Hi Kraus
I have tried oaking wine to my satisfaction with oak chips. Now I want to make my own
oaking strips. I purchased some white oak that I sawed into
yard stick width and thickness. I noticed in the wine
supplies different types of flavors for oaking. I was told it
was like flavored coffee. What should I do to the strips so
as I can oak wine?
Thanks,
Marvin F.
-----
Hello Marvin,
First, I want to commend you on your DIY spirit. It's
fun hearing about people tryin' to get it done on their...
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I started making wine from age 10 years unfortunately faced
many problems such as oxidation also in my country they leave the
pulp up to 50 days in the containers (cause strengthen taste)....
but now because of your valuable information of your
website I enhanced the ways.......
First I collect ripen fruits of both red and white grapes
clean them and destemming the mix the ratio that I want of
black grapes(30%)+70% white grapes to reach the desired color... I
can measure by refractometer the brix...
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I have 7 riesling vines that are 6 years old and another 32 that
are 4 years old. From this I was only able to produce 3 gallons of
juice and wine. I have placed 3rd place each of the last 3 years in
the Puyallup, WA fair competition in dry whites. I know I am bias,
but I do have reasonable taste buds and I know what a good riesling
is supposed to taste like. Thus, I think my wine is very good and
my son who is a card carrying wine expert and educator says I am
doing very well and my wine is...
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Hello-
I've never made wine; but, I'm slowly acquiring the wine making
materials. I would like to make fruit wines mostly plum and perhaps
strawberry and peach.
From what I've been reading it seems that either one starts with
juice and does the whole fermentation process that way or that one
ferments the chopped up raw fruit contained in a bag for a week or
so and then continues the fermentation process in a different
container less the pulp.
My question is: Will the wine be better...
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[This
is the conclusion of a two part blog post. See the
previous entry for the beginning of this post.]
The Alcohol Level Needs To Kept In
Balance.
In general, the fuller the flavor of a wine,
the higher the alcohol level must be to keep it in
balance. Wines that do not have enough alcohol as compared to their
flavor intensity, will taste harsher. The astringent
characters of the wine will be highlighted in the wine's final
flavor profile.
To help put this into better perspective, lighter white...
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One subject
that gets asked about a lot by beginners is how to make
white wines. They usually ask about it in a way that leads me
to believe that they think it is a completely
different process than making red wines, one that just
skirts the fringes of main-steam wine making.
The fact of the matter is, there are more similarities than
differences between making the two. You use the same wine making
materials, the same
grape
crushers, the same
grape presses. Where the primary difference lies
is...
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Almost
everyone understands that wines need to age, but very few
people realize just how important aging actually is to a
wine. Aging is a process that is most often either
underestimated or completely ignored by the home winemaker.
In reality, I would venture to say that aging a wine is just as
important as the quality of the grapes used to produce the wine. If
you're missing either one, the wine will suffer
noticeably.
Within the first 30 days of aging most people experience enough
improvement...
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Hello
I made wine from muscadines and gave a bottle to a friend
they said that it gave them heartburn. Can you tell me what is in
wine that would do that and can I make the next batch
better..??
Thank you
Chuck
__________
Hello Chuck,
That's a heck of a note. You give a friend a personalized wine gift
like a bottle of your own personal wine stock. You probably had
some customized wine bottle labels made up to make the bottles look
all nice and everything, only to have your friend belch and say,
"It...
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ECKraus,
If a recipe calls for 4 or 5 pounds of pears for instance, will the
amount of juice (run through a power juicer) be enough to make this
recipe? Are there recipes available for someone wanting to use a
power juicer? Thank you for any information.
Gary
__________
Dear Gary,
A power juicer can play a role in wine making, but a very
limited one. The main issue is that the color and body of the
resulting wine will be lacking. For this reason you will not find
much, if any, information on...
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[Editor's
Note: For those of you not familiar, an ice wine is a
wine made from the juice of frozen grapes. Most of the water in the
grapes is frozen but the sugar is not. When a winery runs them
through the grape crusher and grape presses, the result is a very,
very sweet grape juice that will make a wine with high alcohol and
a lot of flavor.]
