E.C. Kraus Home Wine and Beer Making Supplies

I really enjoy your website with all of the winemaking information. You're truly educating the winemaking public. My question is, I'm storing my carboys and wine bottles in the basement. Its a damp basement that gets water in it when it rains. Who knows what organisms are living down there when its damp. I always clean my carboys with b-brite and a good dose of sulfite before using. I rinse my...

I have made a 5 gallon batch of Elderberry wine. I have racked it three times since it was transferred to the secondary for bulk aging. It needs to be sweetened before bottling. My question is when I add the sugar, sorbate and metabisulfite to the carboy will stirring the wine to incorporate these ingredients expose it to too much air and cause a problem with oxidation after it's bottled?Name:...

There are pros and cons to using either plastic fermenters or glass fermenters in home winemaking.  Glass can be easier to clean and unlikely to scratch, while plastic is easier to manage due to its light weight and doesn’t cost as much.  It’s important to consider the pros and cons of both and then make the purchase decision that is right for you and your situation.  If you end up choosing...

Hi, I ran out of glass carboys. Can I use plastic carboys to make my wine. Will it change the taste of the wine?Name: Curtis K.State: MS ----- Hello Curtis, Yes, it is perfectly fine to use plastic carboys, so long as you are talking about carboys that are used for holding drinking water. If you are referring to some other type of plastic carboy, you will want to check to see that it...

I bought table grapes at a farmer's market, very sweet, reddish grapes for my wine. I had success with the fermentation and put it in a carboy. It made 4 gallons and I put it in a 5-gallon carboy with an air lock, thinking the CO2 would force the oxygen out. It continued fermenting and I assume no oxygen got in.Ten months later there is a thin, white-ish particulate on surface. When I moved...

There are many pieces of homemade wine equipment than can be described in just one post.  It’s important to understand each piece of homemade wine equipment, how it functions, and whether or not a particular piece of equipment is needed in your own home winemaking practice.  Today’s post features three more important pieces of equipment: the Three Spout Bottle Filler, the Wine Thief, and the Brew...

When I do my first racking, there is a lot of carbonation in the wine, and it does not siphon well at all. How should I handle this?Name: Bryan P.State: GA Hello Bryan, Yes, this can be quite a problem. For the readers out there who don' t understand what Bryan is talking about, let me explain a little bit. During a fermentation, CO2 gas is created by the wine yeast. This is the same stuff that...

I've started my first batch of wine using the toasted oak chips, added after the primary fermentation. I am wondering if during the racking process about to be done after the secondary fermentation, do I transfer the oak chips too?Name: Debra M.State: Tennessee Hello Debra, Using oak directly to the wine has long been one of the tricks up the home winemaker's sleeve. It allows you to enjoy all the...

There appears to be plenty of information on equipment and supplies, cleaning/sanitation/sterilization, yet I"m having a difficult time of locating a protocol specifically related to maintaining a production area for a home winemaker (counters, floor, fixtures, sinks, drains, walls, etc.). I currently clean up splashes as they occur and monthly I do a fairly thorough wipe down of all surfaces with...

I have purchased 2 of your 9 gallon Tuff-Tanks and planned to use as both the primary and secondary fermenters. I read your article re: vinegar issues and you indicated air exposure can be an issue. Is using the 9 gallon tuff tank an issue for secondary fermentation? I find the tuff tanks an easy apparatus to use for transferring and racking as gravity flow works well and sediment separation is...

Hi Ed, Could you tell me how I might control my fermentation temperature? I have been making wine for 15 or so years from real grapes. Many times the must temperature starts to get way too warm. What is the best way to control it. Thanks in advance.Name: Al J.State: NY Hello Al, Thanks for the great question. This is something that plagues a lot of home winemakers, so I'm glad you brought this up....

I am making a Cab Sauvignon from the California Connoisseur wine kit. I also plan on making a Merlot next and would like to blend some of the two wines before bottling. I would like to save half of the Cab in a 3 gal carboy and bottle the other half. However, at what step in the process is it best to store the bulk Cab while I am making the Merlot? After Stabilization and...

There are so many more pieces of homemade wine equipment than can be described in one post.  It’s important to understand each piece of homemade wine equipment, how it functions, and whether or not a particular piece of equipment is needed in your home winemaking practice.  Today, you’ll be introduced to three important pieces of equipment: the Copper Tun Heating Pad, the Transfer Pump, and the...

I will be bottling my first batch in the next week or so. Planning it out, I would find it much easier to dispense the wine via the spout on the large fermentation container. However the wine is finishing up its process in the 6 gal carboy. The question is, is it safe to move the wine from the carboy to the fermentation container at the moment I am ready to bottle? I would certainly be sure I...

For the first time ever I ordered juice concentrate, your merlot and blackberry, to try making a large batch of my favorite flavors. Well, I followed the directions to the letter and it all fermented nicely in the primary. After 5 days racked it to the secondary, a glass 5 gallon carboy but for the first time left a little head space of a couple inches figuring that it would be ok since it it was...

I bottled a batch of strawberry wine which had cleared up perfectly, but then within a couple months, small light colored particles appeared in the bottles. If the bottle is shaken, some of the particles dissolve, but after an hour or two they reappear. The wine tastes great, but with the floating particles, it's difficult to share it with others. What could the problem be? I have another 6 gallon...

I took the stopper out of the carboy briefly to clean.  I noticed a vinegar smell!  Is the 6 gallons of wine junk?  Or should I sample to confirm?  Help!  Air lock may have gotten low !!!!!Name: Danny VState: WI Hello Danny, I guess my question to you is, does it really smell like actual "vinegar" or is it just an odd odor? I ask this because many times a person will smell something unusual in...

Home winemaking can be quite an investment in time and money, therefore it’s very important to be meticulous and careful throughout the entire process.  Of course, home winemaking is also quite a joy and is a wonderful hobby, and following a few important wine making tips will lower your chances of disaster in the bottle! Below you’ll find some of the most crucial wine making tips that you should...

I made an apple cider and a apple/blueberry cider. Both are in the aging process  (4 months before bottling). I have the apple cider in a 5 gal. oak keg and the blueberry on in a 5 gal. carboy. When I want to bottle, should I be adding a sodium metabisulfite prior to bottling?Name: Mike in NYState: NY Hello Mike, If you are aging your wine in bulk, such as a carboy or oak wine barrel, we recommend...

When racking [siphoning wine] I'd like to add 1/4 teaspoon of sulfites. What is the best method to do this? Should I add and mix the sulfites in the carboy before transferring it to the empty one to protect it from the oxygen exposure, or put the sulfites in the empty carboy so the wine will mix with it when being received?Name: Roger C.State: Connecticut Roger, I don't know as it's too...