Recent content by Cabernut

Just to follow-up, I did exactly as suggested in the two posts above, every sign was good and thiefed a hefty glass. I was pleasantly surprised that it still tasted pretty good. I would say it seemed just past peak, maybe "90%". There was a stronger alcohol presence than I expected, but...

Hello, it's been quite a while since I've been on and have had quite the hiatus from winemaking, so I'm still essentially a beginner, 5 years from my first batch. Anyway, in December 2015, I made a batch of wine from a kit(my 5th ever?). Cellar Craft Sterling Cabernet Sauvignon. I don't remember...

This I made in a day with a hand saw and tape measure. It's 36.5 x 36.5 inches, holds 96 bottles, or 104 if you fenaggle a couple more in. Each diamond holds a case, each triangle holds 6. Sorry for the cell-phone pics. Each inner board is notched so that they slide together, no nails or...

One thing I do want to add is that with these kits (and probably most $50 kits) is that adding 2 cups of washed raisins at the beginning, during primary fermentation, works wonders! I tried this on my 3rd kit and the result was perfect.

I was confused with that step as well, Fill the bag with water to get all the residual out, then dump the water in the fermenter. There usually is a bit of sugar left over and its good to make sure it all gets in there. - I've done 3 of these so far. :b

Whats it like to try strawberry wine made from field-ripened berries for the first time? This youtube vid sums it up: http://youtu.be/X21NmqrlgsU

Hello all, I have one question: whats the word on those strawberries that are getting mushy? I have about 20 more lbs to process and the bucket I'm working on contains a lot of these. Some have mushy spots that look a bit purple-ish. Should I cut those parts out or only gut out the green &...

...racked and added the k-meta and sorbate 2 nights ago, SG was at 0.995. I was going to add the kieselsol and chitosan last night, but it seems to be clearing on its own. Turning from a mustard-yellow to a nice golden clear color. And tastes good so far. What about letting it sit and clear...

Last night I added 4.75 cups sugar, brought the SG up to 1.090. Next I mixed in the bentonite(1/6 packet) to a cup of warm water and added that. Then I mixed in the tannin/acid blend/yeast nutrient(9.1g combined) and sprinkled the yeast(EC 1118) on top and let it sit without stirring. It's up to...

It's a strawberry/raspberry kit

I've read that EC1118 is kind of an all-purpose wine yeast. I'll give that a try for this batch. The first attempt is for function, finesse comes later. According to my calculations, the 3L of mango flesh I started with is about 7lbs! Could be good! I'm keeping detailed notes, only thing is...

Since this is only my 3rd batch ever, I'm still a beginner. Here goes. I bought a fruit making ingredient kit, originally intending to make a 6 gal batch of strawberry, but at $5/lb up here this time of year, I altered my plans. Mango! I decided to just go for it since I learn best hands on...

One of my bookmarks I find VERY easy and VERY useful: www.onlineconversion.com It really does convert anything to just about anything else. For example, in the cooking section I calculated 10 lbs blueberries equals 7.246 liters.

Since I'm not commercially selling mine(as that would be illegal) - for personal use only, I'm not restricted by copyright. I named my first two batches of cabernet sauvignon "Casillero del Gringo" after my favorite Casillero del Diablo I feel though that a name should be as unique as the...

I opened another bottle and wouldn't ya know... same mark on the cork! It must be from the corker I was using. It tasted fine, it looked like it had a slight brownish tinge. I'm guessing the corks were already a bit dried out and let the wine oxidize a little? Looks like lesson learned here...