Recent content by dorfie

Where are you located? I am wondering because those readings are interesting for wild grapes, it would be interesting to find out what species they are. If you have any pictures of the plants and leaves you should post them!

Without a picture all I can really do is guess based off of location and time of the year, but I would guess that they would be an aphid. You can try to hose them off and follow up with an application of insecticidal soap, or just soapy water. Or you can use an insecticide like sevin.

I would not adjust the Ph of the skeeter pee at all. The recipe is pretty solid without adjusting the Ph, and since you are sweetening it the low Ph is offset by the sweetness. i am concerned if you raise the Ph you will remove the "lemon tartness" of the wine. the Ph guidelines are only that...

Oh my gosh, yep you are right! I must have been tired when I wrote out my calculations, and just never re-checked them! sorry for the confusion! I guess the rooster not letting me sleep in past 4 am is wearing my out! haha the equation ibglowin is the best to use, because it has the variable...

I would just add the lime juice and transfer it over to your secondary. It is basically dry now, and the small amount of sugar that the juice will add will easily ferment out in the secondary.

If I understood the OP they said that they titrated with a .2 N solution, so then for each mL of NaOH used it would equal .2 g/L of acid. I was also a bit turned around as I have always used a .1 N solution, but I do know that there are .2 solutions in kits and stuff sometimes. Does this make...

Very good point scooter, Just curious, what pH meter do you have? I am interested in possibly purchasing one, at least someday, and I don't know what brand has worked for people. I mean I know what brands I use in the lab, but those are quite far out of my price range ha.

Ok, I'll try to explain the acidity question, hope I don't confuse you more. If you did the titration as most kits explain, then you withdrew 15 ml of must, added the phenolphthalein indicating solution and swirled to mix the two. Then you added the NaOH solution until you reached a point...

It is a bacterium that is often naturally present, so it shouldn't affect anything else. I have never heard of anything negative with the application of it.

Sorry! TA=Total Acidy or Total Acid. Here is an article that will explain it much more eloquently than I will: http://www.eckraus.com/blog/difference-between-ph-and-titratable-acidity-in-wine TLDR: pH represents how much acid is in a wine regardless of how strong it tastes, whereas a...

Second the meter being more precise than the strips! the strips might give you the general number (example: pH of 2) but it isn't good for much more than that, and it is often off. they more or less just tell you if something is basic or acid, and roughly how basic of acid, but not very precise...

Kardak- Poor tree! I am by far not an entomologist, but from the pictures that you posted those look like larval forms of one of a species of June Beetle (Phyllophaga spp). I can't be completely sure without having some more info. If it is June beetles the only "natural" way I have heard...

Also without sweetening you don't get much of the lemon flavor, all you taste is the citric acid. You should definitely sweeten it. the two chems that are used for sweetening is Potassium metabisulfite (campden), and Potassium sorbate. the campden is one tablet per gallon and the sorbate is 1/2...

Well that is good that you like it! be careful drinking it with that high of an ABV! are you sure that your original reading was accurate? EC1118 can take a wine up to 18%, even higher if you step feed it and all. however your numbers would indicate an ABV closer to 20-21% which seems too high...

haskaps make a great wine! Mine are still too young to bear fruit, but I have been able to try some. rhubarb also makes a great wine, never let any fruit you have go to waste!