Recent content by mgonbrewlab

This. But, I am guessing if moving your rig is too high profile, bringing in boxes of empty wine bottles would also be too high profile. You could also get 3L wine jugs and bulk age in there. Siphon tube is easily acquired from a pet store or hardware store, and even though manually siphoning...

If you like blush wines try half and half with red and white grape juice and add 1 lb of raisins per gallon or two. It will take longer to age out but the raisins add some needed body. It probably works with reds too, but I havent tried it.

I made a wine with frozen blackberries, frozen blueberries, and concord grape juice (both bottled and frozen concentrate) and mine was also surprisingly tart and sweet. But yummy - I doubt my first 5 gallon batch will make it to Christmas.

Its not conflicting. You asked about pure O2. I said to aerate your must and fermenting wine. Not inject it with pure O2. Regarding your clarifyers, don't touch them till your wine is fermented dry. Time is the best clarifier anyway However, the great thing about wine is its basically...

I have 0 experience here, but a pound of dried strawberries and 2 lbs of sugar per gallon should get you pretty close, fermentables wise.

Bitterness = yeast. Hotness = lack of age. Spend the $5 on several stoppers and airlocks so you can siphon your liquid into bottles and give it a couple months to clear. You will be very happy.

Aerating the wine during active fermentation will give you the O2 your yeast needs while releasing any CO2, helping your wine clear faster. If you are fermenting below 70 degrees, nutrients at the start of fermentation and again at your first racking will help keep things going. Probably not...

Given its reputation as a prima Donna yeast and tendency to crap out on beer I started using S-33 with cider. Or, if you are using cheap juice and are also impatient check put the recipe database for Graff. Adding some malt extract gives the cider extra body, as some dextrins will be left...

Pulped ginger root and nutmeg or cinnamon could be interesting (gingerbread cookie). Vanilla is Christmasy too and could go well with the grape juice.

With these wines so far removed from grape, I have found adding the juice and zest of a lemon gives the acid, plus some extra structure you will really appreciate. On another thread someone mentioned hibiscus flowers acting as a clarifier, so if you can pick and freeze petals, you could try...

So, this is already crystal clear. I lost about a half gallon at last racking and topped it off with grape juice, thinking it would restart fermentation and it did not. So either I hit alcohol toxicity for Pasteur Red or I am missing something. Anyway, this is now a sweet red wine (dark dark...

Found this for you - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=94018 So I guess you can!

When you pick up your next kit, also pick up a 96 oz can of Vinter's Harvest fruit wine base and the ingredients listed on the can. They are a pretty foolproof way to get into country winemaking, and could give you some interesting blending options (elderberry cabernet or peach moscato both come...

So, it is harder to tell with red wine but your wine should be clear and should not be throwing any lees. It is not a matter of the wine not being dry, but maybe the wine having trapped gas or proteins. This might not have been it, mind you. Just going with the most logical conclusion (yeasty...

Why would you not use a red wine yeast? Not that 1118 won't do the job, but it is best suited for whites and brights. Cuvee is supposed to be very neutral, so if you had a yeasty taste it may have been that there was still yeast in suspension.