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I have some merlot aging in carboys. These are from whole grapes back in Sept 2020, and have been bulk aging on a bit of oak since Dec 2020. I want to send some 100mL sampler bottles to a friend across country when the wine is ready. I was planning to bottle in a few months and then let it age...

Did you use just a single standard 5 gram packet of yeast? Usually 5 grams gets you up to 6 gallons. With you having over 8 gallons, you might have underpitched and it's taking a while to build up the colony before active fermentation begins.

I say go for it! I made a wine last fall with Mango juice and blood orange zest. Still aging in the bottle for summer but had a really good taste when bottled. I think you probably will need a pH adjustment, none of the fruits in that juice are very acidic. But you can ferment any juice that...

Just a suggestion, but I would consider adding the fresh blueberries in secondary after the main fermentation has completed with the concentrate. Primary can be vigorous and blow off some of the more subtle aspects of fruit, so by adding additional fruit in secondary, you can keep more of the...

When bottled, the cork allows a very, very small amount of gas exchange between inside and outside. But in a carboy with an airlock, gas can escape fairly easily out the airlock with enough pressure. Hence why you would need to dose with kmeta more frequently in bulk aging vs a bottle. I don't...

I have a 6 gallon batch of pinot noir made from fresh grapes. MLF finished a month ago. I split the batch into 6 1-gallon carboys and put a different oak in each one. I looked at my Heavy toasted American oak one today, and saw what looked like a film on top. Smells and tastes fine as far as I...

Cracked open the first 375mL bottle tonight. It was very interesting! The floral aroma dominates, but some tropical fruit pokes through as well. The taste was surprisingly mild for the high sweetness level. Big floral hit, but in a good way. Bosc pear was the first thing to come to mind. I...

There's a handy nutrient calculator here: TOSNA Calculator It takes into account OG, yeast type, etc. to give you the right dosages of nutrients to get a good ferment. But your experiment is very interesting, I'm excited to hear how things progress!

How about some citrus? My favorite was lime: 3lbs wildflower honey, zest and juice of 1 lime in primary. Ferment dry, rack, and add zest and juice of another lime to secondary. You can adjust acidity with some acid blend or more lime juice as needed. I backsweetened with more honey to 1.016...

I have a cherry cider aging right now. 1 gallon of local apple cider and 1 cup of tart cherry juice in primary. I also did a ginger lemon cider last year. 1 gallon of cider, juice and zest of one lemon, and about 4oz of ginger.

You don't need to add water to any fruit juice unless it's a concentrate. If you can get Fermaid-O, I would add it. It's an organic nutrient that usually fixes a yeast issue.

My preference is to rack off the sediment, mix in 1oz sugar so it's evenly dissolved, then bottle to carbonate. It's much more consistent than trying to put the same amount of sugar in each bottle. Some get a little more, some less, etc. Note this will result in a dry sparkling cider. If you...

Sulphur smell is usually a sign of stressed yeast. What's your must temp? Did you add any nutrients? What's your starting and current gravity reading?

I have a batch of pinot noir (from grapes). I pitched yeast on 9/30and co-inoculated with ML bacteria on 10/1. I've since pressed off the skins/seeds, SG is below 1.000, and the wine is still sitting on the gross lees. Question: can I rack off those lees now or will that mess with the MLF? Do...

There's a few options: You can filter the wine to remove the yeast cells. You can fortify the wine to exceed the yeast tolerance so it won't referment. You can pasteurize the wine to kill the yeast.

Do you have any bubbles or activity? Has the SG changed at all? What is the must temperature? You need to see if you have a slow fermentation or a stuck fermentation first before identifying a course forward.

Are you making the wine from a kit or from grapes? What varietal are you using?

A question I've had but never really found a good answer for: what happens to yeast when they reach their alcohol tolerance? Do they start dying off? Or do they just go dormant? For example, say I had a wine where the yeast reached their tolerance and stopped fermenting even though there was...

You could add honey and turn this into a hydromel mead. Or you can add a few cans of fruit juice concentrate to add flavor/sugar without too much extra volume. Like above, your wine will probably turn out thin if you just let it ride. I would remove a gallon of must (put it in a glass jug or...

Welcome to the hobby! Do you get a strong rotten egg smell or just a funky smell that kinda reminds you of rotten egg? I ask because there is a "fermentation funk" that you get that is normal. But a stronger distinctly rotten egg smell is indicative of stressed yeast and something that should...