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I received a twice used spirit barrel from a local distiller, so I am going to try out aging a Chardonnay sur lie for the first time. I understand that aging on the gross lees is not desirable, but when exactly does the wine have only “fine lees.” Basically, I am asking if I should rack the...

PM me, if you have any spare 6 gallon carboy's for sale. I live in the NJ area.

Does anyone have any leads for finding 375 ML Champagne Bottles? They seem to be next to impossible to track down from what I have seen.

I picked up a Ferrari corker from a member who was getting out of the hobby about two years ago. I wanted to try corking some sparkling wines, but I do not know if it is the wine model, or the champagne model (I have only bottled bottles of wine with it). There was no original instructions, or...

I am two weeks into a pale ale that I am brewing for a friends wedding in a month and a half. The starting SG was 1.043 (priming sugar will bring it to aprox. 1.046 at bottling) and I used a starter of WLP California Ale. Now, two weeks later the beer is still slowly fermenting and unless there...

I have some leftover grains from a sour beer that I am going to be brewing after the holidays. Can anyone think of a beer style or give me extract recipe ideas for this leftover grain bill? 14 oz. Simpsons Black Malt 8 oz. Belgian Special B 4 oz. Dinglemans Aromatic

My Italian Amarone has been going through MLF for approximately 5 weeks now. Two weeks ago I had to reinoculate it with a new strain (endoderm alpha) and Opti-Malo because the other strain stopped working (prob. from the combo of 15% ABV and 3.2 ph). About a week afterwards a tan film began...

I have a Chardonnay that is killing off MLB because silly me, I did not test the PH (which was 3.0 :slp). Currently it is stuck at 110 mg/l of malic acid. How much potassium bicarbonate do I need to add to increase the PH from 3.0 to 3.2? I have never used deacidifier, so any tips/tricks would...

I ordered an extra 1.5 g bag of Viniflora CH 16 Malolactic Bacteria. It has been kept refrigerated for the past week, and since the company I ordered it from does not accept returns on perishable items :rn it is up for sale. It is sealed, brand new, and kept cold, so I would like $20 + S&H via...

Last night I attended the best and most affordable wine tasting I have ever been to at Stella Marina in Asbury Park, NJ (I know the town has a really bad wrap, but they have been cleaning up the East side over the past 10 years and it is drastically better than it was). For only $35 a person you...

My ice wine was fermented with pro desert encapsulated yeast, and the wine did not stop fermenting as advertised. I added the normal amount of sulfite/sorbate, and cold crashed it in a fridge at 38F for 24 hours. After the yeast activity stopped, I racked the wine off of the lees and stuck it...

I picked up 3 gallons of Vidal Blanc Ice Wine juice from Canada on Saturday and had a little trouble getting it to ferment with ProDessert encapsulated yeast. Yesterday it finally began fermenting after switching out the bad batch of yeast (I am still not sure why it did not take off). At any...

I am going to be picking up my juice pails and grapes from Gino Pinto next weekend (I waited a little longer for some Ice Wine). I didn't really see any posts on if the numbers were on the mark this year as they were last year (TA, PH, SG). I have on order a pail of Cali. Syrah, Cali. Chardonnay...

This is my first time making a wine from straight grapes (usually I blend juice pails with grapes together before ferm.). I have read that after your first sulfite addition you are supposed to let the must degas for 24 hrs. Usually I cold soak overnight and pitch the next morning (about 12 hrs.)...

In a month or so, I am going to be fermenting 6 gallons of Amarone, 6 gallons of Chardonnay, 6 gallons of Syrah, 40 pds. of Temparanillo, and 3 gallons of ice wine in the kitchen/living room of my apartment. The space is approximately 500 square feet and I will be leaving the windows cracked...

For those of you who have used encapsulated yeast before, I am planning on trying the BA-11 strain for a Canadian Vidal Ice Wine that I have preordered from my LHBS. Is bentonite necessary to help settle out any proteins/stray yeast/etc. or is it pretty much clear after fermentation since...

From pictures and youtube videos I have seen, it seems like I have too much yeast in the bottles for secondary. Does this look ok, or should I use gram or two less yeast next time? Will this cause any problems disgorging?

I have a question for all the wine scientists out there that I have been puzzled by. Regular still wine that is left to clear on its own takes months and months without the use of clarifiers or degassing. Yet when I add the same amount of yeast (one package to 6 gallons) to my batch of sparkling...

Have you ever had a moment where your wines have truly impressed the harshest critic of them all, yourself (or your wife in my case, lol). I am an admitted newbie when it comes to winemaking (this is my second year) but I have just had one of these moments. My 2012 Syrah Cabernet was created...

I am taking a winexpert Pinot Blanc kit and am making it into a 6 gallon batch of sparkling wine. I added the bentonite before fermentation and fermented to 0.092 before degassing it three times and adding the isinglass. No sulfite or sorbate were added so it could go through secondary in the...