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  1. brottman

    Bleeding corks

    Some of my corks appear to be bleeding on one of my batches of red wine. They were #9 corks inserted with a hand corker. What's really weird, is they've not leaking around the edges, but rather bleeding right through the middle of the corks. These were brand new #9 corks that were soaked in Star...
  2. brottman

    My new fermentation chamber

    Bought a new freezer for the family and repurposed old one to make a temp controlled fermentation chamber. Replaced stock thermostat with a STC-1000 I got online for about $20. Now I can control the temp from -40c up to room temperature. Works great!
  3. brottman

    Best temp to ferment D47

    Topic says it all. I now have good temp control and want to do a traditional with D47. I know D47 likes it cooler. What temp should I dial in for it?
  4. brottman

    Freeze fresh juice buckets

    I will be getting several fresh juice buckets soon. I want to ferment them in my temp controlled cooler by only have room to do one at a time. Will I do any damage to the must if I freeze it so that I can thaw and ferment as space frees up?
  5. brottman

    Quality vs Cost (grapes vs juice)

    I've done a few juice buckets and have been pretty happy. However, I'm interested in starting from grapes. What I'm wondering though is how the quality of wine made from grapes compares to starting with the juice buckets. A typical juice bucket costs me around $70 through my LHBS. I have read...
  6. brottman

    Wine PH

    I've been tasting a lot of my country wines that I've made over the last year, many of which where bottled with of PH of about 3.8 or so. I did some experimenting with a few glasses, and raised the PH to about 4.5, and seem to then like the wines a lot better. So far this has held true for both...
  7. brottman

    Grocery store grapes are cheap!

    My local grocery store has 3 different table grapes (green, red, and purpleish). All are selling for 99c per pound. Would these grapes be worth picking up at that price to make into wine?
  8. brottman

    A Blueberry Wine Adventure

    Blueberry Wine Batch size: 6 gallons Ingredients: 20 pounds frozen blueberry's (Costco) Sugar Pectic enzyme Muslin bag(s) Potassium Metabisulphate Potassium Sorbate Tannin Opti-Red DAP Fermaid-K Lalvin 71b-1122 8/3/2015 Thawed and bagged 20 pounds of frozen blueberry's into 2 separate muslin...
  9. brottman

    Invert sugar for back sweetening?

    When back sweetening, is there any functional difference between dissolving sugar first with low heat vs simply dumping it in and stirring until dissolved? A few of my wines have a certain "sugary" taste to them after back sweetening with raw sugar. Its more than just a sweetness, but rather I...
  10. brottman

    Superkleer question

    A few weeks ago, I used Super-Kleer on a Mead. A week later, I siphoned off the sediment from the Super-Kleer and bottled. Trying not to waste good wine, I put the last little remaining bit of Mead + sediment into a separate bottle to let it resettle, so that I could just carefully pour it off...
  11. brottman

    Yeast for aging sur lie?

    What yeasts tend to do well with aging sur lie? I'd like to get a good list going along with types of wine they would be best suited for. Anyone have any tips for me?
  12. brottman

    Where to buy an MLF culture?

    I can't seem to figure out where to buy an MLF culture economically. I've only found VP41 at MoreWine, but it is about $32 for one 6-gallon dose. Too much to be worth it in my opinion. Does any have better sources?
  13. brottman

    Advice on Chilean juice buckets

    I just picked up 4 buckets of Chilean juice (mostly red varietals). I will be going on a trip tomorrow and won't be home for 4 days. Should I pitch the yeast and just let it go without daily stirrings, or should I sulphite it and wait to pitch when I get back? I don't have any way to refrigerate...
  14. brottman

    Strawberry wine yeast

    What's a good yeast for a strawberry wine? I was leaning towards either k1-v1116 or 71b. I'm following the "Strawberry Table Wine" recipe from here: http://www.eckraus.com/wine-making-strawberry TABLE STRAWBERRY WINE (5 Gallons)* 12.5 lbs. Strawberries 1/8 Tsp.*Sodium Bisulfite Pectic...
  15. brottman

    Kit vs. Non-kit Aging

    I just bottled 3 batches today that were all about 6 months old, as well as a kit wine about 1 1/2 months old. Yet, it is the kit that seems most mature. How is this possible? What do the kits have that make them age so much quicker? It was an Island Mist kit.
  16. brottman

    Tools for acid / pH / sulphite testing

    I often hear people talking about the acidity level in their wine, and something about a chromatography test. I am confused as to what exactly tools everyone is using to test things like acid, pH, and sulphites. How are you testing total acidity? Other than the base question, I'm also...
  17. brottman

    What to do with 30 year old wine

    My parents recently revealed to me a couple bottles of white wine (I'm not sure exactly what kind) that my dad bought in Germany in 1984. Unfortunately, I think it's been stored upright for the last 30 years in a dark cupboard. We thought about opening a bottle soon and seeing what it's like...
  18. brottman

    Country wines from canned fruit / dessert toppings?

    Hi everyone, I recently did a red raspberry from fresh fruit, but was wondering what kind of outcomes one might get using either canned fruit or even the canned dessert toppings (I'm guessing I wouldn't even have to add sugar with those!). I've checked the ingredients on both and none seem to...
  19. brottman

    When is a wine clear

    Here are three wines I have in bulk aging. I have heard that a wine is clear when you can clearly read print right through it. Does this only hold true for whites? I don't see how this would be possible with a dark red like a Shiraz. Even the raspberry looks clear in my top up bottle, but I...
  20. brottman

    The tale of two meads - and a question

    I have 2 different meads. 3 gal - started a month ago Wyeast 1388 OG 1.1 Stalled at 1.03 Recieved 1/4 tsp Kmeta (I tried to save it first with ec-1118 but didn't budge) 5 gal - started 9 days ago Started with Wyeast 1388 (with a big starter this time) OG 1.1 Stalled at 1.03 Re-pitched D47...
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