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As a mechanic who's done janky things with hydraulic presses, this is not a good idea. Corks are fiddly and structurally unstable and your bottle is going to try to push out sideways from under the screwjack. You want something like the Portugese double lever hand corker pictured above that...

Plenty of good answers, but simply stated, mash the blackberries to get the juice, then use the hydrometer to see how much sugar you'll need to add to hit your SG. Blackberries are pretty good in their own right, and don't need much to make a good wine. I have wild blackberries growing in the...

Excellent, thanks! That gives me a pretty good direction to head. I put the test kit and some food grade acid powders into my online shopping cart.

When in primary, I keep mine in a bucket with an open lid clamping down over a paper towel. No pressure buildup. This how I primary all my wines. With banana you do have to be careful about stirring the cap under more often - twice a day.

While I do appreciate the answer, that leaves a lot unsaid. What do you mean by "T.A."? After a little googling, I'm assuming "total acidity". I'm fine with adjusting pH to taste just before bottling, but when it comes to fermenting I'm pretty sure my pHs are all over the map. What is an...

If you're only ten days into primary, why do you have an airlock? I have an apple-banana wine in secondary right now, and I had to add a lot of water to blend the banana at the start. Once I put it in secondary it took off again and burped into my airlock. Fortunately I caught it quickly. Banana...

Fruit wines of all different types. My taste and mouthfeel are all over the map and I'd like to start getting my wines more refined. I currently have two wines in secondary, a banana-apple wine and a wine made from old jellies and jams my wife forgot about. I do a lot of "ciders" which are...

Now that I have my clarity down, it's time to up my game and start controlling pH. I like keeping things simple and repeatable. How do you test and control pH in your wines?

Yeast matters. Find a yeast that works in the temperature ranges you're looking for. My garage is between 20 and 100°F depending on the season, and the yeast I use has been fairly successful in secondary out there.

Bananas are a pain. I'm on my fourth banana wine, and hopefully it will be my second success.

Apologies that I didn't update. It worked great. My method for the last couple years is to add the campden tablets at the zero hour, add the pectic enzyme at the 20th hour, and then add the yeast (typically Lalvin EC-1118) at the 24th hour. At the racking to secondary, add bentonite. At the...

When I made a sparkling wine, I went straight from primary to bottling. Easiest wine I ever made. Turned out decent enough for New Year's Eve a week and a half ago, but I wouldn't take it to a high society function. You absolutely MUST use the thicker champagne bottles or you'll have bottle...

No worries. I don't know that I rule; I'm just trying to keep it simple. Wine making is my winter hobby and it's almost free compared to playing with cars.

I haven't become that sophisticated yet. I make sure I have plenty of sugar so that the yeast tops out before it gets dry. I use Lalvin EC-1118 because it tolerates temperature swings, but it also doesn't top out until around 17%. Hence my sweet wines are all around 17% ABV. Not to hijack, but...

I use Bentonite and Sparkolloid. I've avoided Kieselsol and Chitosan because they're not vegan and I have vegan friends who drink my wine. The bentonite/sparkolloid combination has been making very clear wines.

Interesting. The forum sent me a notice that I was responded to in post #93. I'm guessing it only looks at the first ten letters of a name? "Wasn't me!" - Shaggy

We have a stand alone freezer in the pantry, and that's where I store fruit until I have enough for a batch of wine. I have a cheap press that I carry out to the back porch to press fruit, and when not in use it's in the spare bedroom next to my wine shelf. When I make a wine, I tie up the...

Wild Wine Making is good if you're into trying different stuff, such as wines made from other fruits, veggies, flowers, herbs, chiles, and citrus. There's also a chapter of recipes with marijuana if you're into that. It convinced me to be adventurous with my wines. While I don't go in for the...

Update: I gave the three bottles with brew glitter to my daughter this last week. She hasn't opened any yet, but I did sample a second bottle back in November and it was very nice. She's aware that I have a dozen more bottles without glitter. Here's my notes: Sparkling Wine – White Grape...

I threw my batch out the other day. The top was cruncy, and there was a colorful variety of molds taking root throughout the bucket. There was a smell like fresh baked bread, so I think the process was working, but I'd crammed too much into the bucket and put it in the cold panty, stunting the...