Recent content by Pendragon524

Question about methodology: some wine recipe books I have call for discarding fruit and racking into secondary after only 3-5 days in primary. They make a distinction between the first 70% of sugar consumption that happens in the first 5 days, and the second 30% that ought to happen over the...

That’s good enough for me! Thank you!

Hello friends. When I bought my current supply of Fermaid O and Go-FERM, I put each into two plastic baggies. I did not label the baggies. Now I do not know which is which. One of them is considerably darker brown than the other. Can y'all help me out? If I remember, Go-FERM is the darker of the...

Thank you for the feedback, everyone! I may invest in a higher-end auto-siphon, because I bought this one only a month ago.

My auto-siphon has recently gone screwy on me. Though it will still transfer wine from carboy to carboy, it has started leaking air over the entirety of the racking process. I have no idea how or why. I think the racking cane that goes into the tube isn't sealing 100%, allowing air in. I don't...

‘Tis the risk of using brown sugar in brewing: it easily overpowers everything. My advice would be to add bananas in secondary and just let the wine marinate on them for a while, or wait it out and see if the banana flavor returns with age.

Maple wine is an excellent idea in theory but it generally doesn’t turn out the way people want it to. I have read and experienced myself that the maple flavor tends to ferment out completely in a maple mead or wine. It leaves a nutty, earthy flavor that some people like to be sure, but nothing...

Thank you, @bernardsmith, your feedback and guidance are always appreciated!

In that case, how long would you cook the honey at 160F? The only way I know to keep track of the level of caramelization is by examining the color; the darker the color, the more caramelization. Is that not correct? I hope I didn't burn my first batch haha!

I agree; I love the detail work that goes into making mead and wine. For me, it makes it more fun, not less.

I'm totally on the same page with you. Anecdotal evidence is not accidental evidence, and it is certainly sufficient for me on a personal level to make decisions about how to made mead. However, it doesn't rise to the standard of science. I find it concerning that there seems to be a lack of...

I started using the tailored organic staggered nutrient addition (TOSNA) protocol in my mead-making. I have yet to run any one-to-one tests between TOSNA and non-TOSNA brews, but I assume the former is significantly better than a one-time addition of Fermaid-O, and even better than a one-time...

I finally took the jump and made my first bochet. 4 lbs. Wildflower honey 1.25 gallons of water Lalvin 71-B Fermaid-O GoFERM OG: 1.095 It’s also my first time following a staggered nutrient protocol. I cooked the first three pounds of honey, and was shocked at how much it expanded as I boiled...

One gallon, my friend! The majority of fermentable sugar came from the Jolly Ranchers.

Five months ago, I posted about my idea for a Jolly Rancher wine involving 270 candies melted down and fermented. Well, three weeks back, I went ahead and actually made the unholy beast. I bought 2 pounds worth of blue raspberry Jolly Ranchers, melted them down into a syrup, and added enough...