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i had done a welches niagra that i oaked then back sweetened to a fairly sweet level (about 7% sugars). after 3 months i was very, very disappointed with it. after 7 months - well, let's say i'm starting on another batch to replenish the first. it definately improved with some age...

Here's what i've got brewing now for 3 gal: 9 cans welches concentrate QS'd to 3 gal with water 675 g of sugar (~1.5 lbs) dissolved in 2qts water gives a sg of 1.086 2 tsp acid blend 3 tsp yeast nutrient 3 tsp pectic enzyme yeast was cotes des blancs primary fermented for 1 week...

Actually, your cake mix referece is apt. I work in the food industry, and General Mills has done extensive research into this. There's a bit of a tug of war between today's push for convenience as well as the desire to 'cook from scratch'. the mixes are designed such that both desires...

That's why i should have read the fine print in turbotax 8-) thanks mate

Caught something in turbotax this year that i've not seen in previous years ( may have been there and i just didn'tsee it) - apparently you can deduct expenses for hobbies. I didn't read up on it in terribly great detail, but you better bet i'm saving my reciepts from wine makin for next year...

I'd read the horror stories re: boiling and disintegration, but thought that this batch will likely be gone in 2 month anyway. I'll likely just buy a floor corker (they're only what, 50 bucks?) and be done with it. i'll probably go to synthetic corks given what i really want are aging...

I just bottled my first coupla cases of the white zin - found that boiling the corks made the handcorking go MUCH easier (although i'll need to find an alternative for the old vine red zin i started a couple of weeks ago - from what i can glean off the boards, boiling the cheapo corks...

A BIG shout out to all of you for the help - i'm sure you've answered these same questions a thousand times before, i apprecate that you've been willing to do it 1001..last week i racked off the lees, and will give it another week or so before bottling as i inadvertantly sucked some of the...

Thanks Masta - so much to learn 8-) when i'm ready to bottle, or nearing it, would you recommend transferring the wine to another carbouy with the intent of leaving behind the lees and letting it sit for another week or so to settle further? I've had it suggested that this is a great way...

7 days ago i added the F pack, clearing agents, degassed and so on. The next day the top 20% was crystal clear, with everything below it being fairly occluded - i left for a biz trip and assumed that as time went on, more of the wine would clear and less would be occluded. However, its...

Is the WE port something you could bottle and let sit for the next 20 years (if not, how do the commercial places do it?). For that matter, are any of the WE kits appropriate for long term aging? I get the impression that you don't really want to let them sit for longer than, say, 5-7 years...

PWP - i don't have a problem with talking to things - where i get funny looks is when i start answsering them... Ok, as of last night, the wine's been racked to the carbouy for exactly 7 days - the booklet says to let it sit in there for a good 10 days prior to taking the SG readings and...

thanks 8-) erm, i probably check on it 4-5 x /day - when i wake up, when i get home, after supper, before bed. I've even listened to it a time or two ....yeah, i'm a headcase.. 8-)

Ok, it's been about 5 days since i've racked it into the carbouy - guess i'm just looking for reassurance 8-) the wine (it's an island mist exotic fruits white zin) is steadily clearing (initially it was pretty cloudy - now i can almost see through it), and there's a good 1" of sediment...

Now I'm just using K-meta (making a kit), and it doesn't smell like sulpher at all...I'm basically just dousing everything with the k-meta soln and shaking it off as best i can. Is there a recommended contact time or a soak time, or is a dip in the soln sufficient? Sounds like most of you clean...

Thanks mate - foil it is. no flies this time of year here, and we've got plenty 'o bubbling going on in the airlock!

Should the red cap by firmly in place? I'm assuming that the wine will continue to ferment and give off gas, and that the reason for the air lock is so that the gas can escape, but that nothing else is getting in. if the cap is on tightly, the gas won't be able to escape, will it...

Ok, here's where I'm at - this is fun! Racked the wine from the primary into the carbouy with an autosiphon. Essentially I placed the autosiphon on the bottom of the primary, and siphoned until it stopped, leaving perhaps 3/4" residual on the bottom of the primary: IMG] I've put...

Thanks everyone. I've got the primary going for about 18 hours now and there's a thick mat on the surface (looks like the yeast have hydrated and expanded? reproducing?), and there's some bubbles around the sides of the primary. Am assuming that's a good sign 8-) Lets talk...

I spent a good portion of my youth in Elbow Lake, Minnesota (Near Fergus Falls) - now I live in Pennsylvania (right smack in the middle of Amish heaven). We just don't have fish like that here in PA. I miss it. There's lots of streams and cricks, but very few lakes.