Search results

Thanks Guys!!! Not sure I would of been able to do this without this board. There was a lot to making wine from what I recalled making as a kid. I used the instructions that Maltose from Monroe gave me to wash and fill for storage. Whats all this talk of chillean wine? Seems that most of...

Ah f'it I opened and drank like 5 gallons of it during easter weekend with family. Had fun bottling. For sure the time consuming part was the bottle washing! Can't wait for this fall to do it all over again. The wine came out amazing!!!

Oh man!!! I guess I will have to sleep on it for a little longer. I really wish to break open this wine for Easter. I may just do it anyways. Yes I know I maybe a bit impatient but next fall I plan on doing enough for two barrels so one I can open at easter and the other I can save for the...

Hi Folks, Almost that time for me to bottle this wine in time for easter! How do you guys bottle from Barrel? I have an auto siphoning pipe setup. I've been reading up on pumps and filtering but used for carboys not barrels. Is this even worth me going down this path?

Yes Avery labels although I wasn't impressed with my Laser printer with them. The ink was rubbing off when I was applying to the bottles. You can see it not adhering well in the closeup. Mmmsk comes from just a slang from a few buddies and I. Like "mmm good" sort of spinoff. I may just keep...

Well its about 1/2 inch space to fill every week or so. Not sure if that is good or bad. I have 3 gallon jugs I set aside to refill. I paid $150 at the local wine shop. He had a bunch. This one looked the cleanest of many. I may just do that with a bag. I have regular oak chips as...

Wanted to put out an update on my juice buckets. I am very impressed at what the final result with this wine. Here are some pics of the bottles with made up labels.

Just wanted to put an update out there. I Barreled the wine early December into a used 5yr old barrel bought at the local wine shop. It was used for aging "toasted head" wine. So far the barrel is holding up in last 3 months. Carefully just tipping off every week or so. I tasted the...

The ph on the 5 15gal demijohns vary from 3.5 to 3.6. I'll take a look at that calculator

how much k-meta for 59 gal barrel? we talking "Potassium Metabisulfite"?

Hi Folks, the secondary is almost done with MLF and wanted to get going with Barrel soon. Besides prepping the barrel do I need to degass the wine or splash rack it into the barrel?

Well another stirring today with PH readings of 3.35-3.54 and gravity of .9998 on 3 and .1.0000 on 2. Temps were a bit on the chilly side at 58 but I can't do anything about it since no power here in our neck of the woods. And I can't keep running the wood stove in the basement 24x7. This is...

I also found this test for Malic Acid - http://valleyvintner.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=TE-10-3830&Category_Code=TKit Looks a heck of a lot easier than the chromo test.

Well its been a week now and stirred it up yesterday. Demijohns 1-5 had stable juice temp of 60 and gravity of 1.000. The ph varied from 3.35 to 3.5 but I guess still within range of 3.3 to 3.6. Its all going to get blended into a 60 gallon french medium toast barrel anyways. When I was...

Ok wanted to see what all this is about doing the juice buckets. I am making red wine from grapes but my buddy that was helping wanted some variety so he picked up 1 bucket of Chianti and another Riesling. The brand on the 6gal bucket says Collina Del Sole "Fresh California Must". I let...

Oh sorry that picture is from removing the gross lees on the first 3. I have topped off to three fingers space after adding bacteria for MLF. I stirred last night which marked 3 days in the demijohns. I plan on possibly going up there tomorrow and checking on progress and doing another stir...

Great thanks for the info. I went with what my local wine shop had. He recommended Lallemand's ENOFERM ALPHA which invokes "Security and mouthfeel, adapted to high alcohol wines" whatever that means :) Basically followed directions to hydrate and divided it up amoungst the 5 carboys after...

Just remembered since I started with BRIX of 24 or sg 1.1009 and fg 1.0000. I should have ABV of .1009 - .0000 = .1009 * 131 = 13.21. I think when I used the vinometer it showed between 13 and 14 % alcohol this morning and the PH was 3.36. Temp was down to 70. The SO2 I don't have a clue but...

Thanks Amigo will check all that before adding bacteria. Thanks for the compliments, just making sure the old man up there is proud that I am carrying on the tradition. :b

Well all pressed today to fill 5 - 15gal demi-johns. A little messy but that was expected. Tried to balance out the juice between all five by dividing up the pressed juice vs free juice. Letting it relax overnight then racking to remove gross lees and begin the MLF. Gearing up the...