[Lonnie]

Hello all, hope everyone had a fun New year, i just finished step 3 stabilizing and clearing on my Merlot Selection on 12 -28-07,after adding all the remaining contents #2, 3 and 4 as the instructionsinstructed i stirred with my drill and mixer i didn't hardly get any foam ( i stirred the heck out of it)like i thought i would, is this ok and when i topped the carboy off i used some Merlot i had but that still didn't get me to 2 inches from the bottom of the bung so i added aprox. 1 1/2 cups of cool water to get me to the 2" mark it left about1 1/2 inchesfoam at the top is this ok,, the foam is still there 1-1-08 Thanks for your help.
Lonnie

[grapeman]

It all sounds fine from here. Did you give it a good stirring with the drill. Start and stop and even reverse the drill. Do that for a couple minutes and let it settle down then repeat three or four times. The worse that can happen if not degassed enough is that there will be a few bubbles in the finished wine and if you decant before serving, that will take care of them. As you gain experience, these things will become second nature to you.

[rgecaprock]

Welcome to the Forum, Lonnie !!!





Ramona

[PolishWineP]

It sounds like you're right on the right track! Keep up the good work.

[scotty]

I have only made 2 kits but i noticed they didn't foam near as much during DE gassing
Neither of the kits used 1118 which is apractice I'm still stuck in.
I don't have enough experience or a palate that can distinguish differences yet.

[Lonnie]

Thanks all, making wine is fun
Lonnie

[joeswine]

LONNIE, it all takes time and always your in that learning curve,always,if you ever get to the point were you think you finely got it, then you can start thinking outside the traditional wine box,and start crafting your own style and types of wine,then that learning curve starts all over again and the newness to the craft comes back to you and the fun

[OldWino1]

Lonnie welcome to a very good hobby. And a good group of people. Newbie people are treated just as oldsters. Plus I have found that and OldWino can be taught new tricks from in here. Now that u have made some try to let them age before comsuming them up. The stuff does like being in a bottle for a while. Hey if your short on room just think of the floor in the closets or the shelf up top I have 3 year old bottles that have been stored in the wine racks i have decorated around the house. We keep our houses a pretty constant temp 65 winter and 76 in summer mine age pretty good. 3 plus months for white and 6 months for the reds for aging before you get into those bottles

[Motomike]

This is a great hobby! I just racked my WE Lodi II Cab last night and tried a little sample (I am pleased with the progress) My wife loves it too as we both love wine. Gave Pinot Noir bottles as Christmas presents and everyone loved it. Getting ready to start a Super Tuscan this week. My wine cellar definitely keeps me at home.