Recent content by Morgan

Blackberry (Sep 12), Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (yesterday!), Strawberry (Sep 12), Graciano (Sep 12), Dragon Blood (Mar 13), Cranberry (Nov 12) and more DB (Mar 13).

Just racked my batch to carboy. I already added kmeta to protect during transfer but no sorbate yet. Once it's clear I was considering carbonating a few beer bottles with priming sugar. I don't plan on back sweetening. Is that little bit of kmeta going to inhibit carbonating? If it goes...

Does anyone test your pH when you make Dave's recipe? I was curious if my pH of 2.97 is unusually low or pretty typical. My specific gravity is 1.110 so I may dilute a little bit anyway.

I'm contemplating getting a kit. How many of you feel that the addition of certain additives... E.g. extra tannins or enzymes such as OptiRed, of extra oak, or raisins, etc, makes a better product? Do you just go with what the producer recommends? I like dry Spanish reds as a general rule...

Cool! Hope to have such a nice dedicated wine making areas myself soon!

Thanks! I've only tasted mead once at a winery/brewery/meadery up in the Sierras but I thought I could do better. I love honey and have been pleased with making wine so thought I might try my hand at mead. Quality of the honey makes a big difference, yes, ergo I should get it from the...

Just re-read... You said you added both Canpden and Potassium Metabisulfate? Those are actually the same thing. "Kmeta" protects the wine from unwanted microorganisms, but if you are going to back sweeten you need potassium sorbate, too. That's a hot mix, follow the instructions on the bag or...

No doubt Joe can weigh in, but I think that when in doubt keep it in 5 gallon and bulk age a long as possible so long as you are protected from unwanted oxygen and microorganisms. You will end up with a more consistent product. I wish I had done the same with mine ( but it still ended up...

This is about 3 liters of blackberry wine from frozen fruit. It's been sulfited and has been sitting like this for 2 months. I kind of forgot about it while I was busy with other stuff... Initially i thought that all the CO2 it put off would protect it. Now that I think about it, I'm worried...

I saw on a couple mead forums that the mead makers add all their fruit and ferment/age in a carboy until the fruit drops to the bottom, at which point it's time to rack. Is this necessary? Could one just ferment like a regular fruit wine with the fruit in a bag in a regular ol' plastic...

Joe, subscribing finally to this thread. Read the whole thing and can't tell you how much I appreciate all the knowledge and philosophy you're contributing! Carry on Sir!

I'm a newbie but don't be too discouraged. I bottled an apple wine pretty much right away when it had cleared and though now I'm marginally wiser and would have bulk aged it MUCH longer, I found that after a few weeks in the bottle a lot of that harshness had mellowed out. If I were you I'd be...

Thanks pumpkinman and everyone else... Temperature is up to 74 degrees and it's fermenting again. I will keep checking my numbers but lesson learned!

So I got a ferm wrap and an adhesive thermometer and I'm warming up my juice. Next question: I have my leftovers after racking in a gallon jug. It's already settling a little and it looks like I have about a quart of lees and a quart of juice. Should I mix it back in my 5 gallon carboy, or...

Yah, I know it's a bit chilly for fermentation, but I used 1116 which is fairly robust. I need to figure out some temperature regulation apparatus... I liked your tub/fishtank heater but I really need to minimize the moisture in my basement. I might get some brew belts or a heating pad. At...