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On 7/31 I finally got to crush my previously frozen 26 lbs of muscadines. Put into primary with 3 teaspoons of K-meta. Next day checked S.G. at 1.095 and stirred in 5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient. Hydrated a pack of Lalvin 71B-1122. Yeast hydrated well and was active when added to the must...

Purchased a product called "Classic Studio Collection Labeling System" from my lbhs. The enclosed instructions (easy to follow) don't make a lot of sense to me. Starts out - (a) Using Frames: and goes on... I've never heard of "frames". Wondering if this from some sort of ap. Went to their...

Its Muscadine season in the neighborhood and I'm thinking of making my first ever wine from grapes. Just to get my feet wet, I'm going to start small. My initial batch will be for three gallons. Problem: Got nothing to squeeze the grapes with, so I need a couple suggestions. 1. The simplest and...

There is a nice yeast starter recipe that was put out by IQwines which I prepared. Question: What is the the best way to ad this to your must. I'm going for two tosses. One at noon and one this eve. Thanks Tony

I say almost, as I had planned to use all fruit. Didn't work out that way. De-pitted, quartered and froze the plums which came above the three gallon mark on my primary. Lo and behold, when thawed they were below that line. :< Have to make three gallons as I lost my singles in the move. So, I...

Where is the best place (here is one of them) to learn about which yeast to use with each type of wine. When I first started I used Lalvin EC-1118 for just about everything. Then I started using RC 212 for Welches Concord. Now I'm doing different fruit wines and I think the right yeast will help...

Well I finally got to use my new PH meter. Unfortunately when I tested my three gallon welches Concord it read a PH of 4.0. Seems a bit low but I'm no expert. Taste is good, sweet, strong and perhaps a bit flat. Oops! Just read the tutorial on measuring PH. Seems it may be a bit high. Probably...

So- picked up some very tasty and ripe plums at the local farmers market. They should hold one more day in the fridge. Wondering how to prep them for the primary so as to retain flavor. Freeze as many do. Gently heat them to almost a boil with a bit of water. Or just wash, pit, and mash in the...

Presently I'm using 3 gallon carboys for my wine making. The next time I visit my local lhs I'd like to pick up two larger size. They have 5,6 and 6 1/2 gallon glass carboys. Also will pick up a couple one gallon jugs, as the ones I had got lost in the move. So, which size would be the most...

The acid level of the well water on my new homestead was tested at 4.9 ph. Is it ok to use for wine as is or should I look at ways to soften. Looking at starting my first batch here. Thanks for any input. Tony...

Just getting back to making wine after a long pause. I had been using strips to check ph but thinking about upgrading. Question: Will I achieve a greater degree of accuracy with an inexpensive meter, say in the $25-$40 range. Or: Am I just as well using the strips. Thanks for any input. Tony...

Greetings: Havn't been at this forum for a while. Reason is, I finally got a decent bid on my home and I've been packing and doing all those things necessary to vacilitate my move. Never realized I had so much stuff. Bottled my last carboy of peach wine yesterday. A little early as it hadn't...

3 gallon carboy of peach with one banana and a pound of strawberries. Been bulk ageing since last September. I remember that my last straight peach cleared earlier. Is it time to consider a clearing agent or should I wait a bit more. Any advice is appreciated. Tony...

Stopped by the health food store today and noticed that they had organic apple juice on sale. No additives or preservatives, but pasturized. Juice is sitting on a small amount of lees in one gallon jugs. Got a three gallon glass carboy not presently occupied, so I thought I might put it to...

Opened my first bottle of Welches concentrate concord. Even though only a few months aging, I thought it turned out pretty good. This due to some of the good advice received from this forum. Next batch should be even better and aged longer. I'd like to try a one gallon batch of Rose' (blush) as...

The first batch of Welches Concord that I made shows such promise that I started a second gallon. The recipes that I've read ask that you assemble all the ingredients in a jug and wait 12 -24 hours before adding yeast. Question please: The ingredients listed for Welches 100% concord grape...

May be a silly question, but I gotta ask. I'm only on my third batch of wine (peach). I've learned that I must keep any extra from the primary for topping off. Problem is that extra small bottle starts to develope a funky taste after a few weeks. Could it be fermenting faster? Or from sitting...

I started my first Welches experiment a month ago using Kellers recipe for 1 gallon. Used juice from 1/2 lemon instead of acid blend. Champagne yeast. Tested at 1.100 so added a bit of water to bring it down to 1090. Racked to a 3 liter (to have some top off liqued on the side) after one...

Well, the wine that is. Generally I maintain my home temp at 78 degrees in summer and 74 in winter. I understand that this is not optimal for aging wine. Unfortunately due to the water table, there is no option for a cellar. I'd like to ask the members who have 'been there done that' what...

My peach wine was racked from the primary two weeks ago. Per instructions it has one more week in the secondary (two one gallon jugs) before being racked again and possibly sweetened. Problem: Jug #2 appears to have slowed firmentation to nil. The color is like straw. Lots of lees at the...