Recent content by JTS84

It isn't traditional to glue heads together. When barrels were common for everyday use, the glue of that time was animal based hide glue - which is water soluble. If you start with dry wood and make your joints tight, once they come in contact with a liquid they'll swell up and make the joint...

Instead of flour and water you can also use beeswax, or spend the extra money on beeswax labeled as "cooper's wax". Before I disassembled a 6 gallon barrel I drew a wavy line around it so I could match up the staves perfectly to where they where before during reassembly. I cleaned the char out...

P_j_goetz explained it well. The cellar will be the cool, so you want to keep any warm humid air from moving into that space and contacting the cool backside of you finish. Make sure that you seal any holes from electrical, HVAC, plumbing, etc. That is key to keeping air out of that space. In...

I live in the Midwest. I used to use vapor barriers, then ended up replacing some when I worked in construction due to the issues they have. I now will only use "smart membranes" such as Certainteed Membrain for an example. https://buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-010-wine-cellars...

I'll throw in my 2 cents. I had some creasing issues with nomacorks as well as the flared ends. I noticed there were two times the issues were more prominent. When I used bottles that were slightly too short to touch the bottom of the corker and when I had help from kids. My two solutions were...

I've made chokecherry for the last few years, each year regretting I didn't make more. This year I'm making 5 gallons. I shoot for 3-4 lbs per gallon. If the berries are ripe, I find I can strip them from the bush with minimal stems. The less ripe they are, the more they stick to them stem...

From the Purple Foot: Various vineyards in Minnesota and Wisconsin may have grapes available in the fall. For Minnesota vineyards, go to: minnesotagrown.com and search for "grapes". That is what I did - contacted vineyards via email and now I am on mailing lists for pick your own dates. I'm...

I have made lilac wine a couple times. The flowery taste of the lilac is very light. I do not plan to make any more this year as even though I like it, there are lots of other things I like more. I feel the same about dandelion. Other people like that i made it though, i think for the novelty of...

When I picked up my juice at Midwest they had Mosti AllGrape packs there to purchase in store. I got one to add to my Carmenere juice; this will be my first time trying it out. I haven't seen any skin packs listed for sale online. When FWKs came out you could choose between adding one or two...

1) I never got the chocolate note I was looking for. Maybe a hint, but i was hoping for more. I was hoping for a little more than subtle, but nowhere near a chocolate flavored wine. Either how, we have been very happy with the result. 2) I'm 90% certain that the oak cubes i used came from...

I started an en primeur Carmenere in March of 2019, bottled it at almost a year. Fruity Carmenere that is as good if not better than most of the commercial I've tried. I added heavy toast french cubes as I was hoping for a little chocolate like my favorite commercial bottle. It's a little...

Having made many trips to Chile myself - I can tell you that it depends. I have found that at the larger vineyards there is normally someone who speaks English, but at some the smaller ones there is less of a chance. My experience has been that many have someone on staff that speaks English well...

I don't know if this might save you some work, but take a look. https://blackswanbarrels.com/products/honey-comb-barrel-alternative

Saw this on instagram today, Pais grapes sin drying in the vineyard. Being this is from Viña Erasmo, this should become Pais Asoleado.

Hi Bob, Welcome. I live in MN as well, don't our short growing season disappoint you. My wild chokecherry wine last year is the best thing I have made to date. If you are willing to drive to the Twin Cities you can find grape options there. Wild fruits are particularly good in the northern part...