Search results

My softened well water tastes fine. It is fairly high in iron and manganese. Been using it in all my wines with no off taste issues whatsoever.

I just use a cheap lemon juice concentrate. Yes it contains preservatives but you can get the fermentation started by leaving it sit in fermenter and mixing in air from time to time over a 2 or 3 day period of time before you add your yeast.

Our softened well water works just fine. No other filters or treatment.

I make 3 or so 7 gallon black raspberry each year. I rack secondary about each 3 months for first year then bulk age in secondary another year. Started various times of year as when I have time. Summer temps in wine room range up to 85 F in summer and down to 70 F in winter. Really can’t tell...

Personally, I would store bottles on their side and if they don’t leak I wouldn’t go to the work of re-corking. Hard to remove probably means they are sealed. Many natural corks will break if cork screw isn’t inserted far enough. I use NomaCorks so I don’t have to worry about the corks anymore.

Enjoying everyone’s approach but surprised that nobody said they don’t backsweeten at all. My process is use home picked black raspberries. ferment to dry, bulk age 2 years and bottle age 1 -2 years more. Time seems to do the job of mellowing the flavor to perfection. No sweetening needed...

Very interesting and informative. I’ve been blindly following my Black Raspberry recipe for years just adding the specified amount of acid blend to the must pre-ferment without ever checking the ph. Didn’t know any better but results have been excellent. Same when I make wine from grape juice...

Are you sure the yeast has been added by the supplier? When I obtain juice buckets from Chili the juice is balanced for ph but the supplier provides a yeast packet. They will supply EC-1118 unless you request a different yeast. For reds I like RS-212. Maybe I’m not getting the best out of my...

Seeing the red juice bucket negative comments posted compelled me to comment that my experience is opposite, nothing but excellent results for me, especially Chilean Carmenere and Malbec. My reds are bulk aged for a year then bottle aged for several more.

This is an interesting subject. I do not consider myself and expert, I don’t do anything that involves anything complicated and I just make 6 gallon batches that I age for 2 years or more. I have never compared my wine with commercial wine but friends often wish to buy mine (I never sell)...

I dissolve tannin in a half cup of hot water then pour in liquid. Very hard to get it dissolved. Not all dissolves in first half cup so pour more hot water in cup and mix some more. It adds some water volume to must but I don’t think it would ever dissolve if just adding powder to the must...

You peaked my curiosity. I make Carminere fermented to dry and not back sweetened. Makes a very good wine in my opinion so I have no reason to change but can you explain the benefit of adding vanilla and how much you add?

I must admit to having been shocked reading a post stating: “It annoys me when people criticize…”.

Are you using black or red raspberries? Fresh or frozen? Vine picked or store bought? I make wine from black raspberries using recipe from an old winemaker. I also make wine from fresh grape juice buckets and from kits. I like having a variety bottled to choose from. The black raspberry wine is...

Hmm. Is there really an oxidation problem? How did the oxidation occur during the fermentation process? Curious if exposing carboy to sunlight might lighten the color of wine to be closer to the color one may prefer?

Maybe a silly question but… How about using oak chips packaged for use in a smoker oven? Maybe toast them a bit with the flame from a propane torch.

Thanks for the help. I make 6 gallon batches from my berries that I pick and freeze. I’ll just substitute jelly for some of the berries and sugar and up the pectin enzyme a bit. Sounds like it should turn out fine.

I have a number of jars of homemade black raspberry jelly that did not jell. Old pectin or something else but it’s very liquid. Can I use this runny jelly to make black raspberry wine? I’m assuming I may need to up the usual pectic enzyme for it to clear. Is this correct? Thank you for any...

Just say No! Would not be good to have friends get their first bottle or taste of “your” wine that was not ready and is not what it should be. Maybe do a quick white wine kit if you must (pun unintended) so you can say “just wait until my red from my grapes is ready!”.

I am certainly not an expert by anyone’s imagination but I suspect that there are so many variables during the ferment/aging process that it’s nearly impossible to say one yeast is better than another. My preference however is to save the EC-1118 for harder to start wines like skeeter pee and go...