Recent content by PeterZ

You are officially "Liked" by me on FB.

OK, I think I have my sig fixed. Now I just have to find a copy of my profile pic.

Mike's the chemist. I'm the ex-chemist turned IT weenie. How do I change my sig? It obviously did not translate well from the FVW forum.

High all. I had some password issues getting logged in. I hope there is not another PeterZ here or I just hijacked his account!! Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

I would never use a vinegar barrel for wine. Too much chance that a rogue Acetobacter sp. cell might turn your wine into vinegar.

You can download the templates from Avery's website.

Mostly color change. The straw color of the juice becomes brown.

If the juice looks and smells OK (not oxidized) you should be OK. You will probably need some fresh yeast.

The actual K-meta left behind by sanitizing is not enough to contribute a detectable increase in SO2 in the wine. The drop that dried on the mouth of the bottle is about .05 ml. It contains less than 1 mg of K-meta.

I would add the sulfite and degas in the current carboy. Top up and the wine can stay there for a couple of weeks to get the full extraction of the oak. It will also drop a lot of fine lees during this time. After a couple of weeks rack to a clean, sanitized carboy.

I use boiling water. Using the device George sells to hold the capsule, I slowly lower the bottle into the water and it shrinks from top down, keeping any water out. Takes about 1 sec per bottle, but to work well the water must be at a rolling boil. If you are very far above sea level it won't...

Find out from your friend whether the oak was treated for sapstain prevention before being kiln dried. The chemicals used for sapstain prevention are HIGHLY TOXIC!! Personally, I would never use oak that I didn't know was intended for use in winemaking from the time the tree was cut.

Picture required!!!

Yes, you can leave the kegs as is and use nitrogen or vacuum to fill/drain.

I see the new forum software ate my response. You can get bulk quantities of latex gloves at the hone center in the paint department cheap. She can don the gloves and spray the sanitizer on them, and when she is done working with the wine just strip them off and toss them. I use them for all...