What's going on in your winery today..

[fatbloke]

Well, after some nagging, I decided to prep a couple of gallons of 3 year old traditional mead.

So after blending 2 gallons together, then back sweetening it with 200mls of 50/50 honey and water syrup (1.012) , plus 1.5 tsp of "mead acid" (2 parts malic 1 part tartaric) and a teaspoon of grape tannin, I now have 2 gallons that were clear, have about an inch of weird looking fluffy sediment in them.

So I'm guessing that I'll have to filter it again, before I can get it in bloody bottles !

[spritzer]

I'm worrying about the rhubarb that I started 2 days ago, that hasnt started !!
I was in a bit of a rush to be honest, and didnt give the yeast starter enough time...maybe only about 3 or 4 mins instead of the 15 I normally give.
I'm also wondering if its a bit cold ..... so I have put the heating on to see it that helps

[RTPFUN]

Which kit was that? Presumably WinExpert.

Me, I fired up another Luna Rossa kit (highly recommended for an early-drinking red with plenty of body).

It was a Cellar Craft Showcase Mountain trio red by Vineco. Local HBS got some for all the customers who had been getting the other ltd editions. He's good to us, well good at drumming up business.
An early drinking red sounds good better get a Luna Rossa on the to do list.
Filtered the Spanish Matador trio red off to bulk storage, Filterd and bottled a WN1 and started cleaning the back log of bottles

[Delmonteman]

Frozen rhubard is currently defrosting in a large makeshift funnel over a demi john to catch the juice... 3lb has so far given up over a litre of juice. 1l of juice will be added to a WN1 (minus the acid) based on a great tip from Bob.

[goldseal]

A gallon of Ancient Orange Mead on the go, made using my secret stash of Orange Blossom Honey.

Problem was, the stuff had crystallised, so I have been stirring and heating jars of honey most of the day. The new WN1 will haave to wait for another day.

[Cellar_Rat]

Planning to strart another Ancient Orange Mead - fresh yeast and proper cinnamon.

[robwrx]

Did the last racking of a WE Washington Meritage and Kenridge Shiraz Viognier. They were probably the most gassy kits I have ever made and required a lot of extra degassing. I normally find that a couple of vacuum rackings will get sufficient CO2 out but I had to resort to using a wizz stick on both of these. They will be put to bed to bulk age for the next 12-24 months.

At least I can clear enough space now ready for Grapefest

[RTPFUN]

there's first time for every thing! why didn't I put the filter paper in the Harris filter properly? I'll be more careful next time. Oh well that will take another week to clear now before I filter it again.

[DaveH]

At least I can clear enough space now ready for Grapefest

Space??? Space you say......

Dagnabbit i knew something was up...................

PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[robwrx]

Space??? Space you say......

Dagnabbit i knew something was up...................

PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've got 3 x 60 litre fermenting bins and 2 x 33 litre on order with Duffbeer and with the 4 x 33 litre I've already got I need more space than I had last year.

You've still got 9 weeks to panic, don't peak too soon

[DaveH]

You've still got 9 weeks to panic, don't peak too soon

Story of my life mate...................

[robwrx]

Story of my life mate...................

lol

[spritzer]

there's first time for every thing! why didn't I put the filter paper in the Harris filter properly? I'll be more careful next time. Oh well that will take another week to clear now before I filter it again.

I use the filter pads. Is the paper better ? I have never tried it Is it still the same piece of kit you use ?

[spritzer]

I started off a 5 gallon batch of Carafe 21 red wine.
I have never tried it before. But I got it on special offer (£15), so it was rude not too
I am hoping that its a not too sad quaffing wine to keep me going

[fatbloke]

Suggest for those mixing "crystalised" honey.

I find that when mixing honey, if you've had it a while and it's crystalised, then just scoop it out the jars and mix it with water in a bucket. Leave if for a good few hours at room temp, then if there's still some lumps in it, you just hit it with a stick blender.

Not only does it dissolve the honey, but it aerates the hell out of it as well. Ideal, as you don't need to try and shake the hell out of a 1 gallon DJ full of liquid (heavy and easily broken).

I also sometimes just scoop the honey out of the jar, then I put it into a food processor along with a corresponding amount of water (I just fill the jar and shake the hell out of it, which seems to moisten the remaining honey enough to let you pour the water and remaining honey into the food proc' then close the lid and switch it on. A couple of minutes and it will be runny enough to pour.

You can also add a bit more water, or do all the jars of honey you're gonna use and then use a bit more water into the food proc' to rinse it, just by blitzing the hell out of the water, which is also added to the fermenter. Then it just means (for a JAO) that you top it up to the level you want to start at after adding the fruit.