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I've been using one that looks exactly like it (don't know its brand) for maybe 7 years and love it. Holds both 750 ml and 1.5 liter bottles although the 1.5s don't drain completely. Extremely space efficient. I can dry more than 3 full boxes of bottles in the small space on the counter next to...

Sorry

I don't know anything in answer to the question but I also don't understand what has happened in this thread. Why can't someone give a simple answer to a simple question, or at least go beyond "read the instructions"? My experience with instructions is they often leave much to be desired. I've...

Hard water won't affect oxyclean. However it will affect starsan. In hard water it will turn milky almost right away. I need to use distilled water to mix with starsan. Not too much of a hassle since the solution keeps almost forever in a sealed bucket.

I've used oxyclean green for about 4 years for cleaning everything, especially bottles. At bottling time I put in a scoop in a 5 gallon bucket of warm water, soak and wash my used bottles, rinse, and sanitize with starsan. After I finish bottling I use the same oxyclean solution from the same...

Following kit instructions from a few years ago I had always put in chitosan the next day and my wine would clear almost completely in less than a day. After reading this thread I experimented. I made a white wine kit and added chitosan after an hour's delay. I have never had a batch clear so...

A little word of caution. Aging can make a tremendous difference in a wine's taste, both in terms of fruitiness and some in perceived sweetness. I have a white kit that started out bone dry, harsh, and very weak in fruit (grape) flavor when fermentation finished. It turned out to be delightful...

I've made this kit several times with joeswine tweaks and chapterized to 14% abv. Turned out well even for fast drinking. Ages well in the bottle. Opened one recently that was about 18 months old and it was much better than OK.

Last year I bought an inexpensive 6 gal peach wine kit. It turns out it was actually your basic white grape wine with a peach flavored back sweetener. I didn't look at the ingredients of that back sweetener before adding it. Afterward, I wish I had. It turns out the flavoring agent was...

I can't remember which is the more viscous one, keiselsol or chitosan. Whichever it is, I've noticed that the more viscous one in kits is sometimes almost as thick as honey and other times more like maple syrup. I'm guessing that they sometimes dilute it to make it mix in the wine more easily...

I usually go to Amazon since most wine making supply houses list their wares there. I just checked and a 4-pack of the pre-measured stuff is under $11 and the bulk stuff is much cheaper. A 4-pack lasts me a long time since it takes time to drink and/or gift 120 bottles of wine.

I don't know if what I'm doing is "right" either. As you said, it's just what I do. Regarding O2, I think that's why floating the yeast on top of the must is so effective. I figure the highest O2 concentration is at the surface of the must. Like you, I stir well after things have started. I'm...

With wines I make from juice, or if I tweak a kit with raisins or fruit, I always add some k-meta, wait 24 hours, and then add the yeast.

I fully understand why use a starter with difficult musts and stuck fermentations but suspect there is no harm with trying sprinkling first. For me, sprinkling the yeast has even worked for high acid musts like skeeter pee. That being said, it is good to know starters are there in my back pocket...

I have never understood why it is necessary to make a starter. Does it affect favor or the quality of the wine? I've been making several cheap kit wines (with tweaks) and wines from frozen juices for 10 years, several batches a year. I have never made a starter. I always just sprinkle the yeast...

This exactly my experience. For the kits I make the lees will often compact from a half inch to maybe 1/8 inch in a week or so.

In the past my wines never sat around longer than two or three months. I enjoyed them and thought them good ... better than the cheap bottles at Walmart. Then I increased the frequency of my wine making and (for non-alcohol related medical reasons) had to decrease my consumption. The other day I...

I use a (Harbor Freight) hand vacuum pump for degassing. It takes me several days to fully degas. The first day I need to pump several times and then less on subsequent days. My pump has a gauge on it. At a certain point the bubbles become very small and the vacuum holds at a value less than 0...

I use a hand pump that looks just like you show in the picture. Since I only make one wine batch at a time I don't use a valve. I have found that the one way valve in the pump is sufficient to hold the vacuum. As you noted, as the wine degasses the vacuum drops so I have to pump a little more...