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I thought I would share a gadget I made with our 3D printer. It's a clip to hold the hoses for the All In One vacuum pump. I've had one for 10(?) years and the weight of the hoses would always cause them to shift as I was bottling. I bottle alone and like to cork in batches so it was difficult...

I took the plunge as many others have and started a small vineyard this spring. 75 vines total, 25 each of Marquette, Petite Pearl, and LaCrescent. My neighbor put in 50 Petite Pearl vines as well. We planted in the steady rain we had two weekends ago as that is when the vines came and I had...

I'm planning on splitting out ~2.75 gallons of my Chilean reds this year to try a port. I did not arrest fermentation to retain residual sweetness but rather let all the wine ferment out dry. My question is do ports go through MLF? Or is the "extra" acidity desired and typically helps balance...

$36 for the 168 bottle chrome wire wine rack w/ free shipping to your nearest staples store...

Morewine has italian floor corker on sale, $110+shipping. Mine saved my marriage, I heartily recommend it to everyone!

I had my Wyeast MLB poop out on my Chilean wine this spring so for the fall I am going with VP41. I got the 1 step version of it for $11 @ Ritebrew vs. $30+ for the direct innoculation version. Rehydration procedure seems pretty straight forward, I think my only question at this time is the...

Has anyone used enocubes? They appear to be a blend of French and American oak cubes. Here's one example. Looks like they have different blends for red vs. white, and fermentation vs. aging vs. finishing...

I have 14 gallons of a Carmenere/Merlot blend undergoing MLF. The Carmenere was Chilean juice buckets and Merlot was Italian frozen must. I co-fermented in a brute can and used RC212 yeast. Primary ferment went well, I thought I had a slight sulfur issue but after adding more yeast nutrient it...

Had another great craigslist find today. Got a 168 bottle Seville wine rack for $40. Turns out the lady and her husband were getting out of winemaking. She threw in all of her winemaking stuff for free. 1 six gallon Mexican carboy Two handle corker Corks Brand new auto siphon (unopened...

Just did my first paper chromatography test to get a baseline for my Chilean juice buckets fortified with merlot must. Question is what do people with the 1/4" of developer solution in the big round jar? I believe you can reuse it, correct? Can I leave it in the jar for a month? Or should I try...

I've got a couple of juice buckets on order and started to look at my calendar and notice a scheduling conflict. I'll be picking up my juice buckets on 4/11 (Friday). Then traveling the next day for overnight stay with family. Back home that Sunday but then leaving Thursday (4/17) after work and...

Looking to do juice buckets and/or frozen must this spring. This will be my first attempt at non kit grape wine. I have a good PH meter already (Milwaukee 102) and have been making a list of supplies I need. The one that pops out the biggest is the $55-70 for a full paper chromatography kit...

For all you Wisconsinites, where can we get Chilean juice buckets? I live south of Madison and work on the west side. I've tried calling the Wine and Hop Shop, talk to someone who said they don't know if they were getting them this year but said they would call me back (never called back...

I received a Milwaukee ph meter (MW102) for Christmas. I am ashamed to say I have not gotten to play with yet but hope to rectify that soon! My question is around the buffer solutions that came with the meter. They are in small foil bags, similar to a capri sun. They do not appear to be...

I have seen several posts about people washing bottles in the dishwasher. Does that actually clean the insides? To me it seems that the neck is very narrow and little water/soap would get all the way up.

I got a bunch of pears from a co worker. I cut them and up froze for a couple of weeks. I pulled them out last Friday and let them thaw some. I mashed/crushed by hand best I could (no press/crusher). Layered in my pectin enzyme and k-meta, sugar to SG 1.090 from 1.055 (measured by refractometer)...

I have 5 - 6.5 gallon carboys for sale. Actual capacity as measured with a large measuring glass is 7.5 gallons. Used originally to store sulfuric acid, none have been used for wine or beer making (so far...). Each comes with a threaded cap, very handy for transport. They take a #7 stopper. And...

I bought several carboys awhile back. Used to hold sulfuric acid for a chemical company. Marked as 6 gallons on the bottom. Well, they are more like 7 gallons. Bummer as I mostly do kit wines. I'll probably use them as primaries for beer. Might come in handy if I ever move to fresh grapes.

I stole a small sample last night of my WS OVZ I started this past spring. Amazing! (this is my first high end kit) Question is, should I oak it? I have made zero tweaks to this kit other than bulk aging since April or so. I am planning on bulk aging for a year.

Has anyone made a home made grape pack from fresh grapes, frozen it, and then use later in the year for kit wines? I did some searching and nothing really relevant turned up. Here are the red varieties I think I can source locally: Foch Millot Frontenac Marquette St Croix Was...