Recent content by Monty Knapp

No change in the taste either. Still sour. I'll give it 6 months before I open a bottle.

Great information. Thanks

Here's a late follow up to my effort to reduce the TA of an RJS Amarone. Left the wine in a refrigerator set to it's maximum coldness setting - about 25⁰F - for a couple of months. It started forming crystals immediately. After a couple months, there didn't seem to be any further crystal...

I've just ordered a 32 quart stainless steel pot to use as a primary fermenter. Apparently no one sells an 8 gallon stainless steel bucket for home winemaking. Most "stock pots" and "brew buckets" are narrow and tall - but I found one that was wider than it is tall. I think I remember reading...

I filter every batch of wine I make - just because I want to. I have never used anything but the #2 filters. I fill a large stainless steel bowl with tap water (about a gallon and a quarter to a gallon and a half). I add 3 or 4 tablespoons of citric acid to it and dissolve. I think the Buon Vino...

I used a American Oak Spiral, medium toast, with an RJS Super Tuscan. Turned out great. Two other batches of Super Tuscan I made with only the oak provided turned out great too. Right now I have the American Oak Spiral, medium toast in yet another batch of Super Tuscan. It's a good choice.

I've heard of doing that, but apparently it wasn't needed since it's "dropping" granules already.

No, rinsing can introduce germs/bacteria. I've always heard 10 minutes. But for daily stirring and specific gravity checks I have to admit I only give the utensils a minute or 2.

pH was 3.2 and TA was 0.90% on 9/8/2021. (Earlier statement that pH was 3.3 wasn't the last reading.) It should have still been the same when it went into the fridge on 10/14/2021.

I mix 3 Tbsp K-meta in a gallon jug. I keep a couple jugs of it ready and fill my spray bottle from them. I spray down everything with the spray bottle - buckets, lids, spoons, graduated cylinders, hydrometers, bowls, auto-siphons, tygon tubes, ....... I pour kmeta into tygon tubes and work it...

I use the "Vintner's Best" Acid Testing Kit. On the box it say's that "Vintner's Best" is a registered trademark of LD Carlson Co. I've bought the kit on Ebay and at a local liquor store - a chain called "Friar Tuck's" - in their beer and wine making section. This kit removes the need for any...

RJS Amarone (pH 3.3, TA 0.90%) - filtered, finished, ready to bottle except for the acidity: Well, instead of reducing the acidity with Potassium Bicarbonate, then cold stabilization, I decided to just cold stabilize it and see if that will precipitate out some Tartaric acid. I'm using a spare...

I use them. Lately, I've started bottling half a batch of wine with the regular corks, but the other half with synthetic corks - which have a longer life span. I put different colored capsules on them then tell them apart - and drink the ones with the regular corks first. Then, if any last until...

Well, I just opened the first bottle of a RJS Super Tuscan (3/9/2020). It had a good pH at bottling - 3.3, but a higher than usual TA - 0.85%. It's now it 18.9 months old. It wasn't bad. The 2 other Super Tuscans I've made were excellent at 18 months. This one is not, but I think it will be at...

I love the RJS Super Tuscan kit. I've made it 4 times. It is easily the best wine I've made. I don't deviate from the instructions too much. I add 1/2 - 3/4 tsp of tannin at the beginning. And some extra oak. I usually give it longer to clear, then rack. And leave it another month or so, then...