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  1. David Violante

    BlackBerry Melomel?

    I had a great harvest of blackberries this year and froze them to make jam come Christmas. After about 8 jars of BlackBerry rosemary jam, I had enough left over to ferment about a half gallon. I started with a SG of 1.100 and a pH of 3.2. I used RC212 and a starter, oak chips, and nutrients. All...
  2. David Violante

    Bee Sugar Board Wine…?

    Well… kind of… I was making winter sugar feeding bowls for my bees and had a learning experience. The idea is to bring a high sugar content of water to a boil and then up to 260F, let cool, and then pour into paper bowls, stir until crystallized and then cool. I used an infrared thermometer...
  3. David Violante

    Wine Opacity

    So.... I have noticed that the wine in a majority of my carboys has become more opaque. I fermented the wine in the last couple years, went through normal processes including racking and sulfiting, and have just been working on exercising patience. They had been clear enough to shine a light...
  4. David Violante

    For Sale Manual Crusher

    Mecnosud manual grape crusher $300. Newburgh, NY
  5. David Violante

    Mojito SP

    OK - here I go... I wanted to make something pretty close to a mojito. I hope this works out. I used the Pearson's square to come up with the particulars for a 5 gallon batch. 4.5 gallons of Lime SP at 9% ABV, 0.5 gallon of Havana Club Anejo Blanco Rum at 40% ABV. That get's me to 12% ABV...
  6. David Violante

    Grape Berry Moth?

    Looks like I might have GBM. I’ve been spraying with manzate and stylet oil until fruit set, and now with just stylet oil. A local grape farmer says to use Seven, but I’m concerned about using that with honey bees near by.
  7. David Violante

    Wineries near Carlsbad CA

    The Mrs and I may have an upcoming trip to Carlsbad and were wondering if anyone here had some experiences with wineries / vineyards near there. Quite a few show up on the map but it's far better with a little help from your friends!
  8. David Violante

    Potassium Metabisulfite and Bees

    Callout to my bee-keeper friends here. I've had a couple hives not make it through the winter and I sent out the bees for evaluation at the Maryland center. It does not look like EFB or AFB. Maybe Nosemia. In the meantime, I want to clean and sanitize the hive and frames. Most sources say to use...
  9. David Violante

    Roiling under the cap

    I started a mango passion fruit wine a couple days ago and usually ferment in a bucket and the move to a carboy. This is a smaller 3-gallon batch and it ended up in a Fermonster for a variety of reasons. When I went to check on it last night, I was mesmerized by what I usually don’t get to see...
  10. David Violante

    Stabilizing a Press

    I am the proud new owner of a used stainless steel Marchisio 25# press. Much thanks to @franc1969 for meeting me halfway between our homes, and for swapping some wines too! I'm interested in knowing how folks here keep their presses from swiveling while in the process of pressing. The first...
  11. David Violante

    Lactobacillus?

    I’m curious about a DeChaunac I’m fermenting. The grapes were beautiful and I sorted, destemmed, and crushed two lugs. There were a couple of clusters that seemed to have some kind of powdery mildew or grey rot and I disposed of them and the ones around them. I ended up with 5 gallons of must...
  12. David Violante

    Varietals and Extended Maceration

    I’ve been getting my feet wet with EM and am wondering which varietals would benefit from the process and which ones wouldn’t. I’ve done EM on some finer wine kits (Zinfandel, Bordeaux, Barbera) and have just crushed and fermented some local Frontenac, De Chaunac, and my own Concord. I’m...
  13. David Violante

    Wall Mounted Cork Screw

    I'm looking at a wall mounted corkscrew as a gift for my wife. It would make opening a bottle easier and it looks pretty neat as well. Does anyone use one or have a suggestion for one? It seems that a number of them have bad reviews in that they push the cork in rather than actually pulling it...
  14. David Violante

    EM with Country Fruit

    I’m interested to know if anyone has done extended maceration with fruits other that grapes. I just started using that process this year with grapes and so far like the process and outcome. I also now have a BlackBerry wine fermenting from a bunch of my vines. I was thinking about doing EM with...
  15. David Violante

    Speidel / Fermonster / Big Mouth Bubbler...

    I would like to continue doing extended macerations and am curious as to what folks prefer and why. Some of my thoughts about choosing included ease of moving, ability to create a good seal, and cost. Are there other considerations? Thank you much in advance...
  16. David Violante

    Vine Trunk Question

    I have some 4-year-old Concord grape vines that are not completely upright and have a little bit of a curl to them from the weight of the vine not having being properly tied off. Is there a way to straighten them over time or should I just leave them as they are? They're producing buds / leaves...
  17. David Violante

    YAN Calculations

    The topic of figuring out YAN and what additions we may want or need to make as home winemakers has become a recent curiosity of mine, and I had inadvertently hijacked a Christmas Wine thread as the conversation moved from the recipe to yeast type to nutrient addition and figuring out YAN...
  18. David Violante

    Frangipani / Plumeria Wine

    I was looking through recipes here and came across a frangipani / plumeria wine recipe. It sounds very intriguing and if it tastes anything like the flower smells... So the recipe sounds straight forward except in the area of the yeast. One suggestion is 71B, other recipes relate a "general...
  19. David Violante

    Suggestions for adding some body to mead

    I made 5 gallons of mead back in June following a very basic recipe from an online meadery. I used 9# of raw honey to 4.5 gallons of water, and D47. It fermented to about 8.5% ABV. This was my first and I’m considering it a success. It turned out great but a little thin. When I make another I...
  20. David Violante

    Chaptalization during fermentation calculation

    I'm looking for a way to come up with the final potential ABV of my wine. The caveat is that I added sugar during fermentation as I realized that the original SG was fairly low. Yep. I should have just added up front. I did take readings along the way so I know what initial, pre- and...
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