Recent content by MasterBlaster

Dang it! I will say that I was using the airlocks at the recommendation of a so called "expert". It occurs to me now that this guy is an expert, but in beer, not wine. So, I just took the lids off right now and checked my SG. One batch is at 1.06, the other is at 1.051. At the time of...

I don't mind doing it, I just wanted to make sure I am not overthinking the necessary steps. Maybe my problem is that I am stirring, then measuring. Tonight, I will try pushing the cap out of the way and measure before I stir. Maybe that will make all the difference. I do have a thief...

I have been making wine for several years, but we only really do a couple batches a year when our fruit trees are ready to harvest. First time around I was told to use a mesh bag, so I did. I was really turned off when I found little bits of the nylon floating in my must. I washed the bag...

Cool, thanks for the assurance. I am really looking forward to this for the summer. I'm sure I'll be back to ask some more questions in the next few days as I prepare to start! Thanks again.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Sorry for my delay replying. I saw the posts this morning, but didn't have time before work to post back. I have never done two different sized batches at once like this, so it is new for me. I'm glad to hear it's normal for the smaller batch to...

I have two batches of apricot wine going right now and I'd like to use the slurry to start a batch or two of pee. I am a little confused at the process of how to save the active slurry. I was planning on running these to almost completely dry, maybe a few points below dry, which will be around...

I have two fermenters going with apricot wine right now. Both batches started 3 days ago at SG 1.100. One batch is 5 gallons, the other is 3. The differences between them are that I accidentally added an extra 1/2 tsp of energizer in the small batch, and I left the yeast to rehydrate for a...

Had some British friends over tonight to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day. We drank about 2 liters of the wine and everyone thought it tasted great. I mixed in a little bit of apple juice to sweeten it just a little because it is very dry. I used about 5 parts wine, 1 part apple juice. It was...

I took a whiff. Neither batch smells foul. I would say they both smell as they did before. One might smell a little less like alcohol and a little sweeter than I remember, but nothing smells bad. So, it's safe to taste it?

I have an update. After about a year, we did a taste test on both batches. First batch came out with a sort of rubbery taste. Did some poking around and found that it could be some sort of infection or it sat on the lees too long between racking. Either way, I have been told it's safe to...

With the first batch, I put the fruit in nylon pantyhose. I started the next batch the following day and had purchased a mesh bag from the brew store. When I was sanitizing the mesh bag, I kept seeing little bits floating in the solution. So, I washed the bag several times and every time I...

Just wanted to post an update. It's been almost a month since we started this project and I just racked the wine. Both batches are looking pretty clear. We sampled both today during racking. One batch is a little more dry, but they both taste good, I think. They are still a little fizzy...

I thought I read about someone using ball bearings before, but it must have been marbles. Good idea! Easier and cheaper than running across town to buy smaller carboys.

Ok, here's the update. I tasted the wine. Well, I tasted one batch. Results? I thought it tasted........wonderful. It definitely has a plum flavor, and it definitely is an adult beverage. :b That was exciting. Here's the disappointment. I didn't have enough wine to fill my carboys, so...

I've done exactly that, got three already. My first thought was to pour back int the primary, clean the carboy, then rack back into the original carboy. The guy at the brew shop here is very helpful and advised me to go with a third so I didn't have to move it so much. It made perfect sense...