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I've been playing around with hard cider (alcohol % around 5-6%) lately. I was on another forum when someone posted pictures of a carboy of cider with a layer of black at the top. If I remember right, the black kept spreading. Also, there was too much headspace in his carboy, as well. If I...

I haven't taken the SG yet. I haven't made a batch in several months and my hydrometer has gone MIA. I haven't added yeast yet, so I'll pick up a new hydrometer today and measure. If it's too low I'll add sugar. I guessed they were ready by sweetness and lack of bitter flavor. I could very...

I've been making fruit wines since last winter. Only one of my final bottled wines was bad. Not spoiled, just bad (white welche's wine... no flavor). So, last spring when my mom mentioned that she had a grape vine growing decoratively in her yard and they'd never done anything with the...

The blackberry jam wine was based on this recipe I got from another forum: 3 jars(16 oz) Walmart seedless BB jam 1 lb sugar 1 tsp nutrient 2 tsp acid blend 1 tsp pectic enzyme 1 campden 1/8 tsp tannin cuvee However, as I'm prone to doing, I overdid something. Sugar. I didn't...

Excellent points, guys, I don't think I was specific enough in what I was looking for. I like the complexity of red wines. I like trying to get all the flavors I can from the smell and the taste, and I like a heavy taste in my mouth and a rich sense of the tannins. Should I be looking into...

As far as my taste in wine, Cab is almost always a winner, a good syrah is a delight, most Malbec's are great (although the bottle I bought for tonight ALMOST tastes like something alive (cherry?) has been around it... earthy, smoky granit-y are all great, but SOMETHING floraly/fruity would be...

OK, i'm about 9 months into my fruit wine experience. I've made some fruit wines that were pretty good. Skeeter Pee, a lemon wine that is a more traditional wine than skeeter pee, blackberry jam wine, a couple welches varieties (my white welch's was the only "bad" wine I've made so far) and...

So a few weeks ago I bottled my first wine, 4 gallons of skeeter pee. I've been enjoying it since. The other night I opened a bottle and it tasted funny. No lemony taste. Not as refreshing. Huh. I was concerned that I'd bottled poorly or made some other error. Then I recalled that I'd...

I've made up manufacturer's warning labels for the back bottles of my skeeter pee: Warning 1)Consumption of this wine may lead to laughter when shared with friends. 2)May cause allergic reaction among those who don't consider this "real" wine. 3) Don't lean too far over a campfire when...

I'm also pretty new, with only one batch bottled and three in various other stages. I'll throw out my thoughts, but they're only worth what you paid for them. Some are things the way I figured them and some are just from reading the forums here. 1) Consensus I've found says 3 cans of...

Just bottled my first batch last week. I can't see it sitting 9-12 months I'll have to take your word for it :p

I did my first bottling last week. It was skeeter pee that had been 5 gallons total, 3 in 1 carboy 2 gallons in jugs. Used more bottles than I had anticipated so I didn't bottle one gallon. I've got a camping/fishing trip coming up in a few weeks, considering just bringing the gallon. BTW...

I'm a new guy, but I'll give a go at the latest question. The easiest way I justify avoiding o2 is thinking of opening a bottle of wine, having a couple glasses, then popping the cork in for a week. A lot of stuff happens to the flavor in a week. Usually not good. That's from a minimal...

Thanks for the input. I initially got into this hobby thinking it would be a great use for the huge amount of fruit our trees give in the fall. Then I started with a couple batches, and now the idea of waiting 'til fall is killing me. Going to need something to fill the void. I don't...

First off, sorry if concentrates go under juice buckets, I wasn't sure. Has anyone made Cabernet (or other reds) from the concentrate HomeWinery.com sells? They seem to be an amazing deal for a product that is supposed to make 5 gallons. Would it be better to concentrate it to 3 gallons for...

Just started into wine making about 5 weeks ago. Shortly after starting I found the skeeter pee recipe. I was just taking my concord wine off the slurry so I started a skeeter pee. Tonight I backsweetened and held out a tall glass for immediate use (Sunday is my Saturday). This is GREAT...

Thanks for the help. Less than 12 hours after dumping in the slury I've got a bubbling bucket of pee under my kitchen counter! (2 months ago that sentence would have caused me serious concern).

I've actually never tried concord. I have a hard time branching to much that isn't cab or syrah. I just enjoy those two a lot. When it came time to start a red wine, I, well, was too impatient to order a good kit. Concord's just easy to come by.

Awesome, thanks. Yeah, I'm really excited to try the concord wine I've started (threw in a pound of blackberries on a whim). I also have a bunch of fruit wines I want to do when I can harvest my fruit trees. I'm considering visiting some of the many local wineries for some fresh juice so I...

I looked at the web site and after instructions it just says to add the slury. Is there something else I need to do? I'd like to get started ASAP. I don't have any finished wine yet and I'm getting anxious to drink something I've made.