One
of the most important aspects of making your own wine is keeping
things sanitary. It's important because wine is a like a living
thing.
It needs to be protected from wild molds, bacteria, etc. Without
proper care your wine can become overtaken by these foreign
organisms and eventually spoiled.
Yet, sanitizing is overlooked or treated lightly by many home wine
makers and understandably so. It takes time and effort to be
sanitary. Simply put, it's work!
Who wants to spend their time sanitizing...
Hi:
Today is day 8 and I just transferred my wine from the
plastic fermenter to a glass carboy like the homemade wine
instructions say to do. I do not see the wine brewing at
all. Shouldn't the wine still be fermenting? Do I have a
problem?
Please help!
Robert
-----
Hello Robert.
I am going to assume that you are making your wine from a wine
ingredient kit such as our European Select or KenRidge Classic since you mentioned "day 8"
much like their directions would.
How fast your fermentation goes can...
Hi
E.C.Kraus!
I'm new to home winemaking. I made red and white wines this year
and have them resting in 54 L carboys (with air-locks) after the
initial fermentation is completed. The storage room does have a
pretty high temperature (65degF), but it doesn't fluctuate.
After a month, I decided to start drinking the red one. It tastes
great now. So, every weekend I open the carboy and have 1.5 L of
wine siphoned into a regular bottle.
I'm wondering if opening the carboy every week (as a result...
Kraus
folks:
Could you tell me what solution should go into the bottle tree
rinser -- could I use campden tables?
Rick F.
-----
Hello Rick,
The Bottle Tree Rinser/Sulphatizer is designed to
be used with a sulfite solution. What this means is that you can
use either Campden Tablets, Sodium Metabisulfite or Potassium Metabisulfite with water to make the
sanitizing solution that goes into the bottle rinser's
reservoir.
The dosage is pretty straight-forward. You use either 16 Campden
Tablets or one...
Dear Kraus,
Has anyone used STEVIA to sweeten the wine before
bottling? It might take more than expected but I would like
to try it.
I am Diabetic and adding sugar to sweeten the wine just adds problems, so I don’t drink my wine, which my wife is okay with… because she can drink it without problem.
Could there be problem using this sweetener after fermentation?
Thanks in advance.
Bob W.
-----
Hello Bob,
There is nothing wrong with using stevia to sweeten a wine at bottling time. I have not used it...
Read More » »
My father started making wine back in the 1960’s. He had a very
basic set up - I remember a dozen or more gallon jugs each with
it’s own air lock - a Styrofoam cup taped to the side of each jug
with a tube coming out the top of each jug. Some of his wines
weren’t so great but some were very good. I helped him from time to
time but mostly it was just him, however I always helped drink the
wines!
He passed away in 1979 and his equipment and wines were passed on to me. For a number of years all I...Read More » »
He passed away in 1979 and his equipment and wines were passed on to me. For a number of years all I...Read More » »
Hi. My name is Bryan and my 1st vintage was 2005. I have a source
for Zinfandel in the Paso Robles area of the California Central
Coast. I help the vineyard owner hand harvest his 2 acres and he
lets me take a few hundred pounds. My operation is located in my
garage and guest bathroom. I hand crush, with a rubbermade
container and a 2x4. Ferment in a 40 gallon trash container and
press by hand with a fruit bag, a milk crate and a barbell weight.
Age in 5 gallon carboys with oak staves and bottle...Read More » »
Hi.
Can you give me any information on how barometric pressure would
affect the fluid level in an air lock. Some days they show
negative pressure and a day or two later they are making bubbles
again. I can't tell if fermentation is done or not.
Thank you
Jerry
----------
Hello Jerry,
An air-lock is what
seals the outside world from your wine during and
after fermentation. It is a barrier that allows
gases from the fermentation to escape while
keeping little bugs and other intruders out.
You attach...
Of
all the pieces of homemade wine equipment in which
you can invest, the gravity
hydrometer ranks as one of the highest as being money
well spent. Not only can the hydrometer tell you how much
alcohol your wine is going to have, it can tell you how
far along your fermentation has progressed and even
whether or not the fermentation has completed.Yet, many beginning winemakers do not use a hydrometer. I can see their eyes glaze over as I begin to explain to them how the hydrometer works and its...Read More » »
One
of the long, ongoing discussions in the world of home wine making
is, "should I age my wine in bulk or in
bottles?"What Exactly Is Bulk Aging?
