Recent content by Fran365

Hi Sinton, that juice is a common grocery store stuff. My local Krogers clears out their stock about fall, I paid .69 a half gallon on clearance. It is, when all is said and done hi 90% apple juice with a small amount of berry juice. Watch out for this level of starting SG, 1.100, I don't...

This is a bottled juice mix wine 2 gallon recipe ======================== 6 qts. Old Orchid berry blend 4 bananas mashed , one cinnamon stick and mixed with 1 qt boiling water, sit a while and strain into fermentor 1 tbl acid blend 1 tsp yeast energizer 2 tsp yeast nutrient 1 cup frozen grape...

thanks Skooter68, a useful look at the subject. I am 1 year and 10 batches into this art of winemaking and this is the first time I use wild fruit. Down the road will see if this very rich fruit comes through into the wine. Fran

Thanks Meadmaker1, didn't know that.Thinking I could sack it, crush it in the primary, add some concord juice and water and set overnight with the Camden tabs and proceed normally . If this tree gives fruit next year I'll set out nets early and check daily, to get a better quality of fruits. Fran

Past summer I picked about 4 pounds of black mulberry fruit off the ground.The flavor was very rich but the fruit needed careful inspecting and rinsing. This batch was frozen and I am wondering if slight simmering would be better in some cases then a pre-pitch Campden treatment or both.. Fran

Hi Medpretzel.I have a lot of beets this fall and wanted to try a wine, your recipe loots good. You mention "puree in a blender" and cook till just tender. Did you mean to puree the raw beets? Also, ever hear of black peppercorns in this wine? Fran

oops2: Well folks I can end this post with something that might help newbies. So I believed I had a dead must that would not support my 2 pitching s. I watched eagerly for the air lock to bubble and it never did. 2nd day check of SG showed nothing was happening. Other things came up and the...

Thanks Arne, someone told me apple and apple hybrid wines like the 60's, it is cool in my house. I just wrapped my fermentor with my seedling heater wrap, it goes to about 74F. Will report when/if life returns. The wine was 66F. Note to Smok1, this batch never became active, the SG is almost...

Ops, calibrated my PH meter and it was off +1.0, so my wine was PH 3.6, ok for apple/berry I believe.So the culprit seems to be the cote de blanc yeast, it was 1/2 a pack that has been in the freezer 1 year. Re-pitched, we will see. Fran

Newbendorfanatic, : as your question about the PH of the water I used sunk in I checked the well water I used to make the banana extract, and bingo, it was 7.7 PH, extremely alkaline. I have usually used RO water which is PH 5.5. So I have a good theory on what happened but can this wine be...

Well newbend, I only checked the PH just before pitching. I'll be trying the tartaric acid approach tomorrow and re pitch. I have learned a lesson about bottled juices and PH and keeping tartaric acid in stock.I also am going to re calibrate my PH meter to make sure that is accurate. By the way...

Hi Smok1 No the PH didn't up wit the addition of acid blend, the acid blend was part of my original must blend which was 6 qts apple/berry juice, 1 qt extract made from 4 bananas, 1 cup grape juice frozen concentrate, 1 tbl acid blend, 2 lbs sugar, 2 tsp yeast nutrient, 1 tsp yeast energizer...

Hi folks, in a little trouble with my last 2 gallon batch of apple/berry wine. Everything went well and was preparing to pitch and remembered to check PH, bottled juices have been 3.5 PH the last year of making juice wine. To my surprise the PH was 4.2 and after pre pitch additions was 4.6. I...

Thank you gents, as I end my first year making wine I've had a large portion of my education at this spot, thanks again all. Fran

Hi folks, wondering if wine, after 2-3 months in 2nd fermentation, with a SG <.990, is considered stabilized? What I'm getting at is can you bottle fully fermented out wine without further adjustments (Camden, pot. sorbate etc). Also has anyone experimented with non sugar sweeteners(for back...