Recent content by crackermonkey

If I knew that answer I wouldn’t it be asking it here in this forum . What I know is I made the kits at the same time , they are both 18 litre kits . I would have made them identically .they went through the primary fermenting at 15 degrees C with a renaissance bravo yeast and now 2weeks later...

So since you have made the Rossi grande so many times have you noticed it loses a lot of liquid during the primary stage? . Because I would be surprised I made such a big mistake. Right beside it right now is the rjs 18 litre zinfadel it looks dead on the right liquid and I made them the same day .

I have not made the grande but I have made the super Tuscan and it is a very similar wine

it is an 18 litre kit so I added 4 litres of water , i use the standard wine making bucket and usually fill to fill to the 5 gallon mark . I have to admit l have gotten a bit lazy with the measuring of specific gravity at the beginning , but now I think I’ve learned a lesson why I should do it...

I get all this , I’m just afraid I didn’t add enough water in the first place because there is so much missing , normaly with kit wine the most I would have to top up is a bottle worth but it looks like a couple of litres is missing !

Started a RJS Ross’s grande a couple of weeks ago , I am trying something new this year and trying g to ferment at at 15 degrees C. It is taking a lot longer to get through the primary stage but that’s what I expected but it seems like now that the most active stage is over it looks like a lot...

I don’t really soak them very long , my understanding the soaking is just to sterilize and make the corking process easier . I bought these off my u brew guy , he sold me them cheap because they where a little to large for corking machine . Opened some of my older bottles ,different corks same...

Hi everyone, I’m having a problem with cork shrinkage , I been using “nova cork” and some of the corks are starting to dry out and taper smaller at the top of the cork , after only three months . they are stored in my wine fridge at 14 c and 70 humidity. Any one else have this problem ?

The only wine I have that has any nose is that excact saa a me wine it took nine months to get there but now it’s great . What temperature do you ferment at ?

Ok guys , so now I’m I bit paranoid I have not been degassing enough ,just uncorked my super Tuscan I just bottle two weeks ago after 3 months bulk aging . I poured i tiny bit out out my thumb over the top shook it and when removed it went pop ! It does not taste bubbly . So do I un cork them...

I ferment usually by the specs of the kit which is always between 18 -22 so you think I should try fermenting at less than 18 . I store my of 8 months or older In 120 bottle wine fridge , temperature now lowered to 15 degrees Celsius, bulk aging carboys I just lowered to 15 as well In a...

Wow, well I did not expect to learn so much about vacuuming when I started this post , I was in the same camp as the majority here that kit wine just doesn’t produce a good nose ,until a bottle of my father in laws WE Brunello blew me away . It smelled just as described by the manufacturer. It...

Well it’s good to hear I’m not alone .i make the Washington Merlot often and when I’m pouring it into the fermenter it smells awesome tons of chocolate and other aromas and the nothing once cleared . I am a little worried about degassing to much and causing oxidation, is There a way to check...

So I’ve made more than a dozen kits at home over the last 2 years, some have turned out great but none of them have smelled like the description of the wine . I compared a one year old WE bronello I made to one my father in law made at a u brew and his smelled excactly like the description and...

I know this is the beer forum but I hoped someone might be able to help I just finished fermenting my cider to dry and racked it into a carboy in order to age before I back carbonated , I foolishly added some metabisulphite out of habit when I bulk age my wine not realizing it would kill the...