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Hi there wine folk, Me and my spouse got free buckets of Napa Cab Sauv and Merlot grapes unexpectedly so we are making our first wine from grapes! I've done juice buckets and various fruit wines, so I know basic processes but not specifics about starting from grapes. The Merlot grapes were...

Hi Folks, I'm a week or two away from strawberry season and I'm making up a recipe for my first dessert wine. I was thinking of getting one of those concentrate kits for 1 gallon of moscato and using them together. Maybe go for 25% of the alcohol to come from the concentrate and the rest from...

HI there, I have 3 gallons of wine from fresh/frozen peaches that I racked to secondary 2 days ago. I added a little bentonite at that point. SG went from 1.080 to 1.010 over 7 days at 66 degrees F with Montrachet. So far, it tastes nice but very hazy and gassy (I added a lot of pectic enzyme...

Anyone know the term for wine you drink when it's partly fermented, still sweet, maybe 5% ABV, a little bubbly? I saw a few articles about it recently but I can't recall the term. Not pet-nat.

HI there, I might make some banana wine using Jack Kellar's recipe: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request177.asp I might use the wine to add body to other fruit wines, but if like the taste, I might use an F-pac with some Reisling juice and make it a full-on drinking wine. I have two...

Dear Mead Folks, I am planning a test batch of a bochet mead that involves all things toasty. My plan is to caramelise about 80% of the honey, rather strongly, but not burned, with the remaining 20% orange blossom honey. When fermentation is complete, I plan to stabilise with sorbate and K...

Hi there, I made this recipe from several sources. I've only made a few meads so far, which were pretty good but not awesome. Any comments on my recipe and plan? Thanks! Orange Bouchet Test Recipe Goal: Start with 2 gallons to end up at least 1 gallon, 12 % ABV, ferment dry but backsweeten...

Just curious...if a person got bored in Minnesota winter and wanted to start a fruit wine, what are some acceptable frozen fruits from the grocery store to use for a 1 gal batch? I made some strawberry and also some raspberry wine (U pick) this summer, so ideally, something other than that...

Hi there, I am working on the levels of must for my first raspberry wine. I'll pitch yeast sometime soon. I'm wondering what adjustments to make before pitching yeast, because the acid is off. 28 lb red raspberries. Volume of liquid without berries is about 5 gal. SG = 1.094. pH 2.87. TA =...

HI there, I have some strawberry wine that is totally dry, totally clear and tastes pretty good. I'd like to make some new fresh strawberry juice, sweeten it, and use it with sorbate to backsweeten a little. Problem is I don't want it to get cloudy and stay cloudy. I should've saved some...

Hi there folks, I over sulfited my black currant wine. An experienced winemaker tasted it, and it gave him the sniffles. I racked and splashed it, and this helped at least slightly. My question is...should I wait a few weeks and rack/splash again? Can I just keep doing this every few weeks...

Frozen Chilean juice is on its way. It contains yeast already. Any advice on good techniques for this wine? Thanks!

I have 5 gal of cab franc that has been in malolactic fermentation for about 2 weeks. An experienced winemaker said this would be a good time to oak it. However, if I think there's enough oak flavor before the malo is done, I will have to rack it to get it off the oak. If I rack it while...

Hi there, I have 5 gal each of merlot and cab franc which are both below 1.00, and at 72 degrees. I don't have acid or sulfite testers. How does my plan for MLF sound? I might use MBR 31 which sounds like it gives nice berry flavor, but it's for 66 gal. 1. A 2.5 gram packet for 66 gal...

Hi folks, I think I have stuck fermentations in two buckets of Chilean juice, a merlot and a cab franc. I measured with a refractometer and the room temp has been around 72 degrees. It tastes good, but SG is not moving. Any ideas how I could restart? The data is pasted below. These are my...

I made a wine kit called "Coastal White." It's been bottled since April 2013. It tastes OK, but I found that I like it a lot if I sweeten it with a little Reisling juice I have frozen. I think I'm going to open all the bottles and add the Reisling. Eventually I will have to clarify it. Any...

My second batch of wine, VR Black Currant, is in its 3 gallon secondary, beginning to slow. When I transferred it, I had about 700 ml of extra which I saved for topping off after racking later on. The extra stuff has not completed fermentation yet, and I am keeping it in the fridge. Should I...

The situation arises from just having a 1 gallon and 5 gallon carboy for secondary fermentation. I want to start a batch of black currant (Vintner's Harvest), but the recipes say the can is best for 3 gallons rather than 5. I have a half can of Alexander's Reisling frozen in a ziplock in my...