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Hey everyone. I recently started a Black Raspberry wine with some fruit I picked at a friends farm with the intention of making a port wine. After preparing the must as normal (SG 1.10) and innoculating with yeast (ICV-D47) I covered the fermenter and waited for my yeast to do their thing. I was...

Hey everyone. I bought a new pH meter from George for last seasons grapes. When I got it I also purchased all of the related solutions to calibrate and store it. The meter is a pHep5 and it has a cap that protects the electrode. Using the meter is very simple but I'm not exactly sure how to...

Has anyone ever thought about cutting and toasting your own oak? I have a friend that has hundreds of oak trees on his property and I figure that a half dozen or so good sized oak logs should set me up for a long while with oak. I have tried to do some research and all I can really find is that...

Has anyone had any problems with their floor corkers rusting? I usually rinse my corks in K-Meta before inserting in to the bottles. Yesterday I was bottling a small batch and I noticed that tiny particles of rust were getting into the bottles. Luckily I noticed this pretty quick. I took apart...

Hey everybody. I'm wondering if anyone has the scoop on the Winemaker Mag Top 100 Kit contest from the last issue. There was only 1 Mosti Modiale kit that made the top 100. The Rennaissance Amarone placed 54th among all wine kits. I have only made 2 Mosti kits but they were both pretty good. I...

I have a 5 week CC Cabernet that I racked to the secondary on March 23rd. The instructions say it should be in secondary for about 12 days. It is now April 26th and I am still getting bubbles. The SG readings are consistently at .997 but it is still bubbling. Has anyone experienced this one...

Hello everyone. I have been in the process of making a Vinifera Noble Zinfandel Blush and when I went to add the clarifiers, the Siligel packet was all dried out. The Liquigel was fine but the Siligel looked like salt. I know that with my only previous MM kit this was not the case. I'm hoping...

Just wanted to chime in and say that I think I finally figured it out. I had made a few VR reds that didn't turn out so hot but after reading a lot more on the forum I tried a WV Italian Pinot Grigio and had a much better feeling about it than the reds. I just opened my first bottle this evening...

Help! My first Mosti kit is a MM AJ Shiraz that I ordered from George back in the beginning of March. I have followed the directions to a tee but the wine is not clearing. I added the K-Sorbate, Siligel and Liquigel on the 8th of April. You can still see a lot of particulate suspended in the...

Hello everybody. I'm looking to start a Shiraz wine kit as I am a huge fan of most of the Australian commercial wines. I'm wondering if anyone can give me any advice on whether I should go with the 16L Renaissance kit or the 23L All-Juice kit. They are both $115.99 here at George's. It seems...

Hello. I finally got a chance to open a bottle from my very first kit. It is a VR Merlot and it seemed to be pretty easy to make. It has been aging in the bottle for 2 and a half months and I think I followed the directions carefully. My question is this...The wine seems to have a slightly...

I have recently tried to start a Niagara wine using white grape juice from the store. However, instead of the frozen kind I used the bottled kind not realizing that the bottled grape juice contains preservatives, specifically Potassium Metabisulfite. Instead of making a yeast starter I just...

Hello. The house that we moved into a few years ago has 4 grape vines growing in the backyard on a trellis. Since I am brand new to winemaking I haven't done anything with these vines since I have been here but am looking to see if I can make these vines productive. They do produce grapes...

Okay. I have to admit that I am very new to wine making but I absolutley can't seem to get enough of it. I am a bit confused about primary fermentation and I hope someone can help me... 1. I know that primary fermentation is supposed to be an aerobic reaction, meaning that the yeast need air...