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I've an extract kit (English Pale Ale) I want to make, a 5G kit, but I'm travelling next week for business. Can I make it on Saturday afternoon, let it ferment in primary for the week , and return to rack/bottle it? Or should I keep an eye on it? And, for primary, should I be using a...

I was a newbie into this last winter. I started with a simple boxwine kit off Amazon and a trip to the local HBS where they did all the work for my first few batches. Now, a year into it, I understand all the comments about "let it sit", "give it a few months", and the like. Because, today, I...

Planning out a Honey-based dragon's blood for this summer. I intend to start out this weekend for a 6gal batch. 6kg Honey 4kg Mixed-Berries 1cup Lemon Juice 1tsp Tannin 3tsp Pectic Enzyme 1tsp Yeast Energizer 3tsp Yeast Nutrient (staggered possibly) 1cup raisins EC-1118 Yeast If I get to a...

I'm just musing here: I get that wines need some age to take the edge off and to get their true flavors. And I get that it seems like the cheaper wine kits (more concentrated) tend to be some of the quickest to maturity: but does this curve extend to wine made from grapes? Implying that wine...

I've a carboy of Sauvingnon Blanc that's now about 8+ weeks old in carboy that's not clearly nicely. It's not that I'm not getting a good layer of sediment (which I am) and not that I've not added clarifiers (I've done both bentonite and hot sparkeloid) and, from talking with the vineyard on...

I'm looking for a decent Rhone-style kit. Something with decent depth that would compare to a favorable Cote du Rhone Village or one of the CdR Cru (Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueras, etc...). It appears that most of the CdP kits (Vieux Chateau du Roi according to WE) do not come with...

How long and at what temperatures should I consider to be adequate for cold crashing a white wine to get the tartrates to drop? With the cold weather making its way to me: my garage is likely going to make it down below 10C (50F) and I can finally turn off my beer fridge out there. But...

As I've been munching on some dates w my 2y/o daughter (she and I could devour a pound in a sitting if left alone...) and it got me thinking. What do fermented dates taste like?

It's interesting to see different methods and slightly different directions. For the juice I got from a local vinyard: they recommended sulfiting 50ppm as soon as I rack to secondary. While most kits don't recommend it until after racking out of secondary. Any plus/minus to either...

My Baco Noir had a wonderful fruit aroma the first two days of fermentation that's turned on me recently. Not sulfuric but very much like sniffing isopropyl alcohol. I added Fermaid and DAP and stirred heavily the past two days and it's much improved. Should I get it off the skins and treat as...

I picked up my first from grapes direct from the vineyard. I'm stoked. The baco was a bucket of must. Tasty tasty must (I found a couple un-crushed grapes that I had to taste). They recommended 71B-1122 yeast. The Sauv was, effectively, juice. The Sauv needed to be adjusted for acidity...

I picked up a straining bag to contain the skins on my latest kit. It was the elastic-top style to wrap around the top of the fermentation bucket. While the LHBS recommended that I wrap around the top of the bucket and clip down the lid: I'm noticing, via capillary action, that I'm getting...

I thought his would be less fun. I don't know why - perhaps if I were more serious and structured it could have been less fun. I've ordered my first batch of pressed grapes from a local winery. Being that I can't just order one, when I ordered a bucket of Sauv Blanc for the missus, I felt...

I knew it was a matter of time before I did a step out of order - especially in my rush to get a few things racked before company came over on the weekend. I added KMS right after racking to secondary on my mead. I bet the batch with EC1118 won't care too much but the bread-yeast (small...

The missus has put in a request for her next batch of wine to be a Sauvingnon Blanc. So I'm looking for reasonable options for a kit. Any suggestions for Sauv Blanc that you've enjoyed? She really enjoyed the WE World Vinyard Pinot Gris from earlier this year and I see that WE has a VR &...

I made my first, reduced, batch of a 6Gal recipe as a 5Gal one and as I transferred from secondary for fining I snuck a taste (what fun is this hobby without sampling) and it's pretty hot. My rough numbers put it around 15% ABV which, to me, for a Merlot is too high. So far: I've topped up...

One 3 gal batch: 4kg Honey (whatever style was on the shelf) 1-1/3 cup raisins 2 oranges 1tsp tannin EC1118 (w/ nutrients & energiser) One 4L batch: (http://www.stormthecastle.com/mead/fast-cheap-mead-making.htm) 1kg Honey (same as above) 1 orange 1 handful raisins Bread yeast ...

I know currants & raisins are one of the popular adders for some low end wine kits. I decided to actually check the ingredients whole at the store for some currants and raisins. Many (most) have oil, of some kind, added to them. Very few call out any sulfates. Is the oil a concern at...

Really a question for the Canadians (or Americans living in Canada) who've done the Argentia Ridge Chateau kits. These are the 7L double-kits. Any reviews, comments or feedback on them? I just noticed that Costco's got the kits on sale ($15 off) for the next week. I've got the Merlot...

I have the mad idea to reuse the raisins from a higher end Amarone kit once it's done for a low end Merlot. Mad, I know, but I want to maximize the pack of raisins. I know I could just skim them off the top and add to a new pot but, why, wouldn't I just pour the new batch over the lees of...