Recent content by dstelley

After letting a 5 gallon carboy of sauvignon:( age for a year, it tasted almost right. I back sweetened to the proper level and added metabisulfate to prevent fermentation. I then bottled it. I tried a bottle after a month and it tasted really good! I decided to let it age in the cellar for...

May I ask what your "recipe" is to back sweeten? This is my first time with muscato and I'd like to get it as close as possible to California muscato's. How much of what?

I put in sodium metabisulfate, if that's the same as campden then yes. The juice comes available as early as late September. I started these mid October. Racked twice. As far as aging, I honestly don't know how long they should go? I've always heard whites don't age as long or as well as...

I've made several batches of wine, almost all (one turned into vinegar...)were really good. Now though I have a dilemma. I have 2 carboy's of white wine. Muscato and Pinot Grigio, that came from a local wine juice seller close to me.(http://www.walkersfruitbasket.com/) Normally I do their...

Hello I have several different carboys of wine in various stages, but I have 2 I'd like advice with. First one is a California Muscato from a kit that has cleared up nicely and is ready for bottling. Looks real nice. It tastes quite good already although I think I'll let it age till fall...

that's kind of what I was looking for. Its long done with fermentation, just aging. I'll rack it around the 2 week of January and again the end of Feb. At that point I'll stick it in the garage while its still cold enough to be effective. I don't have a beer fridge and no other way to chill a...

Water reads 1.00 I have several batches going in different stages. Mostly red wines. This is my first attempt using fresh cider. Its not the hydrometer.

In my notes I didn't write down the name of the cider. Should have. I highly suspect that the producers added sorbate or something in the process and it wasn't on the label. Next year if I do apples again, I'll go strait to the presses. I live in an area with a zillion apple trees around. Lots...

Oh yeah, the original Hydrometer was 1.080 now its down to 1.050. about 4% alcohol for 8 yeasts...

I'll make this short but this batch had been giving me problems from the git go. 6 gallon cider to wine is the goal. The cider I purchased said no preservatives but I don't believe it. I have had so much trouble getting it to ferment. Started out wit EC-1118, and a hydrometer reading of...

don't mean to jump in on this thread but my question is very similar but more to do with timing. I have racked my red wine once about 30 days ago. there is sediment on the bottom so I'd expect to rerack in a couple three weeks. I started late September early October. Question is, when is...

OK, I'll try to discern a difference better. A couple times you mentioned bulk aging... I'm very new to winemaking, what does that mean? All I've done in the past was to keep re-racking after a time. (calendar vs looking for lees) Then at the end I'd stabilize and bottle for further storage and...

The only "but" to that is that is that I cannot see into the must even with a good flashlight so Its quite difficult for me to tell when the lee's stop falling out. Late last spring I finally was able to start seeing some clarity to the red wine.

OK, I will cold stabilize. The question then becomes when. I live in the Northeast (Western NY) Cold is not a problem, but what about timing? Its been in secondary fermentation since mid Oct. I plan to do the first rack around the first week of Dec. and every 6 weeks thereafter till around May...

last year I made a batch of French Concord red wine and the flavor was really good, so I'm trying it again. The problem was that as the bottles are chilled, crystals form on the bottom of the bottles. I suspect its Tartaric acid. Question(s) is there a way to eliminate them is the year old...