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Hello, It's probably been a good month since I opened the cabinet to check on my wines - they've been bulk aging in the carboys since about Feb/Mar. Anyway I had an inclination to take a peek in there today and noticed the airlocks on two of them are full of wine. Is this bad?

They all kit wines, a Cab and Riesling from Winexpert and a Cab from U.S. Elite. I've tried to follow the instructions exactly except for the bottling part.

Did I ruin my wines? I have 3 different batches that were all due to be bottled, per instructions, back around February... I wanted to bulk age them so I just skipped that final step. Recently I realized maybe I should have racked the wine off the sediment back in February? I was planning...

yeah i spin 'em like a top. I don't understand sometimes they are off by .006. When I measured my Riesling tonight after putting in the f-pack they were only off by .002.

ugh I have the last two backwards. I did it again today and (A) shows .996, (B) shows .990. Either way they are consistently off by .006 except in 60 degree water they appear to be closer. :(

Ok this is just weird... When I measured the island mist, Hydrometer (A) read 1.000 Hydrometer (B) read 0.994. So... (B) was measuring lower. Last night I filled the test jar with water that was about 61 degrees (close enough). (A) read 1.002 (B) read 1.000 - so (B) still reads...

i gave it the twist and everything starting falling off. I believe the first hydrometer (the one I got from FVW) is the one that is more accurate. I tested them both a while ago and the first one was closer to 1.000 at 60 degrees. I'll test them again next time I need to use one. The...

k i'll twist it tomorrow morning. I thought it was strange how it formed into those layers like that.

I had an Island Mist Raspberry Merlot in secondary fermentation. I was supposed to check for stable specific gravity on Feb 5 but I did not get around to it until Feb 11. It was supposed to be at .996 but the main hydrometer said 1.000. However, backup hydrometer said .992 so I...

Thanks Bert. I posted that when I was at work then when I got home I realized that kit comes with an F-pack so I actually only needed a little bit of water.

I'm new to winemaking but I somehow find I have 4 different kits going now. One problem I have is when I rack from primary to carboy or carboy-to-carboy I lose so much liquid. I assume I'm supposed to stop siphoning once it goes from clear-ish wine to that cloudy stuff? Can I pour the last...

Is this something a total beginner could try? In the last 2 months I've started 4 different kits but never anything from scratch. There's a field near my house where I see a hundred thousand dandelions pop up every year. I've always wanted to try it (and try making it) ever since I heard...

Yesterday I started a W.E. Selection estate columbia valley riesling. After i put everything away I went mark my calendar for the next step and that's when I realized: I'm going out of town this Thursday! I actually have 3 different kits that all have something going on that day. Which of...

I just noticed this stuff today. I figure it must have happened when I carried the carboy from the kitchen to the closet a couple days ago. Should I try to get this stuff off? This is a US Elite Winery Cab Sauv kit.

Oh I should clarify I haven't even added the chitosan which calls for another 60 seconds of vigorous stirring.

Ok I have searched the internet and these forums, read the whole 'degassing' thread that is currently active but I must be an idiot that can't absorb the information I want I'm a step 3: Stabilizing and Clearing It says to add the k-meta and sorbate and then stir vigorously for 2 minutes...

Ok so this goes to show how uninformed I am but... Is the purpose of degassing to get out C02 that would otherwise prevent stuff from clearing and falling out of solution? So if the sparkaloid is effective then it should overcome any issues of not degassing (instructions never mention any...

it was in my kit. A bag of reddish powder that I added after fermentation was over. I guess it just gives the wine more tannins to help it age(?)

I have not found anyplace that sells them yet (mine was a gift). It's encouraging to hear "best cab I have ever tasted". Since I can't find any real info about these kits I sort of assumed it must be a cheap knockoff. I had already fermented about 15 days and then racked to a carboy, added...

See that's where I was confused... I keep reading about not introducing bacteria from my tap water back into the wine but I just put like 4 gallons of my tap water into the fermenter! And then I mixed these post tannins and k-meta etc up with 125 mL of more tap water and poured that in. Well...