Recent content by sweed

By adding a little sugar boiled in a little water every couple days. For my we chocolate raspberry port I added half the sugar in the kit once it was fermenting pretty good. I added the second half of the sugar 2 days after the first addition. Some people will do 3 or more additions as to not...

Yeah I bought the kit last November from Northern brewer. I'm thinking of aging it for 3 months, then bottling it after fortifying it with some brandy so it can age together.

I checked the gravity last Wednesday(not Sunday) and it dropped to 1.008, yesterday again 1.008 so I racked to degas it, added my clarifying stuff, and added my f pack to raise the SG to 1.026. This stuff tasted really good. Once it clears I'll rack it back to my carboy to age for a while...

Yup, another one of these. I started at 2/8/15. This is my third wine kit. Pino grigio in bottles, cabernet sauv clearing, and the port in the fermenter. I added my dextrose in 2 parts a few days after it started fermenting. SG's were at 1.060 and 1.046, and they rose to 1.066 and 1.050...

Those oak chips will definitely get a lot smaller. I was surprised the first time I used them in a Russian imperial stout I made a few years ago. Man that turned out awesome after a year in bottles.

I just checked my cabernet a little more than 3 weeks in the primary and is at .991. I was going to rack to clear it today, but I just moved last month and tossed my racking tube. I also homebrew. I think I'm going to age this 3-6 months in the carboy.

I bottled my batch last Monday, along with a Centennial IPA. The sample tasted great. I brought a bottle down to my brother and sister in laws for Thanksgiving weekend. Everyone liked it! I know thats very very soon, but it tasted good! I'm sure it'll get better and better. Don't mind the fun...

Racked it last night to a bottling bucket, degassed, added the 2 packets, degassed, added the clearing liquid, degassed again, racked to a carboy. Went down to .992, I'll bottle it in 2 weeks. I tasted a sample and.. tastes like wine!! Not bad for a couple weeks ago! I racked to bottle bucket...

^^ right. There were a bunch of bubbles so I guessed around 1.020 adjusted after the warmer temp. I wasn't looking for an exact reading, just to see where about out was. Today it's at .994. There is still a little action in the airlock, so I'll take another reading on Wednesday and if it's the...

It's been a week and I took a hydrometer reading; it's down to ~1.020. Directions say it's supposed to be under 10 after 5-7 days. It's still fermenting at about 75* so I am not worried. I'll wait another week before I transfer it for clearing.

Both! But I meant to say I've added to my high alc beers to keep the yeast active and chugging along. I've been meaning to make a mean barley wine and really doing this. Good thing for WLP099 super high gravity yeast :h Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone!

Ok... I thought directions called to closed the lid shut and put on an aitlock, which I did last night. Is this wrong?? I think after some reading that I'll ferment it dry in the primary. I'll be back Monday night, I'll check the gravity then.

I am guessing the room temp from the lhbs was easily 72*, so the juice was already warm, and when I added the hot water to dissolve the bentonite (?), my warm water I added to the juice bag, and my topping off water was higher than normal. That is one thing I am going to watch next time. Other...

I just started my first kit least night and I was worried about racking it to a secondary on time (I won't be around this weekend). Coming from beer brewing, you just leave it in the primary for a few weeks to a month, then bottle, basically. If I can skip a step then all the better. I figured...

I decided the other day to try some wine making out. My girlfriend really liked the idea, so now I have a batch of the WE world vineyard pinot grigio in my bucket, waiting for the temperature to drop so I can add the yeast. We'll make a pinot noir next and then a port. I also have a...