Recent content by Jim Baranski

Thanks Rice!

I think it matters how clean your water supply is. When you boil water you are removing minerals and oxygen from the water. These are both substances the yeast needs. On the other hand, boiling also removes clorine. If you have clean water, and a strong yeast culture, you don't need to boil...

I have a barrel of wine; mostly pear pulp, that doesn't have a enough sugar in it. I was adding 24 brim sugar water to it, but the pulp ended out taking up too much room. I have been adding a couple of lbs of sugar to it, each time a punch down the pear pulp. I figure the sugar is getting...

RE: Corking 375 ml bottles .vs 750ml bottles My corker has an additional red plastic insert where the bottle sits. I think that is for 375ml bottles. My first corker did not have that, and when I bottled 375ml bottles, I just put a scrap of 1x4 on the platform to give the bottle a bit of a boost.

I am now having the same problems with my second Italian Floor Corker. I am guessing that the springs in the jaws that compress the cork are getting tired. I don't know if it is possible to stretch the springs to give them their spring back, or insert a shim (penny?) behind the spring to give...