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How the hell did you know I'm Lithuanian? :D (the kit is in Polish language, which I don't understand either, but it has instructions in other languages). I double checked with the readings – all correct, done as per instructions. Also, I have tested my earlier wines before with this same kit...

Can't really tell, I don't think it says anywhere... It's this kit, blue reagent liquid. Depending on the fruit your wine is from (tartaric, malic, or citric), you add the wine to "C" or "J" mark, then add water to "0" mark, and then keep adding the reagent liquid until the color change. The...

Thanks for the tips everyone! I haven't done cold stabilizing, but the wine has been in secondary for 15 months already (in 65-70'F basement). It has been racked a few times and no more residue for months. Unfortunately, I don't have any "spare" fridge for stabilization. However, I could place...

I have 4 gallons of homegrown cherry wine. It's bulk aging more than a year now and is super acidic (it was acidic from the very start, and hasn't improved with aging). I measured the acidity using titration kit – it's 19g/L or 1.9% acidity :D (while red wines should be around 0.7% max). I've...

Ok, so this black currant wine is still fermenting after 2+ months! :? The airlock activity stopped nearly a month ago, I racked from sediment, and measured the SG. It was still at 1.023 and the alcohol at that point was ~12.5%, I tasted and it's really nice. Since it was really sweet, I've made...

Thanks for the tips guys. I haven't mentioned that I'm in Europe not US and I can't really find any black currant juice anywhere, so the blending thing won't work. (well I've found it in one place but it's $15 for 0.5 liter bottle). I was thinking about replacing part of it with water like...

I've used black tea after all. I brewed a big mug (350 ml) with 3 teaspoons of loose leaf black tea, steeped for 20 minutes and poured into 3 gallons of wine must. I dumped the tea along with all the loose leafs (I will strain along with cherry pulp after primary fermentation is done). I've...

Here's what I found about using black tea (source, last line): The problem is – it does not say if it's 1/2 teaspoon of dry tea herbs or 1/2 teaspoon of brewed liquid tea... (1/2 liquid tea sure doesn't seem logical, I think that would bee way too weak, but who knows...)

I think I'm going to add raisins. Could anyone advise how much is needed? My must looks like this: 15 lbs pretty sour cherries, 4.5 lbs sugar, 1.5 gallon water).

I wonder if adding tannin is really necessary? I'm thinking – the stones must have tannin in them, don't they? Also - I'm going to add medium toasted French oak chips – shouldn't they help with tannin? If the tannin is really a must - can I use something like strong black tea? (I don't have...

I'm making Jack Keller's cherry wine today. This recipe to be exact: As you can see it says "crush the cherries without breaking any stones" so I assume the weight of the cherries is with pits in the recipe. I personally just crushed with my hands (I only have 15 pounds). This is my first...

The yeast I used was "Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Red" ("Enartis", Italian brand). Alcohol tolerance of 16%. Fermentation temperature up to 90°F. If they don't get all the way dry, I would be even happier in this case.. I overdosed on sugar and with starting SG 1.115 if it goes completely dry...

It kick started and going pretty aggressively now, doesn't seem like stopping soon. From the looks I think they'll eat that leftover 0.038 or more. It looks like I created the thread a little too soon (probably needs to be deleted)... Anyhow, thanks everyone for suggestions/solutions!

Meh, I just thought, what the hell... I'll just leave it. Maybe rack from majority of sediment after a couple of days. I'm looking to age it in bottles for 3-4 years (first recipe here). Hopefully it will smooth out a little after that time. If not, I'll have some pretty strong/effective and...

It's black currant wine. The yeast I used was "Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Red" ("Enartis", Italian brand), it says it has alcohol tolerance of 16%. I just had an idea – what about stopping the fermentation in the semi-dry range, somewhere like 1.005? (I actually almost always prefer very...

Originally I wanted the wine to end up with 14-14.5% alcohol. The starting SG was 1.115 (somehow it didn't looked too much to me at that point...). And now I calculate: 1.115–0.992=123, 123/7.4=16.5% alcohol. A bit too high, I'd like something along 14.5%. What are my options? Diluting...

I don't know what happened, but this morning, ~12 hours after transferring to secondary the fermentation is going again – airlock bubbling fast and I clearly see the foaming/rolling in the neck. Maybe the yeast got roused when straining the must? Placing carboy in 10'F lower temperature may have...

Also, if I try to re-pitch – could I use different red wine yeast? (I've just learned that the yeast I have used has been all sold out a few days ago...) Any bad things when re-pitching with different yeast?

Is the fermentation stuck? What do I do? Hi, To start I'm newbie here, but I'm not completely new to wine making, made a few pretty good batches last year, I'm always making wine from grapes and berries. This question is about black currant wine. The starting SG was 1.115. After about 9...