There are as many ways to make wine as their are wine makers. The wine still turns out OK. I just prefer pectic enzyme or bentonite. I was just pointing out that pectic enzyme is not very viable above 75 degrees. If you do use it above 75 and the wine doesn't clear as well as it should it is...
Many wine makers use potassium metabisulphate for cleaning. I use one step because I get lazy. Using one step I don't have to rinse afterwards. However, after I clean a carboy and get ready for it to be stored for later use I throw in a few whole campden tablets, pour in a couple cups of water...
One thing about clearing I have noticed. For years before I added tannin to all my wine I noticed that my wines aged on oak were much clearer than the wines not aged on oak. I had thought that the oak was soaking up the garbage. Actually I found out the tannin not only makes wine keep longer...
In the primary. If you do use it use a slurry mix first otherwise it will be a mud ball as you add it. I draw out a few ounces of wine and get it well mixed before re-adding to the wine.
YIPES!!!!!!If you follow those directions your wine will taste like crap in a few weeks. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER add potassium sorbate without adding campden. Your wine will take on a geranium flavor i.e. taste. That is in Jack Keller's wine 101.
74 is a pretty good temp to ferment at. No problem there. However, many wine makers have wine that doesn't clear very well or not at all. They use everkleer later etc. That is because pectic enzyme is no longer viable at 75 and above. If you plan on fermenting at higher temps you may want to...
Wade, How do you determine the difference between the sugar in the fruit and sugar in the juice that is in the primary before it breaks down without a refractometer? Do we guess at that measurement? Seems to me all fruits off the vine do not have the same Brix. Am I missing something?
Those #2 stoppers are 5/8 inch on the bottom and 3/4 inch on the top and you can get them solid or drilled for an air lock. They run about 60 cents each and made of rubber.
I started making wine in 1973. What may seem very mundane and simple to me may be overwhelming to someone who has not made wine before. Sometimes my thoughts are along the line of why don't you read a wine book? But I can remember my first wine and everything was turning to crap. I panicked. To...
I agree with Wade E. You do not want rocket fuel. That is not the purpose of making wine. Wine is to enjoy with your meal or snacks etc. If you have not made wine before I would not recommend you jump in with both feet and try to make up your own recipe, or maybe even use fresh or frozen fruit...
Cherryfrench,
starting SG minus ending SG divided by .00736 equals approx alcohol.
You have just discovered that all fruit off of the vine are not equal in sugar. If you plan on making a lot of wine with fresh or frozen fruit a good investment would be an ATC refractometer. Squeeze that...
I found out about plastics a couple of years ago when spraying chemicals. Different plastics for different things. The bottles may be good for milk but not alcohol.
Walmart has a "Sams 100% concord grape juice" in gallon containers. It only has absorbic acid for a preservative. Comes right out of the container at an SG of 1.045 (many manufacturers set their SG at that level for fruit juices) I started one of these in July of this year and I used 6 gallons...