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  1. Grape Expectations

    I might be drinking too much, erm...

    I just worked out I made 210 Liters (of syphoned wine) in the last 398 days. That's taking off the 11L I have in bottles right now. I have never given away any of it, so I know I drank it all myself in that time. I always make my wine up around 16% to 18% ABV. I make it as strong as I can. That...
  2. Grape Expectations

    Other Solomon Grundy

    It's an old thread but I just started my first ever wine kit using one of these. This is my 17th batch of wine (I started out in Jan 2023) and every other time I have made it from pure orange juice. I had no idea these kits were so cheap which is why I never even thought to look at them. I got...
  3. Grape Expectations

    My wine has dandruff! Crystalline stuff floating around on surface...

    I drank it in the end. I'm still alive. :h I put chalk in that was past its date, or I somehow contaminated the chalk. The wine had a band-aid smell to it. I've never used that chalk again (or any acid reducer) and never seen those crystals again.
  4. Grape Expectations

    Pure orange Vs "from concentrate" - had no idea!

    Yes at Aldi (where I got the stuff from concentrate and now the pure squeezed juice) they have all 4 variants: From concentrate or pure + smooth or with bits. I always get the smooth stuff but just because with bits has always been weird to me, but perhaps then it's even better (closer to being...
  5. Grape Expectations

    Pure orange Vs "from concentrate" - had no idea!

    In the past I have typically bought the orange juice from concentrate because it's cheaper and to me, the taste of it from the carton isn't really any different to pure squeezed orange juice, that's about 22% more expensive. Recently the store had sold out of the cheaper stuff from concentrate...
  6. Grape Expectations

    Cranberry... why you do this to me again!

    Made 4 yeast starters with Young's... little to no foam. Pitched it... no change. Made 4 yeast starters with EC-1118... OK now I can see why people rave about this stuff! It's creating tons of foam within 15 mins of making a starter with 100ml water, 3 tsp sugar (aim: 1.050 SG) and a pinch of...
  7. Grape Expectations

    Has there ever been a poll on who makes a yeast starter, or not?

    That's just it, I don't know what strain it is. :confused: Another reason to just get EC-1118 for next time I think, or just use the Young's for orange wine and the EC-1118 for cranberry. I don't want to give up trying to make cranberry wine, it's miles nicer than orange :) EDIT: I put UK in...
  8. Grape Expectations

    Has there ever been a poll on who makes a yeast starter, or not?

    Young's Super Wine Yeast. It's given me 17%-18% regularly and is half the price of EC-1118, that seems to only be available in 5g packets. Still, I think I am going to try EC-1118 next time. If I get a 10-pack (50g) it's not expensive as such, but it is still nearly double what Young's costs...
  9. Grape Expectations

    Has there ever been a poll on who makes a yeast starter, or not?

    I tested the SG of the same bottle again. This is 36h since the last test and it's 97h in total: 1.088 SG (6.7% ABV) Sugar level is 277g/L (it started at 434g/L). This is a vast improvement, it's gained 3.6% in the last 36 hours. At this rate it would get to 14.4% in 6 days. That probably won't...
  10. Grape Expectations

    Has there ever been a poll on who makes a yeast starter, or not?

    That's the thing, it's at 2.9 pH but since the last cranberry stalled and it was at 3.4 pH, I don't think this yeast (the same stuff) is struggling due to the pH. There's just no foaming and it's gaining ABV slowly (1% per day in the initial stages when orange juice gains 3% or 4% per day). This...
  11. Grape Expectations

    Has there ever been a poll on who makes a yeast starter, or not?

    When looking for info about yeast starters, I always end up on beer making forums. For all my orange batches of wine, I never made a starter and it fermented well, almost every time. The only exception was when the temps stayed above 30°C, it half-stalled. With some fruits it seems a starter...
  12. Grape Expectations

    Cranberry... why you do this to me again!

    The bottles are just 5L spring water bottles. I have used them about 3 or 4 times now and everything's been fine... when it's orange, or orange and cranberry.
  13. Grape Expectations

    Cranberry... why you do this to me again!

    I don't know the exact name of the yeast apart from it's brand name "Youngs" for high alcohol. The last batch of orange from this same tub of yeast came out to nearly 18% ABV. It's 2.5 days in now and the ABV is at 3.1%. It's normally above 14% at this stage with orange and all the same powders...
  14. Grape Expectations

    Cranberry... why you do this to me again!

    Today is only the 2nd day after starting it. There's a lot of tiny bubbles but then, there was last time with the stalled Ocean Spray. I should know by tomorrow, if there isn't the usual plumes of yeast shooting up with foaming happening, it's probably going to do what the Ocean Spray cranberry...
  15. Grape Expectations

    Cranberry... why you do this to me again!

    The first 100% cranberry juice I tried, stalled. I think I left it a month and it got to 10% ABV and just stopped managing to gain any more ABV (when the aim was for it to end up maxed out at around 18%). That was "Ocean Spray" nearing it's best before date from a warehouse that sells that sort...
  16. Grape Expectations

    What happens if you don't bother syphoning?

    Thanks folks. I think I just need to keep getting better at syphoning. It seems that is one of the hardest things about winemaking!
  17. Grape Expectations

    What happens if you don't bother syphoning?

    I typically use 1.25 tsp yeast, 1 tsp nutrient, 1 tsp pectolase and 1 tsp bentonite per 5L. While that clears the wine, at the same time it is an additional cost and everywhere I look says drinking cloudy wine won't have any bad effects, health-wise. So what would happen if I just didn't put...
  18. Grape Expectations

    SG is way less with the same juice and sugar as last time?

    In addition to the SG not shifting according to the sugar added, this batch has also ended up not going fully dry, but I did start a new tub of yeast so I think it's probably that, although it's the same brand. Instead of it coming out at the usual 17.5% ABV it's more like 14% ABV. It's...
  19. Grape Expectations

    SG is way less with the same juice and sugar as last time?

    The OJ was straight out of the carton, it's just called "from concentrate" on the carton, but it's ready to drink. I blended the sugar with a Vita-Mix for at least a few minutes each time, but even if that didn't dissolve it, it's the same thing I did last time around. 1 KG sugar was thrown...
  20. Grape Expectations

    SG is way less with the same juice and sugar as last time?

    Last batch: In my last batch of wine, I used Aldi 2L orange juice from concentrate. That juice measured 1.048 SG. To that, I added 1080g sugar per 3.75L of juice and that created 4.56L of juice ready for the yeast. This ended up starting at 1.131 SG which is high but I have done it before and...
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