----------
Hi,
I have some lake niagara grapes that I am interested in trying to
make an ice wine recipe. They are in the freezer
currently. Do I make it...
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Hello EC Kraus,
I was wondering what the difference was between muscadine and
scuppernong grapes? I hear people talk about both as if they were
the same thing. Are they? Or are they different?
Thanks
Justin S.,
----------
Hello Justin,
Muscadine/Scuppernong grapes are indigenous to the Southeast
region of the U.S. They grow both wild and
domestically in backyards and on farms from Arkansas
to The Carolina's and everywhere South of there.
Muscadine and Scuppernong are a couple of names that are...
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Hello:
I have almost 4 gallons of Scuppernong grape juice that I've
gotten with my steam
juicer this year. I would like to know how to
make white wine with it. I was needing to know how much water to
add to it. I would like to know what other wine making
materials/ingredients I will need. I already have equipment.
Can you help me with this.
Thanks Fred
----------
Dear Fred,
With actual wine grapes you would use 100% juice to make the
wine. This means if you have 5 gallons of grape juice, you make...
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Hello
My name is Rachelle--my boyfriend and I are hobby wine
makers and recently discovered your website last fall--WE LOVE IT
:) We do have a question, however, regarding the proper
technique during bottling that we can't seem to find a straight
answer to.
We have been bottling directly from our wine
filter, and are first wondering if that is okay, or if we
should let the wine sit a few days after filtering before
bottling?
The second question, should we try to minimize the amount
of "bubbling"...
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Howdy,
I am new at wine making and just learning how to make
white wine with one of your wine ingredient kits. I am in the last
stages and decided to take a small taste test even though I still
have 2 or 3 days left in the last stage. It is terrible! Can the
wine get better in that short period of time or is it to far gone
and will not come out good? I followed the directions word for
word.
I did find 1 difference in the articles and the directions given on
the ingredients kit. Articles say not...
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Hello
Kraus,
My neighbor is trying to show me how to make white wine using your
County Fair Symphony concentrate. He told
me that the wine will need to sit many months to age before it
is ok to drink or bottle. I have read the homemade wine
instructions on the side of the can and in the First Steps In
Winemaking book that i got from you. I am still confused about why
it has to sit so long before i can drink it.
Todd B.
----------
Dear Todd B.,
First, I would like to say that the Symphony grape...
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Dear
Winemaking Experts,
I enjoyed reading your homemade wine instructions on making wine
from grapes. I hope you can answer my question. Why is it
important to ferment the must with the grape skins prior
to pressing? Your article says that white wine grapes can be
pressed right away, whereas, red wine grapes is fermented
prior to pressing. Please explain because I want to lean how
to make white wine later this year.
Thank you,
Gabriel
----------
Dear Gabriel,
This is a great question, and an...
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This
is the last part of a 4 part series. Part 1
went over the importance of knowing when to harvest.
Part 2 covered how to take the readings from the
grapes and what they mean. Part 3 went over what
kind of readings to expect.
What's One To Do?
Unless you have some high-dollar real estate in California wine
country, it's not likely you will hit the best Brix, pH and TA
readings all at the same time. Some years the climate will just not
cooperate, and you will most likely need to make...
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In
this last post of a III part series we'll go over the importance of
using sodium
metabisulfte when racking you wines.
Keeping air exposure to a minimum also means that great care should
be taken when racking your wine. Eliminate as much splashing
as possible. Splashing will only introduce more air into the wine.
You can do this by making sure the siphon hose fills the wine
carboy or vessel from the bottom up. In other words, keep the end
of the hose down into the wine as it is filling up the...
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Wine
Making Tips On How To Make White Wines.
This is part I of a III part series on what to do to keep your
homemade white wines, looking white.
The Battle At Hand
One of the biggest
concerns when making white wine is oxygen. When oxygen in the air
comes in contact with the wine it can cause it to oxidize. In
serious cases the wine may even start to turn brown or orange. The
wine can also take on a carmel or raisin character which may, or
may not, be okay depending on the type of wine involved.
In...
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Hello
E. C. Kraus:
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