beginner

Hi everyone! Has anyone had a foamy sludge at the top of their carboy after racking and degassing? I thought it was done fermenting and racked it into the carboy, degassed with whip and drill for about an hour. Went to the store and came back to clumps rising from the bottom. This is a...

I recently made my first batch, 5 gallons of Peach Wine. Primary fermentation for 2 weeks, then transferred to a carboy for a month. I had to back sweeten it so I also added the Potassium Sorbate before bottling to ensure fermenting has ceased. It turned out great and I'm happy with the result...

We are doing a test vineyard to see which varieties grow best before planting a much larger area with the "winners". How many varieties should we start with? We narrowed down our choices but still have 8 white and 10 red varieties we really want to try. The amount of research we put in is...

We are on a small homestead in Massachusetts. We will be starting a vineyard (20 - 30 vines) next spring. There are two areas we could use that get full sun. Unfortunately both are flat and one was pasture so it will require significant drainage. We are doing 5-6ft between vines and 6-8ft row...

Hello, My name is Aidan and I am 23 years old from East County San Diego, Southern California. I'd like to introduce myself. I am from a family who was part of bootlegging during The Prohibition. My Grandfather had a farm in Yuma AZ, and made wine in the same shed he grew his mushrooms in...

My first attempt at "grocery store" winemaking has been a success! At least as far as I am concerned. I used the approach and recipe as described by "Paw Paw" on YouTube and all I wanted was something that wasn't undrinkable. It actually turned out pretty good. At least it's comparable to...

Hi all! I'm from the Netherlands and I just started making wine, I hope. I just started without learning a lot about the process, and I just used a simple step-by-step tutorial provided with a starter wine-making kit. I came up with this idea because two friends of me just bought a house with...

Hello everyone, I hope you're all in good health and high spirits. I have registered in these forums primarily for this first post. I am dealing with a difficult situation and I need help with making a decision. About three months ago my father abruptly lost his battle with cancer. The loss...

Hi everyone, I started up my first batch of kit wine 3 days ago, I am about 80 hours into primary fermentation now. It is a 1 gallon winexpert cab sauv kit. It has been holding steady in the 75 degree range and there is still no action in the airlock. The lid of the bucket is locked tight. Could...

Can you store your wine in mason jars or does that not give a good enough seal?

If I remove the lid and pour it into a glass will oxygen ruin the rest of the wine? Or does that only happen if it’s exposed for a long time to oxygen? Thank you!!!

Hello wine enthusiasts. I’m a student and we’re doing a project about making wine. We decided to use black grapes for the wine. The process we did to make it was we used a juicer to extract the juice from the grapes, then we sifted it back and forth and what was left was this kind of frothy...

This is my first time making wine from fruit. I made from a kit once before and it turned out amazing, but I am now attempting to make from real fruit. I seem to be having quite a bit of trouble with fermentation and worry my wine might be ruined. Here is what has happened: I made my wine...

Hi, I'm Travis, and I'm brand new to this, so please take it easy on me lol. I don't even know if this question can be answered but at least I have some specifics for you. So here it goes.... Recently at work, I had started working with a new guy. I'm an electrician and I'm new to the field so...

Good day, though I've been brewing beer for about 4 years, I am brand spanking new to winemaking. I'm now busy with my first batch and will post my progress and comments here for anyone interested. Any comments and feedback welcome. So the first wine is a Winexpert Riesling Kit. I chose this...

I am new to winemaking. I have made wine once before, but it was from a kit. I recently began making blueberry wine from fresh blueberries. I am currently in the primary fermentation phase, or so I think. When I added my smashed blueberries and sugar, I got my specific gravity to 1.096 before...

Good day to you all:) I've just started wine making after many years of not wine making. I used to make it (from cheap kits) more than 30 years ago (wasn't very good though). Now I have (limited) time and to be honest, a little more resource and a better sense of taste... I've taken up the...

I am looking to start producing my own wine from grape juice to start. I have done lots of research and only have a few questions before starting. After the first fermentation (5-7 days) and the yeast begins to die and settle. Should I pour the wine into a new container to remove the dead yeast...

Hi all, Newbie here. Just curious what everyone thinks of ageing 100% fruit wines. I'm about to sweeten and bottle my second ever batch, a peach. My first was a strawberry that turned out pretty good. I liked it straight out of completion. I'm just trying to understand the benefits of ageing. I...

Hey everyone! I have found it so helpful to read through many of these forum posts as I just started my first kit almost four weeks ago - it was a Wild Grapes Premium CA Cabernet, four week kit. I'm so nervous about ruining the whole batch so thought I'd post a few questions here. Here's our...