Recent content by slheinlein

I bottled up my wine tonight and noticed that there was some carbonation. I degassed but must not have done a good enough job. How will this effect my wine? Is there a way to get the carbonation out when I open to drink it?

to top off, what is the best thing...water or wine?

just checked again and both are at .996. Should I get some more yeast and add? It doesn't appear to be going anywhere right now.

I have the same problem with mine. One is at .998 and another 1.000 for about 5 days. This weekend, racked again, put them upstairs where it is a few degrees warmer and it appears there is some action again. I'll check tonight and see if I'm closer to the .990 mark. Racking plus the few...

As of 6/5, Malbec is at .998 (was 1.000 on 5/31). Carmenere on6/5 is .997 (was .998 on 5/31). Should I continue to wait to rack, add oaks and top off?

Yep, I didn't think so at the time doing the math on 30 bottles but since realize I paid twice as much as most people. This is my first time so will look elsewhere in the future.

Think I'll make the trip to M&Ms soon. I come up that way frequently for business anyway. Thanks for the tip.

wow, I paid almost $150 for 12 gallons of chilean juice (malbec and carmenere). next time, i'll look around a bit. Beer and Wine Hobby in MA.

Another newbie question. Do I need to degasse at some point? When and how is this done?

Just checked today and I'm at 1.012 (Malbec) and 1.011 (Carmenere) so things are progressing. I plan to rack into secondary tonight. I will add some American oak to the secondary. A few questions: 1. Can I rack into another bucket or do I need to rack into carboy and top it off? 2...

does the yeast provide flavor to the wine or is its job just to ferment? I guess I am thinking about the wild yeast and its already fermented partially. Will this create any off flavors?

I am fermenting in the bucket the juice came in and just have the cover sitting on top without snapping it down. Is this the proper way of doing it? If so, what are the signs fermenting is occurring? For the raisins, any raisin will work? Just throw a couple pounds into each bucket?

I picked up a Malbec and Carmenere yesterday. They asked me to pick up Thurs or Fri but was out of town so Sat morning was earliest I could do it. Both were already fermenting when I picked them up. I added P-Meta and waited 22 hours. I just measured my SG and it was .057 for both Malbec...

What is a healthy dose of P-Meta? This is my first time so need some advice. I picked up 2 buckets of Chilean juice - one Malbec and one Carmenere. The directions specified 1/8 teaspoon per 5 gallons of P-Meta. This doesn't sound like a healthy dose to me so wanted to check. Also, if I...