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Hey everyone. Been a while. I miss the hell out of this place. Life’s been a rollercoaster and I’m lookin forward to the process of getting myself all set up and makin some wine again. Anyway I’m almost on the other side of a very long frustrating stressful divorce (women. Ppffsh...

Well- it’s not pretty. It’s not ideal. Hell, technically it’s not even mine. But it’s winemaking at least! it’ll be nice to smell something fermenting

winemakers are a crafty and versatile group so i wanted to seek some advice. i want to purchase a welding kit for home shop use, repairs, and different little fabrication projects but my knowledge is extremely limited. When i started to look into this for a “homeowner friendly” type of kit i...

My next door neighbor has a grape vine for red wine grapes growing wild and it has recently grown into my yard. When I noticed a couple months back I sorta convinced it to continue growing up my fence. Surprised to see just how quick this sucker grows. This might be a stupid question- But...

I guess they all can’t be winners! What do you guys do if/when a wine ends up sub-par? Not talking badly flawed dumpworthy wine, but just not something you would enjoy. A wine you know you wouldn’t ever be reaching for off the shelf. Trying to think outside the box since i have no desire for...

Anyone else experiencing a high amount of surface level drops in carboys lately? More than typical? My carboys are starting to think they’re barrels. Not happening in every carboy, but most of them. Noticed a couple months ago, topped all up to just under the bung. A week later was same thing...

Ok. Realistically the mean skins contact time probably about 15 min. Saigneé le Parking Lot No doubt im the only stunad to treat their parking lot like it’s my basement. I sensed a major annoyance from the employees lol. But ask me how much I care 😏 . Btw— not crushing my own grapes...

Wife was at GoodWill and grabbed a steamer (brand new in the box) for only $8. im not very familiar with steam cleaning/sanitizing barrels but was wondering if this would be sufficient? Produces a nice powerful steady blast. Think this could get the job done for small barrels? (I have a 30L...

Does malo bacteria work in the same way as yeast in the sense that the initial amount of bacteria present activates and then generates more bacteria to be able to attack all the malic acid ? Or is the only bacteria working just whatever you’ve added? So if you were to underdose then the ‘malic...

Anyone know if attempting a cold soak using dry ice is realistic? Never heard of anyone doing this before (only for transport), however maybe that’s for a good reason. ~30gal of must. Figured I’d separate into 5gal buckets. Building a little makeshift insulated box, dumping AC into it with...

2020 Chilean wine season has commenced! I’m always exhausted after the work from a crush wknd Despite having extra help on Friday for once I was still left with all the prep and the cleanup. You frozen must guys don’t know what you’re missin! Lol I may have been slightly overzealous...

Good morning Why not take a break from the mind-numbing pandemic news, partisan politics, and memes on your social media feeds? Here’s something not terrible for the brain.

Always used craigslist, LetGo, and OfferUp for used listings—-but started utilizing the ‘marketplace’ in the facebook app and it’s fantastic. Can’t believe it took me so long! (thanks Fred) not just for winemaking but for anything. We wanted a large 4x8 farm style window to use as like a room...

A 100% tax on European wines would take effect mid February! Not sure if this has been discussed at all here, but this is quite the bummer. And I expect it would have some long lasting negative effects and many jobs lost. I hadn’t really paid close attention until I received an email from a...

No clue what’s happening over here. Logic & reason are out the window. I noticed my wine levels fluctuating a little more than typical lately. No big deal right? I was curious so I topped everything up and marked the levels. 2 days later noticed all vessels dropped some, but 1 way...

Decided to create a new topic so as to not hijack @stickman ‘s ‘2019 Cab’ thread. This peaked my curiosity during my 2018 cab after seeing so many berries remain whole after crush. And I wasn’t sure if: a. the juice inside even ferments-but I assumed it does. b. If those whole berries...

I was on Vinmetrica’s website to order som fresh reagents and saw they have a new kit available for residual sugar. The description on the site breaks down all the ins and outs of the method used— which is specifically for “reduced” sugar. (With an extra step to test sucrose if desired) They...

Seeking insight on how high humidity effects wine in bulk. Researching I just found all the typical stuff. More ethanol in angels share, labels deteriorate, mold forming etc etc. But nothing about my issue, and humidity seems to be the only logical cause. Room is always humid. Currently...

Does anyone else ever view their winemaking hobby/passion/whatever as therapeutic? I know for a stonecold fact that it is for me. When working on wine-or anything winemaking related - it centers me sorta, or decompresses the rest of life’s BS. Can’t speak for anyone else- but...

Ok. I’ve got my cab from last fall. Sitting at about 6 months now. Dry, mlf complete and aging Tweaked down ph at crush a little. But didn’t make a dent. Currently sitting at 3.98. With a TA of 4.8 But it tastes good. It’s come a LONG way in just 6 months. The taste does not reflect the...