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I'm sure its been done but in case any were wondering... I was picking up Apple Juice for Apfelwein while it was on sale and noted the same brand had a grape variety as well so I thought I'd give it a try in a 1 gallon to see how it would turn out. Result wasn't too bad, certainly...

Does anyone else find the amount of wine going into the drip try is excessive? I think the output of the drip try for me is at least equal if not exceeding the filtered output of the wine, meaning you pretty much have to feed it back into the original wine or only end up filtering about half...

So I've had great luck with past Cellar Craft Showcase collections, especially given some age. The Amerone remains my all time favourite kit and in spite of being a lighter body red, the Zweigelt is also excellent IMO. I figured I'd try one of the whites and so I started the Yakima Valley...

Picked up an RJ Spagnols "En Primeur Negroamaro Primitivo" a while back. Since it had an infusion oak spiral I didn't include it during the primary phase as I normally would with oak. The instructions were not really clean on how to use such a spiral vs chips so I assumed I was correct in...

Anyone familiar with these kits? The company appears based in Quebec also with a distribution warehouse in BC. Sounds like the grapes/juice are international for the most part. Regardless, the short of it is that there is a supplier here in town that uses mostly these kits but looks like...

Recently did a batch of RJs Super Tuscan, was very excited about it. Had some hiccups with an overfull primary but when all was said and done still had a batch I was very excited about. Stab and allowed to bulk age for about 2 months and then looked at bottling only to find that the wine was...

I know RJ has a Vidal kit for icewine style but I particularly enjoy Vidal as a regular white wine even if its not as popular a grape. Are there any kits available?

Controlled Experiment: Does corking method or bottle type effect ability to keep wine? Can other bottles (Screw top, Preformed corks, Champagne bottle, Liquor bottles) be used for bottling wine? LONG VERSION: Introduction: Most often hobbyists are know to use traditional ("standard")...

I've made a few batches of Apfelwein and would like to try and ramp it up a notch by adding some real fruit. For this, your help is required... I'm starting with the basic recipe linked above (AJ+ 2lbs Dextrose+yeast=apfelwein). I'm halving the typical 1kg (2.2lbs) Dextrose I typically use...

I've made a few batches of Apfelwein and would like to try and ramp it up a notch by adding some real fruit. For this, your help is required... I'm starting with the basic recipe linked above (AJ+ 2lbs Dextrose+yeast=apfelwein). I'm halving the typical 1kg (2.2lbs) Dextrose I typically use...

So my bottle stash is getting low and wondering on using some previously rejected bottles for apfelwein to make room. Are any of the following suitable options? Screw top wine bottles with original caps? Cognac/Scotch/Port bottles with original cork stopper? Liquor bottles with original...

One of my kits says to stir gently when adding Chitosan and not to use a drill for this step, yet I've never seen this on any other kit. Should i never use a drill here or is it good enough to use a drill but not run it full steam? I understand Chitosan is derived from shell fish; does stirring...

I just started a batch of RJs Winery Series Super Tuscan and through my own stupidity I made a bit a of a mistake. The kit 18L also has an extra 2.5kg (~2L displacement) grapes which when using what I believe to be a standard primary of ~26L there is not a lot of grace for error as it puts...

Doing a batch of RJs Winery Series Super Tuscan and never have a seen the juice so thick! No more can I chuckle at the "rinse the bag out" instructions as it took some serious rinse to get all that goodness out! I'm super excited for this batch...aside from the nervousness over the fact that the...

So its well understood that agglomerate corks need to be kept moist by having wine bottles on their side else oxidation occurs and wine spoils.At least that how I understand it. Kit and Cork instructions typically call for a standing period after bottling, however instructions vary (i.e. RJ...

I have a Chianti kit aging, will be "ready" to bottle early December. I intend to bulk age it. I was going to rack it down again and remove the bulk of the sediment to help improve clarity some. Is there anything wrong with doing it this way? Is it better to just add some K Met and leave it...

So I got a 6.5 rubber stopper and maybe should have been a 7, it was slick with k met and it went right in. So now I have stabilized wine and a lost bung. What should I do. I don't have a spare 6 gallon but if I rearrange some wines I might be able to figure something out, I'm afraid to leave it...

I read one should always follow kit instructions but is there any benefit to leaving the wine in the primary after its at or below 1.000?

I know bottle sediment is somewhat normal but are there ways to further reduce it? For now I've been primarily useing kits and so Im already useing Chitosan/Sparkloid. I don't want to waste but am I picking up too much of the dediment at racking fro primary to secondary or from secondary to...

I have have easy access to the above three wine kits near my home, so far I've tried two of them. I expect all the major companies do a reasonably good job but are there pros and cons to each? Does one have an edge, niche, etc. What are your experiences or should I let the almighty dollar...