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Uhhh - this should be a powder through and through. I always order two weeks before crush and i generally get the 2.5Kg bag. But for the lab, i get the 1Kg bag. If you go to scottlab.com you can order from them and have confidence that they will do you right. I store my excess in mason jars...

Here's an excellent little paper on the why and what of fining agents.  http://www.uark.edu/depts/ifse/grapeprog/articles/nmc14wg.pdf Mildly technical but very helpful. One thing they talk about on the gelatin - be careful with over-fining. If you over-do it, they talk about getting bitter...

Hi guys! glad to see ya all chimed in. Just as an FYI malic is used commonly post-fermentation, just come on out to the Temecula Valley. Prior to STERILE filtering and bottling, malic is regularly used to adjust the final taste profile. It's stable and wont fall out as bitartrate. But for...

I would adjust the acid prior to fermentation. Use ONLY tartaric acid for pre-fermentation adjustments. Get your pH sub-3.2 and TA closer to 6.8 g/L - go much higher over 7 and you start to strip the enamel right off of your teeth (kidding) After you cold stabilize the wine then adjust with...

IMHO - some additions can certainly help especially if you try a kit. I have helped some friends out with their home kits - usually i hand them a fistfull of untoasted oak shreds - the oak tanin will help stabilize the color of your red wines and add a "perceived" sweetness to your finished...

Hey Skor; Wade E has a good point. I will use the 71B for small-lot fruit wines. it also helps boost tutti-fruity aromas. But for your early attempts his advice of the RedStar champagne is good, and it's cheap at about 50 to 75 cents or so for a 5gram pack. It goes by many names by many...

Hey OldCanalBrew: On kit wines (in a box) that have been manipulated by the manufacuturer, I would be careful. Make sure that they did NOT use D-Malic as part of the acidification. On pails meant as "KIT" it's iffy. For pails meant for commercial use or a concentrate i would not be so...

The lees you speak of contains lots of autolyzed (dead) yeast hulls which can contain nutrients for new yeast to use for growth. But it may not contain enough viable cells to form a critical mass of colony forming cells. If the lees do not smell badly like a swamp or other sulfur aromas, it...

Hey Hayden. There is a very special ratio for the standard 225L barrel to wine. The oak surface-area contact to wine is ideal for about 1.5 to 2 years of aging the barrel. Is there any way of asking dad to doing at least a half-ton of fruit? Enough to fill a barrel and keep enough top-up...