, it tastes nice but very hazy and gassy (I added a lot of pectic enzyme...

"What acid would you recommend to lower the pH?" In my wine club, people recommend using the acid that is predominant in the fruit, as shown here: http://www.brsquared.org/wine/CalcInfo/FruitInf.htm But tasting is important, as others have noted. You might like the taste of ctiric more than...

Chai/orange and orange/chocolate sound like delicious "saves." What do you use for the chai and the chocolate, and how do you add them?

How to use it. Also when it says "from the alcohol," I guess that must mean some manufacturer makes the ester from the alcohol. I assume if you are making wine at home, you don't get much other than ethanol.

Hi tradowsk...in my orange bochet, I think there is a hint of caramel, but it is light. Still, I like it a lot. I haven't made a lot of meads, and it's nice to have one that doesn't have any nasty flavors. It won 2nd place in nouveau competition in my wine club, but the senior fruit wine judge...

Desolus, even though I extremely don't get that, it's super cool.

Yeah, I think it's that, but your link helped me find Neuer Wein. I think that's the term I saw. I'm making a faux version with second run blackberry goop.