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I forgot to mention that I use warm/hot-ish water from the tap first, then the boiling water. I've done well over 100 bottles this way and have cracked exactly 0 of them.

You all are making this much more work than it needs to be. Fill a kettle of water and boil it. Pour the boiling water into the bottle without letting the label get wet. Wait a while. The glue should be softened/melted and you should be able to peel the label off in one single intact piece. Use...

Well, my local commercial winery uses argon so there must be something to it. :)

Yes, that's how I pull/hold a vacuum. I've been doing the vacuum+argon method for a few years now.

Most of what the vacuum pulls out would indeed be argon. But I'm pulling any remaining oxygen too and it's not going to be a perfect vacuum. Argon is heavier than air, so once things settle it's the remaining argon against the wine, and remaining O2 above that. At least that's my thought...

FYI, the "acid blend" I have is from LD Carlson. 50% Citric acid, 25% Malic acid and 25% Tartaric

Well, I have each individually as well as an "acid blend" which I got before understanding that it was probably better to have each individually. :D So I guess I can do anything now.

Heh... well, for understandable reasons I don't have a week. I'd like to pull a bottle or two for tomorrow. :D Frustratingly I cannot find a consensus on this. Some authoritative websites say tartaric is dominant in cranberry. Others say citric. Others say there's significant malic. I don't...

Hello. I have a carboy of cranberry I made from juice a couple years ago. Testing the pH I'm finding it a bit low-acid (pH 4.0) and probably should be tweaked. 1) What's a good target pH for cranberry wine? 2) Should I use acid blend or tartaric acid?

Instead of wasting money on an overpriced SodaStream, I just use a standard CO2 tank, regulator, and quick-release bottle adapter. Connect a plastic soda bottle with whatever I want to (re)carbonate, open up the valve, shake it around a bit, and voila.... carbonated. Refilling the CO2 is a...

I have experienced fruit flies with other kits. Depends on the environment. I just dealt with them with a trap, which managed to eradicate them. If you're having more flies w/ FWKs I imagine there's something about the higher "freshness" of the kits that might be more-appealing to flies.

I blanket w/ argon then pull a vacuum with the AIO pump. Then I don't worry about headspace at all.

Can you link me to the one you're using? Every one I've found explicitly emphasises that it should not be used for compressed air and should only be used for spraying liquids.

I'm wondering 1) is it possible, and then 2) if so, what adapters do I need? I'm trying to refill something like this: ...from something like this: I already have the big tank, but I'd like the convenience of the small one upstairs from where the large tank is stored.

Ugh. Taps I won't use and don't want really make me nervous. I wish more large fermenting vessels could be bought without a tap/spigot. Like the Speidel 30L (which has a spigot but I'd prefer it didn't).

Oops, I misread and thought you said chokeberry. Your are correct: aronia berries and chokecherries are different. Chokeberry is another name for aronia berries.

Watching, as I'm on the hunt for chokeberries around where I am at the moment.

They're the same thing. :D

I pour boiling water into the bottle and leave it for a few minutes. Then I usually can peel the label off in one piece without leaving any label behind. This is a lot cleaner and less messy than soaking the whole bottles which can cause the labels to break down. Sometimes there's some adhesive...

I've tried adding similar wines, glass marbles... even looked into inflatable bags/balloons. I finally settled on a combo of blanketing/expunging with argon then pulling a vacuum. Now I don't worry about how much headspace I have.