Recent content by poet

it is/was in a fermentation bucket with a lid. My husband is doing the wine making and thinks he knows it all! We've started some plum wine today and I've told him he MUST follow the recipe, i.e. strain it after a week this time! He's insisting the cherry wine is fine and carrying on...

is it because he left it too long? thanks for having a joke at our expense by the way, it is actually upsetting for a first time wine maker to know they've wasted their time!

the recipe said to strain off the must after a week, hubs has left it for almost a month! I think it smells slightly vinegary, he reckons it doesn't. He's just strained it off into another sterilised ferment bucket to sit for 3-4 days (as per the recipe). should the unfinished wine smell...

I just put all that to the hubbie (who is the one in charge of the wine making) and he said... if it's bubbling then as far as he's concerned then it's fermenting and if it's not bubbling then it's not. I think he's a Luddite but there you go! :) So, at the end of it all, all I will be...

i take your point but we're not too bothered about how much alcohol is in the wine etc, we're not bothered about being that precise. I'm thinking half the fun will be finding out what it's like when it's ready ;) maybe we'll use one eventually....

why do we need to have a hydrometer?

again, i don't know what that means but we are stirring it every day. It was only started yesterday. We're not doing an SG reading as we just wanted a nice, relaxing hobby! ;) I guess we'll just have to wait and see.....

hubby says there's bubbles on the surface, does that mean it's fermenting? (sorry, I am a beginner! LOL)

I found this... http://www.brew-winemaking.com/brewwine/shop/faq.aspx?id=1440 so our cultured yeast should be okay, right?

so what should I do now guys? Help!!!!! :?

this isn't going to a major issue is it? Will the wine be okay?

what does that mean please?

hi, I just read this... http://www.winemakermag.com/stories/issue/article/issues/110-junjul-2009/858-cellar-dwellers so it should still work shouldn't it? i mean in the sense of stopping the wine being cloudy?

okay, just been reading up about pectic enzyme in Mrs gennery taylor's wine book and we have now added some pectolase, thanks for the reminder. weird how the recipe didn't say anything about it!

hi this is the recipe we're using http://www.lowcostliving.co.uk/home-brewing/recipe-cherry-recipe.php it doesn't say anything about pectic enzyme. should we have added some? Is it too late as the yeast is already in the must?