Recent content by Virgin Vintner

Well, I opened a bottle on Mother's Day from this French Cab Sauv - so it's been in bottles since Feb 1 and it tasted pretty good. mom like's it (of course, she's my Mom - she has to like it) but the wife isn't so keen on it - she says it tastes a little chemically or something. I think it's...

Ha! True, good thing I've got public transportation and a great drunken stumble to get me home! It was a good time and not too crowded. 4 hrs of wine tasting and no one spit. Well, one guy did, but he was a salesperson and tried to look elegant doing it and failed miserably. So my advice to...

I did the exact same thing as you - I also posted this in another thread: Winexpert World Vineyard, French Cab 12/26/09 - SG = 1.076 1/1/10 - SG = .996 - racked into secondary 1/9 & 1/10 - SG = .992 - degassed with drill mounted stirrer (and 2 volcanoes later) 1/24 - Racked again and...

Hey gang - just to confirm what the experts here are saying - here's a copy of my Chat with Linda from Winexpert (read from the bottom up) Hi Sean, Yes, I think it is safe to Stabilize the batch now. It will not ferment further. Cheers, Linda To: Winexpert Customer...

No worries! I will post some pix (before and after). Like I said earleir, I'm really not sure how this is going to end up. I thought I'd jsut take a chance and see what happens. I haven't seen any posts for that kit here so what the heck, right? And sorry cpfan, didn't mean to mislead.

I think they market only to those 'on the fence' who are thinking about making wine. It comes with primary femerter, the bottles, labels and all the other stuff. I guess if you extrapolate the cost of the equipment and allocate the remaining cost to just the juice and chemicals, it's probably...

Anyone make the 6 bottle producing Winemakers Toolbox from Mosti? They've got free shipping on 4 types and I just ordered the Chardonnay. $65 bucks so it's a little costly, but hey, it's only $65.

Wade, Mosti is having a free shipping on the Winemakers toolbox right now. http://www.becomeawinemaker.com/Default.aspx I just ordered the Chardonnay - $65 for 6 bottles. I know it's not the best price, but what the heck? it's only $65.

I forgot about the temp adjustment! Great catch! I'm using a plastic carboy and have the brew belt on. I have a feeling the brew belt was to be used only for the primary fermenter, which is a thicker plastic and using n the plastic carboy might actually increase the temp of the wine. I have...

Anyone going to the NY Wine Expo? It's happening on 2/26 - 2/28 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. I'm headed there. www.NewYorkWineExpo.com It's my first time going to one so I'm not sure what to expect. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm doing the Cabernet/Semillion kit myself and have the exact same problem as jdeere5220. It was actively fermenting and then I racked from primary to 6 gal carboy and it slowed down tremendously. After the 10 day mark, I'm at .998 and should be at .996. I know the Mezza Luna says it won't...

I did a VR French Cab Sauv and ended up with 11% alcohol - it was my first kit. Had a little issue with degassing but I guess it all worked out. It's been in bottles for about a month now. As I ended up with a half bottle when finished, I decided to have a drink instead of corking a half...

I had a simialiar issue with a Winexpert French Cab. I was degassing FOREVER. I also used a drill mounted degasser (not the whip like looking one, but a different one). I degassed once before adding the stabilizers, once afer adding the stabelizers and about 9 times after adding the chitosan...

Well, it's the end. I racked my 6 gallon into a 5 gallon and 1 gallon and prepared to bottle. i had my wife watch the youtube video of the coule making the wine that's in the Winexpert: I made this video series. It worked, she was interested (probably just trying to shut me up). Anyway...

On my Winexpert kit, it told me that I'll be degassing a couple of times. First stirring is after adding the potassium metabisulphite and potassium sorbate. The second time is after adding the clarifier (chitosan or isingglass). Personally, I did it 3 times. Once before adding anything...