Bulk aging refers to storing the wine in something similar to a glass water bottle. Home wine makers refer to them as carboys or demijohns. It's important to have a container with a neck of some sort so that the head-space, or air gap, can be mitigated as the bottle becomes full. It is usually sealed airtight with either a rubber stopper or cork...Read More » »
Hi
Kraus,I am using the 14 gal tuff-tank for the primary fermentation and like it. My questions are can you also use the 14 gal tuff-tanks and other similar plastic fermenters for the second stage fermentation instead of glass carboys and Is there pros's and con's?
I thank you for your great service, JL.
__________
Dear JL,
The only thing you need to be concerned about when using our Tuff-Tanks or any other plastic fermenter in a secondary fermentation situation is head-space. This is the area...Read More » »
Hello:
I am getting ready to start my first batch of wine from
concentrate. I am a little confused about the sanitizing process
for large pieces of equipment. The directions say to dissolve so
much sanitizing stuff to one gallon of water. Does this mean a
gallon will do the job? With a 6 gallon tuft tank or a 6 gallon
glass carboy, for example, do you pour the gallon in the container
and slosh it around? If so for how long? Directions say to soak
corks from 5 to 10 minutes. Small items such as...
Hi
E.C.,
I'm making my first wine ever with
your starter kit and my own wild grapes. I have your plastic
fermenter that came with the kit, but I bought one of your
glass jugs for
secondary. I just started the secondary fermentation and I am
not sure if I should continue to stir daily. I assume once the air
lock is on I should just leave it alone?
Thanks,
Luke
----------
Dear Luke,
Once all the wild grape pulp has been removed from the
fermentation, there is no need to stir the...
Dear
EC Kraus,
I hope you can help me out. I am having a problem with
my 5 gallon glass carboy fermenter. I started a wine from
raspberries a few days ago in my bucket fermenter. Now its time to
put the wine in the carboy but the rubber stopper will not stay in
the opening. It keeps coming out/coming loose. I ordered the size
your company suggest. Any ideas?
Seth A.
----------
Dear Seth,
This issue can arise if there is moisture on either the stopper
or your 5 gallon glass
carboy. Both the side...
Part
of learning how to make your own wine is mastering the process of
racking. Racking means to transfer the wine or must from one
fermenter to the next so as to leave any sediment behind. This
process usually needs to be done once or twice with the wine
brewing and at least once before you bottle.
If you have one of our plastic
fermenters with a faucet at the bottom, racking is simple.
Just attach our 3/8" vinyl hose to the spigot and turn it on with
the hose leading to the next fermenter. The...
Please
help:
I recently noticed that a partially full carboy of apple cider wine had developed mother of vinegar proteins. What is the likelihood that I will be able to use that carboy again for wine making? I am currently using a sodium metabisulfite solution in an attempt to sanitize it. Will this be sufficient?
Thank you.
Robin M.
----------
Hello Robin M.
Sorry to hear about your apple cider going rogue vinegar on
you.
The good news is that acetobacter - the bacteria the
produces vinegar -...
One
of the primary goals of this blog is to
continuously provide wine making tips and advice that will
make life easier for the home winemaker. With that in mind, here's
another tidbit that you may want to look
over.
One of the greatest advantages of using synthetic
corks is that they are easy to sanitize. Their surface is
not porous like an natural cork, so you can quickly and
confidently sanitize them with a quick,
straight-forward process. All you need to do is give them
about 20 minutes or...
Hi
Wine Helpers,On the second rack it seems like the fermenting has stopped!(about 10 days) no bubbles in the air lock that I have on my gallon glass carboy, then last night I looked at the air lock and it looks like the wine is pulling a vacuum the water is on the wrong side. What do you think?
Justin
----------
Dear Justin,
Glad to hear that your fermentation appears to be finished after 10 days. This is about average for the amount of time it typically takes for the fermentation activity to...Read More » »
Hello
EC Kraus,
I have made wine from kits over 50 times with fantastic
success! I have always followed the directions and SG
measurements of my hydrometer. I was admiring a finished
batch in one of the carboys, getting ready to filter and
bottle. To my surprise I noticed the airlock bubble! I
watched it and after 7 minutes it did it again. The highly
polished finished wine had no bubbling in it or from the
lees. Obviously there is some fermentation occurring.
Should I rerack the wine into...
Hello
Customer Service,
If I wanted to use a five gallon crock to make a fermentation
happen is that going to be a problem? I do not want to use a
plastic fermenter. I am afraid of using any plastics fearing the
chemicals used to make the containers will leach into the finished
food or wine? What do you think about that?
Thanks Mary
-----
Dear Mary,
It's okay to use a stone crock for the first few days of
the wine brewing, but after the fermentation activity starts
to slow down, around the fifth...
Powered by Compendium