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I was reading tips on cleaning glass carboys and the most common chemicals used were Oxiclean and PBW. However when I looked up TSP to see about making a batch of homemade PBW it says Do not use on glass. I also read The Definitive Guide to Washing and Sanitizing Winemaking Equipment and the...

I thought the bubbles were carbon dioxide, which protected the wine from the outside air and the amount of activity was why you did your primary fermentation in a bucket then moved it to a carboy, in order to expose as little of the surface to air, as fermentation slowed down. Am I missing...

Great information, thank you :h

I am currently using Lalvin EC-1118. My last yeast purchase was Red Star Cuvee. The Red Star seems to be a lot more vigorous than the Lalvin, just the nature of the yeast I suppose. I also have some Red Star Platinum baking yeast, which I use for small experimental batches that I just wish to...

No, it is the juice itself that starts out sweet. I add one cup of sugar per 64 oz bottle, not to make it sweeter but to get it to the desired ABV content.

My latest batch came out the other day, Ocean Spray Cran-Strawberry. People commented that my last batch was too sweet so for this batch I made my normal 5 gallons of juice but this time I added 1 gallon of purified water to but back on the sweetness a bit. It is getting rave reviews, tasy as...

I was going to ask this question in a separate post but this thread does seem to be related. The packet of yeast I have is good for 5 gallons but, since it just reproduces and feeds on the sugar anyway, why not 10 gallons? Up to a point (say, for instance, one packet for 100 gallons) the only...

It seems that making juice wines is an art form in itself :) When I first read about Super Sugar method I thought you were talking about people who ferment sugar, water and nothing else then use the result as a base for party punch. I haven't tried frozen concentrate yet, probably have to give...

I use this article, summarized and adapted for the types of spirits I am interested in.

I actually like the wine to be gassy. My wife only likes fizzy wines and the bubbles help her to pretend it's something that it isn't. Because I rotate my wines they do have a chance to settle and I don't get a yeasty taste at all except for the last bottle I try to coax out of the carboy...

Speaking of that, my local market is featuring R.W. Knudsen Just Juices on sale at buy one get one free starting tomorrow. They have Aronia Berry, Black Cherry, Black Currant, Blueberry, Pomegranate, Cranberry, Concord Grape and Tart Cherry. So a BOGO would give me one gallon of juice. How...

Creating an ID just to make one post pimping a book isn't good advertising, IMHO. I wouldn't buy it for that reason alone.

I do my 2 gallon test batches with Red Star Platinum baking yeast that I bought in my supermarket's closeout section for 69 cents per 3 pack. I can say this yeast makes wine that kicks like a mule and once it reacted so vigorously my batch overflowed like a volcano. Next time I make a batch I...

Right now in my fridge, besides the aforementioned batch, I have wine made from Welchs 100% Juice Black Cherry Concord Grape, Juicy Juice 100% juice blend Mango flavor, Ocean Spray Cherry juice cocktail and Ocean Spray Cran-Apple, which one lady I know called "the best wine she has ever...

Just finished bottling up a batch yesterday and it came out so well I thought I'd share my experience. If you are interested in fine wine you can stop wasting your time right now and move on to the next thread. I specialize in cheap, strong wines that are ready to drink within weeks. This...

My wines fall more into the category of Pruno than fancy. I only use bottled juices that I find on sale in my local stores and rarely are they 100% juice of anything. More often they are blends of apple, grape, pear and whatever flavor the company is trying to push. I do get 100% juice (the...

I make test batches of wine in a 2.5 gallon spring water jug, 2 gallons of juice, sugar and yeast. If I like the way it comes out then I make a regular 5 gallon batch. Sometimes I use it when I want to make a small batch of something. This was the case when I made my latest batch, Grape /...

She said it was used 1 time. Inside the bucket there was also a length of siphon hose that attaches to those pumps, a thermometer, books on how to make wine and beer and shrinkwrap bottle toppers. I had been looking around for a while but the cheapest I had seen so far was $50 on Craigslist so...

Went to a yard sale yesterday and a lady had this kit for sale, asking price of $20. I asked her if she would take $15. She removed a bag of about 25 corks and said it was a deal :-) Now I can move up from my 2.5 gallon spring water bottles.

I racked my wine last night. Look at the difference between the wine I siphoned off and the part I left behind, not counting the sludge still left in the bottom of the original container: We let it chill for a few hours then my wife tried the wine on the right while I drank the stuff on the...