Recent content by shoelesst

Hello, jumping back on the site for the first time in years, so sorry if this has been discussed. Glass airlocks - I hate how the plastic ones discolor and are hard to clean inside the chamber. So I went and ordered glass ones. Crazy thing is, I couldn’t find them in the US. Found them in...

I use an equal mix of flour and water. It should be a pretty thick dough, not to wet. I put it in with a small putty knife and then clean up the excess.

Yes but I will say at some point you may doubt if you made a mistake. That is usually when you are reassembling the barrel with the clamps. It can be sloppy. Once you put that first ring on you realize everything is going to be ok and it's quite exhilarating. 2 years ago I did this to a 15...

https://youtu.be/kNsUcat_W8c Check it out.

Phil. Awesome! I just posted a video of me doing my barrel with a belt sander and then I saw your post. Very impressive. I would be great to take the still shots and make a video from it to put on YouTube. There are very few tutorials for home wine makers on barrel refurbishment. Nice work

Hello, Similar to to philbard, I also recondition my barrels at home. Phil uses a planer which is much more aggressive and really gets down to fresh wood. I use a belt sander which takes less wood off but is also slightly less scary to do. I made a video of one I did over the weekend. Enjoy...

Hello, We are now producing side cork branding irons and they are coming out very nicely. Here is one I just got for my Cabernet Sav-Zin blend. www.shapeways.com/shops/wine-cork-branding-irons.

Hello all - you may have seen this on another post I did, but I have been designing and selling 3D printed Cork branding irons. Very inexpensive and you can do as many or as few corks as you like. https://youtu.be/TnY6YQ6lJ_k I made a side cork brand that turned out great. Many more...

Hello, I was searching for a solution to marking my wine. I do not label unless I'm giving it away. Here what I can up with. The end of the video is my contact info and how to order. https://youtu.be/TnY6YQ6lJ_k Tony

I worry more about changes in temp than actual temp. Changes in temp/humidity can expand and contract your cork. If it's not near a heating/cooling source, and near any extreme, your fine.

Strawberries have a lot of histamine. Many people are allergic to histamines, much more than are allergic to sulfites. The test would be to eat a bunch of strawberries, which i'm sure you've done at some point. I you react from them then you know the answer. To test for sulfite reaction, eat...

I would go with a refurbished iPad.

Some factors would be if you are aging in glass or oak. Also, how many times did you rack. Racking can release a lot of CO2.

You wrote 3.09 originally, not 3.9. I would confirm the target SO2 with other sources. I doesn't seem right. 50 ppm seems like it should be right and would make sense all around.

That is Avery low pH. I would even say it is outside the normal range of 3.2-3.6. The lower the pH the less SO2 required. Since you are so low, that is the reason you are a very low input requirement of sulfite. I have never dealt with a pH that low, so someone else may be able to assist you...