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four months in the primary carboy on the lees at 65 degrees. Yummy

We bottle with bottles places in a milk crate ... with the crate inside an underbed storage bin ... so if we screw up during the bottling process, the wine seeps through the crate, into the storage bin ... which we then dump into wine glasses and drink. When God gives you lemons, catch the wine...

I have the Portuguese floor corker. It does a great job. I bought it for $50 or so ... and could easily sell it on eBay if I later decide to purchase an Italian corker.

Floor corker ... no question. Don't even hesitate or ask your wife ... buy one. Best investment in wine making you will ever make. (Not looking to get you in trouble with the wife, but you can always apologize later for spending the money ... after she drinks a little wine to soften up.)...

Go buy some gallon jugs of Walmart "Spring" water (Not distilled, not drinking, but Spring) and use it to make the wine. Works for me

Hi Sara ... I've never added anything to the Apfelwein ... but during one bottling day, we accidently stirred up the lees ... so to avoid that the next time we bottled, we racked the apfelwein to a clean carboy ... only to find the wine cloudy the next day. It took a good 10 days to clear again...

I've corked screw top bottles ... but used a number 8 cork ... for a short storage wine. Weak bottle rim can be a problem using a cork screw to pull a stubborn cork out of the bottle ... which is why I use number 8 corks ... hardly any resistance uncorking ... of course, that doesn't speak...

It's really too early to get an accurate "taste." Let it sit in the secondary for 10 days to 2 weeks, then add finings ... you'll "find" it tastes a lot better by then. Also, I've had wine kits that fermented to dry in 3 days ... and kits that took three weeks. Depends on a lot of variable...

Also use a frosting bucket as a Corkador ... put a cup of sanitizing strength k-meta in the and lay some corks around the cup ... snap on the lid ... and the fumes from the k-meta will kill all the beasties on the corks.

I use frosting buckets to hold 2 gallon batches of sanitizing solution ... both Star San and K-Met ... the frosting buckets come with gasketed-lids, which really aren't air-tight but are good enough to keep sanitizing solution close at hand for a month or so. Makes it easy to quickly dip a...

well, I occasionally use two(2) Three(3) gallon carboys in lieu of one(1) six(6) gallon carboy ... which allows me to tweak half a batch while allowing the other half to age normally.

>>>I will never need three at a time again Ha! Ha, Ha! Now you've gone and done it. No, you won't ever need three (carboys) at a time ... next time, you'll need FOUR carboys at the same time. One can never have TOO MANY carboys. Bite the bullet. Buy a three-gallon BETTER BOTTLE ...

I've had that happen. Figured I bottled too soon. Currently have two more batches aging in carboys ... both past two months. Racked oldest one off the lees and into another carboy. Also possible I might have stirred the lees up in my excitement to bottle my first batch Time will tell...

I dry scrape the labels off commercial wine bottles with a razor blade (carefully). Then I pour (liberally) 90 proof rubbing alcohol (from Walmart ... make sure you get the 90 proof) onto a paper towel and wipe most of the residue glue. This will get rid of most of the glue. Some bottle...

Since you are in Illinois, I'd consider Harrington Press, based out of Peoria, IL. His prices are good ... as is his advice. Google Harrington Press or type in harringtonpress.com. He offers a basic starter kit with a wine kit as a complete package.

Pivot ... I logged on today to post the same question. My bottled apfelwein, bottled at 7 weeks, crystal clear, has developed some sediment in the bottles. No off tastes ... just a layer of sediment. Strange thing, the sediment didn't appear in the bottles for a couple of weeks. I'm...

Oh, forgot to add ... like a dummy, I didn't wash, rinse, boil the raisins ... just opened the box and dumped them in. In hindsight, this was probably the wrong way to add them. I contacted Sunmaid directly and asked if they put wax or vegetable oil to their Zante Currants during processing...

I am in the process of fining and clarifying a 6 gallon batch of Cabernet Sauvignon to which I added 1 pound of Zante Currants. Way to early to tell, but it appears to have added some body to the Cab (I've made this kit before and it seemed a little thin). Problem is, however, there is...

Hi Cathy. I can't get on either ... something about a database error.

Does anybody have any experience using Apfelwein as a Liquid Fabric Remover? I'm told it's especially effective at removing under garments. Or so I'm told. I have no first hand experience. My wife likes to drink it ... but it doesn't seem to have the desired effect ...