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Yes I read some of that thread - it's huge! Looks like the best approach is to let the wine do its thing, for a good long time, and not concern myself with what the yeast may or may not be up to. Many years ago I camped at Ruby Beach (near Kalaloch) - it's one of my best camping memories. Went...

To me, young wine tastes raw. Not quite sure how else to describe it, but you know it when you taste it - the alcohol is a bit too obvious, the acid is too sharp; it doesn't taste bad, just not quite right. For aging, you need to start a lot the first few years! Like twice as much as you want...

I've had that exact same thing every time I've used raspberries - I think it's part of the fruit that gets through the mesh bag then somehow clumps together. The wine is always fine. Edit - and it will eventually sink to the bottom and get left behind when you rack

Try collecting carboys and jugs in all sizes - recycling depots, online used sites, or winemaking supply stores. If you're making smaller batches, see if you can find an imperial gallon jug to start, which is 4.6 litres. One gallon is 3.8 litres, and 3-litre (wine) and 2.85 litre (juice)...

Thanks - maybe that's it. But I'm still just a bit confused about the process of adding raisins after two months under airlock. I'd thought it was to add more sugar, which would then ferment out, but that doesn't seem to be happening. It tastes good though.

Hi all - I have a one-gallon batch of banana wine on the go, following the recipe for Banana Wine (2) [Heavy Bodied] that's posted on Jack Keller's site and also in the recipes forum here by Yooper. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/recipes.asp After two months in the secondary under airlock...

I think I see a pattern here - blackberry makes everything better! Makes sense, since blackberry is one of the best fruit wines. Thanks for the ideas everyone.

Apologies if this has been answered already... I'm following the recipe exactly, so two days ago I racked it off the sediment into a clean carboy, added the chopped raisins, topped it up to one gallon with boiled water, and put on the airlock. What is supposed to happen now that the raisins...

Thanks - that's great! What an amazing resource Jack Keller's website is. I just did a final blackberry pick - we're having a dry summer so a lot of berries are shrivelled up on the bushes, and it's forecast to rain which usually means they go moldy. Since I have 2/3 of what I need for 3...

So far I've mostly made single-fruit wines, but this year I'm experimenting with some two-fruit combinations. I make dry wines with 4-5 lb fruit per gallon, in three-gallon batches. I have a two-thirds peach one-third raspberry in the primary, based on the size of the box of peaches and the...

In my experience, regular cloth like a pillowcase gets clogged up surprisingly fast. The first wine batch I ever made, I tried using a flour sack tea towel to strain and squeeze out blackberry pulp, and it just became like a water balloon - you can wring it, squeeze it, leave it to drip, and...

It's a tall thin plastic container made for this purpose - they are cheap and you should be able to get one at any winemaking supply store or website. If you google "wine hydrometer cylinder" you'll find pictures. You can improvise with anything that's tall enough to float the hydrometer. A...

I've made blackberry wine a few times now - after some experimenting I've settled on 6 lb fruit per gallon which makes a really nice dry wine with no additional acid or tannin. The seeds or skins of the Himalayan blackberries that grow wild seem to have a lot of tannin. Last year I made 2...

We had gooseberries in the garden when I was a kid, and my mum made pies and jam out of them. The green ones get soft when they are ripe, even if the colour doesn't change. They might even split open. Also the flavour goes from sour-and-raw to tart-and-sweet. I have a jostaberry bush now...

Your hydrometer probably came with a scale, like mine did, translating SG at 20 C to potential alcohol %. The translation of a single reading to potential alcohol is a bit misleading though - because your end percentage depends on the difference between your start and end SG readings...

I just bought more pectic enzyme, and it's a different brand - with a different usage rate on the label. Does anyone know if they make it different strengths, or if it's due to a difference in opinion about how much to use? Both are powders: Spagnols says 1.25 tsp per 23 litres, which is about...

When I researched this a while back, I read somewhere that you should make sure to use food-grade glass marbles, not the decorative or toy ones.

I'm also planning my first batch of rhubarb wine, since the plants went crazy this year. After some research I've decided to try Yooper's recipe which uses 3 lb per gallon. Yooper has a lot of experience, and her recipes tend to be straightforward, producing dry wines with a decent amount of...

Thanks for the info! Yes I thought of that eventually too, and the raisins did have sunflower oil. I guess some raisins have oil and some don't, and I should check the ingredients better. It's good to know my wine will probably be OK.

A couple of weeks ago I felt like fermenting something, and it occurred to me that I always wanted to try making ginger wine. So I decided to try this: https://homebrewanswers.com/ginger-wine-recipe/ It includes root ginger, peeled bananas, and raisins. I used EC-1118 yeast. Starting SG after...