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...
Hello
Kraus,
I have a quick question that I can't find the answer to. I'm hoping you can help me out. Which is better, campden tablets, sodium metabisulfite or potassium metabisulfite? I've looked in several places but don't understand why you need all 3 to make wine.
Shaun
-----
Hello Shaun,
Thanks for the great question. This is an issue that perplexes many
wine making hobbyist. So I'm glad you brought it up.
The first thing to understand is that all three of these wine making ingredients do the...
Read More » »
Hello
Kraus:
Last fall I acquired some good wine grapes.. red and white
not enough of either for 5 gals.. thought I could make a blush, so
I added them together.. it turned a reddish color but cloudy. So I
added your Speedy Bentonite three weeks later i have clear whiskey
color, what happened?
Thanks Art
-----
Hello Art,
It sounds like your homemade wine has oxidized from excessive air
exposure. Just like when an apple starts to turn brown after being
bitten into, a wine can turn brown when it is...
Hello
EC Kraus Folks,
Thank you for the speedy delivery of my requested
catalog. I ordered it only a few days ago but now I've read
the whole thing and am almost ready to place an order for a wine
kit. However, I have a questions.
I would like to buy a kit, but would prefer to make a fruit
wine. So I'm planning on buying the Your Fruit! Wine Making Kit and then buying the
County Fair Fruit Base. I'm confused about the number of cans
(46 oz) I need or want... the catalog suggests using...
E.C.
Kraus Customer Service --
Thanks again for being there. You're greatly helping an
amateur wine-maker get by the label "amateur".
Three part question, all on potassium sorbate. This is a
question recognizing that potassium sorbate does not stop fermentation, but is
used to keep wines from starting to ferment again after the
fermentation has been completed.
1). When should the potassium sorbate be added to the wine --
is it sufficient to add to the wine at day of bottling or should it
be...
I grew up in a small steel town northwest of Pittsburgh. Most of
the Italian families I knew made homemade wine and mine was no
different. My Grandfather even grew his own grapes. No matter what
the occasion was or which family's house we were in, there was
always wine on the table.
My own making wine story began about 15 years ago. Having moved across the country to California, and although wine was plentiful here, I missed having that glass of homemade with dinner and friends. Quite often the...Read More » »
My own making wine story began about 15 years ago. Having moved across the country to California, and although wine was plentiful here, I missed having that glass of homemade with dinner and friends. Quite often the...Read More » »
Hello,
My friend and I make wine from grapes. A year ago we
bought your fruit crusher FP130
and now we are wondering do we instead need the crusher/destemmer?
We want to keep grape hulls and juice together for fermentation,
does the crusher/destemmer allow the hulls to pass through and not
the stems or is it the catch stand that collects everything but the
juice?
Thank-you,
Clayton
-----
Hello Clayton,
As you may already know, the grape crusher that you have is only
going to crush the grapes. The...
I was introduced to wine-making while we were RV'ing in Nova
Scotia. We were fortunate enough to meet a gentleman by the name of
Doug Copp. He and I learned that we had many things of life in
common and had a fantastic visit. At the end of the evening we
learned that he made his own wine, offered my wife and myself a
couple glasses and they were terrific. Thereafter, he gifted us
with a few different varieties of his home-made wine. So good that
I endeavored to begin making wine myself. Upon...Read More » »
We just did the $100 drawing for
the winner of the Share Your Wine Making Story contest.
The drawing was comprised of participants who submitted their
wine making
stories between January 18th and January 26th on the E.C. Kraus Wine Making
Blog.It was a random drawing, so if you didn't win, don't think we didn't like your story. If fact, we saw a lot of stories that were very interesting and enjoyable to read. Not only did we raise a glass to many of them, but we received lots of comments from...Read More » »
My wife and I started making wine kits about 10 years ago. Since
then many others have wanted to try their hand at it, and things
have kind of mushroomed! There are now 10 different "wineries" in
production throughout the year in our basement. Of course the
sampling and comparing and sharing among friends is the greatest
part, but the wine is the thing that brings us all together. None
of us can drink commercial wine anymore so there is always
something new fermenting. You can get a feel for the...Read More » »
I"ve been making wine for 2 yrs now. I'm very Health wise , That's
why I decided to make my own wine, as I like to know what's in
it. After lot's of reading I started, with a Grape wine, that
was perfect! Then I made another Grape Rose' again very good! Now
I've planted more grape vines, and since have made 11 batches so
far to date. I'm just loving every day of it. As well as my Family
and Frends that love to sample.
