Recent content by v8rx7guy

Ouch... 10%! It had decent reviews... bummer to waste that money, but I'm learning. I will probably try one of the pH tolerant bacteria recommendations, any recommendations? I am leaning toward VP41.

I am working on a 15 gallon batch of Regent wine and am attempting Malolactic fermentation for the first time. I chose Wyeast 4007 due to my pH (3.2) since it seemed to be a good bacteria for lower pH wine, I have now read that this bacteria is not as "fool proof" as I thought (some people say...

Trying my first glass of dragon's blood tonight. It finished at 0.990 so if my initial s.g. reading was correct I should be sitting at 12%. I just had to sneak some out of the carboy a little early... it is mostly degassed using a vacuum, but a bit gassy still and certainly not perfectly clear...

I am working on my first batch of DB per the original instructions. I am down to around 0.994 and the wine is now under airlock in a 6gal carboy. Everything went great except now I am wondering if I used too much sugar in the beginning getting my s.g. up to 1.075. It took maybe 11 or 12...

I too, have it again on one of my 4 vines this year. Very, very similar and I am on a different continent! Where did you buy from? My crop was also just fine last year, so not a huge concern for me in 2017

I bottled 12 today. I have about 1.5 gal remaining so hopefully 7 or 8 more bottles that I can experiment with.

Well, it has now been over 3 months... probably closer to 3.5 months in the carboy under vacuum. I have been sampling the wine quite a bit this whole time and it has become quite delicious with the aging. I think it is now time to bottle. I don't even think it needs back sweetening, I think...

I invested in a Milwaukee MW-101 6 months ago. I have been taking readings on my wine, and it seems to take multiple minutes for the meter to give me a stable reading. Is this normal? Also, my wife wanted to use it to get an accurate reading for her fish tank hobby and the readings seem...

A little update. This wine is still coming along nicely. I bottled a single bottle for a superbowl party with friends and family. I actually filled a full bottle from my carboy with a wine thief :h. I started degassing the day before using my vacu vin hand pump... pretty simple setup. Even...

Racking day today and first tasting! 17 days on the oak, did not take on the flavor as I originally thought. 5 gallons total after racking. Specific gravity 0.995. This is actually my first time ever trying blueberry wine, and I am impressed! There is no mistaking what kind of fruit this is...

Oh yeah... definitely going to keep the oaking light; I was thinking 7-10 days max with what I have in there. There is already sediment on the bottom from what I transferred from the last racking... I am sure it will be nice and clear after racking it one more time.

Cool... thanks for the response. I believe my fruiting wire is at 30in here... thats from the top of the mound. This was my "prototype" test plot before planting 50 more vines at my parents-in-law... we went 36in there, so I agree a bit higher on these would have been nice. Those 50 vines are...

Today was the 3rd day at 0.997 so I decided to rack. This time it went very smoothly and I was able to leave a lot of sediment behind. Transferred about 5 gallons or so into a 6gal carboy. I added 6 crushed kmeta tablets and about 1.5oz of mixed american and french oak. I will rack one more...

I decided that although late demember isnt the perfect time to prune, I had the day off and wanted to get it done. This is the 3rd leaf for these Regent vines. I am attempting what I believe is VSP trellising, but I have read so many opinions on what that means that I am still not exactly sure...

Down to 0.997, or so I'll call it. Fermentation seems to have stopped. I'll probably rack and kmeta on Tuesday . The wine smells very nice for being so young. I am looking forward to trying it!