Recent content by Mead Maker

KCCam said 14% ABV is “hardly an ice-wine.” According to an article on ice wines from Winemaker Magazine, “The levels of alcohol most often fall in the 9 to 11% alcohol by volume (ABV) range.” I reviewed a number of commercially available ice wines and found that European ice wines are...

Sour Grapes seems to be splitting hairs. I said 23.5 Brix was ideal, which isn’t all that far off the 26 to 30 Brix required in Germany when making ice wines. If Cellardweller started with 50+ Brix, he would have to add a lot of water to get down to a sugar solution that wouldn’t kill his...

I was taught that 23.5 Brix is ideal for yeast. You need to mix in a lot of water. I use 1 package of champagne type yeast mixed with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup of 105 degree water in a tall container. after a few hours it should be rather frothy. Then mix up another 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup of...

I hope one of our experienced winemakers with $50 to spare will try a Brewsy kit and report back to us 5 days later. It sounds like a pile of manure.

Was that $50 for the sink and $500 for the plumber? Things seem rather pricy in Chicagoland. Everything is cheaper in flyover country. The only problem is that you have to drive nearly 100 miles to get to a decent restaurant.

I use Osnaburg fabric, a very light weave. I lay it on top of my bucket then put the lid on loosely. The tighter weaves, in my experience, don’t keep out the fruit flies. My wife postulates that the tiny “hairs” of cotton from the loose weave keep the fruit flies out. The only fruit flies...

I have no idea of the variety of the old pear trees in my area, but the pears go from rock hard to rotten without that “juicy” stage. You can crush the hard ones if you have a motorized unit, or if you’re the “incredible hulk.” I gather the pears over a 2 to 3 week period, putting each days...

Muscadines makes a rather sweet wine that is fine for blending. The problem is that they are rather difficult to crush because the pulp inside is like a soft rubber. I freeze them solid, let them thaw a little, then start crushing. You end up with a tasty mush similar to a Slushy. When it...

Give me a linoleum knife and a Sawzall and I can turn any large animal into kitchen-ready meat. Steers and hogs are no different than a deer. The only hard part can be finding a walk-in fridge to chill your meat.

I’ve never had a problem with Nomacorcs #9 and I’ve gone through dozens of bags over the years. A bit more expensive but worth every penny.

Most of my JB problems disappeared when I stopped using those traps. The best thing to do is give all your traps to someone down wind from your vineyard. I keep a close eye on my grapes, waiting for the first JB attack, then I spray every beetle I see, not the whole vine. About 2 weeks...

Virginia has a lot of good vineyards and wines, but closer to New York you may enjoy Gouveia Vineyards - 1339 Whirlwind Hill Rd, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492 There’s great views from their hilltop tasting room, and the owner loves to talk about production and techniques with home wine makers.

Bernard is no doubt correct, that I made a mistake by somehow stressing my yeast, resulting in fusel alcohol. It was 50 years ago and my memory isn’t good enough to remember the production of the wine, only the results. Thinking back 60+ years, I don’t remember having that problem either...

While bread yeast and wine yeast may be chemically the same, they are as different as night and day. While away at college for my freshman year, far from all my wine making equipment, I whipped up a few gallons of Welches grape concentrate for the boys and used bread yeast because it was...

I’m old, and in my day we only used Kmeta right after crushing. The Kmeta is to kill all the bad things before your juice becomes wine. Your wine is alive and I don’t believe in killing it needlessly. Besides, a lot of people are sensitive to sulfites. If you don’t kill your wine today you...