Recent content by Scott Cain

EC1118 yeast, I sat it on top of my refrigerator, the warm air comes up and over from the fan on the back of the fridge. The couple times I checked it was always around 75*. Didn’t taste it but it smelled good.

Yes. I was using the plastic caps but they break, so I thought I would try the bungs

Yes, I’m using airlock with it. I’ll try the plastic wrap. Its been a couple of days now, looks like it should have dried out by now. Even when dry the rubber bung feels almost slick. I didn’t know if I had a bad brand. Thanks

In my secondary

I've been experimenting with one gal batches at the time. I just had batch of grape that worked good, was very active for about two days and quit. I waited til the third day and took a gravity reading, .990. I transferred it to my secondary. Two days sure seemed fast, did I not have enough...

One gal glass jugs. I have some solid rubber bungs in the correct size for the jug with the airlock hole, they will not stay seated. Is there something I need to do or a different kind or just trash them and use something different?

Update. I wound up throwing that batch away and started a new muscadine grape juice batch. Used the same recipe except I excluded the campden tablet and acid blend. Added my EC1118 yesterday, it is alive and thriving. Thanks for the advice.

Ok, thanks for the clarification. I understand better now.

What is the purpose of transferring fermenting juice after 5-7 days from one container to the next? Why not leave it in the same container for the first 6-8 weeks then start the clarifying process of transferring or just leave for the full term until bottling takes place? I can see doing the...

You’re absoulately right about muscadine being acidic. My grandaddy used to make muscadine wine by the 55 gal barrel. He used bread yeast you bought at the local grocery store. Sugar and yeast is all they ever put in their wine. Sometimes it made wine, sometimes it made vinegar and sometimes...

My method of aeration has been with a mixer beater attached to a cordless drill for about 5 mins a couple of times. The recipe for one gal of grape wine was the 3pts grape juice, 5pts water, 3 1/4 cups of sugar, 2tsp acid blend, 1/2tsp pectic enzyme, 1tsp yeast nutrient, 1 campden tablet wait...

Check my gravity this morning. My first reading on Sunday was 1.098. This morning it’s 1.112. It’s had two doses of yeast, EC1118 and Red Star. Nothing!!, no bubbly or foam or smell. What do I do, pour it out and start over? I’ve sat it outside today where it’s warmer but the temp has been 70ish...

Thank you for the advice. I will follow these steps tonight. In the scottlab article, it noted “Note: Foaming is not an indicator of yeast viability.” What other ways can you tell if fermentation is taking place? I’ve always done fruit and never ran into this, this is the first time in using...

I purchased some muscadine grape juice from a local winery. The only additive to the grape juice is sulfur dioxide. I was trying a one gallon batch of wine to see how it goes. Added ingredients( yeast nutrient, pectin enzyme, Camden tablet, sugar, etc), waited 24 hours then added EC1118 yeast...