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Man you're right about that Bretts, haha! I'll double check on the yeasts. So far it's a little overwhelming with the choices, especially since I tend to stick to my my one favorite type of yeast for all my red wines. So many choices in beer. Yes, we did that, but the test one we cracked open...

Good information, thank you. I don't think my reds particularly enjoy the warm temps either, though I've never had off flavors from it (RC212 seems fairly tolerant). Thankfully our fermenting room connects to the garage and I can just crack the door to cool it down in there. What off temps are...

Hi everyone. I'm a winemaker, but I got my husband a beer kit for christmas. We've already tore into it and I'm wondering if my winemaking knowledge applies in some of these areas. So first of all we brewed an Amber Ale Block Party Amber Ale Beer Recipe Kit and bottled. Now we have a porter...

So would it be safe to say that when the sulfites leave the wine (ah, correct me if my memory fails, but through some sort of binding with oxygen and dissolving into headspace...) then the true color will return? Yes, I've seen leftover bits of red wine turn indigo when cleaning my equipment in...

Okay so I know this counts as thread necromancy, but since I googled "why does sorbate change the color of wine" and this was the first thing to pop up, I thought it would be worthwhile to add my two cents. Any time I stabilize a wine, whether it be a red or something light like Dragons Blood...

Well heck, at this point I'll try anything to solve the riddle. I had reservations about the towels, too. But. My house is crazy dry thanks to a wood burning stove, so even after washing, residual moisture wouldn't remain on towels for things to breed. And I bleach them, which I'm pretty sure...

Okay, so, at the risk of boring you to tears, I'll explain how this happened. My first mead batch, maybe close to two years ago, took forever to ferment and eventually became infected. It infected my equipment, obviously. In my panic, I googled this brewing malady for hours and the only...

I got different information when I researched as well. The source I read said that significantly more than 150f was needed to kill bretts, and even then I've boiled everything before and the bretts still came back in my sugar water tests. (boiling is 212F). So I'm not sure what to think on that...

What I wouldn't give to have you come and nitpick my method. I kick the kids out (no one even breathe on me), close the door, wash up, then let nothing that touches wine touch anything that wasn't sanitized. Usually I sanitize a large 7 gallon bucket and everything stays in there until use, and...

Okay this is news to me. How do you sanitize yeast nutrient? I've been tossing it in my wine all willy nilly and never had a problem. Or are you pulling my leg? Haha

And here I thought I was being extra careful. I never use airlocks, I confess to the flagrant use of fresh towels thrown over buckets. :D I'll look into this scale thing. Thanks.

Stirring frequently to let off smells. SG is only at 1.049 right now. Maybe more nutrient? Smells bad to me. Kinda like bandaids. But sometimes wine puts off odd smells during ferment, perhaps this is normal?

Okay so Sunday I got bottled spring water, 1 gallon. Heated half of that to about 150, stirred in honey and took off the heat. Being extra cautious here. Combined with cooled spring water, added 2 tsp nutrient. Waited for mix to cool to a nice warm yeast temp, then dry pitched right on the mix...

Yes. I became especially paranoid when the mead would get infected and not the wine, haha

Yeah, oxygen is great during the ferment. A good stir usually helps a lot of smells, but I've also noticed that proper nutrients eliminate the smells, and thus the need to mess with it at all. I'm a lazy brewer. I didn't use brushes, only a sponge. That gets replaced often anyway cause StarSan...

I just went back over my notes and realized that the first mead took around two weeks to drop SG. Being as my house is so warm, that's a major clue. Just wasn't enough nutrient. Yeah. Currently my "lab" is in a spacious laundry room with a garage door. I crack the garage door to let the cold...

Starsan to sanitize, Oxyclean Free and Clear and a good scrub for cleaning. But since my last three batches of mead attempts have been with new equipment each time, I doubt it's a cleanliness issue. Yes, I've seen the biofilm before on the first 1 gallon big mouth bubbler I had. I scrubbed. I...

You got it.

My tap water. It's not heavily chlorinated, it's from local wells that are sourced to a tank that feeds our neighborhood. I've been using it for all of my wines without issue, but maybe this is the key to my puzzle. Perhaps I should try some bottled water. Ah, you're right, might not be enough...

Hey there folks. I just wanted to pick your brains and see if I can solve a problem I've been having. First of all, I'm a winemaker. I've been making wine at home for a few years now. I'm no stranger to proper equipment sanitizing, healthy wine yeast smells, or keeping a good lab and proper...