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  1. jburtner

    What are you making and what have you made ???

    Picked up four buckets of Washington state cab sav this weekend. BM 4x4 & VP41 inoculated. Fermenting with heating pads and reflectix around the 32g brute - Approximately 76-77*F with ITC-308 WIFI controller. I might edge it up to almost 80*F for a warmer ferment than previous years. In carboy...
  2. jburtner

    Making port wine

    I have an everlasting port carboy solera where I'll bottle half, then top up to taste with a blend I have bulk aging or about to bottle, back-sweeten (with unfermented must squeezins' if available), and fortify with either high proof grappa or brandy also made from the same grapes.. High proof...
  3. jburtner

    Vacuum Pump over Additional Carboys?

    I agree with always topping up to minimize any exposure to O2 - even when storing under vacuum. In my cellar a collection of 3g, 5g, & 6g carboys can accommodate various capacities when starting with 12g total which has proved to be a good minimal batch size for me when using grapes/must. 8g...
  4. jburtner

    Malolactic Fermentation: When do you introduce bacteria?

    This year I Added VP14 after the yeasties started working which was almost four weeks ago. One carboy has tiny bubbles and the other no apparent activity. I did rack off the gross lees a day or two after pressing. I keep them wrapped in reflectix with a heating pad on low. Keeps them in the mid...
  5. jburtner

    What are you making and what have you made ???

    Primary ferment and pressing is complete on this years grapes. I purchased three buckets of washington state cab sav and one bucket of barbera. Fermented with BM4x4, and D254 and co-inoculated with vp41. Just racked off gross lees and keeping them warm to complete mlf. Two 6g carboys - one 50/50...
  6. jburtner

    Foot stomping grapes

    "Foot Stomping" - Is there a series of buckets with KMETA to sanitize first? I hope so... -johann
  7. jburtner

    4 days without Punching down the cap

    They have a bit left to go so punch it down gently until you press. I co-inoculate MLB when I pitch yeast but from this point I'd just pick up where you left off and hope for some extraction out of the skins if that's what you're after... Cheers! -johann
  8. jburtner

    unintended sweet wine

    This one has MLF'd so no sorbate. If I had a fine enough whole house filter insert i'd do that..... -johann
  9. jburtner

    unintended sweet wine

    I have a Mouvedre that's still ever so slightly sweet and has been in carboy for about a year - gone through a few rackings... Hesitant to bottle it so might just sit on it to see if it'll finish out on it's own... -johann
  10. jburtner

    What are you making and what have you made ???

    My wine cellar is pretty full along with four carboys from last fall (two Zins, one Petit Syrah, and one Mouvedre). SLowing down on capacity a little this year.. This year I was able to coordinate 150# Cab Sav, and 50# Barbera - Thinking I'll do a 50/50 CS/B blend in the ferment and a 100% CS...
  11. jburtner

    Port - Kit conversion to Port

    I've got a 3g carboy that I use for an everlasting/solera'ish port batch... I bottle about half when I like it then top up with some of whatever wines I've got bulk aging, oak, sweeten to taste with sugar or possibly unfermented juice and fortify with 120 proof brandy or grappa... Maybe add some...
  12. jburtner

    Oak opinion; to oak or too much oak

    I agree that less is more. Subtlety is not necessarily overrated? I’ll sometimes use more so-called neutral wine staves and I feel they do something positive as well. Might consider putting a couple/four pieces into a large format bottle (three liter?) and using that to blend after 12-18 months...
  13. jburtner

    Oak opinion; to oak or too much oak

    Spirals give it up much quicker. A stave will take a bit longer due to the geometry but in this case size does matter lol... How big are those staves? I cut staves down to about 4-5" and maybe 1/2 to 3/4" square and use one or two but I've also used longer ones to keep it in one piece and like...
  14. jburtner

    Homemade Oak Chips?

    I bought a whiskey 1/2 barrel planter from HD - Broke it up and cut the staves/head down to roughly finger sized removing the outer layers of wood and char in the process - exposing fresh oak. Then toast some up in the oven for a couple hours @ 350, 375, 400*F... Smells great and no smoke...
  15. jburtner

    Buying wine for topping up

    I make extra and use 6/5/3/1/0.5 gallon carboys and 750ml bottles to store bulk aging varietals and any top-up blend plus 750's i've made... By bottling time I'll have topped-down some wines into 5g or 3g carboys that started in 6g and have a few 750ml blends corked on the side tor any top...
  16. jburtner

    Comparing store bought TA/PH

    pH is easy to measure in any bottle you open. Measure, compare, keep a tasting journal with notes. TA a little harder. Measuring ABV by ttb standards is a process but can be done. Residual sugar? There might be some tricks to get a metric for comparison… Sounds like a lot of work. As a home...
  17. jburtner

    Shattering Carboys?

    Was hot water by any chance involved? I recommend to only use cool room temp water for carboy cleaning. I had one develop a hairline crack that I can only attribute to a hot water clean/rinse.. No injuries but it kept loosing vacuum after racking and I finally came home to a cellar floor of 9...
  18. jburtner

    Show Us Your Pets

    Molly is so effing cute in all of those pics ❤️! Condolences to her whole family❤️ Our Eko is a troublemaker and had a ruff nite.
  19. jburtner

    Pomace encrusted cheese!

    I wish I knew how to bulk process and remove the grape seeds in the pomace - At the moment it's by hand and not too much of an issue to do a cup or so while cooking up the jam. Cheese making is the next hobby but for now I just use different store bought cheeses :) Some de-seeded pomace and...
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