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Just went down to check on barrels after one month and found that my 10l merlot (kit) barrel had wine running down the sides. I popped the bung and the vacuum seemed huge. Then I looked inside and saw vapors/gas. Didn’t smell/taste off. Sulfite added and now there’s an airlock on it. Ideas...

Hello, Id like to keep a 225L barrel in my father’s garage for aging port wine. The garage is under the apartment building, has a door but there is air circulation up top. There is no car in his garage slot, but it is a working parking garage where some other residents park their cars...

Uh oh-- I let my 5 lugs of Tempranillo (all in 20 gal brute) from Saturday to Sunday night at 60F and pitched Lalzyme for 8hrs CLOS yeast using goFerm. Starting ph was 3.8 1.096SG. Temps got to 75F this morning when I saw the first real cap. Punched down. Came home and I'm smelling H2S...

Yesterday My apartment was broken into and along with every electronic thing that can fit in a backpack, they stole my vinmetrica sc300. I had it right by the door on the way to show a buddy of mine, and wouldn't you know it, I came home to a smashed window, and open back door. Enough whining...

Hello all, Several friends want to join me this year to make wine. They've suggested helping to buy the grapes in exchange for some bottles in the future. How do people handle this? Do you just split the costs evenly and then split the bottles evenly as well? Ive only been making wine...

Here's some pics i snagged when I went to buy some port wines at a Quinta offseason. So fun.

Here's a pic of me and my uncle showing three woods used in casks for Port Wine Ageing in the Douro valley. Chestnut, mahogany, and oak. Now chopped up for the wood stove. Still smelled like wine!

Hi, I have a few Vadai barrels that all have wine kits in them. My Sangiovese bucket and grape wine could really spend some time in the barrel. The Sangiovese went through MLF, so QUESTION: Will putting the sangio in the barrel previously used for the kit adversely affect my sangio? Also, will...

Hi -- I'm wondering if any of you have got wine from a LaBodega kit that had made it past 2-3 years. I've made two batches this year and am hoping to get it to 5-7 years at least. I'd like to see it get to a tawny style by barrel ageing it. What's the oldest port kit you've got?

Hi everyone, For the holiday, I thought it would be nice to give two little nephews a 1L barrel with their initials and the dates on them and then have some port that their parents will keep topped off until they can drink it. I haven't worked out the logistics yet, but I've have cheap...

Hi everyone, So I've made 6 kits, one fresh juice bucket, and one batch from fresh grapes, but it goes without saying that I'm very new at this. I have no testing equipment outside of a hydrometer and ph strips. I'm going to have to get some stuff going but I'm trying not to buy redundant...

Hi everyone, in May 2013 I pitched yeast on my first kit, a WE Selection Pinot Grigio kit. Everything went well: sg to .996, waited, clarified, bullk aged 2 months on Biolees(experiment) racked off, filtered with AIO whole house setup and bottled. In late August, we opened a couple of bottles...

Hi everyone, I'd like to know how to speed my new American oak barrel to become neutral. Before you ask me why I would want to do this and tell me that I am being impatient and maybe wasting the possibilities of what new oak can do for me, let me explain the situation: Before I knew about...