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Been a while since I've been on this forum, howdy folks. I've decided to scale down my winemaking, so I'm unloading a bunch of stuff. I have: * 6 five gallon carboys (five with handles) * 2 three gallon carboys * 1 Ferrari floor corker (best $80 I ever spent on wine making) * 1 complete...

So, I took some frozen blueberries and boiled them in spring water, cooled it and used it to make a must, which I just moved out of the primary after two weeks. At the time, I set aside a 1/2 gal clear jug of the juice, with no additives, in the fridge. Pulled it out just now for topping up...

OK, I know this is a nearly impossible thing, to diagnose a taste issue online. I've searched this forum extensively. I'm baffled. This has happened twice, once with a DB and once with an apricot. The DB was made from a mix of frozen concentrates and frozen fruits, pretty much down the...

Hi Folks, This is an apricot that I kind of screwed up - it was Vintner's Harvest juice (2 96 oz cans topped up to 5 gals in the primary). I didn't realize that there was pieces of fruit in there when I dumped it in the primary (I had only done a VH pear before and it was just juice), so I...

This is going to seem like a really dumb question, but I gotta try, maybe someone has relevant experience. I have an apricot wine in secondary (made from two 96 oz Vintner's Harvest cans, for a 5 gal batch). Seems one of my biggest challenges so far (with these mostly fruit wines - 10...

Hi Kit People, After about 10 batches of fruit wines (and my wife hinting that she doesn't love fruit wines after all), I was thinking of trying a kit for something like a syrah or cab. Went to the LHBS (which is half wine, half beer). They had maybe 20 Winexpert kits, and all but one of...

Like these on a 1118 I used today?

This is an apricot made from two Vintner's Harvest 96 oz cans in about 5 gals of water, about 10 lbs of sugar (table). Had been in primary for a week and had gone from about 1.090 to about 1.006. Tasted pretty good, if a bit strong. This was the first time I had done a VH that had actual...

Hi Folks, I have an apricot that has been boiling like crazy for a couple of days now. From Vintner's Harvest cans (2 cans, 5 gals). When I go to stir it, there's probably two inches of foam/fruit/crud sitting on top of it. I've been just stirring it back in, but what about scooping it...

Hi Folks, I have an apricot wine (made from VH cans) that has been in the primary for four days now with 71B, and there is no visible activity. I had tried to make a starter, and the yeast did foam up a little, but not much. I figured it would take off in the must (which had an SG between...

I mixed up an apricot wine yesterday. Two cans of Vintner's Harvest apricot, in the fermenter, 10 lbs table sugar, topped up to just shy of 5 gals (added acid blend, kmeta, pectic enzyme, tannin). I want this to be a pretty rich flavored and colored wine, which I plan to backsweeten to almost...

This may be a dumb question, but I just don't get it. If you're making, say, a pear or an apple wine, from a juice for example (not from fresh fruit), and you mix it up properly in the primary, and rack it to a carboy at say 1.010, and then leave it for two or three weeks until it is fully...

Hi Folks, I bought some of these mini oak barrels from Red Head Barrels (great company, great service, very cool little (and big) barrels). I've been using them for commercial whiskeys and ports and so forth, to add flavor and as a fun addition to my bar. I'm new to wine making, but have...

Hi Folks, I picked up a couple cans of 96 oz Vintner's Harvest apricot today from the LHBS. Planning to make a 5 gallon batch. I was thinking I may put some dried apricots in the primary, and hold back a little of the VH for backsweetening/ flavoring. I was also thinking I may fortify...

I have an apple wine in the primary - made from a Vintner's Harvest can, 3 1/2 gallons. I read some posts (here) where people had apple wines turn a dark brown color, and some people suggested asorbic acid as a way to avoid that. Does this make sense? If so, when/how should/can I add...

Hi Folks, I am about to rack and add some commercial wine to top up - small amounts (a cup or two). And I need to stabilize for backsweetening. What do you think of the idea of putting the sorbate in the topping up wine, so I don't have to use any water to dissolve it? Mark

There's really not much point to this post -- other than to say - wow! I tried using one of those hand corkers, and what a PITA. This floor corker is absolutely awesome. The Boy (my 10 year old assistant) is having fun just taking old corks, corking empty bottles, and taking the corks back...

OK, sorry, this is kind of a blunderbuss question. But I have three simple, first-effort fruit wines going now - a grape (grocery store grape juices), a pear (Vintner's Harvest, with an f-pack), and a DB (variation). All are fully fermented, in secondaries for 2-3 weeks (with Bentonite), and...

Thinking of sort of the equivalent of an f-pack but in a carboy in a way that wouldn't be a PITA to get out. These are sold by Utah Biodiesel. https://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php#glasscarboydryhopper14

OK, another either/or question. I've used Star-San for years in brewing beer. I am constantly spraying the stuff on something. It seems like most folks around here use a p. metabisulfite solution instead of Star-San, for sanitizing. And it seems like the k-meta (as I have now learned it...