Recent content by BernardSmith

While there may be technical reasons to enable kits to be drunk after a few weeks or months, I have to agree with the others who suggest that the more significant reason comes from the marketing departments of the kit manufacturers. They are very dependent on customers buying a next kit not...

Would a solution be to rack into another carboy and only when you are ready to bottle to rack into the bottling bucket? I guess I am sufficiently anxious when I bottle 5 or 6 gallons and so have the bottles sitting uncorked for 30 minutes, to shiver at the thought of racking into a wide mouthed...

I wonder if another possible solution to prevent bungs from riding up and out the mouth of a carboy is a) to insert the airlock after you have inserted the bung. IF - IF the airlock to bung fitting is to be air-tight, inserting the airlock after (and not inserting the bung AND airlock as if a...

The thing is fresh fruit that you buy is rarely picked at the peak of ripeness. It's harvested early and is typically grown to be able to be shipped across the country with little damage. Taste is NEVER near the top priority for such produce. Frozen fruit is always [picked at the peak of...

Hi Grape Expectations, and I know that this is a sidebar issue, but making wine from orange juice is - in my opinion - never going to make a delightful drink: the amount of acid in the juice- not the strength but the volume (the TA, not the pH) is off the roof. You want to make a good orange...

I routinely make liqueurs and I can see an issue with your recipe. I strongly agree that you should allow the fruit to macerate before you add the sugar syrup, but the amount of water and sugar you add to the syrup should dilute the alcohol to a specific amount that YOU want. Most liqueurs are...

Here's the thing. You say you have access to only 6 gallon carboys at the moment. Even if the kit was designed to make 5 gallons, having a 6 gallon carboy as your primary is never a problem. Headroom, the space above the wine in a fermenter is only an issue AFTER active fermentation has ended...

I only occasionally make kit wines and a couple of weeks ago I bought an inexpensive medium-bodied Pinot Noir kit from ABC Crafted Series located in Ontario. This was to make a nominal six gallon batch. I intended to add water to make a five gallon batch and after thoroughly mixing, I measured...

So all other things being equal, 30 points of sugar would reduce the ABV by about 4% and so the berry wine would be around 14% . If there was no added nutrients, the wine could have stalled at 14% and if they bottled, the wine over time could have restarted spontaneously so there could be...

My son-in-law is a research microbiologist and the federal govt does not pay directly for research. NIH and NIMH does , but under very, very strict principles such that you are far more likely to find a research project, supported by the chair of the lab faculty dismissed by the agencies as you...

Just joining this party, albeit a bit late. I see the original recipe called for "water". Trouble is that water does not suggest a volume. That they fermented in a 6 gallon carboy tells you diddly squat about the total volume of must they fermented. Could it have been 2 gallons (OK 12.5 lbs of...

True , true... unless the yeast is grown on grain.

Thanks, sour_grapes. I have plenty of nutrient. No problem adding some

Just acquired a Pinot Noir kit that came with EC 1118. I have BM45; QA 23 and D47. Which yeast would you pick? Thanks

Happy to. I am making a hard apple cider and a mango "cider" (both at about 6%), a skeeter pee at around 6% ,and have plans for an orange zest t'ej at about 7%.