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I searched, but really couldn't find an adequate answer. I have a lot of apfelwein going right now, and once fermentation is complete, I would like to bulk age some of it. I use pasteurized store-bought juice that contains some ascorbic acid, and follow pretty good sanitation practices. The...

My wife and I received a gift card to Pier One from some friends. Now, I'm really not one for curios and knick-knacks, but I decided to go along and take a look anyway. So, we're in the store for awhile and make our way to the vase section where I spot, on the bottom shelf, a +/- 3 gallon...

For some silly reason, I bottled most of my initial test batch of Apfelwein as a still wine, with a mere two 22 oz bottles being bottle conditioned. Turns out that it is an order of magnitude tastier when carbonated. So I bought a Carbonator device that converts a 1 or 2 liter plastic soda...

Ok, I know that they are thickeners and mouthfeel enhancers. But in my quest to put together an f-pac for my blackberry wine (after ruining my gallon of choice berries by being an idiot...grrrr.....), I've been shopping up syrups, jams, concentrates and whatnot. A lot of them contain either guar...

After ruining the gallon of hand-picked blackberries I had set aside in the freezer for my f-pac, I purchased a 36oz. can of blackberry puree. Ingredient list is blackberry puree, single strength (Vintner's Harvest). I don't really plan on cooking this down any, just hitting it with pectinase...

....I get a non-start. Here's the recipe, shooting for 3 gallons: 3-32 oz (by weight) jars of Smucker's strawberry jam. No sorbate or benzoate preservatives. 2-375mL bottles of E.D Smith's strawberry syrup. No sorbate or benzoate. 1 lb. honey. "Soup" of three large ripe bananas. 9L water 5tsp...

People who put their winemaking equipment away dirty are certainly frustrating. Backstory; I bought four carboys (two-3-gallon, a five, and a six gallon) two 3-gallon Better Bottles, an unopened acid test kit and some related equipment from a Craigslist ad. It was a really good buy, but all...

My wife and I both love raspberries. While wandering through the local Grocery Outlet, I came across some E.D. Smith all natural raspberry syrup. Ingredient list: Raspberries, sugar, liquid sugar(?), lemon juice. Sounds like a good start to me. :hug So into my primary went: 6 bottles...

I'm positively beaming right now. My batch of Apfelwein just went into the bottles today. Nice and clear, with great color. 5 liter batch yielded 4 750 ml bottles of still wine, two 750 ml bottles that I added dextrose to for carbonation and one 375 ml bottle that was pretty cloudy, so I just...

Just for giggles, I like to throw my recipes up for posterity and critiquing. Here's what I came up with for a cyser. 6 qt. Mott's 100% apple juice. Contains a little ascorbic acid. 2-1/2 lbs wildflower honey. 1 cup brown sugar. 1 tsp. pectic enzyme. 1/2 tsp acid blend. 1 tsp. yeast nutrient. 1...

In researching for a cyser recipe and method, I noticed that the great majority of apple wine/cider/cyser makers start in a closed primary with an airlock. Is it to deliberately slow the fermentation for an easier to clear end product or to bring out more of the apple flavor?

Ok, just how awful is manischewitz? Is gonna ruin my 5 gallon batch of blackberry if I use it for topping off? Maybe a jammy red would be better?

I was perusing the aisles at the local G.O., and came across some Mountain Sun 100% pure unsweetened cranberry. Naturally, the light clicked on in my head "hmmm, I love cranberry wine, but hate to pay $20+ for it (see a pattern here?)" So I brought a gallon of it home and threw it in my little...

My blackberry and blueberry, my first and second batches ever are still in the primaries. So today, I started a batch of smurfe's apfelwein. I divided it by roughly one fifth as I only had a 5 liter dama available as a fermenter. Can't wait to try some of this stuff I'm making. I do like to...

I was in one of those grocery liquidator places today, and they had 46 oz. bottles of blueberry juice for $1.99. The mix is blueberry juice and white grape, 100% juice. I thought "hmmm...I like blueberry wine, but hate paying $20 for it". So I bought three bottles and started a batch. My first...

Here's what I started with: 18lbs of crushed blackberries. 4lbs honey 8lbs cane sugar. 14quarts of water. Starting SG was 1.095. I slightly modified a recipe I found online, which is why I added water. Anywho, I'm concerned about having enough berry flavor in the finished product, so I...

I was doing like the title reads, I sure hope I'm not going to end up with 5 gallons of blackberry/honey vinegar. Basically I was adding in my sugar and yeast nutrient to the must while I had some beef country style ribs simmering in bbq sauce.

Hi all, I've been dragging my feet on making some wine for years, and finally decided to try it. I will have questions about truly unusual situations.