Recent content by flapbreaker

I think my starting sg was 1.13 I don't recall the yeast type. I think it was made by red star which I was only familiar with as a baking brand.

That's very interesting. This is the first kit I've made that's called for chaptalation. The instructions suggest that th sg should continue to drop after this but by your account that would not be typical. I guess I'll just continue on then. Thanks for the input.

I have had this wine in the secondary for about 10 days. The SG has been stuck at 1.020 for over 10 days. Is it safe to say that it's done fermenting? I'm not suppose to stabilize until it's under 1.010 but I have my doubts that it will get there. Should I just proceed and hope it turns out ok...

I am making a kit wine (wine expert raspberry port) that is notorious for a stuck fermentation after chaptalisation. I didn't find that out before hand unfortunately. Basically my gravity is stuck at 1.024 I have tried increasing the temp, I've stirred the wine up. The confusing part to me is...

Good to know. Thanks.

I'm going to try some superkleer. It is possible that I didn't have all the co2 out when I used the fining agents from the kit.

It seems to smell and taste fine. Oddly, i noticed that if I pointed the flashlight too long and from too close of a distance the "stuff" would start to rise. This is the first kit I've made that used grape skins so maybe this is just some pectin/protein or something. I guess I'll just wait...

I made a kit port wine by Mosti Mondiale. I've followed the directions except I didn't bottle it yet because there's still floaty stuff in the lower half of the carboy. Some of it will settle and I've racked twice. Each time I rack the wine seems clear and there doesn't seem to be as much stuff...

I guess I'm going to have to bulk age this for a while. The wine at the top is clear but there is white-ish fluffy-ish sediment at the bottom and some suspended along the walls. This is after a couple rackings. I used a little of the F pack to top the carboy off and also added the sorbate...

I have a couple glass and one plastic. I'm a bit disappointed with the plastic. One thing I do not like about plastic is when I need to move it the walls will flex and move are through the airlock. I don't like drawing air into the carbon. The other thing is if you want to use a pump to degas...

I don't know if the more experienced members will agree or not but I have always used vodka in my airlock and have never needed to top them off. I figure if I get a little vodka in my wine no big deal.

Well, I had it much cooler than 74 degrees. Ultimately I think I didn't degas enough. I decided to rack to another carboy and degas again. So far so good.

Having trouble clearing my wine. Been in the carboy after fining agents for two weeks. It's possible I didn't degas enough. Should I degas again or just wait it out? Thought about adding super kleer but just not sure which route to go since this problem is new to me.

I noticed that the instructions say if you plan on bulk aging to hold off on the clarifying agents. Not sure why. I can also confirm that you cannot fit the f-pack into the 3 gallon carboy. At least I can't.

I've never "oaked" anything. How long should I keep the oak chips in? Just not sure if it's possible to over do it.