Search results

I like the idea of dried apricots, perhaps in late fermentation and secondary?

Thanks Joe, but as I said, I can't have anything with grapefruit in it, one of my heart medications will not work if I ingest grapefruit of any kind.

Old thread I know, but since my heart meds keep me from anything with grapefruit in it, would lemon zest work instead?

The Blackberry/Cherry Port mead I have aging right now will leave you wondering where your knife and fork went. I agree on the viscosity of a good port leaving you with a mouthful of goodness to ponder over for a while after it passes the tonsils. This is far from just a fortified wine, it has...

Keep in mind this isn't a normal method of making port, it's more of a pseudo-port. Also, adding enough cognac to a 5 gallon batch at 10% abv would require perhaps a gallon or two to get the abv above 20%. At that point I'm afraid it may taste like fruit flavored cognac. I've already done one...

This is hardly from a kit, however, it is made from Alexander's concentrates. Here's my take on a port wine using honey to crank up the sugar content. Some may chose to call it a mead, so how about a port mead? This is my second recipe, the first is a blackberry/cherry that is exquisite and...

Yeah, it's a proof for now, but glad you were paying attention! I'll have to reprimand the guilty party, either my word processor, or my computer for the error.

Waiting to be put on my bottles...

Yes, in fact, here's the plan for the port mead: It calls for 15 pounds of honey... 1 can each Alexander's Cabernet, Red Zinfandel, Sirah 9 lbs of honey (looking for an SG in excess of 1.160 1/2 can each Vintner's Plum and Black Currant puree Water to 5.5 gallons 1 tsp yeast nutrient (yeast...

I'm not a fan of kit wines either, however, this is the only one I really liked. After 2 years, it still makes a good table wine. Still time to kick it up a notch, try some bourbon soaked oak with some dried cherries, just let it sit for a couple months, bottle and sit back and wait.

So after a long absence, I'm back. After doing several wine kits and being left nothing more than unimpressed with most, I did have one that turned out pretty amazing, a cheap kit by most standards, Meza Luna red. I brew mostly beer and mead, I did manage to put together a tawny-like mead/port...

I have a Blackberry/Cherry Mead Port going now that you can read more about here. It's a very intense project not recommended for beginners. It's got good flavor and shows great promise. I put the final touches to it recently by adding the cognac and oak. Time is what I'm waiting on now, lots...

Winexpert Eclipse Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel Winemaking Kit please.

I have a Fontana Cab sitting here, wondering what tweaks I need to do to get a nice result. Any ideas? I think my other reds, Mezza Luna, Pinot Noir & Shiraz just need lots of time. Bulk aging the Shiraz and Mezza Luna in the carboy for about 6 months.

So here's my take on my first kit wines. So far, I've completed: Fontana Pinot Noir WE Chardonnay WE Shiraz First my overall take...when they say "drinkable in 4 to 6 weeks", they must be joking. At best, if you can stomach the tartness and overall sourness, they are less than palatable. That...

I'm pretty meticulous about degassing, so I don't think it's that. I think time in the bottle is what they need. Pinot was bottled, Shiraz is sitting on 2oz of Hungarian Oak for a month, and will leave to bulk age until November.

Working on my third kit, the chardonnay, I have a Pinot Noir and a Shiraz completed. Both seem to finish with a very tart taste. The Pinot was fermented with 1 pound mix of Blackberries and Raspberries, the Shiraz with 14 oz of Blueberries. I can see where blackberries and raspberries can...

Finally winding down fermentation in primary, gravity now at about 1.008, I suspect over the next few days I should see 1.000 so I can transfer to secondary. Its been doing fine now after giving it a boost with 4g of yeast energizer when it was stuck at 1.030. It is doing nicely at 69ºF. I would...

Showing signs of life this morning, gravity is at 1.024 down from .030. Temp is at a comfortable 74ºF. Do wine yeasts belong to a union? Like WY Local 42? I hope this wasn't some kind of extended union break... Will monitor closely and take another reading tonight. Haven't pitched the 1118...

Yes I did Joe, thank you.