Recent content by UglyJohn

I stirred mine yesterday for the first time in about 3 weeks. I snuck a little taste, and for the first time I've noticed a bit of a difference. It's starting to come around nicely. Now I'll have to see how it is in a couple weeks, then I'll start adding oak.

I did a similar thing with a batch that I was making for a wedding - After a couple days nothing at all was falling out. I added a batch of Super-Kleer, and it worked like a champ, clearing within a day.

Winexpert™ Eclipse Napa Valley Stag's Leap District Merlot

I found my first bucket had a lot of scratches on the bottom and sides from stirring. I was afraid of not being able to completely clean those scratches, so I tossed it and bought a new one. Cleaning the new the other day, I realized exactly how scratched the first one was! Much easier clean up...

Did you learn this by experience??? :)

I have my batch of the WE Selection going now. Yesterday I transferred to secondary after 8 days in primary. I added about 30g of medium toast oak cubes - like I said earlier, my friend requested it buttery and very oaky! I'll be stirring it this afternoon when I buy some chardonnay to top it...

I've used the Hungarian medium toast before, and I really like it. The place in Orlando I get most of my winemaking stuff carries these in a 1 pound bag, so it is much more affordable than smaller quantities. The only other oak I've used is whatever comes with the kits. I made a double batch...

I made this kit for my niece's wedding and it was phenomenal! I had about 15 months notice from her engagement. I added extra oak, and let it bulk age for about 4 or 5 months, IIRC. It came out so good that I bought 2 of the kits, and they are both in day 5 of primary right now. My house...

I had a kinda of unique opportunity with this kit. When I made it, I found that there was about a liter of juice trapped between the bags. I called WE, and they immediately told me they were shipping another kit. I asked what to do with the existing juice, he said the trapped juice was almost...

I'm glad I found this post. I had a friend visit last week, and she loved the Zin I had made, and requested a buttery, oaky chardonnay. That's pretty much the type chardonnay I enjoy as well, so I told her I'd give it a shot. I'll pick up a kit to try the battonage process. I very much like...

Wow - I guess I've been away from the forum for a while... Sticking waaaaaayyy too long with a crazy girlfriend will do that to you. I'm free again now, so I can get back to my hobbies. Actually I've still been making wine, but have been doing so quietly. When I came back to the forum I...

The bloody awful: Having a $40 difference between their on-line prices and their in-store prices. Even after shipping, it would have been $20 cheaper for me to go home and order a kit than to pick it up when I was talking with them face to face.

It's a straight Gewurtz, and it was much, much drier than I expected. After putting the F-pack in, I was worried it would be sickly sweet, but it came out just barely sweet. I am very happy with it.

In my case: excellent = great (except I've only had one bottle and it will get better with more time) = awesome = also awesome = phenomenal (except that I only got to taste it when bottling and I can't keep any of it because it's for my nieces wedding but maybe she'll decide he's a dork and...

The whites don't need as long to age, so I would suggest the Eclipse Sauvignon Blanc - it's excellent! Also the Gewurz is great, but I've only tried it once 3 months after bottling. Trying to let them sit as long as I can, even though they are very good after just 3 months. For reds which...