I've started fermenting dry in the primary. The first couple of days I leave the top off the primary and punch down the grape pack a couple times per day. Once the fermentation slows I use a racking cane (custom cut to fit the depth of the primary) to submerge the grape pack and then snap the...
I have had the similiar problems when trying tor print labels with images that go edge to edge. I don't believe the the low end home office grade printers have a precise paperfeed mechanism. This variations in the paper pickup cause the labels to print slightly off from what you expect.
I've...
I make a hard cider that I like sweet but also want to bottle carbonate. Back sweetening with sugar would result in bottle bombs. I'll back sweeten with Ideal sweetener and add enough real sugar for priming purpose only. The yeast only consume the real sugar and I end up with sweeter carbonated...
My first grape skin kits are 6 months into bulk aging. I racked them into another carboy recently and was amazed at how much sediment had settled out. This is after I did the normal clearing process. They'll spend a couple more months in the carboy before bottling.
We made the RJS Grand Crew international BC Pinot Noir and Cab Sav and found them very good between 6 months and a year. They are both a great table wine grade but were not the rich chewy decadent bottle of wine you can purchase. I've not done a cab kit with a grape pack but suspect that it...
In April of 2011 I started a cab. sav. from juice from Chile and bottled it in January of 2012. At that time my wife and were greatly disappointed because it didn't taste very good. So we waited and tried a bottle April and again it wasn't very good. More disapointment :-(
We tried a bottle...
The most important practice would be to be concistent when taking a reading. Always read above or always read below. That prevents you from introducing an error.