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If the wife is happy life is a lot easier. :cool:

I had good luck recently tweaking a Fontana Cab kit for maximum flavor. Fontana is not an expensive kit so I wanted to tweak it up a bit. I under-diluted it so I was making only 5 gallons instead of 6. I added 2 lbs of Star Sapphire grapes (crushed) and 2 lbs of blackberries (crushed) to a...

OK so I have a question on this wine. It is currently in the secondary in the latter stages of clarifying. The wine was fermented to full dryness. RJS gives you a sweetening pack (simple sugar) with the kit. Anyone have any experience with this? Does adding the full pack make the wine...

Thanks everyone I have an RJS En Primeur Trio White kit on the way. Looking forward to it.

Thanks. I will look into those. Ed

Hi everyone. I am running low on white wine and need to make a batch soon. I have tried a Master Vintner Chardonnay 6 gallon kit and it turned out fine. However, is there anything better out there? Always looking for better! Would prefer to stay with a 6 gallon size. Also not really...

Thanks. The 1 gallon jug is the only one fermenting and it has never had sorbate in it. I will let it run - like I said I'm not in a hurry. The 3 gal carboy has no signs of fermentation - just waiting for it to clarify. Cheers

I fermented on the cinnamon stick. Not sure how old the pectic enzyme is. I ordered it early in 2021 for blueberry wine. It is the liquid kind.

Yeah, well the saga continues. The fermentation re-started a few weeks ago at a snail's pace, in both bottles. And the wine clouded up again. I let it run for a couple of weeks in the 3 gal carboy and then racked, K-Meta and sorbated it, and hit it with pectic enzyme again. It is slooowwwly...

My son who lives very far away from me sent me a wine kit for Christmas. It is a Fontana Cabernet kit. Ordinarily I would be thrilled, but I just made a batch of Cab a few months ago. Still have 22 or 23 bottles of Cab and 8 bottles of Cab / Merlot blend in the cellar. It was a Master...

Well, I do have a little bit of wine in a separate container that did not get the fining agents. So I could conduct a small, ahem, experiment (you know, serious scientific stuff, not just enjoyment ;)) and let you know. Although the clarified material does not lack any apple flavor. It's...

Update: Apple wine fermentation has pretty much finished. Hazy. Hit it with pectin enzyme and it cleared somewhat. After several days, added kiesalsol/ chitosan and it clear up a good deal. Seems more clear in the glass. Taste is pretty snappy as expected, not sweet which is fine with me...

Thanks for the responses. I don’t think it has stopped fermenting. It is producing one CO2 bubble thru the airlock every 4 seconds. This yeast is just slowed down. Also, didn’t mention it but I did freeze the cut apples prior to ferment. I will take your advice and ferment to dryness just...

I've never seen banana wine in any store. Congrats on how it turned out. Enjoy!

I have a question or two about an apple wine I currently have in the secondary. Here is a quick synopsis of what I have done so far. I'm still learning a lot and have only made a few wines so feel free to offer your guidance and help. You won't hurt my feelings. 14 lbs of Staymen Apples (old...

I'm Ed, I'm new here. Recently started making my own wines - love it. Why did I not do this sooner? Background: married, 63, chemical engineer heading into retirement soon. Worked in defense and electric power generation industry doing all sorts of things. My Mom and Dad and Grandparents made...

I made a small batch (3 gal) of blueberry wine. I don't have a press. I used a sanitized mesh plastic bag which I bought from a wine supply shop. Put the blueberries in the bag and squeezed it gently after fermentation was complete. Made sure to wash my hands well and I rinsed them off with...

When I'm making a "production run" such as starting a fermentation where I need to sanitize a LOT of stuff, I use Star-San in a gallon jug (and spray bottle). Never had any problems with it. And it doesn't smell bad like K-Meta. I use a spray bottle of K-Meta when I am doing something small...

I can't remember what's in my spray bottle but the reference book I have been using says 3 tablespoons (56g) per liter (33.8 ounces). What's in my spray bottle probably isn't that strong but it's enough to knock your socks off and you have to rinse well afterwards. I think 1/2 teaspoon per 32...

@Rembee I suppose with all these light, delicate flavors in the wine it is best to ferment at the low end of the temperature range so you don't boil them off. Do you recall what temperature you used? Thanks.