Recent content by JRM850

I'm not sure which I will use. I've read enough to be very confused about the pluses and minuses for each. I used bentonite and sparkoloid on my last red which ended up very clear, but really it was another dose of pectic enzyme after those two were used that finally cleared it up. I don't have...

Hi All, I just stabilized a white muscadine today. I probably should have racked it again prior to stabilizing as it was decently clear, but I added the Campden and Potasium Sorbate and stirred all of the settled matter into a solution. I was planning on clearing the wine with something after...

This I did not know. I've taken PH readings during full blown ferment. Haha. Fermentation on this one finished about two weeks ago. I aired it out pretty well when I racked it on Saturday by spraying it on the side of the carboy as it filled. (Somewhat unintentional) I haven't designed a label...

somehow I missed your reply until just now. I ended up back sweetening that first wine and bottling it just last week. Its not half bad. It is crystal clear but I think I stripped a little too much color due to a post fermentation pectic enzyme treatment and bentonite and sparkoloid. The color...

There is some sharpness; if I had to compare with a well known commercial wine, I would say it is similar to the sharpness of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc like a Kim Crawford. I was kind of hoping that part would tone down a bit with age, but I have zero experience with what to expect from acid...

I have a white muscadine that has fermented dry and has been racked twice. The PH is 3.0-2.99 but I really like it. What are the consequences from being lower than the the recommended range? Thanks.

This is a red Muscadine that started with frozen grapes that we harvested last year. I diluted the must with distilled water to bring the TA down to .65% before fermenting. I added raw cane sugar to bring the SG to 1.1. Lalviin 1118 yeast. My first recognized mistake was not adding pectic...

I'm going to start something new this weekend, maybe a honey mead, so I don't have to deal with the slowing down of time this wine making causes. :) I'm afraid my first batch might fall into that rocket fuel category. Right now it is a bit astringent with little mouthfeel. I'm hoping the...

Lol. My bad; I made a poor assumption on the per gallon part. So, I'm going to add roughly .136tsp K-Meta to my 3 gallons, and learn to be more patient on the fining, right?

So I should add 1/4tsp per gallon of the Kmeta now right?

That makes perfect sense. Too much of a guess at residual sugar... Thank you both. Not sure where I got the idea that higher alcohol made it stable. Maybe from reading about Port or something. The next question I have is about when to add the kmeta and k sorbate. My red is still pretty cloudy...

One question I've always had, based upon the assuption that a high abv makes a wine more stabil... Would raising the brix of the initial must so that the potential alcohol level is higher than the yeast alcohol tolerance have the same effect as fermenting dry and then back sweetening?

Thank you both. Do I ask my questions in this thread or start a new one? Right now I have 3 gallons of red and 3 gallons of white that were started with frozen grapes from last year. I started the red in june and just did a third rack today It's still a bit cloudy. PH is 3.6 according to a...

Hi All, My Dad has been making wine and growing grapes for probably 20 years now and until this point I have just been his occasional assistant. He is having some age related memory problems now and I have assumed the hobby, his equipment and for the time being, his grapes. I've been reading...