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This board is a great place for all new winemakers (and veterans) to get advice. Sometimes, new winemakers do not know exactly what it is they need to know because their experience is limited. Then, too, newbies may need very prompt responses to help them out of a perceived pinch. As we...

I just received Pambianchi's Techniques in Home Winemaking (what a great reference). Thumbing through quickly, I saw he said the brass bottle washers like many of us use can cause plumbing problems. It says: Warning: This bottle washer has been reported to cause pipe problems in some cases...

Any word yet on exact dates of availability of the Limited Edition Oregon Pinot Noir? I have one on order but all I've been told is March 2014. NS

I have found winemaking references that recommend the use of Clinitest tablets to determine if your wine is dry. It is a measure of residual sweetness. Prior to dip sticks, Clinitest tablets were used by diabetics to test for the presence of sugar in their urine. Maybe those tablets are an...

I haven't seen this discussed here. We do talk a lot about WHEN to top up and WHAT to top up with but not HOW MUCH do we top up our KITS. (I know, it usually is enough to be within a couple inches from the bottom of the 6 gal carboy bung.) In looking over my log of the last few years it became...

I do mostly kits and have also made several fruit wines. I have not (intentionally) taken any of my wines through MLF. But, in topping up my kits I have used commercial wines which did go through MLF. I have always wondered if I am in fact adding a small amount of lactic acid bacteria that...

I make mostly kits and tend not to worry about my sulfite levels since I add the usually recommended amounts at the right time plus another batch every 3-4 months during carboy aging. But I have also made some non-kit wines. I decided to try Titrets to assess the free SO2 levels in my wine...

For some time I have been wanting to make a raspberry wine from VH canned concentrate (fruit wine base) enhanced with fresh raspberries. Finally I found fresh Oregon raspberries at Costco for $2.49 for 12 oz. so I bought 10 pounds. (Yes, I know I should have bought 50 lbs at that price.) I...

Rather than hijack a thread about KT in certain kit wines, I am starting a new thread. This is in response to a comment Robie made about the percentage contents of the advertised varietal in wine kits: "Even commercial wines are not always pure varietal. They can legally add in certain...

After the big intro, I decided to try a new Winexpert Eclipse Columbia Valley Washington Riesling. I bought it online from the Florida dealer. Yes, I know the skins are better with the big reds but I have two reds aging in carboy and am ready for a white. I haven't opened it yet so I don't...

Surprisingly, I have not seen this discussed. I have made nearly a dozen batches, mostly WinExpert, a CellarCraft, and a Spagnols. I am pleased overall with the results and have no axe to grind about this topic. I believe the box on all of them lists ingredients as: varietal grape juice...

My RJS orange chocolate port has fermented, been cold stabilized and clarified and de-gassed, topped up with brandy, and has aged in glass about a month. Has been almost 3 months since yeast was pitched. At last racking the SG was 1.030 and it's very sweet as expected. This is my first RJS...

I try to stay up on these cleaning & sanitizing threads but I don't recall this question ever being asked. My custom has been to not wash the bottle tree for just draining cleaned bottles but to both wash and sanitize the tree prior to draining sanitized bottles. What practice do you...

On the advice of WTM guys/gals I am making the Cellar Craft Showcase Red Mountain Cab. It calls for an 8 gal fermenter because of the addition of both water and the skins. Since I don't have an 8 gal (and I don't think my LHBS even sells one) I am splitting it into two 6 gal primary...

Day 42, or so, on the RJS orange chocolate port. The SG is 1.030, it is smooth and rich, quite sweet and has a nice taste (more chocolate than orange). I had topped up the 3 gal carboy with a very good VSOP french brandy (overkill maybe). For the last 30 days I kept it in the fridge around 45...

We all know what a chore scraping, cleaning & sanitizing bottles can be. I never try to do all that plus bottling on the same today. So I do it prior to anticipated bottling date. My routine is soak bottles in hot water an hour or so, scrape off old label & rinse outside, use bottle brush...

I made & bottled a WE SE Columbia Valley Riesling kit a year ago; most of it is gone. It was very good. In two of the remaining bottles I see a white cottony particulate matter that rises from the bottom when the bottle is picked up. It is very different from tartrate crystals, which are...

After about 10 WE kits, almost all SE, I want to try other brands. I am especially interested in a great rich cabernet sauvignon and would like your opinion. I prefer high-end kits and don't mind waiting to age them. What would be your recommendation for another brand of cab sauv kit? I...

Joe Mattioli is credited with coming up with the classic ancient orange mead recipe which it seems the multitudes start with & then jump off from there. I even have a batch now fermenting, my first mead effort. Hope I don't sound like the kid on Two And a Half Men who asked "Who Is This Vod...

Making a WE SE Lodi Old Vines Zin. Everything ready to go until I was ready to pitch the yeast & noted directions said to not proceed until temperatures are between 72 & 75F. I haven't paid a lot of attention to my kit wine temps but this is very narrow. Ordinarily this would not be a problem...