Recent content by Auburn-Bob

I made my first batch of strawberry about 2 years ago. I took the easy way out and used Smuckers preserves. I came out very well.

I used to use bleach. I would add some to water, then wash everything with it. I would rinse it out with tap water, but it was hard to tell when it was all rinsed out. So I switched to potassium permanganate. It kills germs just as well, but it has an intense purple color, which makes it...

My mother lives in Naugatuck, but she's not on this board. I lived most of my life in CT, but I'm in MA now.

My first batch of fruit wine, in fact my first batch of any wine, was a gallon of peach. It came out very well, and I did not use sulfite, sulfur dioxide, or any such compound. I know, I know. I MUST use sulfites. Yes I must. But I don't. :i

My understanding is that fruit should be very ripe - almost to the point of rotting - but not yet rotten. If you cut the parts off that really are rotten you might be OK. My first batch of wine ever was peach. The fruit was hard, so I ripened it in a paper bag.

If my fruit wines go dry quickly, I will throw in a little sugar. If they dry up again, I add some splenda. I don't like a totally dry wine.

I bottled my strawberry jam wine last weekend. I used Montrachet yeast, which I use for all my fruit wine.

Last weekend, I bottled a gallon batch I made from Smuckers strawberry jam. It tasted pretty good before bottling. We will see what a little age does to it.

I have used bleach successfully in my winemaking. But I have since switched over to potassium permanganate. I have never used sulfites for anything.

Here is a look at one of my bottles of strawberry jam wine. As usual, my gallon made exactly 5 of the 750 ml bottles. The homemade label is crude, but it gets the job done.

I just bottled my strawberry jam wine today. It tasted pretty good. I added a few ml of glycerin to each bottle for body, and a few ml of sugar syrup to produce a little bit of carbonation.

I am in the process of making my first strawberry batch. I made it from Smuckers preserves. I plan to bottle sometime this weekend.

I have a flask that I use for this purpose. I add water, then throw in some Alka-Seltzer tablets, and they make carbon dioxide.

I started using bleach to sanitize my equipment, then I switched over to a solution of potassium permanganate KMnO4 I bought on eBay. The strong color lets me know if it's rinsed. No innocent sulfites were destroyed to make any of my wines.

My first batch of wine was peach, and I am currently working on a batch of strawberry started from preserves. But I never made peach-strawberry. That should be interesting.