E.C. Kraus Home Wine and Beer Making Supplies

Whether you are just starting to get involved in home winemaking or you have been making wine at home for some time, it’s a good idea to have a good understanding of the different types of homemade wine equipment, how they function, and whether or not a particular piece of equipment is needed in your home. Of course, there are many more pieces of homemade wine equipment than can be described in...

I'm in the process of making my first batch of wine. I'm making apple wine. When I started, I took a hydrometer reading and it was in between 1.080-1.100. I let it ferment in the bucket for about a week and a half. When I racked it into the carboy I took another hydrometer reading and it was about the same.(this was on the 7th of January.) I just took another hydrometer reading today( Jan 21) and...

Sort of new to the wine making process, but have been very successful or lucky so far. I've made 4 flavors of wine in the past and have tasted well above my expect ions. But a year ago I started a cranberry wine and it has been doing great for a year now but recently it began to start to referment. Why now? It's temp and location hasn't changed. I've racked it every 3 months as it called for, very...

I understand the practice of bench testing, but don't know how to apply it to my wine making. I want to blend Cabernet, Merlot, and Sangiovese and produce a Italian Chianti style red. I'll take a small amount of each and get what I want. How do I use this "formula" to make a large batch.Name: Cos SalamoneState: PA Cos, thanks for a very good wine making question. For those of you who have never...

I am about to make my first batch of Prickly Pear Wine. One of the lovely people at your company e-mailed some information and a wine recipe, but I seem to have misplaced it. I have five gallons of prickly pear juice in my freezer that I will use for the wine and other wine recipes this year. The five gallons of juice I have in the freezer came from approximately 105 pounds of fresh fruit from the...

One of the most important ingredients in winemaking is yeast.  Without yeast, the wine must will not undergo fermentation.  During fermentation, wine yeast functions to convert the sugar in the wine must into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  The interaction of the yeast with the wine must creates aromatic byproducts which, depending upon which yeast strain you use, will express different aromatic...

I used too much Speedy Bentonite to clear my last batch of wine. The bentonite worked, but there is a bunch of sediment. I racked off the wine that was clear. It tasted fine. There is about a gallon and a half of sediment. Will the bentonite continue to settle and is it worth the time and trouble for a few extra bottlesName: Hans WikleState: WV Hello Hans, The general rule-of-thumb is to always...

There are many steps to home winemaking, and each individual step is critical in maintaining the quality and acceptability of your homemade wine.  First, you have to prepare the must either from juice or the fruit itself.  Next, the must undergoes fermentation to convert the sugar in the must to alcohol.  Further racking, clarifying, stabilizing, and aging steps help develop the wine to an even...

Another year has passed, and the rearview mirror is full! I always use this time as an opportunity to reflect on what's happened. In doing so I have come up with a list of my top 10 favorite wine making posts. These are wine making post that I feel have been helpful, entertaining and interesting. They are listed in no particular order. You might want to give them a once-over and see if there's...

There’s a lot of variation in how to make your own wine, however, the same basic steps apply regardless of what type of wine you make. Must preparation: For this step of how to make your own wine, the fruit or wine grapes are made into a mushy substance, known as the “must”.  During this stage, sugar and acid levels must balance so that when following the wine recipe it leads to a well-balanced...

Before diving head first into the fun of home winemaking using one of our homemade wine kits, it is important to understand what exactly is in the kit, and what role each item in the kit plays.Of course, all of the homemade wine kits that you can buy are going to be slightly different, depending upon the brand and upon what type of homemade wine you wish to make.  Here is a breakdown on some of...

There’s a lot of debate regarding what type of closure you should be using to bottle your homemade wine.  Understanding the qualities of each type of closure and how they fit in with the style of wine you intend to create will allow you to make an informed decision and give you confidence that you are selecting the perfect wine bottle closure for your homemade wine. Two of the most common types of...

Hi: I made my first wine and it came out great. I made a Cabernet Sauvignon from one of your homemade wine kits. I started it in January and aged it with oak chips for 6 month. Then bottled. It still tastes a little young. Something I do not understand is that it taste better after I let it sit out for a few hours. Why does it improve when left out? Jason ----- Hello Jason,Thanks for the...

Help! I was wondering if you can straighten me out on something. I have heard that you should add campden tablets before you add the wine yeast. I should also add campden tablets after every time I rack the wine. Then add them before I bottle the wine. That seems like a lot to me. Thanks Gary ----- Hi Gary, Thanks for such an interesting question. You do need to use Campden Tablets or some other...

Hi... Just wondering if your liqueur flavorings could be added to a fruit wine.. for a little stronger flavor... Our peach, this year, is not real "peachy".... and wondered if this would give it a flavor boost...   Thank you, Sandy M. ----- Hello Sandy, These liqueur flavorings where originally intended to be used for taking an inexpensive spirit such as everyday Vodka and turning it...

Hey Kraus: Question, is it better to make wine with fruit that has been frozen, I was told this breaks down the pulp and gives more juice. Thanks, Gerald ----- Hello Gerald, Thanks for the great question and bringing up a great wine making subject. Freezing your wine making fruit is a great tactic for the home winemaker. It's one of the wine making tips I tell people quite oftenJust like you said,...

This is Part II of a 2 part series on wine oxidation. Part I covers the effects of oxidation. Part II, this part, covers how to avoid it. The first thing I'm going to say about avoiding oxidation might not be what you'd expect, but it's important to know. Make sure the fermentation has plenty of oxygen in the beginning — particularly the first 2 to 3 days of fermentation. This is the time when...

Sorry to give this post such a grim title, but oxidation is really not a very happy subject for me. I'd rather be writing about something more positive, but that wouldn't be doing you any favors. Every home winemaker needs to learn about the harsh realities of wine oxidation. If not for any other reason, so that they can learn how to avoid it. Louis Pasteur, the father of modern microbiology, once...

A friend had given me a wine-making recipe that I have used for several years. It doesn't call for special yeast's, but one regular pack of bread yeast. One quart of Cranberry Juice; two cans of Concentrated Grape Juice; One pound of white cane sugar. Plus one gallon glass jug, rubber cork & economy-lock.I dissolved the yeast first, place in the jug first. Then I semi-dissolve the sugar in the...

Dear Kraus,I have a batch of peach wine and a batch of pear wine in 5 gallon glass jugs ready to bottle.  Both need to be sweetened at bottling time to bring out more of the fruit flavor.  Please explain to this rookie exactly how you sweeten the wine as you bottle it.  Do you add the sugar/water solutions to each bottle or do you add to the 5 gallon glass jugs, stir, and then bottle??  Same...