Name: Carol Kufahl
State: Michigan
Name: Carol Kufahl
State: Michigan
I've been making wine for almost 10 years now, I was taught by my
friends father Chuck who has been making wine forever. Each year we
compare wines and argue which is the best and which year gave us
the best wines and blends, Most years weather permitting I crush
the grapes and do the first fermentation in my garage then its to
the basement for about 12 weeks before bottling. Our claim to fame
is we tell everyone we make wine the same way the Greeks and Romans
did, crush the grapes ferment the...Read More » »
We have been making wine in Macedonia, Ohio since 1980. The grapes
come from our yard. We have 21 vines which are over 30 years old,
concord, niagra, and cayuga grapes.
Quality of juice varies from year to year depending on the weather. Northeast Ohio isn't the best area for producing quality grapes but we have had some excellent years, late 1990's and 2008 were good years.
It has been a family project going back 3 generations.
Enjoy your newsletter and the information it provides.
Name: Gordon...Read More » »
Quality of juice varies from year to year depending on the weather. Northeast Ohio isn't the best area for producing quality grapes but we have had some excellent years, late 1990's and 2008 were good years.
It has been a family project going back 3 generations.
Enjoy your newsletter and the information it provides.
Name: Gordon...Read More » »
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...Read More » »
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...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 » »
Well, We have 5 Vines, 2 Muscadine and 3 Scuppernong, 5 Pear Trees.
This was my first year of wine making. Check out my page on
Facebook ... It keeps Family and Friends up to date on my wine
making... its new. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Raleigh-Vineyards/296244417079615
What makes you/your setup unique?
When my Son Joined the USMC, I turned his Bedroom into the Wine making room. When he comes home, he wants to sleep in there so he can smell the wine... I make him sleep in the guest room.
We...Read More » »
What makes you/your setup unique?
When my Son Joined the USMC, I turned his Bedroom into the Wine making room. When he comes home, he wants to sleep in there so he can smell the wine... I make him sleep in the guest room.
We...Read More » »
I live near a discount grocery store. Not long ago they got in more
strawberries than they could sell. I was offered a few flats at a
discounted price. After discarding the bad ones, I made my first
STRAWBERRY wine. I know the wine maker in a winery, so when I made
the wine and bottled it, I carred him a bottle to critique for me.
He said it was of top class in taste and quality. I lucked out with
throwaway fruit. D.C.
Name: F.D.C.
State: Georgia
Name: F.D.C.
State: Georgia
Our family has been making home wine in one way or another for 50
years. Since retiring in 2000, we've had the pleasure of growing
grapes and making wine on our 10 acre spread here in the Finger
Lakes, including a few medals along the way. I was disabled from a
stroke on Fathers Day in June of 2000, working in the gardens and
making wine has kept me active. I was a web development engineer
for Kodak before the stroke. I registered a domain & put up a
site, just in case our son ever wanted to...Read More » »
Hello
Kraus,
I have been making wine from top end ($200+) wine kits and really
getting into it.
I was wondering if I should continue with wine kits or jump into creating wine from fresh grapes. I guess my questions is: What will produce a better red wine, a high end wine kit or quality fresh grapes?
Best Regards,
Dominick S.
-----
Hello Dominick,
This is really a great question, and one that I'm sure is on
the minds of many individuals who use these
homemade
wine kits, so I'll cut right to the...
Customer
Service:One of my wine making kits seem to be slow in starting & after a few days, we added another yeast pkg. to the wine......which finally begin activity. With 2 wine yeast pkg. in the wine, will it effect the taste or final product. Is there anything else we should add in this case to get the wine brewing?
Thank you
Chris D.
-----
Hello Chris,
Whether you use one, two or even three packets of wine yeast, it will not have a direct impact on the flavor of the wine. When a single...Read More » »
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