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vuara, Allie's response would be similar to mine, but Allie beat me to it :)

Absolutely! It's here. Wish I could get them that inexpensive!!! My Kiwi Mel was aged for a good long time - almost three years in the carboy. Definitely time to make more - I'm thinking ten gallons.

Meads can take awhile to clear. I've decided that time is the best clarifying agent for mead - and to let it bulk age in the carboy rather than bottle. My first mead remained cloudy after adding several fining agents. I did end up experimenting and used ground egg shell. That worked...

Actually, it is drinkable! Not something I'd want to sip on for pleasure, but when I tried mine - it was not unpleasant. I've had homemade grape wines that were downright awful in my opinion - and the garlic wine did not rate as "downright awful." I do need to do more of it - I promised...

I could be wrong - but it's worked for me - if using distilled or soft water, I've been lead to believe that the major mineral missing is magnesium. I was once told by a very experienced home winemaker some years ago that adding a 1/4 teaspoon of epsom salts will replace the missing magnesium...

Hi Steve, My recipe for garlic wine is here. Enjoy! Great stuff to cook with! For me, it was a spur of the moment thing - and I had no lemons on hand - so I used the Realmon juice. It worked fine.

But it is simpler to just use Potassium metabisulfite as both a preservative and sanitizer. Why bother having both? Campden Tablets, which generally consist of sodium-meta are handy though, for small batches of wine. Although they are a pain to crush in order to have them dissolve completely.

Yes - as the wise musician sings, "Don't worry, be happy." :) Seriously.. one to five gallons is not going to produce an abundance of co2 that is going to affect your air quality in any regular setting where you have exchanges of air going on like a house. I've had over 50 gallons...

Hi Boozehag, someone mentioned last week to me that you had made a potato wine - and that I might want to trade notes with you, as I've started one recently as well. I'm very interested in the recipe you used! Thanks, Ian

I just had a little sip of the Cru Select Australian Bush Vine Grenache. It came with grape skins. I started it March 23/09. It's been aging in the carboy with the 2 Oak staves in the wine. It's still obviously young tasting - but very good! A bit more than a hint of oak at the beginning...

Sure Tom - I've posted it here. I'll tell you what though - boiling all those potatoes was fun! I used three good size pots on the stove, all at once. Not sure if I posted a pic of that. I ended up with quite a number of pounds of sliced potatoes, which I put in the freezer - good thing I'm...

Thanks, Wade! I love Black Currant wine. I never make enough of it! This year, I'm planning on making at least ten gallons.

Thanks, Tom. I noticed the recipe section here, and I'm sure I will have some anxiety trying to decide which ones to try first! There's only so much room :). I have not tasted the potato wine yet - but I have smelled it. I am going to take a look at it this weekend - possibly rack it - and...

I wouldn't throw it away! There's a good chance that the sulfite in the wine and the alcohol will protect it from any bacteria that might be in the bottles. It's even possible that one bottle might go bad and the rest are good - or all are good. Using sulfite solution in your bottles just...

Yes, Canadian "country" wines as in wines made from Canadian fruit like blueberry, blackcurrant, mullberry, (and vegetables too! - parsnip and garlic). I've often seen non-grape wines referred to as "country" wines - that's what I meant by that term. At the moment, I'm trying a potato...

I made a Kiwi Melomel which turned out wonderful! Everyone who has tried it - it's interesting to see the look on their face when I tell them what it is.. and then the look after their first sip - have raved about it. I bulk aged it for about 2 1/2 years in the carboy before bottling. The...

I just discovered this forum a day or so ago and have been quite impressed with it! Great job to the developer and moderators - and of course to those who participate regularly. I see Luc is here - his blog is a favorite of mine, and I've learned quite a few things and got some new ideas from...

You've spelled it "whiskey" with an 'e' - so are you using Irish Whiskey? What whiskey are you using? This is giving me some ideas! Personally, I prefer Bushmills Black Bush which is always found in my flask when fly fishing - but it might be interesting to experiment with a variety of Scotch...

That is awesome that you can get them dirt cheap! I think they are about $140.00 Canadian in my town. I recently tried the Kenridge series GSM with grape skins - haven't bottled yet but looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I plan on aging at least 18 months too.

I'd love to have another toy - an ebulliometer. I recently visited with Daniel Pambianchi who owns Maleta Winery (also the author of Techniques in Home Winemaking - a book I highly recommend). He offers lab analysis of wine, including determining the alcohol content of a wine. To do this...