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Thank you so very much for all the responses. I figured that there would be a lot of different answers and a lot of "well, that depends" answers. :) Bottom line is that I'm looking to do this for the first time (all kits up to know) and the local vineyard will sell 50lbs or 100lbs and will crush...

I read somewhere on here that 20 lbs of grapes will yield about a gallon of grape juice or thereabouts. Does any body have a different number? Does this conversion differ based on the grape variety? Thanks!!!!

All of them want you to pick it up and I cannot seem to find anybody that will deliver to west Texas. :(

Sorry to hijack the thread, but how does go about getting bucket of grape juice from Chile?

This has been a very thorough thread, but I do want to point out one thing that I don't believe anybody mentioned. With the VacuVin reasonably well sealed you will create lets call it vacuum (not exactly vacuum but negative pressure) after pumping the air mixture out of it. At that point the...

You sound like an engineer - mostly because those were the same questions I had when I started. Soon you will come to realize that while wine making is certainly a big part science, it is also an art that allows for variations that fit the personality of the winemaker. But now I'm just horribly...

I apologize for starting yet another bulk aging thread, but I couldn't easily find the answer to my question. I've made about half a dozen wine batches by now, but I have bottle aged them all. I'm starting an Eclipse Merlot kit with grape skins and I figure I may bulk age this one. My...

I want to start with the fact that it's too early to sound the alarm bells, but I do want to ping some more experienced wine makers on the question I have. This Select Chilean Sauv. Blanc I'm currently making is my fourth wine batch, but the first one that appears to be struggling to clear. I've...

Is 1000 corks the smallest order they will fill? -m

I was in your shoes last week. I did the same thing with the same yeast and I waited... And waited... And waited... Full blown fermentation started in 72 hours!!!! Give it time, it'll get there.

I'm making Dragon's Blood precisely per recipe, so a 6 gallon batch. See http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41825. Well, almost per recipe, which means everything so far is the same except for the yeast. EC-1118 is aggressive yeast for hard fermentation, so I chose a more...

So it turns out that you don't learn everything after one successful batch... :) I pitched yeast on my second batch, Dragon's Blood, about 36 hours ago. 71B-1122 to be specific activated per instructions and stirred into the must. And no fermentation yet. Temperature is 74, plenty sugar, open...

With my first batch all bottled and second batch (Dragon's Blood) fermenting, my attention is already on my third batch - Eclipse Merlot kit. On this one I want to incorporate bulk aging. The usual aspects of time, racking, sulfating, types of airlocks and airlock liquid, temperature, light...

My first wine experiment got bottled last night. The process wasn't all that difficult, but I have noticed that my corks have this circular punch mark on the top when they end up in a bottle like the corker's push rod is applying the pressure on a small area and crushing the top of the cork...

I'm more of a red wine drinker, but I do want to make a batch of white and Chardonay is what I prefer there. What's your favorite Chardonay kit? Thanks, -m

I appreciate the honest answer. I am gathering that despite being an exact science, degassing actually is anything but. I was hoping that I'd luck into being one of those "magic degassers" and counted on summer in Texas for help. I guess I'll have to do something that an engineer in me hates -...

I guess my real question is this: with the wine somewhat degassed and stabilizers/clarifiers mixed in, do I need to do anything else? The general warning of "not degassed wine may not clear" is what concerns me - will Chitosan do its thing with semi-degassed wine? Do I get in there and vacuum...

Good evening! I'm degassing my first kit and I'm finding out that it's as big of a pain in the a** as everybody seemed to imply it. It's been in the carboy for 12 days at 75-76F and it's at 76F (and 0.992) at the time of degassing. Newbie here is trying to stick to the instruction of the first...

Thank you all!!! Sounds like I should go with 38mm Polyseal caps FTW. Would same caps work for 1.5L magnum bottles?

I have several half gallon jugs I'd like to use for wine that I don't plan to age all that long (read: dragon's blood). But, how do I seal it so that it can age a little bit. That metal cap that it originally had just doesn't seem like a good option, even if I buy new ones. What do you suggest...