Recent content by KeithTheSnake

Okay, I could use your input here. I've been making wine from grape concentrate from the grocery store with great success -- up until my last batch that I bottled recently. I cracked open a bottle, and it was kind of watered down. It didn't have the full compliment of fruity goodness and...

Yeah, I agree that there are no hard and fast rules. Just general guidelines from those that have come before us. If you find a way that satisfies you, that's great. I really enjoy making and drinking these concentrate wines. They are ready to drink early. That, in itself, is satisfying...

I don't know, but I've learned a lot from the folks who've replied before me by lurking these very forums. They make a **** ton of wine, too, I'd bet. Why don't you want to ferment to dry, sorbate and camden, then backsweeten?

Here's my gear list: Three 7-gallon carboys Three 5-gallon carboys Four 1-gallon jugs One 1/2 gallon jug Two 7-gallon primary buckets Several airlocks and bungs Two racking tubes and wands One bottle filling wand Two hand corkers One Italian floor corker Various chemicals An army...

Congratulations! I'm a big fan of grape juice concentrate wines. I've only been at it since last fall, but I've bottled three batches of the stuff now. I've got another ready to rack again and stabilize for backsweetening; and I just started another batch Saturday in the primary. Good luck...

My hard cider just didn't turn out as I'd expected. First, it's still -- as per my evil plan. Second, well, it kinda tastes like a sweet white wine. Not really disappointed, but, meh. Next time, it'll be carbonate like beer.

Although my experience is quite limited, the worst I've made so far is a batch of hard apple cider -- and it aint too bad. My wife said it tastes like white wine, though. Anyhow, it's not all that great. I bottled it still. Good thing it was just a small experiment. The rest I'll mix with stout.

You're right. It wasn't very classy. Sorry. What I meant to say is that the buckets would probably work beautifully, and that some folks use far less appropriate containers for their wine making with some measure of success. I trust the OP will have great success with these food grade...

If prisoners can make pruno in ziplock bags in the sinks that rest on the back of their stainless steel toilets, you'll be just fine with the lemonade buckets. They're probably food grade, since they contained food. When you send your husband to work to get buckets, don't forget to make...

Best source for me has been recycling. I get to pick out the bottles I want and to leave the rest right there. Second best source was my nephew, who was a bartender, who'd save me bottles. Only thing is, I'd get some bottles that I really couldn't use. Third best source was the local...

Yeah, it's the tablets. They use a binder. I use them, though, because they're really simple to measure how much you need for a batch. I use this lovely marble mortar and pestal to crush the tablets into a fine powder, and it works just fine. Fear not.

Yeah, it was completely degassed at least a racking before I stabilized it with sorbate and camden. That's why I was so surprised that more sediment fell after I had stabilized it. I could understand how CO2 might hold the sediment in suspension, but I'm telling you that this stuff was a clear...

I have just bottled my first gallon experiment of still hard cider tonight. It all started as two gallons of apple cider and some premier cuve'e. I snagged the last two jugs of pasturized apple cider from our local Quality Dairy store at the end of the fall, and I'm glad I did. So, after a...

Uh, I hate to do this. I think you'll need more than 75 bottles for 15 gallons. But, you be the judge. I've never owned a new bottle. All of my bottles are at least once-used. I usually wash with bottle brush and dish soap, rinse, and then use a no-rinse sanitizer like One Step...

Thanks, Angie. That Keller recipe is one I researched after you turned me on to birch bark wine. I'll give it a try. I don't know, but the spikes for collecting maple syrup might do the trick just fine. That's what I plan to use. I'm going to try collecting sap maybe this coming weekend...