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  1. FTC Wines

    Bake or K Meta barrel staves?

    We have staves from a leaky barrel that only had wine in it for 3 weeks. Want to use them in our neutral barrels for extra oak. They have been dry for 6 months now. Thinking of baking them in oven to sterilize or should we do a K Meta soak or in a bucket with fumes. If you baked yours how long...
  2. FTC Wines

    How often do rack/clean your barrels

    We now have 3 barrels, a neutral 23L, a semi neutral 40L, and a 5 week old 40L one that’s doing a MLF on a Malbec. We Now are aging wines longer in the barrel but concerned on how often I should be racking/cleaning the barrel. I typically do it every 3 months, is that standard? Thanks Roy
  3. FTC Wines

    Really Low TA in 3 buckets

    Just tested 3 buckets of Calif juice I picked up yesterday. Two Cabs & a Petite Sirah, all 3 within .02 of each using a Vinmetric sc 300, new chemicals & good calc. TA .52, PH 3.4 . TA seems awfully low. Any suggestions? Thanks Roy. PS onto hand de stemming & crushing 300 lbs of grapes!!
  4. FTC Wines

    Apple Wine our way

    We just finished making a batch of Apple Wine from Stayman Winesaps & September Wonder apples. This was 8.5 gals of must, figuring we will have 6 gals in the carboy, hopefully with a little extra after pressing to top off with. 1) wash the apples 2) quarter the apples. These were "smalls"...
  5. FTC Wines

    Exotic barrel vrs Vadai barrel

    We have one 6 gal Vadai barrel now & need a new 40 liter barrel for this fall. Love our Vadai but Mainshipfred turned me on to Exotic Barrel Co. Their 40 L barrel is only $129 & their store is only 10 mins from my Sons house, i.e. No shipping. So for me it's 1/2 price of a Vadai barrel. Anyone...
  6. FTC Wines

    Barrel empty for 3 months, best way?

    We are going on a 3 month RV trip. Not sure how to store our 1 year old 6 gal Vadal barrel. Clean & empty? Store full of K Meta water with back up bottle & hose to keep barrel full ? Another idea? Thanks in advance, Roy
  7. FTC Wines

    Cold stabilization mistake?

    Ok a month before Thanksgiving I put a 6 gal carboy of Pinot Noir, a Kit, in the wine refrig. Temp was 34* . We needed the frig for Turkey day so pulled the wine out & didnt rack it for over 2 weeks. To my Suprise No diamonds were found. So did they "re absorb " or does Pinot Noir typically not...
  8. FTC Wines

    First cold stabilization WOW diamonds!

    Just finished my first C S on a year old Calif juice bucket. 34* for 28 days. Carboy was covered in diamonds, they came out very easily. PH dropped to 3.22, was 3.58. Taste is a little flat, time will tell. Roy
  9. FTC Wines

    MLF for a Pinot Noir?

    Going to start my MLF's for our Cabs tonight or tomorrow. Over thinking, but haven't heard any one doing it to a Pinot Noir. Fresh grapes & juice bucket. Only 2nd MLF. Thanks. Roy
  10. FTC Wines

    Fermenting buckets add fresh grapes?

    Pick up my 3 buckets &4 lugs of fresh Calif grapes yesterday. After the 2 hour car ride the buckets were fermenting by the time I got them home. Bucket said sulfites were added. Plan was to add a 1/2. Lug of grapes to each bucket. But with them fermenting I'm not sure. I Added wine yeast to the...
  11. FTC Wines

    First barrel, how to vacuum rack

    Just finishing new Vadai barrel prep, will put in a red in over the weekend. Can I vacuum rack into/out of the barrel at low vacuum? Bought a solid silicon bung & a one hole bung, thinking of taking the std wood bung & drilling 2 holes in it for my vacuum racking. Make sense? Thanks in...
  12. FTC Wines

    Cab - Pino Noir blend?

    Ok, I just ordered 3 lugs of Cab & 1 lug of Pino Noir grapes. Also 2 pails of Cab juice & 1 pail of Pino Noir. Plan is : putting 18-24 lbs of P N grapes in the 6 gals of P N juice. For a strong P N. Then taking the rest of the P N grapes say 12 lbs & adding it to a 6 gal bucket of Cab , to make...
  13. FTC Wines

    Mango Wine

    Just got a source for lots of mangos. Most recipes call for 3-5 lbs per gallon. I'm assuming that is pre peeling & de-stoning, like for peaches. Found a video that uses a glass to remove the mango from its skin, works well. Putting zip locks of them in freezer untill I have enought for a 5 gal...
  14. FTC Wines

    1st box wine ugh going boating need help!

    Ok, we are taking our 25' boat to the Keys on its own bottom for 14 days, in May. Don't want to haul 2 cases of wine & return bottles back. So I bought a 3 L box of Franzia Dark Red to test out. Recommended by our ABC Wine Expert. UGH! Hope we are NOT Spoiled but..... Did not like it at all...
  15. FTC Wines

    Cellar Craft Need a Pinot Noir kit

    We need to make a Pinot Noir wine kit. Looking at Presque Isle's site they have a Cellar Classic one for $100, & a Eclipse Ultra Premium for $150. For 50% more $$, do you think the wine will be that much better? I've done C C kits, never a Eclipse one. Thanks Roy. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
  16. FTC Wines

    Worth saving pressed skins?

    We just finished pressing our Cab, fermented 8 days, Brix -1 at press via hydrometer. Got 7.5 gals out of 108 lbs of grapes. No water added. Is it worth freezing the skins, with oak chips, to add to a mid level kit later? Roy ps new press worked great!
  17. FTC Wines

    Wine press finally finished & ready....

    Finished my wine press. Decided to build a "piece of furniture" because it will only be used 2ish days a year. The rest of the time it will be on display. All oak, have about $200 in it. Grapes come Mon. So I'll know how well it works in a few weeks. Roy
  18. FTC Wines

    Sterile filtering to remove cream of tartar?

    We are sterile filtering ( .45 micron) & bottling 10 gals of 2014 Peach wine today. Will also use the $14 filter to filter Mango & cranberry. The cranberry's ph was 3.05, so I hit it with 1/4 tsp of acid reducing crystals, pot bi carb. Directions say to cold stabilize for 30 days to remove cream...
  19. FTC Wines

    Vinmetric 300 reagents shelf life?

    We did a bunch of testing yesterday, & saw the chemicals that come with the Vinmetric have a 6 month shelf life. Well they ARE 6 months old, stored tightly capped, in the dark, at 68*. Do we really need to replace them? They worked perfectly, we only test 8-10 wines every 3 months or so. Hate to...
  20. FTC Wines

    Trying to buy filters, no source yet

    I use a Culligan water filter housing model HF-150a. It takes a Pentek P 1 filter. 2-38 X 9-7/8. OK looking for a .35-.45 micron filter for my Peach & Apple wines. Filters Fast only sells their .35 m filters in a 24 pack, $268.99. McMaster Carr has a .5m but it's a 10" & has the plastic seals...
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