Recent content by Rice_Guy

The oxygen transmission rate of PET is in the range of 0.1 mg per square meter per year. As a comparison HDPE and oak barrels are in the range of 5 to 7 mg per square meter per year, or silicone as in burpers is 20,000. You would be safe letting it in PET till you want to drink it. You would...

On year one I will have hardware cloth surrounding my new grapes and trees. Will it bud out again? If the root is established it has reserves and will develop more buds. There looks to be a nice bud low on your photo. ,,, Is this a grafted vine? The top was pretty well damaged. I have lost...

I use table sugar, it works. I will do a flavor trial and then scale up to 750ml. Sugar melts in the 750ml bottle, I would not trust dry sugar to accurately distribute in a whole carboy. Sweet vs acid taste acceptance is a predictable function so I have an idea what the target is based on TA...

1- leveling dirt will not harm grape, there are buds along the shoot that can turn into either root or leaf, when under ground those will form root. 2- malformed corresponds with viral infection, if it goes away it isn’t a virus, just the way it grows. 3- pubescence / hairy is normal on grape...

welcome to WMT If the stems are flexible it should be alive. If the picture was taken this year, you don’t have signs of breaks or rot starting three years back, I would vote that it is alive. Is there wildlife damage? insect damage? Grapes seem to be weeds. I am still mowing over vines...

welcome to WMT You have me jealous on two parts. A nice place to retire and Spain has traditional knowledge on what works for making quality wine.

I have used a variety of 120 mm lid containers for a secondary. I have maxed at six months in a BMB. Oxygen is a serious risk for wine and I feel they aren’t the best once out gassing has stopped. I also have an issue with getting the lid snug so will use a silicone bowl cover instead of the...

Welcome to WMT, wine is something that just wants to happen, if we look at the hundred year old recipes as The New Settlement Cookbook, one starts with a clean crockery and it just wait. Reading between the lines, yes there are variations in flavor as a result of different yeast or fruit or...

you need to visit Japan, ,,, I don’t see the tatami mats which one rolls out to turn that area into a bedroom every night

Welcome to WMT From a Chen lab point of view, the ability to pull molecules out of solution is based on the electrical charge. The water purifier is pulling molecules out so it also has some charge. ? Efficiency? this will be trial and error. It could be the same or it could have fewer...

@BigDaveK of the varieties I have seen (pollinators with Honey Bee) sizes are just under 1/2 inch to a little over 3/4 inch. They are not uniform ripening ~a week and a half. BUT , , , the garden catalog made it sound productive.

I have used Fermaid O (organic) and K exclusively for three years. It is recommended for giving smoother growth with a lower chemistry lab nitrogen analysis. New recipes seem to be pushing dividing the nitrogen dosage into several smaller treatments to create smoother growth. Staggered...

wine is a food system! You should never panic with a pH of 3. You can be concerned with a pH of 2.8 and ignore it. You can be concerned with pH 2.6 that the yeast will get stuck as alcohol builds up and you produce a sweet low alcohol cider. The color In strawberry is not 100% soluble and...

I am jealous, have planted haskap but have a few years to wait to have enough to do anything but cooking tests.

maybe learning some Italian (ex azienda agricola = farm casa = cellar or sometimes winery); trying to plan a day trip to wineries in northern Lombardi; driving the google tool in a village called Chiuro; practicing typing in italian and making one letter mistake. Prairie vinters club has 20...